BIMI

BIMI is a new email authentication standard that allows a brand’s logo to be displayed next to its messages in recipients’ inboxes.

The acronym BIMI stands for Brand Indicators for Message Identification.

Essentially, BIMI adds an extra layer of security and brand recognition to your email marketing campaigns: when you send an email, if your domain is properly authenticated, your company logo is displayed as the sender’s avatar, providing visibility and trust.

This protocol works in conjunction with existing authentication systems (primarily SPF, DKIM, and DMARC).

First, you ensure your emails are authenticated using these technologies; then, BIMI uses that verification to confirm that the message truly comes from your organization.

Once verified, major supported email providers and clients (such as Gmail, Yahoo Mail, or Apple Mail) will display your brand logo next to the message.

This way, users can recognize at a glance who is sending the email, which is highly useful for differentiating your legitimate communications from phishing attempts or spam.

In other words, BIMI gives your company control over the image that appears in the user’s inbox.

Previously, many emails only displayed generic initials or default icons; with BIMI, you can ensure that your subscribers identify your actual logo when checking their emails.

This not only reinforces your brand’s presence in the email channel but also improves the overall security of the email ecosystem by making it easier to identify trusted senders.

Benefits of implementing BIMI in email marketing

Adopting BIMI brings multiple advantages from both a marketing and security standpoint.

Here are the main benefits of implementing BIMI in your email campaigns:

Increased trust and credibility:

Seeing your company logo allows recipients to immediately recognize the sender.

This visual recognition builds trust, as it confirms the email truly comes from a legitimate source (your brand) and not an impersonator.

In times when phishing and fraudulent emails are common, this visual seal of authenticity provides peace of mind to your subscribers.

Strengthened brand identity:

BIMI turns every email into a branding opportunity.

Having your logo present in the inbox reinforces your brand identity in the consumer’s mind.

Even if the user doesn’t open the email immediately, they will see your corporate emblem, helping to keep your company top-of-mind and recognizable.

This differentiates you from other messages in the same inbox that lack any visual brand elements.

Potential improvement in open rates:

While the success of an email campaign depends on many factors (content relevance, an engaging subject line, proper segmentation, etc.), having your logo visible can positively influence open rates.

Subscribers might feel more inclined to open an email if they clearly identify that it comes from a brand they know and trust.

In early studies, companies that adopted BIMI have observed increases in user interaction with their emails, including more opens and clicks.

Higher deliverability and sender reputation:

Implementing BIMI implies that you have taken the necessary steps to properly authenticate your domains (SPF, DKIM, and DMARC).

These protocols and the BIMI policy send a strong signal to email providers that you are a reliable sender.

As a result, it improves your sending reputation, which can translate into better deliverability (meaning more emails reaching the inbox rather than the spam folder).

In short, BIMI helps demonstrate to services like Gmail or Outlook that your messages are legitimate, making it easier for them to pass security filters.

Differentiation from the competition:

Relatively few companies have incorporated BIMI into their email strategies so far.

If you decide to use it, your brand will visually stand out among many other emails in your customers’ inboxes.

This differentiation can give you a competitive edge, as your campaigns will look more professional and polished by displaying your organization’s verified logo.

In information-saturated markets, any element that draws positive attention adds points toward getting your message noticed.

Together, these benefits make BIMI an attractive addition to any modern email marketing strategy.

It combines branding improvements with increased security and potentially higher campaign performance, all with a relatively straightforward implementation if you already meet the authentication requirements.

How do you implement BIMI?

Implementing BIMI requires meeting certain technical requirements and following a series of steps to configure it correctly.

Although it might sound complex, once set up, maintenance is minimal.

Below are the basic steps to start using BIMI on your domain:

Authenticate your domain with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC:

The first thing is to ensure that your sending domain is properly authenticated.

You must have valid SPF and DKIM records in your DNS, and configure an active DMARC policy.

Important: the DMARC policy must be set to “quarantine” or “reject” (not “none”), as BIMI only works if you are actively applying DMARC protection to your messages.

Prepare the logo in the appropriate SVG format:

BIMI uses a vector image file of your logo.

You will need to convert your logo to SVG Tiny PS format (a specific SVG version recommended for BIMI).

The logo must meet certain criteria:

• Be square (1:1 aspect ratio)
• Transparent background
• No small text (as it wouldn’t be legible when displayed at a reduced size)
• And preferably under ~32 KB in size to ensure fast loading

Basically, it should be a simplified and clear version of your logo that looks good at icon size.

Obtain a Verified Mark Certificate (optional but recommended):

Some email providers, especially Gmail, require a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) or a Common Mark Certificate (CMC) to display the BIMI logo.

These digital certificates, issued by certificate authorities, confirm that you legally own the logo and the brand.

While obtaining a traditional VMC can be costly and requires your logo to be a registered trademark, CMCs (a more affordable alternative that doesn’t require a registered trademark) have recently been introduced to facilitate BIMI adoption by smaller companies.

Having one of these certificates will increase the likelihood that your logo is displayed across all supported email clients.

Publish the BIMI record in your DNS:

With all the above ready, you must add a BIMI TXT record to your domain’s DNS configuration.

By convention, this record is created using a default selector named default._bimi.

In the content (value) of the TXT record, you will include at least the version and the URL of your SVG logo.

For example, a basic BIMI record might look like this:

default._bimi.yourdomain.com TXT “v=BIMI1; l=https://tudominio.com/ruta/logo.svg; a=https://ruta/vmc.pem”

Where v=BIMI1 indicates the version, l= points to the public location of your SVG file, and a= (optional) points to the VMC/CMC certificate in PEM format if you have one.

After publishing this record, it may take a few hours to propagate.

Verify the configuration:

Once the record is added, it is advisable to check that everything is in order.

You can use online tools (like the BIMI Group’s BIMI Inspector, or DNS checkers) to validate that your BIMI record is properly formatted and accessible.

These tools will tell you if your SPF/DKIM/DMARC protocols are correct and if the logo meets the requirements.

If everything is fine, all that’s left is to wait for the major providers to detect your BIMI.

Keep in mind that each provider updates their records on different schedules, so the logo won’t be immediately displayed in all cases (it can take 24-48 hours after correct configuration).

Once these steps are completed, your email campaigns will start displaying the logo to users on platforms that support BIMI.

Currently, services like Gmail, Yahoo Mail, and the Apple Mail app support this feature, covering a large portion of email users worldwide.

On the other hand, Outlook.com and other Microsoft services don’t currently offer this feature, so your emails will continue to be displayed without a custom logo on those platforms.

Even so, by implementing BIMI you are improving the authentication and security of your domain for all email providers, which is beneficial overall.

Conclusion

BIMI represents an interesting convergence of marketing and cybersecurity in the email space.

On the one hand, it adds value to email marketing strategies by making your communications more eye-catching and aligned with your brand identity.

On the other hand, it elevates the level of security, since using it requires following email authentication best practices, making it harder for malicious third parties to spoof your identity.

Although its implementation requires some technical coordination (especially in DNS and certificate configuration), the results can be well worth it.

Imagine the professional impression you give the recipient when they see your official logo in their inbox: it conveys reliability, trust, and a commitment to transparency.

Additionally, since it is still relatively new, taking advantage of BIMI can differentiate you in a crowded inbox, increasing the chances that your messages will be opened and remembered.

Ultimately, BIMI is a modern and growing tool that any company focused on email marketing should consider.

If you already properly manage your email authentication, making the leap to BIMI is the logical next step to boost both deliverability and your brand image in every email you send.