From February 2024 onwards, Google and Yahoo are making it necessary for email senders to use email authentication, and there are also some important policy changes related to consent and engagement. If senders don't follow these rules, their emails might be delayed, blocked, or marked as spam. To be ready for the upcoming changes in February, you will need to be using a branded sending domain in your ZipLeads account.

When sending emails in ZipLeads, you use a sending domain that was set up for you as part of your account build. This is not the same thing as your email address. Most of our clients use an unbranded sending domain, but you may already have a branded sending domain set up in your account to improve your email deliverability.

What is a branded sending domain?

Branded sending domains have been considered the best way to make sure emails get delivered properly for quite some time. They allow you to send emails that appear to be coming from your brand, which can help you maintain a better reputation with email services. Below is a picture of a branded sending domain, where you can see the sending domain is actually a subdomain of the same domain used in the “From” email address. For example, “replies.zipleads.com.au” is a subdomain of “zipleads.com.au”.

In comparison, below is a picture of where the sending domain is not a subdomain of the “From” email address domain. The “from” email address domain is “gozipleads.com.au”, while the sending domain is “zipleads.com.au”. See how it doesn’t match?

How do you know if you already have a branded sending domain set up?

To check if you already have a branded sending domain, in your ZipLeads account, navigate to Settings > Email Services. Your sending domain will have a blue tick as per below. Does your sending domain have the format of reply.{yourdomainhere} or replies.{yourdomainhere}? If so, you have a branded sending domain!

Alternatively, if your sending domain has a similar format to {yourbusinessname}.replyausmail.com or {yourbusinessname}.zip-messages.com, you do not have a branded sending domain.

If you don’t have a branded sending domain and would like one set up in your account, please complete the form via the button below to register!

If you do have a branded sending domain, you will want to check you have a DMARC DNS record on your domain. To do this, visit your DNS hosting provider and check for the below record. If you do not have it already set up, please add the record.

What if you don't have a branded email address with your domain?

Alternatively, you may not have a branded email address with your domain, for example, you may have an unbranded Gmail address. In this case, your email address probably looks something like fitnessbiz@gmail.com. If this sounds like you, you may want to set up a branded email address so that you can also have a branded sending domain. If your email looks like fitnessbiz@gmail.com, we will not be able to assist you with a branded sending domain. Please click the below button to watch our guidelines on setting up a branded email address with Google Workspace!

What if you do not set up a branded sending domain?

If you do not choose to organise a branded sending domain for your account, your emails might be delayed, blocked, or marked as spam in Yahoo and Gmail inboxes. However, if you focus primarily on SMS automation, this may not be too big a concern for you.

If you’re unsure how to proceed, please email team@zipleads.com.au, or get in touch via the green chat icon in your account, and we will review your settings for you.