Prerequisites for Email domain and IP configuration

[neelambakre]

Hi All,

My client is new to the Marketo instance who wants to set up Email domains within Marketo for Email deliverability. I have gone through the the available Marketo documentations for set up but couldn't get clear understanding of it. The document states to insert CNAME,SPF,MX records for this set up. Who will do this ?

Can someone please provide step by step set up guidelines for Email domain/IP set up ? Is this configuration needs to be done by Marketo support ? or We only need to configure it within instance ? What are the pre requisites which are expected from client end for this set up ?

Kindly advise.

Thanks & Regards,

Neelam

[Michael_Florin · Accepted solution]

Let's start here:

https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/marketo/using/product-docs/email-marketing/deliverability/se...

You create the email domain. Meaning: You talk to the client's marketing team and ask them what their preferred from-email-domain would be. Usually something like "mail.example.com", where "mail" is the agreed upon subdomain. Some companies also like "hello.example.com" or something like that.

Then you 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 as described in the linked documents.
---

For Landing Page you will also need to define a subdomain. Like pages.example.com or content.example.com or whatever you like and whatever is not yet in use in your client's web cosmos. Because Marketo takes ownership of these subdomains.

https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/marketo/using/product-docs/demand-generation/landing-pages/l...

---

And here's the documentation for branded tracking domains: https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/marketo/using/product-docs/administration/email-setup/add-mu...

Hope this helps,
Michael

[Michael_Florin]

---

. The document states to insert CNAME,SPF,MX records for this set up. Who will do this ?

Your client's IT department needs to do this. It requires access to that company's DNS server which is usually IT.

Other than that there's not much to add to this document:

https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/marketo/using/product-docs/email-marketing/deliverability/se...

Hand that to IT and they should be able to understand it.

And let me add right away that there are two more areas where you need IT involvement: Landing Page domains and Email Tracking Domains. After you have set these up, you can go back to Marketo Support and request SSL for these two domains.

[neelambakre]

Hey @Michael_Florin ,

Thanks for the response.

I have asked below details from client end for this set up :

LandingPageCNAME

EmailPageCNAME

Account String

Tracking Link

Fallback URL for Landing page

Based on my understanding , I need to create TXT records on the basis of these values and then share it with client's IT team to configure it in their DNS server. Once they configuration these records in DNS server , I need to fill these details at instance level.

Post this configuration I need to request for SSL from support. Am I following the correct process ? Do let me know me if m missing anything.

Thanks & Regards,

Neelam

[Michael_Florin · Accepted solution]

Let's start here:

https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/marketo/using/product-docs/email-marketing/deliverability/se...

You create the email domain. Meaning: You talk to the client's marketing team and ask them what their preferred from-email-domain would be. Usually something like "mail.example.com", where "mail" is the agreed upon subdomain. Some companies also like "hello.example.com" or something like that.

Then you 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 as described in the linked documents.
---

For Landing Page you will also need to define a subdomain. Like pages.example.com or content.example.com or whatever you like and whatever is not yet in use in your client's web cosmos. Because Marketo takes ownership of these subdomains.

https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/marketo/using/product-docs/demand-generation/landing-pages/l...

---

And here's the documentation for branded tracking domains: https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/marketo/using/product-docs/administration/email-setup/add-mu...

Hope this helps,
Michael

[AndresBautista]

Hello @Michael_Florin, 

Where can I find the list of IPs, in this case dedicated, to be able to configure the allow list in the hosting?

[SanfordWhiteman]

If you have a dedicated IP, just send an email and check the originating mailserver. You should also have communication from Marketo where they tell you the IP!

[neelambakre]

Hi @Michael_Florin ,

Thanks a ton for such detailed explanation. Now I got the clear understanding of Domain configuration process. 🙂

[neelambakre]

Hi,

My client has already integrated their brand's primary domain within O365 and they can not provide any other subdomains which contains their primary domain name. In this case , client is asking us to send out emails using marketo's primary domain. For example, by using xyz.marketo.com. 

By any chance , can we send out email/configure landing pages using Marketo as a primary domain ?

Kindly advise.

Thanks and Regrads,

Neelam

[SanfordWhiteman]

---

My client has already integrated their brand's primary domain within O365 and they can not provide any other subdomains which contains their primary domain name.

---

That doesn’t make technical sense — there’s no such rule in DNS. Are they claiming it’s technically impossible?

You can’t use a subdomain of marketo.com in your From: header. You can use the automatically allocated mkto-nnnn.com. But this is not advised as you’re expected to handle human replies to Marketo emails. You also won’t be able to have LPs or tracked links under the client domain... have to wonder why you’d use an enterprise platform like Marketo if you don’t want to feature your brand everywhere you can!

[neelambakre]

Hi @SanfordWhiteman ,

Thanks for prompt response.

Does it mean client has to provide us subdomains , one for email tracking and other for Landing page which we need to be point to Marketo's domain? and Why there is a need to insert DKIM & SPF records in company's primary domain's DNS as company's primary domain's is not being used for sending out email communications.

Let's say client has provided us "em.companyprimarydomain.com" & "lnp.companyprimarydomain.com". All we need to do is to point these domains to Marketo. Is there any need to perform IP warmup activity for these new domains?  If No, then why?

Also, Is it advisable to use Marketo's domains to send out email communications rather than using company's primary domain ?

Thanks, and regards,

Neelam B.

[SanfordWhiteman · Accepted solution]

---

Does it mean client has to provide us subdomains , one for email tracking and other for Landing page which we need to be point to Marketo's domain?

