What does a blue checkmark mean in a cold email and how legitimate is an email from AlphaSights?

Key findings

• BIMI authentication: A blue checkmark in Gmail indicates the sender has successfully implemented BIMI, along with a valid DMARC record and a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC).
• Identity verification: This checkmark primarily serves to verify the sender's brand identity and logo, not the nature of the email itself (e.g., whether it is solicited or unsolicited).
• Legitimate cold outreach: AlphaSights is a legitimate expert network firm that often engages in cold outreach to find individuals with specific knowledge for consultations.
• Recipient control: Even with a blue checkmark, recipients can mark unwanted emails as spam, which helps mail providers like Google understand user preferences and adjust deliverability accordingly.

Key considerations

• Impact on deliverability: While BIMI can build brand trust, it does not bypass the fundamental rules of email deliverability, especially for cold outreach. High spam complaint rates will still negatively impact sender reputation, regardless of BIMI implementation. Understanding email deliverability issues is crucial.
• User experience: Recipients might still perceive cold emails as unsolicited, even with a blue checkmark. The perceived legitimacy depends more on the email's relevance to the recipient than on authentication markers alone.
• Authentication standards: To achieve the blue checkmark, senders must meet strict authentication standards including SPF, DKIM, and a DMARC policy set to enforcement (quarantine or reject). This requires careful configuration, as detailed in guides like a simple guide to DMARC, SPF, and DKIM.
• Sender reputation: Domain reputation remains a critical factor. A poor reputation can lead to the checkmark not displaying, even if BIMI is technically implemented. You can find more information on Google's approach to this on CNET.

Key opinions

• Aesthetic credibility: The blue checkmark makes an email look more official and trustworthy at first glance, which can improve open rates and recipient confidence.
• No deliverability magic: Many marketers believe that while authentication is good, a blue checkmark alone won't get cold emails past spam filters if there's significant user disengagement or complaints.
• Brand perception: It's seen as an investment in brand legitimacy, signaling to recipients that the sender takes their email security and identity seriously.
• Permission-based benefits: Some marketers suggest that BIMI's benefits are maximized when coupled with a robust, permission-based email program, allowing more leeway for occasional cold outreach.

Key considerations

• Content and targeting: Even with BIMI, marketers must focus on highly relevant content and precise targeting to minimize spam complaints, especially when sending cold emails. This is key to increasing email click-through rates.
• Recipient perception of legitimacy: A blue checkmark might make some recipients less likely to report an email as spam if they perceive the company as legitimate. However, others might still mark it as spam if it's unwanted, impacting sender reputation, as discussed on SSL2BUY.
• Balancing cold outreach with reputation: Marketers engaging in cold outreach need to carefully balance their acquisition efforts with maintaining a positive sender reputation to avoid falling onto a blacklist (or blocklist). Regularly monitoring your blocklist monitoring is essential.

Key opinions

• Authentication confirmation: The blue checkmark confirms a domain's email authentication, including SPF, DKIM, and DMARC enforcement, paired with a validated brand logo through BIMI and a VMC.
• Reputation is king: Experts universally agree that even with BIMI, a high volume of spam complaints will override any authentication benefits, leading to emails landing in the spam folder.
• No cold email pass: BIMI doesn't give cold emails a free pass to the inbox. The underlying principles of good sending, like consent and engagement, are still critical.
• Future of checkmarks: There's a desire among experts for mailbox providers to connect BIMI display with sender reputation, potentially suppressing the checkmark for poor senders, regardless of technical setup.

Key considerations

• Spam complaints impact: The number of spam complaints an email receives is a primary factor in deliverability, even for authenticated emails. This emphasizes why emails go to spam.
• Domain reputation management: Maintaining a strong domain reputation is essential for the consistent display of the blue checkmark and overall inbox placement. Continuous efforts to improve domain reputation are critical.
• BIMI integration: Proper BIMI implementation requires meticulous setup of DNS records and obtaining a VMC. Guidance on implementing a blue checkmark on Gmail is available.

Key findings

• BIMI purpose: BIMI's core purpose is to enable senders to display their registered trademarks as avatars in supporting email clients, building visual brand trust.
• VMC requirement: To achieve the blue checkmark, a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) issued by a recognized certificate authority is necessary to prove ownership of the brand logo.
• DMARC enforcement: A DMARC policy set to either quarantine (p=quarantine) or reject (p=reject) is a prerequisite for BIMI implementation, ensuring strong sender authentication.
• Anti-phishing benefit: BIMI helps combat phishing by making it easier for users to identify legitimate emails from trusted brands, reducing the likelihood of falling for impersonation attempts.

Key considerations

• Technical prerequisites: Implementing BIMI requires a robust setup of email authentication protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, ensuring alignment and proper configuration.
• Cost and process: Obtaining a VMC involves a verified trademark and a purchase from an accredited certificate authority, adding a layer of investment to the authentication process.
• Not a deliverability bypass: While BIMI enhances brand visibility and trust, it is not a direct deliverability factor that overrides negative sender reputation signals, such as high spam complaint rates.
• Varying client support: BIMI support varies across different email clients, meaning the blue checkmark may not be visible to all recipients, regardless of correct implementation.