End-to-end checklist
From start to end, everything you need to do to successfully implement BIMI
This checklist covers everything required to implement BIMI and makes it easy to work through the process in a structured and systematic way.
Steps 1–5 are independent and can run in parallel. None of them depend on a previous step being complete. For example, you can have a designer prepare your logo while you simultaneously loop in other teams and start auditing your DNS setup.
The checklist
Prepare your logo
BIMI has specific requirements for the logo. You should take care to ensure your logo meets BIMI specifications and is also displayed in a way that is optimal for email inboxes.
See the logo requirements guide for details on how to prepare a logo valid for BIMI use.
Loop in other teams (optional)
Implementing BIMI has the potential to impact many teams. Your security and infrastructure teams will want to be involved with any email security and domain configuration changes. Sales teams may have configured their email to show their avatar and not want to replace it with a logo. The design team will likely want a logo to be shown in a specific way that's optimized for BIMI. How BIMI impacts your organization is unique to you, but it's worth spending time thinking about which teams will be involved or have concerns.
Audit and update SPF and DKIM
Gather a list of all email sending sources and domains for your organization. Sources includes but are not limited to, transactional email services, billing systems, support desks, CRMs, marketing platforms, calendar invite platforms, recruiting platforms, contract signing platforms, and any internal application that sends notifications. Once you have all the domains you send from and what sources send from those domains, you can update DNS for each domain.
Check your DMARC setup
BIMI requires that your domain's DNS records for DMARC be configured a specific way. Your organization may already be setup correctly but if not, there are steps you need to take to safely roll it out and be ready for BIMI
Update public business info
You will need to purchase a Mark Certificate from a certificate authority to validate your organization's identity and potentially trademark ownership. Part of the process of purchasing a mark certificate is that the certificate authority will manually validate your business information using online sources, usually Dun & Bradstreet. You may even be asked for your Dun & Bradstreet number. This validation process is typically the most consuming part of implementing BIMI. You will want to view your company's information shown on Dun and Bradstreet and confirm that every single piece is up to date. Address, phone number, officers, etc.
See the guide on Mark Certificates for a full rundown on the process
Purchase a mark certificate
This is typically the most time intensive and confusing part of implementing BIMI because it requires a certificate authority to validate your business and logo ownership. To purchase a certificate, we recommend GlobalSign as we've found their business validation process the smoothest among certificate issuers and their team reliable to work with. Business validation with a certificate authority is typically the most time intensive and confusing part of implementing BIMI so working with the a reliable, communicative certificate authority makes a world of difference.
Be sure you complete step 5 above and update your public business information. This will go a long way to ensuring a smooth and quick business validation process.
Going live
Once you've completed purchasing a mark certificate and it's been issued by a certificate authority, going live is only a matter of adding the BIMI TXT record to your domain's DNS records. That's it! It may take a few hours before you starting seeing it show up in inboxes.
See the guide on going live for more details and troubleshooting