Mailchimp is an automated email marketing platform that’s used by businesses to reach their target audience. In this informative post, we’ll go over how to configure and set up MailChimp Authentication with DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM). We won’t be going over the SPF setup. As of now, MailChimp does not support SPF alignment.
SPF Record Configuration
For businesses using MailChimp, please note that MailChimp does not support SPF alignment. This means emails sent through MailChimp will always fail SPF checks. Therefore, it is essential to properly configure DKIM, as it becomes the only authentication method that can ensure your emails pass DMARC checks.
Now, let’s proceed with the DKIM configuration.
Verifying and setting up DKIM for MailChimp
Go to your MailChimp account and click on your profile name. From there, select “Profile” and then go to the “Domains” section. You can refer to the screenshot below for further guidance.
From there, you can start the authentication process.
The first step would be to enter the domain provider that you’re using (NameCheap, GoDaddy…)
Then, Mailchimp will prompt you to add the required records directly in your DNS zone. But, since you’ll be using the Managed DKIM solution to manage your DKIM records, you should instead navigate to your Managed DKIM dashboard and add the provided records there.
In the third step, MailChimp will provide you with two CNAME records containing DomainKeys and selectors unique to your domain.
Copy the 2 CNAME records:
Head to the Managed DKIM dashboard and add the provided records there:
The next step would be to sit back and enjoy your coffee while MailChimp verifies everything, this could take a couple of hours up to a full day.
Once everything is set, MailChimp will let you know that your domain is authenticated and you can go forward with your marketing campaigns.
Note: Wait for at least 24 hours after the authentication process is done to receive the updated reports.
Important note: If the provider recommends publishing also a DMARC record, there’s no need to do so if you already have a DMARC record in place, as each domain can only have one DMARC record.
If you have any further questions, don’t hesitate to contact the EasyDMARC support team via the form on our website or at EasyDMARC Support