What is BIMI?

BIMI is gaining popularity for letting a company’s email stand out in a crowded inbox. But what is BIMI exactly, how does it work and what do you need to make your emails look so cool? We will tell you all about it in the next paragraphs.

Nowadays, most companies rely on communication through email. Using Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) is a great opportunity to build more trust amongst your receivers. Instead of the usual initials, your company’s logo is being displayed next to your messages. As a result, you provide a perfect visual indication that the message is coming from a reliable sender.

What is BIMI?

Aside from just looking really cool and professional, it is essentially a new standard in email authentication. Just like other such standards, it is a TXT record in the DNS of your domain. A BIMI record mainly shows the location of your logo. When the server of the recipient checks your domain for DMARC, it searches for a BIMI record as well. If the records match, the logo is displayed. The best thing is that your logo is not included as a part of the email message. Instead, it appears on the mail server, to which scammers do not have access. In other words: it is what separates your emails from phishing emails.

BIMI Implementation

Now, what do you need to implement BIMI on your domain and start sending cool emails? First of all, DMARC should be in alignment with the email domain in order to get BIMI functional. Also, the DMARC policy (p=) should be either “reject” or “quarantine”. Learn more about quarantine vs. reject.

Because Brand Indicators are based on DMARC, it ensures only authorized senders are using their logo in email messages. Having valid DMARC records clearly shows that you are very serious about protecting your recipients against phishing from your domain. Additionally, some receivers demand what is called a Verified Mark Certificate, or VMC. The VMC is extra digital proof to verify the authenticity of the logo in your record. We have another article where you can read more about the exact BIMI requirements.

DNS Record

To illustrate, let’s talk just a little about the syntax anatomy of a BIMI DNS record. Apart from required components like the selector and domain, you will find a few other elements as shown below. We also have an article about BIMI records, which goes more into depth on a BIMI DNS record and its contents.

Brand Indicators

Until now, every receiving client used its own system for management and display of a logo. With the introduction of the BIMI standard, however, this process has been simplified. Most importantly, the control over the logo that is being displayed in the inbox is now fully in the hands of the brand owner.

Although it requires the use of strong email authentication solutions, it is important to know that BIMI itself is not a security solution. Moreover, as it only works with supported email clients, it is not always effective in displaying your logo. Currently, it is supported by Google, Verizon Media (AOL and Yahoo), and Fastmail, but many other companies have already started showing interest. Also, you can read more about the support at BIMI Group.

BIMI Check

Let your company stand out in a crowded inbox! Do our free online BIMI Check so that you can see the status of your implementation progress. Our BIMI Record check tool helps you to verify if your published records are valid and it informs you in detail about any errors.

In Conclusion

Though it is a simple way to increase brand recognition and trust, for some companies it might seem challenging to implement BIMI. That’s why we offer a Hosted BIMI Service. It’s our way to support and unburden you in the process towards BIMI readiness. DMARC Advisor is happy to answer all your questions about this subject or anything else, such as DMARC, phishing, or CEO fraud. Don’t hesitate to contact our support team!