Recently, Google announced support for the BIMI standard in Gmail. BIMI stands for Brand Indicators for Message Identification, and the AuthIndicators Working Group describes it as “an emerging email specification that enables the use of brand-controlled logos within supporting email clients.” BIMI brings a brand logo to the inbox. But it’s not just a logo. For the brand’s logo to be displayed, the email must pass DMARC authentication first.
Image via Google
If you’re a brand, particularly one that tends to be used for phishing or spoofing like a bank or financial service provider, having a BIMI record in place could be an excellent opportunity to ensure that your emails are viewed as legitimate and add some interest to the inbox. But this change won’t happen overnight and is still in a pilot phase. From Google’s announcement:
“Our BIMI pilot will enable organizations, who authenticate their emails using DMARC, to validate ownership of their corporate logos and securely transmit them to Google. Once these authenticated emails pass all of our other anti-abuse checks, Gmail will start displaying the logo in existing avatar slots in the Gmail UI.”
DMARC.org has an excellent overview of how to deploy DMARC, and you can talk with your Email Service Provider about it as well. You can also visit the working group’s website, or talk with your account team.
Cheetah Digital by Marigold was named a leader in the Forrester
Wave™: Email Marketing Service Providers, Q2 2020.
