We care for your sendings to be safe, as your email reputation is very important to us. Therefore, we have a well organised system of setting up email authentication, monitoring IP numbers and using TLS encryption.
We also have good tips for on how you can affect your email deliverability!
In this Article
What is Email authentication?
Email authentication helps you protect and improve your email delivery rate by preventing email fraud and identity theft. The authentication proves that your emails are being sent from you and not another illegitimate source.
We Help You Set It Up!
The common standards are SPF, DKIM and DMARC authentication. When you onboard with Apsis Pro, we will ensure your emails will be authenticated with SPF as well as DKIM, under our own authentication protocols. This way, your emails are delivered right to your Subscriber's inbox with the Apsis Pro seal of approval.
SPF
SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is a method for authenticating which servers are accepted for sendings of e-mail from a specific domain e.g. yourcompany.com. The main purpose for SPF authentication is to ensure the identity of the sender (that an e-mail from info@yourcompany.com really is sent from your company and not from another person with bad intentions). This is authenticated by matching the domains (e.g. yourcompany.com) with the IP numbers used for sending the mailings (anpdm.com).
For newsletters sent via APSIS, SPF is already configured by default. However, certain types of emails—such as reports or opt-in confirmation messages—may use your own domain as the technical sender. In these cases, we recommend adding APSIS to your SPF record:
include:_spf.anpdm.com
If you use multiple mail servers for sending and receiving emails, all of them should be included in your SPF record.
Example of an SPF record for different mail servers:
v=spf1 mx include:_spf.anpdm.com a:mail.yourcompany.com ip4:00.000.00.000 –all
Note!
SPF is not the same as SPF alignment. SPF alignment is used for DMARC authentication and is not required if your domain is DKIM-signed by APSIS.
DKIM
We strongly recommend that you set up DKIM authentication. (Domain Keys Identified Mail.) DKIM authentication verifies that you, as a sender, are indeed authorised to send emails on your behalf. The recipient's server then knows that you are who you claim to be.
Why is DKIM Important?
DKIM is set up with an encryption key and digital signature, and thereby proves the emails to be authentic. This significantly decreases the risk of emails landing in a spam folder or bouncing from being caught in spam filters.
Without DKIM implemented, a large part of the emails will very likely be classed as spam when sent to recipients using Gmail, Yahoo or O365/Outlook. Large email providers are from February 2024 enforcing DKIM as a requirement for anyone sending more than 5000 emails within a single day.
During your onboarding to Apsis, our Consultants will help you det started to get DKIM set up. You can always reach our Customer care team through our chat.
How To Set Up DKIM
What information do we need?
What domain you want to send emails from.
A Selector (a keyword that you choose).
APSIS Delivery team will create a key pair and provide you a DKIM key.
How to implement DKIM?
Publish the DKIM key in your DNS*.
- Add key as a TXT record.
- Sometimes the key needs to be divided into two posts.
- If you are using several domains, you need several DKIM.Let Efficy know your DKIM key is published, and we will activate DKIM signing on our MTA.
* The Domain Name System (DNS) Server is a server, specifically used for matching website hostnames (like example.com) to their corresponding Internet Protocol or IP addresses. The DNS server contains a database of public IP addresses and their corresponding domain names.
DMARC
DMARC is a validation system for your emails which detects and prevents email spoofing. (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance). It's built on top of SPF and DKIM, and while they help identify fake emails, DMARC provides reports on how and when emails are being rejected and the reason why. Also, it allows you to have more control over how receivers handle emails that failed authentication or validation.
IP numbers
IP number (Internet Protocol number) is an identification and location of a network device. All IP numbers are owned and managed by our Delivery team, who monitors them regularly, performs warm-ups, and ensures they always have a high reputation.
Additionally, the team also monitors a number of server blacklists to make sure that none of our IP addresses are listed on them. All aspects of IP management are taken care of, so you don't need to worry about your IP address having a bad reputation.