Configuring your DNS settings

Before you can start to send emails with Emarsys we need to make sure that your DNS settings, link and image domains and reply mail management are correctly configured. These will to show that the Emarsys platform is a trusted and permitted sender of your emails.

There are two ways to do this:

Delegate the configuration to Emarsys
Configure the DNS settings yourself

Instructions for each method are provided below.

Contents

Before you start
Delegation vs. self-service
Delegating your DNS settings to Emarsys
Configuring your DNS settings yourself
Reply mail management
References

Before you start

There are few things to think about before you start.

Domain levels

We use a subdomain to send your emails so that your organizational (brand) domain is visible as the clients would expect to see it. Variations of your brand domain (such as yourdomainnews.com) are classic methods that phishing and spam emails use to trick recipients, and should therefore be avoided.

In all the examples below we use the following convention: prefix.subdomain.yourdomain.com,

where:

prefix = the prefix for link and image domains that we provide
subdomain = your preferred subdomain
yourdomain = your brand domain
.com = your top-level domain (it could also be '.net', '.co.uk', etc.)

In all the examples below, you will need to change these values for your own, e.g.:

subdomain.yourdomain.com -> newsletter.mywebshop.com

Naming your subdomain

When you change to Emarsys from a previous service provider, you will need to change your sender domain. This will enable you to continue to send the bulk of your emails with your previous provider while we are ramping up your reputation with the new domain. You can then migrate the remaining campaigns to Emarsys and ensure a smooth handover.

We will normally use your subdomain as the sender domain, without an additional prefix.

Remember that the subdomain is what your customers will see in the From address of the emails you send them (e.g.: info@subdomain.yourdomain.com). You should therefore give it a name that fits the purpose and is easily identifiable to your customers, for example 'email' or 'webshop' (do not use 'emarsys'!).

It is possible to keep your previous sender domain, but for this you will need someone on your side who understands SPF records. Please speak to us before considering this option.

If you are configuring your own link and image domains, keep the prefixes as short as possible as this will have an impact on the size of your emails.

Additional sender domains

If you have multiple Emarsys accounts, you can use the same sender domain for all of them if you wish. This will not affect reply mails, as we use an internal ID to make sure each reply mail is directed to the correct account.

However, there are some good reasons to have multiple sender domains, and this is the perfect opportunity to create them.

Many ISPs recommend separate domains for separate email types (e.g. for customer acquisition campaigns, for customer lifecycle campaigns and for operational emails), so that your sending behavior is consistent per domain.
You might also want to have different subdomains per brand, language or even department.
You will might also want to consider a separate sender domain if you are using our Triggered Email product.

There is no point in defining a separate domain if you will use it to send fewer that 40-50,000 emails per month. Below this limit will make it very hard for that domain to achieve a good sender reputation.

Delegation vs. self-service

There are pros and cons to both methods. You should discuss these with the Emarsys Implementation Consultant who is managing your onboarding and agree on the best option for you.

We would normally advise against doing this yourself unless there are regulatory reasons for doing so, or if you have an experience technology team at your disposal.

If you are unsure as to what these settings are, please read the articles in the references section before you continue.

	Pros	Cons
Delegation	You still maintain full control over your domain but we can take care of configuring and maintaining the DNS entries. Emarsys will only use this subdomain for the activities described in this article. We can configure, test and close this task with no further input from you. We can easily investigate any issues that arise in this area.
Self-service	If you have the required knowledge in-house, you can perform most of the configuration on your own timeline.	Emarsys still has to test the setup Emarsys still has to set up the sender, image and link domains You will have to maintain this configuration and investigate any issues yourself.

Delegating your DNS settings to Emarsys

You will need to:

Create your desired subdomain(s).
In your domain registration tool, create the following NS records for each subdomain:

subdomain.yourdomain.com.  IN NS ns1.emarsys.net.
subdomain.yourdomain.com.  IN NS ns2.emarsys.net.
subdomain.yourdomain.com.  IN NS ns3.emarsys.net.
subdomain.yourdomain.com.  IN NS ns4.emarsys.net.

Inform your Emarsys Implementation Consultant so that we can complete the configuration. Make sure to send them:
- A complete list of sending sub-domains to test.
- A list of recipients who will receive the test emails after the DNS records are created.

The configuration will take around three working days to complete.

Sender, link and image domains

We will use your subdomain as your sender domain, unless you require a prefix.

We will also use your subdomain to define a link domain, such as link.email.example.com. All the tracked links in your emails will be routed via this domain.

We also define an image domain, such as images.email.example.com. If you are hosting your images with Emarsys, this subdomain will point to where they are hosted and will enable you to take advantage of Emarsys’ global content delivery network (CDN).