When sending emails through HoneyBook, you can choose to use HoneyBook’s default email sending service ([email protected]), or you can integrate with an external email service to handle email sending for you.

If you integrate an external email service to handle sending for you, and that email uses a custom domain (i.e., @yourbusinessname.com) and not a generic name (i.e., @gmail.com), you may need to define DKIM, SPF and DMARC records with your custom domain provider.

PLEASE NOTE: If you use HoneyBook’s default email sending service, no need to be concerned about DKIM, SPF or DMARC because HoneyBook handles this for you.

DKIM, SPF and DMARC are a set of email authentication protocols used by the email industry to help email recipients identify the authenticity of an email and its origin. When you define these records for your custom domain, you can decrease the likelihood of your email being marked as spam or rejected.

This protocol signs every email sent from your domain with a public key so that the servers of those receiving your email can check the key to validate that the email actually came from you.

DKIM records are TXT records. A DKIM TXT record includes both a TXT record name and record value that contains the DKIM public key. The key can either be 1024-bit or 2048-bit in length. Both the record name and record value should be generated by your email provider and then added to the DNS settings of your domain provider.

Here is an example* of a DKIM record name and record value:

*Do not use the above DKIM record for your domain—this is just an example.

This protocol defines a list of IP addresses that are permitted to send email from your domain name.

SPF records are TXT records (text only) that store information about your domain. SPF records will look different depending on how you configure them to behave.

Here is an example* of what an SPF record can look like:

*Do not use the above SPF record for your domain—this is just an example.

This protocol combines information from the previous two records and directs a recipient’s email servers on how to handle any emails that do not have DKIM and SPF defined.

DMARC is a TXT record that incorporates both SPF and DKIM. Prior to setting up DMARC, you will need to make sure SPF and DKIM are set up for your domain.

Here is an example* of a DMARC policy record:

*Do not use the above DMARC record for your domain—this is just an example.

You can check to see if these records are defined for your domain by using a publicly available tool such as: https://mxtoolbox.com/emailhealth.

If you are experiencing issues with email deliverability and you use an email with a custom domain, we strongly recommend that you work directly with your email and domain provider to configure DKIM, SPF, and DMARC. If you leave these records undefined with your domain provider, this can increase the likelihood of your email being rejected or marked as spam and leave you vulnerable to email spoofing attacks.

PLEASE NOTE: This process is done entirely outside of HoneyBook; you will not need any information from your HoneyBook account and HoneyBook is not able to complete this process for you.

If you use Google as your email provider, Google provides extensive resources on setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.

Still have questions? Feel free to send us a message by clicking the Question Mark icon on any HoneyBook page. Our team is always happy to help!