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Hi, {{first_name|friend}}. 👋
Welcome to Issue #225 of All About Email!
Last week, Substack became the focus of this newsletter for the first time following a surprise announcement.
This week, we take a deep dive into BIMI, which has changed slightly since we last reviewed it, and I have a brief Campfire update.
Let’s go! 👇
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It’s BIMI time!
🚨 BIMI is only supported by 27.78% of inbox providers, but don’t let that stop you from reading any further, as some things have changed recently.
(Check out who supports BIMI, who’s “considering” supporting BIMI and then )
Many of you will know what BIMI is, but for those who don’t, think of it as social media’s blue checkmark for email.
💙 If you want the blue checkmark in Gmail, you will need a VMC (Verified Mark Certificate). Gmail’s recent update to support CMCs (Common Mark Certificates) won’t display the blue checkmark when you use a CMC.
With a CMC, the sender's brand avatar will be displayed instead.
OK…time for a little refresher or maybe something new? 👇
What is BIMI?
BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) is an emerging email protocol that displays your branded logo next to your company’s emails in inboxes.
💡 If you’re not sure whether you are using BIMI or if your records are working correctly, there are several free tools you can use to check, including the BIMI Group’s tool.
Check out my result. 😃
How does BIMI work?
To quote the BIMI Group:
“Domain owners (brands) publish brand assertions for domains via DNS.
Then, for any email message received by a mailbox provider, the mailbox provider authenticates the message. If the message passes authentication, the mailbox provider queries the DNS for a corresponding BIMI record. If a BIMI record is present, the mailbox provider can use the brand (logo) with the display of that message in the inbox.”
💡 So for BIMI to work, you need:
Be DMARC compliant,
Have a DMARC policy of “Reject”,
A compatible BIMI logo in DNS (hosted securely using HTTPS),
A certified ownership of that brand logo. **
** That’s the CMC and VMC stuff we spoke about earlier, {{first_name|friend}}. 😉
Additional Info You Should Definitely Read
If you’re not quite sure about how to become DMARC-compliant (or why you need it), Lauren Meyer has a brilliant blog post about it.
If you want to know how to set up DMARC monitoring easily, then I have you covered in Issue 120.
How Do I Set up BIMI?
The BIMI Group offers an official implementation guide and a convenient tool to help you build your own record, to which I’ve made a quick video. 👇
💡 If you aren’t sure of the criteria for an SVG of your brand logo/image, the BIMI Group outlines them in these handy guidelines, and you can use a free tool like Affinity Studio or Adobe Illustrator.
🚨 Converting an SVG to a compliant version can be challenging. While the BIMI Group offers helpful advice and a beta converter, it may still be difficult for some.
Instead, this free converter from EasyDMARC is perfect, and it’s the one I use.
What’s Changed about BIMI?
Since we last covered BIMI in detail way back in October 2024 in Issue 161, some things have changed:
You can’t use Entrust VMCs anymore (but there are other options).
Microsoft has discontinued support for inline SVGs, which doesn’t directly affect BIMI (for a couple of reasons).
We now have a new AVP tag. Avatar Preference (optional; default: "brand") lets the domain owner specify whether to display the BIMI logo or the sender’s personal avatar, where both are supported. If not present, treat as avp=brand.
💡 If you have any questions about BIMI or feedback on this newsletter, {{first_name|friend}}, please reply to let me know.
Campfire Email 🔥🪵
I last gave an update on my seemingly eternal “soon to be launched” email community back on December 1st, 2025.
Not much has changed since then, and I was hoping to launch an unfinished version (that’s what we call “beta”) at the end of January… well, it’s February 1st, and guess what?
I’m still not ready. 🤦♂️
I am closer than I’ve ever been, and I am now aiming for the end of February. Hang in there {{first_name|friend}}, and if you’ve never heard of Campfire Email, you can read more in the initial announcement post.
That’s it for this week. 👋
Curiosity Corner
Welcome to Curiosity Corner! Each week, I throw one question your way…not always about email marketing, but always worth a reply.
Last week, I asked, ”Do you use Substack”?
“No” leading with 8 out of 11 votes (72.73%) 👇
🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Yes (3) 🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 No (8) ⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ Not for much longer (0)
11 Votes
This week’s question is:
Do you use BIMI?
All About Email - Playlist 🎧
Every week, as I write this newsletter, I'll share the track of the moment to create an unbelievably eclectic playlist just for your inbox.
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Email Marketing News & Tips
This week's excellent and insightful email news & tips:
Fresh Start - Top Designs for January. (ActionRocket)
🚨 Gmail’s Blind Spots - How to stop AI-powered phishing attacks. (Valimail)
How to Fix It - Samsung Email’s auto-fit is breaking your emails. (Mark Robbins & Customer[dot]io)
💡 Rant Time! - Phishing scammers and cousin domains. (Travis Hazlewood)
From and reply to - Routability and matching domains? (Spam Resource)
What marketers should know - 2026 email deliverability predictions. (Braze)
Looking Back - What are some things you wish you had done differently? (Emily Ryan)
Camille Geeter - When Your Email Career Refuses to Fit a Box. (EmailBoutique)
🎉 Best Practices - Are still in charge. (Alison Gootee)
Customer Appreciation - The Best 125 Customer Appreciation Email Examples & Designs in 2026. (Really Good Emails)
!important tips - Is now also on LinkedIn - Multi-channel ≠ orchestrated. (Customer[dot]io)
Built, Not Bought - Email can create Communities, not just Customers. (ActionRocket)
If you have any questions about this email or email marketing, please reply, and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
I hope you have a great week! 👋
