Cname , spf , dkim

[ishi12345]

Hi Everyone, 

I am a bit confused between different domains in marketo. For eg.  I have a client : example.com , We decided on two cname mail.example.com for email and lp.example.com for landing page. Now I am confused what would go under From Email: ( do i need to create subdomain for it) . Also under branding domain would it be mail.example.com or subdomain that we would create) . I am super confused with all the domains. 

[Darshil_Shah1 · Accepted solution]

When setting up domains, it's essential to understand their distinct purposes and how they interact with each other.

From Email: The "From Email" address is the email address displayed in the sender field of emails sent from Marketo. It's important to choose a recognizable and trustworthy email address that aligns with your brand. In your case, you could use either mail.example.com or create a subdomain specifically for email sending, such as support@example.com

Branding Domain: The branding domain is the root domain that Marketo uses to generate tracking links for emails and landing pages. It's typically the same domain as the "From Email" address, but it can also be a different domain if you have specific branding requirements.

CNAME Records: CNAME records are DNS records that point a subdomain to another domain. These CNAME records allow Marketo to handle email delivery and landing page hosting for your domains. There are plenty of threads on each of these on the Marketing Nation if you search.

For your LPs, the default LP address (e.g., https://na-sj02.marketo.com) should point to your branded address (e.g., https:/.go.YourCompany.com). Additionally, with the branded tracking links, you can choose a CNAME to use your own domain (instead of Marketo’s) in the links you include in emails from Marketo. This reinforces your domain branding and increases trust and deliverability with your recipients.

In addition to selecting appropriate domains, it's crucial to implement SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) records to enhance email deliverability. These authentication protocols help prevent your emails from being flagged as spam.

• SPF: SPF records specify which servers are authorized to send emails on behalf of your domain. This helps prevent unauthorized senders from forging emails and potentially damaging your sender reputation. Also, unless you have specifically added branded envelope sender domains to your subscription SPF doesn't matter at all. Sandy has a dedicated article on this on his blog page here.

• DKIM: DKIM goes a step further by digitally signing emails with a private key. This cryptographic signature allows receiving servers to verify that the email was actually sent from your domain and has not been tampered with in transit. In contrast to the SPF, DKIM is always recommended.

You should also check Josh's article on DKIM, SPF, and CNAME Setup for Marketo.

I hope this provides you with some clarity! Please let us know if you have any further questions. 🙂

[ishi12345 · Accepted solution]

@Darshil_Shah1 thank you so much for the great info . 

If we look at structure :

Company domain: example.com

From email: mail.example.com (to not use the coorporate main domain but only a sub domain)

then branding domain would be same as from email ? 

---Also then tracking links for both email and landing page would be different . 

such as  Tracking link: t.mail.example.com

Landing page: lp.mail.example.com

i think i am lost here . 

[Michael_Florin · Accepted solution]

No. A standard setup would look like this:

Email Sending Domain: mail.example.com (to create a from-email-address like marketing@mail.example.com)

LP Domain: page.example.com (that's part of all your landing pages' URLs: https://page.example.com/myMarketoLP

Branded Tracking Domain: t.example.com (this is the URL you'll see when you hover over any link in a Marketo email. It's called "tracking" link, as Marketo needs to redirect all clicks to this URL in order to track links, and it's "branded" as your company domain is in it.)

These three domains are necessary for any branded Marketo setup and they should all be distinct.

[ishi12345 · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the info : 

If i break down into steps then : 

We need to talk to the client's marketing team and ask them what their preferred from-email-domain would be.

In our case it is : mail.example.com 

Can we use this "mail.example.com" in from email ? 

Then we add that domain/subdomain to Marketo, and Marketo creates Public Key and TXT value for that entry.  Then you tell IT to add SPF and DKIM values to the DNS..

2. For Landing Page we will also need to define a subdomain. We have asked IT after deciding with marketing team to add cname to dns so eg. we have lp.example.com ( this would be subdomain for landing page ????) 

3. And for the branding domain , we would use "go. mail.example.com"  and give this to IT to add cname in dns . once they confirm we can add this in marketo. 

4. Also, i am confused if we use mail.example as subdomain for email , do we need to include this domain in lp as well such as lp.mail.example.com or what we have already decided on cname with customer which is lp.example.com can be used as landing page subdomain ? 

[SanfordWhiteman · Accepted solution]

Well, the SPF for the From: domain doesn’t actually matter (trade secret), but yes, set up the DKIM TXT record.

The Landing Page domain and Branding domain need not have any relationship to your verified From: domain. You could send From: user@mail.example.com and have your LP domain be pages.example.info.

The point is the From: domain, branding domain, and LP domain cannot have the same value. They need not actually have any subdomain-parent domain relationship (though they typically do), the important part is that they are entirely separate in DNS.

[ishi12345]

Thanks for all the info. Just last question so that i set up everything correctly: 

We need to talk to the client's marketing team and ask them what their preferred from-email-domain would be.

In our case it is : mail.example.com

Can we use this "mail.example.com" in from email ? yes 

Then we add that domain/subdomain to Marketo, and Marketo creates Public Key and TXT value for that entry.  Then you tell IT to add SPF and DKIM values to the DNS.. ( this would be the step to configure entry in dns? )

2. For Landing Page we will also need to define a subdomain. We have asked IT after deciding with marketing team to add cname to dns so eg. we have lp.example.com ( this would be subdomain for landing page ????) 

3. And for the branding domain , we would use "go.example.com"  and give this to IT to add cname in dns . once they confirm we can add this in marketo under branding domain . ( we would follow the same process as we did to add cname for landing page? but pointing to marketo tracking link?) 

[SanfordWhiteman · Accepted solution]

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Then we add that domain/subdomain to Marketo, and Marketo creates Public Key and TXT value for that entry.  Then you tell IT to add SPF and DKIM values to the DNS.. ( this would be the step to configure entry in dns? )

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Yes, you will add a DKIM TXT entry at m1._domainkey.mail.example.com and, optionally, an SPF TXT entry at mail.example.com.

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2. For Landing Page we will also need to define a subdomain. We have asked IT after deciding with marketing team to add cname to dns so eg. we have lp.example.com ( this would be subdomain for landing page ????)

---

Yes, this is the custom LP domain. It can be anything you want. You add a CNAME (alias) record where the left-hand-side (the alias) is your custom LP domain and the right-hand-side (the CNAME) is <accountstring>.mktoweb.com with the Account string from Admin.

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3. And for the branding domain , we would use "go.example.com"  and give this to IT to add cname in dns . once they confirm we can add this in marketo under branding domain . ( we would follow the same process as we did to add cname for landing page? but pointing to marketo tracking link?) 

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Yes, this is the custom branding domain. You will add a CNAME record where the alias is go.example.com and the CNAME is mkto-<nnnn>.com from Admin.

[ishi12345]

thank you so much @SanfordWhiteman for all your help !! 

[SanfordWhiteman]

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From email: mail.example.com (to not use the coorporate main domain but only a sub domain)

then branding domain would be same as from email ?

---

No, it’s impossible for the branding (link tracking) domain to be the same as your From: domain. Fundamental DNS rules prohibit this. Like Michael and Darshil say, you will have a different subdomain for each of the areas — branding, landing page, (where applicable) envelope sender.