---

Yes. And optionally a subdomain for From: addresses, if you don’t want to send from mailbox@example.com  but from (for example) mailbox@marketing.example.com.

---

Why there is a need to insert DKIM & SPF records in company's primary domain's DNS as company's primary domain's is not being used for sending out email communications.

---

There is no need to change the SPF record for example.com, nor for any subdomain unless you deliberately want to set up a branded envelope sender (fully optional). Even with branded envelope sender the SPF record would be for envelope.example.com, not example.com.

You’d set up a DKIM record for m1._domainkey.example.com only if you’re using user@example.com as your From:. If you’re sending From: mailbox@marketing.example.com  the DKIM record would be for m1._domainkey.marketing.example.com, thus not directly under the main domain.

---

Let's say client has provided us "em.companyprimarydomain.com" & "lnp.companyprimarydomain.com". All we need to do is to point these domains to Marketo. Is there any need to perform IP warmup activity for these new domains?  If No, then why?

---

You don’t perform IP warmup activity for inbound HTTP requests.

[neelambakre]

Hi @SanfordWhiteman ,

I have a query regarding DKIM/SPF setup. Why there is a need to add DKIM/SPF records at company's branding domain level ? as we are using marketo's domain to send out communication, so DKIM is already set up at marketo's end.

Is there any need of SSL certificate installation? If So, for which domains and who will be responsible for this installation?

Regards,

Neelam B.

[SanfordWhiteman]

---

I have a query regarding DKIM/SPF setup. Why there is a need to add DKIM/SPF records at company's branding domain level ? as we are using marketo's domain to send out communication, so DKIM is already set up at marketo's end.

---

You’re confusing technologies I think.

You never need to set up DKIM (let alone SPF) for the branding domain. That’s the click tracking domain, the domain Marketo rewrites links to. It never appears in message headers (From:/Reply-To:) nor in the SMTP envelope (MAIL FROM:). So setting up email-specific DNS records for that domain makes no sense.

Is there any need of SSL certificate installation? If So, for which domains and who will be responsible for this installation?

Marketo installs the cert for your branding domain(s) and LP domain(s) — any domains accessed over HTTP should have SSL certs.  Those are Marketo servers, so you can’t manage certs on them. But you open a Support ticket to get it done.

[neelambakre]

Hi @SanfordWhiteman ,

From my understanding, we're adding DKIM/SPF records to the DNS server for Marketo's domains. This will authorize Marketo to send emails on behalf of the company. Since emails are addressed from the company's domain but sent from IP addresses assigned to Marketo's domains, this is the reason why we need to include this entry in the company's DNS server. (Please let me know if I have misunderstood the concept.)

Does this mean that any issues with Marketo's email sending practices could directly affect the organization's reputation and potentially result in emails being marked as spam? Would a poor sending reputation for Marketo have a negative impact on the company's domain reputation and deliverability?

Are Marketo email campaigns comply with all email regulations such as CAN-SPAM, GDPR ?

Regards,

Neelam B.

[SanfordWhiteman]

---

From my understanding, we're adding DKIM/SPF records to the DNS server for Marketo's domains

---

No, we wouldn’t phrase it that way! They’re not “Marketo’s domains”. Marketo’s domains are marketo.com, mktoweb.com, mkto-nnnn.com, mktoresp.com, munchkin.net, and so on.

It’s very confusing to refer to the corporate domains/subdomains that you’ve allocated for marketing purposes as Marketo’s domains. They’re your marketing domains: the click tracking/branding domain, the LP/asset domain, the From: domain, and (you don’t have this with your subscription) the envelope sender domain.

---

This will authorize Marketo to send emails on behalf of the company. Since emails are addressed from the company's domain but sent from IP addresses assigned to Marketo's domains, this is the reason why we need to include this entry in the company's DNS server. (Please let me know if I have misunderstood the concept.)

---

Not really. The IP addresses make no difference because you don’t have a branded envelope sender.

(Also, IP addresses aren’t “assigned to” a primary domain for SMTP. An unlimited number of domains can allow an IP address to use their domain in MAIL FROM. That’s not a characteristic of the IP address, but a characteristic of each domain’s SPF record. Looking up the IP address cannot tell you the domains. Anyway, SPF is completely irrelevant to your setup which is why you do not need to alter the SPF record for any of your marketing domains.)

If you have more questions about this it might be good to get your IT team on the phone with someone knowledgeable in this area.

---

Does this mean that any issues with Marketo's email sending practices could directly affect the organization's reputation and potentially result in emails being marked as spam? Would a poor sending reputation for Marketo have a negative impact on the company's domain reputation and deliverability?

---

Of course, shared risk comes with a shared service.

But unless you’re sending spam, you don’t need to worry much about your domain reputation being damaged outside of Marketo. Your Marketo deliverability can be affected by Marketo’s reputation at a given point in time, but — again, if you aren’t spamming people — it’s not going to be contagious and hurt deliverability from your company’s mail server.

---

Are Marketo email campaigns comply with all email regulations such as CAN-SPAM, GDPR ?

You are responsible for complying with CAN-SPAM and GDPR. Marketo itself honors and persists Unsubscribe requests. But if, for example, you prohibit people from Unsubscribing (a violation in any country) Marketo cannot know this. Once the complaints come in, Marketo may suspend you from the platform, but it can’t know in advance that you’re sending to people you shouldn’t.

[neelambakre]

Hi @SanfordWhiteman ,

Thanks a lot for the prompt response and detailed explanation.

Regards,

Neelam B.