Improve your email deliverability

A few years ago Microsoft implemented an additional check on their MSN Hotmail servers and in Windows Live Mail that uses Sender ID technology (a.k.a. the “SPF record”) as part of deciding whether to deliver, quarantine or stop an email sent to a Microsoft account. Update: this now includes Outlook.com accounts too.

Preventing email spoofing

Checking whether an IP address or domain can send on behalf of another domain is very important to prevent people pretending to send emails from a particular domain or address — otherwise known as spoofing. Many other cloud‑based email providers and gateways now also check the SPF record of the sending domain before delivering to the inbox.

Please note, this is just one of the checks applied. The “spam rating” of email from a particular source also depends on factors such as the number of complaints about the sender, complaints about the website addresses included in your message, the volume of email sent over a period, whether the sender keeps sending to the same invalid address, and more. Sending through eNudge or another reputable solution actually enhances your deliverability, as described in “Bulk emails sent from your PC can reduce email deliverability”.

How Sender ID / SPF records work

The email gateway receiving a message checks whether the sending server (by domain or IP address) is listed as a valid sender for the sending domain. For instance, an email from wendy-woo@mybusiness.com.au to joecitizen@hotmail.com is sent from one IP address if sent from desktop Outlook (your email provider's IP), and a different IP address if sent as part of an eNudge campaign — even though the sending address is the same.

Many organisations send email from a server different to their website domain, so you should have a valid SPF record covering email sent from your desktop computer as well as email sent via eNudge, to ensure delivery.

Adding eNudge to your domain record

It's a very simple process to have your domain identify eNudge as a valid sender. If you already have an SPF record for your root domain (e.g. yourdomain.com), add include:enudge.com.au before the all mechanism. If you don't have an SPF record, create a TXT record with this value:

v=spf1 include:enudge.com.au ~all

Whoever controls your domain name setup should be able to add or edit your SPF record in minutes.

It's important not to create more than one SPF record for your domain. If multiple domains need to send on your behalf, they must be merged into one record. For example, this:

v=spf1 a mx include:spf.protection.outlook.com ~all

would become:

v=spf1 a mx include:spf.protection.outlook.com include:enudge.com.au ~all

If you have a dedicated eNudge server, you can add the server's IP address to your record instead, using this format (with the x's replaced by your server's IP):

v=spf1 a mx include:spf.protection.outlook.com ip4:xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx ~all

You might like to use the online SPF Wizard to help create a correct record. And if you're having trouble arranging the change, we'll be happy to assist you.