Setting up custom branded emails

This guide provides step-by-step instructions for businesses looking to set up custom branded emails sent by Perkville on behalf of their loyalty program.

Overview

Custom branding your email communications ensures that your customers receive emails from a domain that reflects your business name, enhancing brand trust and recognition. As part of this process, you will need to set up a few DNS records to ensure proper email authentication and security.

Step 1: Choose Your Custom Branded Email Domain

When choosing the domain for sending emails, consider the following recommendations:

1. Use a Subdomain of a Top-Level Domain You Own:

2. • Sending emails from a subdomain (e.g., rewards.mybiz.com or points.mybiz.com) rather than the top-level domain (mybiz.com) is advisable. This avoids potential conflicts if you use other email services for different purposes, such as marketing campaigns.

   • Consider using the same domain as your rewards program or another relevant subdomain. Once you decide, please provide this information to Perkville, and our team will assist you with the necessary DNS records setup.

3. Notify Perkville:

4. • Once you have chosen the subdomain for sending emails, notify Perkville by emailing [e-mail]. We will guide you through the next steps and provide the necessary DNS records.

Step 2: DNS Record Setup

To ensure that emails sent on behalf of your brand are authenticated and trusted, you’ll need to provide certain DNS records. The specific records and values will be generated based on your chosen domain and provided to you by Perkville. Here’s what you’ll need to do:

1. CNAME Records:

2. • Perkville will provide you with CNAME records that need to be added to your DNS settings. These typically include records for domain authentication and link branding.

3. TXT Records:

4. • You will also receive TXT records that must be added to your DNS settings, including SPF, DKIM, and (optionally) DMARC records.

5. Link Branding Setup:

6. • To ensure that all links and tracked images in your emails appear to come from your domain, additional CNAME records will be provided. These records will allow links to be branded with your domain, improving trust and deliverability.

7. Notify Perkville:

8. • After adding the necessary DNS records to your domain’s DNS settings, provide Perkville with confirmation and any required details, such as screenshots, to ensure proper setup.

Perkville will then complete the configuration on our end to ensure that your custom branded email settings, including link branding, are active.

Step 3: Testing and Verification

After Perkville has completed the setup, we recommend testing the following:

1. Send a Test Email:

2. • Assign Points to a Test User: Add points to a test user in your Perkville account through the admin dashboard. This action will automatically create the test user if they do not already exist and trigger an email notification.

   • Verify Email Delivery: Ensure that the test user receives the email from your custom branded domain and check that the email is properly authenticated.

Final Steps

After successful testing, your custom branded emails will be fully operational. All customer communications from the loyalty program will now occur under your custom branded email domain, maintaining consistency with your brand.

If you encounter any issues or need further assistance, please contact Perkville support.