Validating Your Technical Setup

  • Updated

Once SPF, DKIM, and your marketing domain are published in DNS, it's worth independently verifying that the records are live and correct. The checks below use a free third-party tool called MX Toolbox, which queries public DNS and reports what it finds. If each record comes back green, your setup is live on the internet - not just on paper.

Who does this: Marketing or IT, anyone with a browser. No Act-On admin access needed for the lookups themselves; the final Marketing Domain change in Act-On requires an admin
Time needed: 10 to 15 minutes to run all three checks
Why this matters: DNS changes propagate at different speeds across the internet, and a typo or missing record can silently break authentication for part of your audience. Independent validation catches those problems before your next campaign goes out.
In plain English: You're asking a neutral third party "can you see these records?" If they can, Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo can see them too.
Quick Reference (Advanced Users) - Click to Expand
  • SPF: MX Toolbox > SPF Record Lookup. Run on both base domain and envelope/mailer subdomain. Expect all green checks and the value v=spf1 include:_spf.act-on.net -all.
  • DKIM: MX Toolbox > DKIM Lookup. Selector is {{AOAccountID}}aoauth._domainkey against your From domain. Expect green checks and a public key (key value itself will differ from anyone else's).
  • Custom Marketing Domain: MX Toolbox > CNAME Lookup, then load the URL in a browser and confirm it redirects. Update in Act-On at Branding > Domain > Edit.

Test SPF configuration

For optimal delivery, you need SPF on both your base domain (where the From address lives) and your envelope/mailer subdomain. The reason for both: the receiving mail server checks SPF at multiple points in the routing.

  1. Open MX Toolbox.
  2. Enter your base domain and click MX Lookup.
    • The MX Lookup page has useful information but nothing about SPF yet.
  3. On that results page, click the down arrow next to the action button and pick SPF Record Lookup.
  4. You want all green checkboxes, the string v=spf1 include:_spf.act-on.net -all in the green box, and at least one row in the lookup table below.
  5. Repeat for your envelope/mailer subdomain (for example, mailer.company.com). Look for the same result.
Note: MX Toolbox also flags issues beyond your Act-On setup, such as DNS propagation delays. A freshly published record can take up to 24 hours to become visible globally.

Test DKIM configuration

DKIM lookups use MX Toolbox as well. You'll need your DKIM selector, which is your Act-On Account ID followed by aoauth._domainkey, combined with your From domain.

  1. Back in MX Toolbox, use the right-hand drop-down and pick DKIM Lookup.
  2. Enter your DKIM selector and domain. For example, Act-On's own selector on acton-success.com is {{AOAccountID}}aoauth._domainkey.acton-success.com.
  3. Expect green checkboxes and a visible public key.
    • The public key value itself will differ from the example - that's fine. You're confirming a key is present and the record is well-formed.

Test your Custom Marketing Domain

Act-On strongly recommends using separate subdomains from your top-level domain for your Envelope From and your Custom Marketing Domain. For example, on the root mycompany.com you might use mailer.mycompany.com for the envelope and info.mycompany.com for the marketing domain.

Why separate subdomains matter: If your Envelope From sender reputation ever worsens, your marketing domain stays partially protected. Sharing one subdomain for both creates a single point of failure.
  1. In MX Toolbox, select CNAME Lookup and enter your marketing domain.
  2. Look for green checkboxes.
  3. Then open the marketing domain URL in your browser and verify it redirects to the URL you intended. For Act-On's own marketing domain, the CNAME redirects to Act-On's main web page.

Update the Marketing Domain in Act-On

Once the CNAME is confirmed working, update it in Act-On:

  1. In Act-On, go to the Branding section. The main Branding page has a Marketing Domain box showing the current setting.
  2. Click the Domain tab, then click Edit in the upper right.
  3. Enter your new CNAME marketing domain in the editing panel and save.

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