Set up a sending domain: SPF, DKIM and DMARC
Get a separate domain for outreach in FollowThroo, point its mail records, and see what the SPF, DKIM, DMARC and MX checks mean.
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A sending domain is a separate web address used only for outreach, such as getacme.com beside acme.com, so cold email never puts the domain your invoices go out on at risk. FollowThroo helps you pick one, checks its mail records in public DNS, and connects its mailbox. Open Settings, then Mailboxes & domains, and click Get a sending domain.
Steps
- Pick a domain to send from. FollowThroo suggests names based on the domain you already use. Buy the one you like in our store. If you already registered one, choose Already registered it? Enter the domain.
- Point the mail records. Add the records shown to your domain's DNS. If you bought Professional Email on the same domain in the store, they're set up for you. FollowThroo checks public DNS and shows each record as it turns green.
- Connect your mailbox. FollowThroo recognises the mail provider and connects it: one click for Google Workspace, or the address and password for others, with the server details already filled in.
You can leave the page while DNS updates. FollowThroo keeps checking, often within minutes and then hourly for about two days, and tells you in the bell when the domain is verified. Coming back to the page picks up where you left off.
What the checks mean
| Record | What it does | When it passes |
|---|---|---|
| MX | Says which service receives mail for the domain | It points to a mail provider FollowThroo recognises |
| SPF | Lists who may send mail as the domain | It includes your mail provider. It can sit in a record you already had |
| DMARC | Tells receivers what to do with mail that fails the checks | Any valid policy exists. A stricter one than the suggested v=DMARC1; p=none is fine |
| DKIM | Signs each email so receivers can tell it wasn't changed | Checked only where FollowThroo knows the provider's key name (for example Google Workspace). Otherwise it shows as not measured |
A domain is ready once its checks pass, but a new domain still has no reputation. Warm it up before sending campaigns from it: see Email sending limits, warm-up and sending hours.
If something goes wrong
- A record stays red.
- FollowThroo shows what it found next to what it expected, so a typo is visible. DNS changes can take hours to reach everyone; checks continue for about two days.
- Your mailbox won't connect after the records pass.
- With Professional Email (Titan), two-step verification blocks other apps from signing in. Check the password, then that setting.
- Your domain already has Google Workspace or Microsoft 365.
- FollowThroo checks against the provider your domain actually uses, so a working setup doesn't show as broken.