As an email marketer, the most important step you’ll ever take is to improve overall deliverability of the emails you send.
After all, if your emails are identified as spam and end up being blocked or filtered from ever appearing in your subscriber’s inbox, it’s like you simply don’t exist.
Unfortunately, it has become much harder to ensure your emails get through and are seen by those who have requested your content. In fact,
Enter BIMI.
BIMI stands for Brand Indicators for Message Identification. It’s a new standard that is designed to allow a brand to specify which logo appears next to their emails.
Brands like Nike, HBO and CNN have all participated in the BIMI project, but thankfully, you don’t have to be a big brand to take advantage of this incredible opportunity to improve brand awareness.
In fact, right now anyone can get ahead of the curve by implementing BIMI into their email campaigns.
Here’s an example of how BIMI-based emails might appear in someone’s inbox:
Link to image: https://www.encirca.com/bimi-brand-boost/
With BIMI, your logo will show up in emails before anyone even clicks on them. This will instantly increase your overall engagement and conversion rates!
But BIMI does far more than improve deliverability. It can help your emails stand out and maximize brand awareness.
After all, if your email is one of only a few that contain an accompanying logo, chances are, people will click on your message first.
BIMI also provides added security and reassures your subscribers that the email is actually from you. This will help you gain a level of trust while subsequently working overtime to enhance your brand.
In fact, each time your subscriber receives an email from you, multiple brand impressions are made: The logo that appears in their inbox list, your email address and your message itself.
The downside to BIMI is that it does require a few steps before you can begin employing it as part of your email campaigns.
Those steps include:
- Setting up DMARC compliance
- Creating your logo
- Updating your DNS with the BIMI TXT record.
Let’s take a closer look at each required step.
DMARC Compliance
To begin, the most important step in this process is to create a BIMI that is DMARC compliant. That means SPF and/or DKIM for all mail must be authenticated using your “From” domain.
If this sounds too technical for you, you can create a DMARC record using this free tool: https://powerdmarc.com/dmarc-record-generator/
Creating Your Logo
In order to utilize BIMI, you’ll need a logo based on a specific file type. Currently, that’s SVG (Scalable Vector Graphic).
The main reason for using SVG is that removes any concern over potential security issues, such as using the image as a tracking pixel or deploying malware.
When it comes to creating your logo, you’ll want to format it as a perfect square and ensure it is hosted publicly via HTTPS. You also want to make sure there are no taglines or slogans on the logo as it will be too small for anyone to read.
If you need help designing your BIMI-compliant logo, you can watch this tutorial: https://emailkarma.net/2021/03/getting-your-svg-right-for-bimi/
Updating Your DNS
The final step is to update your DNS. You do this by visiting your DNS hosting provider and creating a BIMI record for your domain. The new record will be a TXT one so be sure to select the “TXT” option.
If you need help with this, here’s a great step-by-step tutorial that covers everything you need to know about creating a BIMI record: https://mxtoolbox.com/dmarc/bimi/how-to-create-bimi-record
Once you’ve created a BIMI you’ll want to test it to ensure it’s working properly. You can do that using this free tool: https://bimigroup.org/bimi-generator/
And finally, if you want to skip the learning curve, you can simply hire an expert who will set everything up for you. Many of these services are priced as low as $50.
You can find many of those professionals here: https://www.upwork.com/services/search?nbs=1&q=BIMI
