DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) is an essential feature that empowers Clozd to send invitation emails from your company's domain. Implementing DKIM with Clozd is a best practice that enhances the credibility of our email outreach, significantly improving participation rates in interviews and surveys.
This article contains the following sections:
What is a DKIM record?
A DKIM record is a specialized TXT file that is added by a domain owner to the DNS records on a domain. This DNS TXT record will contain a public key that’s used by receiving mail servers to verify a message’s signature authenticity. It permits Clozd to send emails from your email domain.
DKIM Integration Benefits
Clozd's email outreach begins with an Introduction Email, sent on your behalf to establish a credible connection between your organization and potential interviewees. This initial communication is crucial for setting the stage for a legitimate interview request from Clozd. Without DKIM, these emails are sent from a generic domain (invitations.clozd.com), despite displaying your organization's name and messaging. For instance, if an email is intended to be sent by Meridian's CMO, Christine Jones (christine@meridian.com), it would come from christine@invitations.clozd.com, with only the "Reply-to" address being christine@meridian.com.
This discrepancy can lead to skepticism among recipients, reducing their willingness to interview. By integrating DKIM, Clozd can send emails directly from your organization's domain, enhancing the authenticity of the outreach efforts and significantly boosting the likelihood of positive engagement. Implementing DKIM is crucial to ensure your email invitations are perceived as legitimate and trustworthy, directly contributing to higher participation rates.
Domain vs Subdomain
When setting up DKIM with Clozd, deciding between using your primary domain (e.g., yourcompany.com) or a subdomain (e.g., feedback.yourcompany.com) is crucial. Opting for a subdomain is recommended to protect your main domain's reputation, as it isolates email traffic and makes managing email campaigns and DKIM records easier. This approach safeguards against potential deliverability issues impacting your entire domain. On the other hand, using the root domain might seem simpler since it doesn't require choosing a subdomain. Still, it carries the risk of affecting your domain’s overall email reliability if not managed carefully.
For enhanced security and efficient email management, a subdomain provides a strategic advantage, ensuring your primary domain remains protected. For the best participation rates and credibility, send from either a subdomain or your root domain.
Setup Process
Follow these steps to establish a DKIM integration with Clozd:
1. Reach out to your Clozd Consultant or Clozd Support by emailing support@clozd.com.
2. Specify what domain you want us to send from. (It is best to use a subdomain) If you have to use your root domain, let us know.
3. Clozd will then provide the values you need to make DNS Records to give us permission to send from your domain.
4. Provide those values to your IT team or whoever is managing your domain along with the following instructions:
Instructions for your domain owner:
1. Generate DKIM and Return-Path Record
Generate a DKIM record from your email provider to add to your DNS. If you are unsure of how to do this, get in touch with the support team of the email provider you want to set up DKIM for so they can point you in the right direction (if your email provider is Google, please see their support article: Turn on DKIM for your Google Domain). Clozd will require its own DKIM record to be generated and added to your DNS if you want to pass DMARC DKIM alignment.
Similarly, if the sending source you are using supports using a custom return path, generate a custom return path record to add to your DNS to achieve DMARC SPF alignment.
2. Copy the following values over to your domain DNS records
DKIMPendingHost
Type: TXT
Name:
Value:
ReturnPathDomain
Type: CNAME
Name:
Value:
*NOTE: 'Name' and 'Value' must be copied with exact characters and spacing for the verification to be successful.
3. Add the DKIMPendingHost in the Host field and add the DKIMPendingTextValue as a TXT type
4. Add the ReturnPathDomain in the Host field and add the DKIMPendingTextValue as a TXT type
DKIM records are added to your DNS as a TXT record and Return-Path records are added as CNAME records. Your DNS is managed by your hosting provider, so you want to head there to add these records. This is not always the case, however. If you are using a DNS provider, such as DNSimple, you would need to add your DKIM and Return-Path records there instead of with your hosting provider.
5. Let Clozd support know when you are done creating the DNS records
Once the connection has been successfully verified, Clozd can create and send email sequences using the newly integrated domain.
Questions?
For questions about the fit of DKIM for your Clozd win-loss program, please contact your Clozd program manager.
For questions about DKIM or troubleshooting, please contact support@clozd.com
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