Mailchimp authentication help / Google / Yahoo / Dmarc / DKIM and all that jazz

How to authenticate and set up Dmarc for Mailchimp

I’ve been getting emails left, right and centre about the changes being introduced by Google and Yahoo as of 1 February 2024 and whether they need to do anything, so here’s a very simple guide to explain:

[1]. What does it mean in plain English?

As of 1 February 2024, Google and Yahoo are making changes to help stop spammers impersonate real senders and their domains.

As you are (hopefully!) a real sender and not a spammer, this means you might have to prove it so that your emails to gmail and yahoo addresses don’t get blocked.

It doesn’t just affect mass emails you send from e.g. Mailchimp, but all of your day-to-day sending. So if you have an online shop or a booking system for example, it would affect emails being sent out from those too.

[2]. Do YOU need to do anything?

Probably.

Google’s official line is that you need to act if you send 5,000+ emails to their email addresses within a 24 hour period. Yahoo hasn’t specified a figure.

That’s more likely to affect B2C businesses than B2B where you’re sending to business domain addresses. But not necessarily. Furthermore your ESP (email service provider) might flash repeated warnings or even insist you set it up before you can send any more campaigns.

So to be on the safe side, yes, do it. It’s not worth running the risk of your emails being blocked or the annoyance of getting constant warnings.

And this is also the time to make sure that the email domain you send your Mailchimp campaigns from is authenticated too, as this still has a big bearing on your emails arriving successfully. Check your account settings / domains to find out. And if you’re not sure, ask me.

[3]. If you are affected, what do you actually need to do?

This might sound more complicated than it is, but in reality it’s usually a fairly quick job. You might be able to do it yourself, or you can ask your web developer / IT manager (or me).

  1. You need access to your DNS records. This is usually (but not always) where your domain name is managed e.g. 123-reg, Godaddy, Ionos, Squarespace etc.

  2. Login, find the domain you are sending emails from, look for your DNS then look for the place where it says add/create a new DNS record.

  3. Select TXT from the record type (you’ll see a few different options like A / CNAME etc)

  4. In the next box along (usually called something like Record Name") copy _dmarc and paste it into the box. Sometimes your domain host will want a bit more than that in which case it needs to be _dmarc.yourdomain.com e.g. for me it would be _dmarc.clairewitz.co.uk

  5. In the next box along from that (usually called something like Record Value) copy v=DMARC1;p=none; and paste it into the box.

  6. Save the record.

And That. Is. It. You can go back to living your life and forget all about it.

[4]. Got questions? Need help? Bit scared of doing it yourself?

Drop me a line or book a consultation. And don’t forget to sign up below - I send out useful tips and feature demos. Not very often, but when they come they’re worth a read.

Mailchimp Basics, Mailchimp TipsClaire Witz