BIMI

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Prerequisites

To get the most out of this guide, you will need to:

• Establish verifiable use of your logo
  • Obtain a registered trademark for your logo
  • Or, use your logo for over one year
• Add a DMARC record on your domain

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What is BIMI?

BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) is a standard that allows you to specify a logo (and sometimes a checkmark) to display next to your email in the inbox. These indicators can increase brand recognition and trust and improve engagement.

Though this standard is newer, most major mailbox providers now support it. This gives BIMI adoption a competitive edge for brand recognition in the inbox. Most mailbox providers show brand indicators for those who purchase a certificate, of which there are two types: a Common Mark Certificate (CMC) and a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC).

Here’s an overview of current email client support:

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Implementing BIMI

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1. Configure DMARC

BIMI requires a DMARC policy of p=quarantine; or p=reject;. This policy assures that your emails are properly authenticated and that no one else can spoof your domain and send them with your logo.

Here’s an overview of the required parameters:

Here is an example of an adequate DMARC record:

"v=DMARC1; p=quarantine; pct=100; rua=mailto:dmarcreports@example.com"

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2. Establish verifiable use of your logo

To display your logo in most email clients using BIMI, you need to prove ownership of your logo by obtaining a mark certificate. This process is similar to acquiring an SSL certificate for your website. You can purchase a mark certificate from various authorized vendors. We recommend DigiCert.

There are two possible mark Certificate’s to verify the use of your logo:

• Verified Mark Certificate (VMC): A certificate issued by a Certificate Authority (CA) that is used to verify that you are the owner of the logo you are trying to display. A VMC is avaiable if you have a trademark of your logo. With a VMC, Gmail will display a blue checkmark.
• Common Mark Certificate (CMC): A certificate also issued by Certificate Authority (CA) to verify you. A CMC is available to you if you can establish that you’ve used your logo for one year. Currently, only Gmail supports a CMC.

A VMC offers the widest email client support, though the barrier of a trademark means a CMC is an easier path if you have eastablished use of your logo for one year.

Here are a some things to know before starting the certificate purchase process:

• If you don’t hold a trademark for your logo or have not used your logo for a year, you will not be able to purchase a certiifcate.
• The process could take weeks, so start early and respond to their requests quickly.
• You will need to provide a SVG Tiny P/S formatted logo.
• You will need to prove you own the domain by adding a DNS record.
• You will need to prove you are the owner of the trademark or logo by providing identification.
• You will need publicly available proof that your business exists. For newer startups, recommend Yellow Pages or Google Business Profiles as the easiest method for proving your existence

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3. Set your BIMI DNS Record

Once you have your VMC, you can set your BIMI DNS record. This TXT record points to the location of your VMC and your logo.

Here is an example of a BIMI record:

v=BIMI1; l=https://vmc.digicert.com/00-00.svg; a=https://vmc.digicert.com/00-00.pem;

It contains a publicly and programmatically accessible link to your verified logo (.svg) and a link to your VMC (.pem).

To confirm that your BIMI record is published correctly, the BIMI working group offers a tool to check it.

It often takes a few days for your logo to display in inboxes after this record propagates. Mailbox providers will also conditionally decide to show the logo based on the domain’s sending email volume and reputation. A domain with a high spam or bounce rate may not have their avatar displayed.

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Reference