Authenticate your domain, build your first campaign, and avoid the deliverability traps that land everyone else in spam.
Without SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records on your sending domain, modern inbox providers (Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo) will route your emails to spam or reject them outright. Since February 2024, Gmail and Yahoo require authentication for any sender with over 5,000 emails/day, and they are tightening the criteria every quarter. This is not optional.
SPF (Sender Policy Framework) declares which servers are allowed to send on behalf of your domain. DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) cryptographically signs every outbound message so receivers can verify it. DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication) tells receivers what to do if SPF or DKIM fail. All three are TXT records in your DNS.
Go to Settings → Email Services → Dedicated Domain. Enter your sending domain (e.g. mail.yourcompany.com or yourcompany.com directly). VC Suite generates the exact SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records you need. Copy them into your DNS provider (Cloudflare, GoDaddy, Namecheap, etc.). DNS propagation takes 15 minutes to 48 hours; the status indicator in VC Suite will turn green when verified.
If your domain has never sent email before, do not send to 10,000 contacts on day 1. Start at 50–100/day for the first week, 500/day in week 2, 2,000/day in week 3. Mailbox providers build sender reputation over time; a cold domain that sends 10K on day 1 gets blacklisted in hours. Most account issues we see come from skipping warmup.
Go to Marketing → Emails → + New Campaign. Pick a blank template or a simple one. Subject line rules: under 50 characters, no all-caps, no spammy words (FREE, $$$, !!! etc.), and include a preheader that extends the subject. Body: plain-looking HTML converts better than newsletter-style designs. One clear CTA. Mobile-first.
Do not send to your entire list. Use a Smart List (see the CRM article) to segment by source, behavior, or lifecycle. A 1,000-person segment that matches the message will outperform a 10,000-person blast every time.
Every marketing email must include a physical mailing address and a working unsubscribe link (CAN-SPAM). VC Suite auto-appends these when you use the Business Profile merge fields. Do not delete or modify the footer unless you have legal clearance.
Open rate benchmarks vary by industry (typically 18–25%). Click rate (1–5%) matters more. Unsubscribe rate above 0.5% is a warning; above 1% is a problem. Bounce rate above 2% means your list is dirty — run a hygiene pass. Check these in Reporting → Email after every campaign.
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