Email From Setup

  • Updated

When you pick the email addresses that appear as the From name on your messages, every domain those addresses use needs to be authenticated so Act-On can send in your name. If you send from info@company.com and sales@ourcompany.net, you complete this setup for both company.com and ourcompany.net.

Who does this: Marketing picks the From addresses and owns the outcome. IT publishes the DNS records. Act-On Support activates the setup at the end
Time needed: 30 minutes of active work, plus waiting on DNS propagation (up to 24 hours) and Support confirmation
Why this matters: This is the setup that decides whether your campaigns reach the inbox. Without SPF, DKIM, and DMARC on every From domain, recipient mailboxes treat Act-On as someone impersonating your brand - and Gmail/Yahoo simply won't deliver bulk mail at all.
In plain English: You're publishing three short records at your DNS provider for each domain you send from. They tell Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo that Act-On is a legitimate sender for your brand. Once all three are in place and Support confirms, you're done.
Common pitfall: Every domain you send from must complete this process. That applies both to From Addresses added in Settings and to Personalized From Addresses used in your marketing lists. Missing one quietly breaks authentication for that slice of your sends.
Quick Reference (Advanced Users) - Click to Expand

For each From domain, publish these three DNS records, then submit the support ticket at the end of this article.

  • SPF (TXT): v=spf1 include:_spf.act-on.net -all. If you already have an SPF record, add include:_spf.act-on.net to it rather than creating a second one.
  • DKIM (CNAME): Name {{AOAccountID}}aoauth._domainkey, Value dkim.act-on.com. Replace {{AOAccountID}} with your Act-On account ID. For multiple accounts, use the parent account ID on all children.
  • DMARC (TXT): Name _dmarc, Value v=DMARC1; p=none.

Related: What is SPF?, What is DKIM?, What is DMARC?, Editing Your DNS to Implement DKIM.

SPF for Email From

You need SPF (Sender Policy Framework) on every Email From domain to let Act-On send email in your name. See What is SPF? for why this matters for deliverability.

  1. Pick the addresses you want to use as From addresses (for example, marketing@company.com, janesmith@ourcompany.com, info@company.net) and make a list of the unique domains (bolded in those examples).
  2. Add the From addresses in Act-On.
  3. For each domain, work with your mail or IT team to create a new TXT record in DNS:
    • v=spf1 include:_spf.act-on.net -all
    • If the domain already has an SPF record, add include:_spf.act-on.net between the existing v=spf1 and -all rather than creating a second record.
  4. Continue with DKIM below.
Important: Setup is not finished until all three sections below (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) are complete and you've submitted the support ticket at the end.

DKIM for Email From

You need DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) on every Email From domain so Act-On can sign messages from your brand. See What is DKIM? for why this matters.

  1. Gather the same list of From-address domains you used above.
  2. From the Start page in Act-On, find your Account ID.
    • Your Account ID is listed next to your Account Name.
    • You can also find it in the top-left menu under Account Details.
  3. For each domain, work with IT to create a new CNAME record in DNS:
    • Name / Host: {{AOAccountID}}aoauth._domainkey. Replace {{AOAccountID}} with your Account ID from step 2.
    • Value / Points To: dkim.act-on.com.
    • Step-by-step instructions for common DNS providers are in Editing Your DNS to Implement DKIM.
    • For multiple accounts: use your parent account's ID for the CNAME entry on all child accounts.
  4. Continue with DMARC below.
Important: Setup is not finished until all three sections and the support ticket at the end are complete.

DMARC for Email From

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) has to be set up on every domain you send from. A DMARC record has been required for delivery to Gmail and Yahoo domains since 1 February 2024.

There isn't a single DMARC record that fits every sender. The example below meets Gmail and Yahoo's minimum requirement. If you already have a working DMARC record, you don't need to change it just for this.

  1. Gather the same list of From-address domains you used above.
  2. For each domain, work with IT to create a new TXT record in DNS:
    • Name / Host: _dmarc
    • Value: v=DMARC1; p=none
  3. Continue to the support ticket below.
Important: Setup is not finished until you submit the support ticket below.

Support ticket for Email From

Once SPF, DKIM, and DMARC are published for every From domain, submit the form below so our support team can complete the setup on the Act-On side.

Support will reply to confirm that setup is complete.

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