What Are Brand Indicators for Message Identification?
Brand indicators for message identification (BIMI) are, in the most basic sense, a way for brands to display their logo in a recipient’s inbox.
In other words, the next time “Acme Corporation” sends a marketing email to a potential customer, that prospect will see the Acme logo next to the email sitting in their inbox—make sense?
Example Brand Indicators for Message Identification in Desktop View
While putting a logo inside an inbox isn’t a “new idea” (some email service providers have been pulling logos from caches, websites, etc. to display next to messages from certain senders for years), this is the first time the sender can own that brand impression.
Using the fictional example referenced above, that means the Acme Corporation gets to decide what logo recipients see displayed in their inbox—not the ESP.
THAT is the power of BIMI.
By leveraging BIMI, brands can take even more control over the email-based user experience.
Why are brand indicators for message identification important?
They’re important not only because they give brands control of how their logo appears in a prospect’s inbox, but because the presence of that instills confidence in the recipient.
In an era where phishing and spoofing are all too common, seeing brand indicators for message identification helps recipients know a given email is authentic. And when people know an email is from a reputable, trusted source, they’re more likely to open it. Put another way, BIMI increases the effectiveness of email marketing (i.e. likelihood of engagement) by providing both brands and recipients with an additional layer of identity verification.
Brand Indicators for Message Identification Example for Mobile
What are 3 ways brand indicators for message identification can help your business?
Three words: visibility, authenticity, and engagement.
BIMI helps prevent customers from interacting with fraudulent emails, increasing their confidence that messages from your brand are authentic.
When recipients know an email is authentic—when they feel confident the sender is who they say they are—they’re more likely to engage with the contents of your email.
How to get started with BIMI?
To start you need additional, foundational authentication records.
Once you set these records up, access your domain name servers and upload a new BIMI DNS entry (your logo should be an .SVG file for it to work properly).
