Introduction

Enhance your email branding by replacing BrandLift's sending domain with your own! Discover how to integrate your store's domain into BrandLift's email communications for a fully customized experience.

Add a custom domain to your outgoing referral emails

If you're exclusively using BrandLift Referrals, don't worry - the following instructions apply to both Loyalty and Referrals emails.

Adding your domain to BrandLift

📝 Note: We highly recommend using a subdomain for your Loyalty emails e.g. rewards.example.com

To configure our app's automated email system to dispatch messages from your personalized domain, you'll need to establish specific DNS records in your domain registrar's settings (such as GoDaddy, Bluehost, or similar services). This step authorizes our app to send emails on behalf of your domain.

Video Walkthrough

Important: When adding your domain, please ensure you omit the www. prefix and the https:// protocol. For example, use yourdomain.com rather than www.yourdomain.com or https://yourdomain.com

To add your custom domain to BrandLift:

1. From the BrandLift dashboard, go to Settings > Email >
2. In Custom Email Domain, enter your store's domain, and click Save
3. You will be provided with a set of 3 DNS records that you need to add to your domain's records:
1. CNAME hostname & CNAME value
2. SPF hostname & SPF value
3. DKIM hostname & DKIM value
4. Add these records according to your domain provider's process
5. When you have added the DNS records, click Verify Domain.

💡 The CNAME will be added as a CNAME record type and the SPF & DKIM are added as TXT record types.

Custom domain configuration

You'll need to create three types of DNS records: CNAME, SPF, and DKIM. When setting these up, you'll input certain hostnames. Most domain providers automatically add the domain name to DNS record names, so you'll need to adjust the hostname we provide before entering it into your provider's DNS settings. Here's what to do:

1. CNAME Record: Take out your domain from the hostname. So, if we provide you with "email.example.com", you'll simply enter "email".
2. SPF Record: Replace your domain with the "@" symbol. For instance, instead of entering "example.com", you'll just put "@".
3. DKIM Record: Remove your domain so that the hostname ends with "domain key". So if we provide "smtp._domainkey.example.com", you'll input "smtp._domainkey".

To illustrate, if your domain is "example.com", here's what you'll enter

📝 Important Note: Only make these modifications when inputting information in your domain provider's DNS settings. Don't alter the hostnames within our app's fields. After updating your DNS records with your provider, our app will detect the changes automatically.

Updating an existing SPF record

If an SPF record already exists for your domain, don't create a new one. Instead, modify the existing record to include our provider's information. Multiple SPF records can lead to verification problems and affect email deliverability. Here's how to update your SPF record:

If your existing SPF record is:

v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all

And you want to add our provider to your SPF record, you will update the record to:

v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com include:mailgun.org ~all

This updated record authorizes both Google and our provider, Mailgun, to send emails for your domain. Ensure your modified SPF record doesn't exceed 10 DNS lookups to avoid complications.

Once you've updated your SPF record in your domain provider's DNS settings, our app will automatically recognize the changes.

Setting up a subdomain for email delivery

For subdomain usage (e.g., "rewards.example.com") in email delivery, the process varies slightly. You'll still create CNAME, SPF, and DKIM records, but the hostname adjustments will include your subdomain. For new subdomains without existing MX records, you'll need to add these as well.

Here are the modifications you need to make:

1. CNAME Record: Keep the subdomain in the hostname. For example, if we provide "email.rewards.example.com", you'll enter it as "email.rewards".
2. SPF Record: Add the subdomain as the Hostname. If we provide "rewards.example.com", you will input "rewards".
3. DKIM Record: Exclude the domain but keep the subdomain. So, if we give you "smtp._domainkey.rewards.example.com", you'll put in "smtp._domainkey.rewards".

Adding MX records for your subdomain

If using a subdomain for email delivery without existing MX records, you must create them. MX records are essential for proper email routing, directing email servers where to deliver messages for your domain or subdomain.

In this case, you'll need to add two MX records. Here's how:

1. MX Record 1: The hostname for this record is your subdomain (e.g., "rewards"). For the value, you'll enter "mxa.mailgun.org". Set the priority to 10.
2. MX Record 2: Similarly, the hostname for this record is your subdomain (e.g., "rewards"). For the value, you'll enter "mxb.mailgun.org". Set the priority to 10.

Here's an illustration of how you should input these records, using the subdomain "rewards" as an example:

External help articles on adding DNS records

Keep in mind that DNS management systems may differ between providers. These guidelines should help you understand the specific steps for each one. If you need additional information or use a different provider, we suggest contacting your provider's support team.

Common questions

I already have a CNAME record with the hostname your app provided, what can I do?Send us an email and we will configure a new one for you.

Are all loyalty and referral emails sent from my custom domain?

The Invite Friend email is intentionally sent from BrandLift's domain rather than yours. This approach is taken due to the potential for spam complaints associated with these types of emails. High rates of spam complaints can negatively impact your domain's sending reputation. For peer-to-peer invite emails like these, we strongly advise using our domain as the sender. This way, if any spam complaints occur, they affect our domain instead of yours. In essence, this setup is a deliberate choice to protect your domain's reputation.