Overview

BIMI is an emerging technology that is built on top of the DMARC.

Unlike, adding a profile picture for from address, BIMI comes with a trademarked logo for the domain which shows up across all ISPs that support BIMI (Gmail, Yahoo, Proofpoint, etc.). The BIMI logo is also an additional form of branding and proving the sender’s authenticity.

Configure BIMI for your Brand

Follow the below steps to configure BIMI for your brand, thereby cultivating immediate brand recognition and enhancing user experience:

1. Inspect if your domain meets the standards for BIMI. For more information, refer here.
2. The root domain and sub-domain must have strict (reject or quarantine, with pct=100) DMARC. The root domain must also have SPF and MX records. For more information, refer here.
   For example,

   host -t txt _dmarc.moengage.com
   _dmarc.moengage.com descriptive text "v=DMARC1; p=reject; sp=reject; 
   pct=100; rua=mailto:dmarc@moengage.com; ruf=mailto:dmarc@moengage.com; fo=1"

3. Trademark your brand logo.
4. Create an SVG file for your trademarked brand logo and upload it on the web server. Example: MoEngage Logo, Uber Logo.

5. Get a VMC for your brand logo

   1. Apply for VMC.

   2. Currently, acceptable VMC providers are - Entrust DataCard and DigiCert. Gmail only shows the brand logo in Inbox if certified VMC is present. While some email clients make VMC optional, Gmail needs it for BIMI to work.
6. Create and publish the BIMI record. You can also inspect your BIMI record and other prerequisites here.
7. The logo might take 2-3 days to appear in emails sent.

Why is BIMI important?

BIMI is a way of establishing visual identity. Since BIMI enforcement requires strict authentication, it also helps prevent spoofing of your brand domain.

• Since BIMI is built on top of DMARC, the root domain and sub-domains must have a strict DMARC policy, which prevents domain spoofing.
• Having a brand logo display on the user’s inbox always boosts authenticity and can improve trust and thus engagement.
• Gmail has now (May 23) introduced a verified blue tick checkmark for BIMI users, which is an indication of authenticity that generally everyone is used to. This again separates the “authentic” senders from others and builds trust amongst customers.
• Indirectly, keeping up with the evolving technologies, especially those built on strict authentication policies and branding, is a good indication to the ISPs that you are up to date and in line with the best practices.

Blue Verified Tick

As BIMI is built on top of DMARC and authentications, few MBPs have introduced additional visual branding on top of BIMI. All the domains that have valid BIMI configured will now see a Blue Tick on the sender name as shown below.