What is BIMI and what do I need to do?

"BIMI is an exciting case where marketers and security professionals are aligned."

BIMI stands for Brand Indicators for Message Identification and is an emerging email specification that enables the use of brand-controlled logos within supporting email clients.
BIMI is a way to verify your brand and sender information, similar to other email authentication standards, so essentially a text record that lives on your servers. For the brand’s logo to be displayed, the email must pass DMARC authentication checks, ensuring that the organization’s domain has not been impersonated.  

BIMI can help recipients recognize and trust your brand in the inbox. Recipients may better recognize and interact with your messaging by making a visual connection to your brand logo. BIMI may potentially improve email opens or clicks, as compared to messages sent without logo impressions in the user’s mailbox, and to fewer unsubscribes and spam complaints that can improve your deliverability.


How to implement:

Step 1: Authenticate all of your organization’s emails with SPF, DKIM and DMARC – ensure all are aligned

• • DMARC policy must be at enforcement – either “p=quarantine” or “p=reject” on the organizational domain (your from domain).
    This process shows receivers that you’re conscientious of the types of messages your brand sends and why you send them, building your reputation as a sender.
  • No sp=none or pct<100
  • Head to dmarc.org in case you need more help.

Step 2: Create an SVG Tiny PS version of your official logo 

• • The image should be a square aspect ratio
  • For optimal display, the image should be centered as it may be displayed as a circle or square with rounded corners depending on the implementation.
  • The SVG document should be as small as possible and should not exceed 32 kilobytes.
  • The background should be a solid color, as transparent backgrounds may not display as expected.
    read more at the BIMI group's page

Step 3: Publish a BIMI record for your domain in DNS

• • default._bimi.[domain] IN TXT “v=BIMI1; l=[SVG URL]; a=[PEM URL]
  • Validate or create your BIMI record with the BIMI Inspector

Providers that support BIMI:

Currently the following mailbox providers support BIMI:

• • yahoo!
  • Aol.
  • Netscape
  • Google (Gmail, Google Workspace)
  • Fastmail
  • Pobox

Providers like Comcast and Seznam.cz are considering BIMI but Microsoft with Outlook and Office 365 and Yahoo! Japan not. 

Visit bimigroup.org for updates and more information.