BIMI
Brand Indicators for Message Identification. A DNS record that can show your logo next to authenticated mail in some inboxes. It requires a DMARC policy of quarantine or reject, and usually a trademarked logo.
Brand Indicators for Message Identification. A DNS record that can show your logo next to authenticated mail in some inboxes. It requires a DMARC policy of quarantine or reject, and usually a trademarked logo.
What it is
BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) lets a domain publish its logo so supporting mailbox providers can show it beside authenticated messages. It is a DNS TXT record at default._bimi.yourdomain.com pointing at an SVG logo and, usually, a certificate.
What you need before it works
- An enforced DMARC policy. `p=quarantine` or `p=reject`. A
p=nonedomain does not qualify. - A logo in the required SVG format, a restricted profile of SVG that ordinary exports do not satisfy.
- A certificate, for providers that require it. A Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) generally needs a registered trademark; a Common Mark Certificate (CMC) covers some cases without one.
Support differs by mailbox provider and changes over time. Gmail shows the logo, and a verified checkmark, for domains that meet its requirements; check the current rules before spending money on a certificate.
Is it worth it for cold email?
Rarely, and not first. BIMI does nothing for deliverability itself; it is a branding feature for mail that is already authenticated and trusted. For a new outbound domain the effort is better spent on SPF, DKIM and DMARC, clean data, and warmup. It is worth revisiting once you run enforced DMARC on a domain that customers also receive mail from.
What the record looks like
v=BIMI1; l=https://yourdomain.com/logo.svg; a=https://yourdomain.com/certificate.pem
l= is the location of the logo and a= the location of the certificate. Both must be reachable over HTTPS, and publishing the record before DMARC is enforced simply does nothing, which is why a BIMI setup that "does not work" is usually a DMARC problem.
Also see: DMARC
Ready to try it on a real list?
Brand Indicators for Message Identification. A DNS record that can show your logo next to authenticated mail in some inboxes. It requires a DMARC policy of quarantine or reject, and usually a trademarked logo.
Get startedRelated
- DMARC — cold email glossary
Domain-based Message Authentication — a DNS record telling receivers what to do when SPF or DKIM fails (allow, quarantine, or reject), and where to send reports about who is sending as your domain.
- Cold email & deliverability glossary
Plain-language definitions for the terms that come up in cold outreach and email deliverability: bounce rate, catch-all, SPF/DKIM/DMARC, sender reputation, and more.
- Bounce rate — cold email glossary
The share of sent emails a mail server refuses to deliver. A hard bounce means the mailbox does not exist; a soft bounce means it is temporarily unreachable.
- Hard bounce — cold email glossary
A permanent delivery failure: the mailbox does not exist, the domain does not accept mail, or the server has rejected the recipient for good. Hard bounces are the ones that wreck sender reputation.