What is an email domain?

An email domain is the part of your email address after the @ symbol that indicates your emails are coming from your brand. Customized domains add credibility to the sender and often even prevent your emails from being flagged as spam or mistaken for a phishing attempt.

A domain consists of two main parts:

  1. Second-level domain (SLD): Your SLD is your brand name or any other unique term that shows your company’s identity. For example, in the email address “sales@klaviyo.com,” “klaviyo” is the SLD.
  2. Top-level domain (TLD): Your TLD comes after the dot in an email address. Common TLDs include .com, .org, or .shop.

For a more successful marketing strategy, it’s best practice to customize both your “from” domain and your sending domain to align with your brand.

How to set up a branded sending domain

First, you’ll need to know where you can find the sending domain. This domain is also known as the bounce domain or return-path domain. It’s found in the full header or message source of your email.

Second, there’s a domain that’s part of the sender address with the sender name and is found in the short header—which is the one the recipient sees in their inbox.

Mailbox providers use both domains. However, the branded sending domain is the one that has your authentication tied to it. Yahoo requirements have been responsible for the recent push for marketing senders to customize these domains—both the sending domain and the domain in the sender’s address.

Set up a branded sending domain using these steps: 

  1. Select a marketing automation platform: Choose a platform that supports custom email domains and makes it easy to obtain DKIM and SPF authentication. Note that you’ll need to work with your IT team to obtain DMARC authentication.
  2. Choose your branded sending domain: Decide on your SLD and TLD for your sending domain (hint: they should align with your website URL). Use the United States Patent and Trademark Office website to check domain availability and avoid trademark infringement.
  3. Configure DNS records: Follow your marketing automation platform’s instructions to add and verify the required DNS records for your sending domain. 
  4. Authenticate your domain: Set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records. 
  5. Test and monitor: Before sending emails to your audience, do test runs to check that everything is set up correctly. Regularly monitor your email deliverability metrics to improve your email marketing performance.

Setting up the sender’s name and address is done under the organization in the account setting. Make sure to use a domain that matches at least the root domain of your branded sending domain.

3 benefits of a customized sender name and email address

  1. Increased credibility: A customized sender name and email address instills trust in recipients, which can lead to increased engagement.
  2. Top-of-mind awareness: When subscribers receive emails from a customized sender name and email address on a regular basis, they’ll remember your brand and likely think of it first when they have a need for your products or services.
  3. Better customer relationships: A customized sender name and email address assures your audience that they’re communicating directly with your brand.

3 benefits of a branded sending domain

  1. Increased credibility: A branded sending domain aligns with your “from” email address and shows inbox providers that you’re a credible sender.
  2. Proper authentication: Using a branded sending domain allows you to authenticate to your brand, not to the email service provider you are sending from.
  3. Own your reputation: Using a branded sending domain allows you to develop your own reputation rather than using the email service provider’s domain reputation. This gives you more control over your own results.

Ready to reap the benefits of a custom domain for your business? Sign up for Klaviyo to generate DNS records and verify and apply a branded sending domain that reflects your brand identity, resonates with your target audience, and optimizes your email marketing initiatives.

Additional resources