Email Settings

Use the Email Settings page to manage your sending domains, set default sender information, and configure your DNS records.

See Dedicated vs. shared domains for more information about domains and email reputation.

Set up your sending domain

Use the Email Settings page to manage your sending domains, set default sender information, and configure your DNS records.

Set up your sending domain

To begin sending emails with Attentive, you must first set up the domain you want your messages to come from.

1. Navigate to Settings > Email Settings.
2. Enter a Domain to send from (e.g., yourbrand.com).
3. Enter the primary ‘From’ address. You can later customize specific defaults for Campaigns, Journeys, and Transactional email in the Default From Address section below (e.g., “hello” for “hello@yourbrand.com”).

4. Click Save.
   
   A DNS records window appears. You’ll need to add these records through your brand’s web hosting provider (e.g., GoDaddy, CloudFlare, Google Domains). If you don’t have the ability to update your DNS records, or you don’t know what this means, we suggest reaching out to whomever manages your brand’s website.
   
   For more information, including links to instructions for many of the most popular web hosting providers, see the Set up your DNS records section below.
   
    

   Note: Some web hosting providers require the full domain when creating a new record. If you’re encountering issues when verifying records, try adding records with the full domain. For example, try adding em8819.yourbrand.com instead of just em8819.
5. Click Done.

Verify dedicated domain

After you’ve added new DNS records to your domain, you’ll need to ask Attentive to verify them before you can send emails from your dedicated domain.

Follow these steps to verify your domain’s DNS records.

1. Go back to the Settings tab and click Email Settings.
2. Click Reverify Records.
   
   Attentive will then verify that your domain’s DNS records have been successfully updated.

After they’ve been verified, a green Verified label appears for your domain on the Email Settings page. You can also click View Records to open the DNS Records window and see the verification status of each individual DNS record.

If domain verification isn’t successful, try adding DNS records again. If it’s been more than 48 hours without successful verification, contact cs-team-email@attentivemobile.com and cc: your Attentive CSM.

Send from a subdomain

You can also send emails from subdomains (e.g., shop.example.com, cart.example.com). When you're sending emails, we recommend reserving your root domain (e.g., example.com) for corporate or transactional communications. Use subdomains (e.g., support.example.com) for other types of communications, like campaign emails. This way, if your sender reputation score for campaign emails drops, the reputation of your root domain remains unaffected. Once you have added your subdomains, use the Default From Address settings to assign them to specific message types (e.g., using a 'support' subdomain for Transactional emails).

Follow these steps to add a subdomain:

1. Go to the Settings tab and click Email Settings.

2. In the Domain to send from section, click Add a subdomain.
    

   Note: A primary dedicated domain must already be added and verified. See Send from a dedicated domain for more information.

   
   

3. In the Add a subdomain popup, enter the name of the subdomain.
   
4. Click Add.
5. Under the newly-added subdomain, click View and update records.
   A DNS records window appears.
6. You’ll need to add these records through your brand’s web hosting provider (e.g., GoDaddy, CloudFlare, Google Domains). See the Send from a dedicated domain section for more information about adding DNS records.
7. After you’ve added new DNS records, follow the steps in the Verify dedicated domain section of this article.

Follow the steps above for each subdomain you want to add. Reach out to your Attentive CSM and Product Specialist if you need assistance adding or verifying subdomains.

See Segmenting reputation by subdomain for more information about subdomain best practices.

Send from a shared domain (not recommended)

We don’t recommend sending from a shared domain because mailbox providers are more likely to mark emails from your brand as spam if they’re sent from a shared domain. That said, it’s possible to send emails from a shared domain with Attentive.

To switch to sending from a shared domain to a dedicated domain, follow the steps in the Send from a dedicated domain and Verify dedicated domain sections above.

If you’d like to send email from a shared domain or change the From email address when using a shared domain, contact cs-team-email@attentivemobile.com and cc: your Attentive CSM. 

Set default 'from' addresses for your campaigns, journeys, and transactional emails to streamline your workflow and improve email deliverability. Default from addresses automatically apply to new emails you create, eliminating repetitive manual selection.

Why use different from addresses

Using different 'from' addresses for different email types is a best practice recommended by major email service providers like Google. This separation helps in several important ways:

• Protect deliverability: Email providers track sender reputation separately by address. Using distinct addresses for promotional and transactional emails prevents issues with one type from affecting the other.
• Protect transactional messages: When customers unsubscribe from promotional emails, they may unintentionally block important transactional messages like order confirmations and shipping updates. Separate addresses help prevent this.
• Protect inbox placement: Google and other providers recommend separating promotional and transactional traffic to maintain strong sender reputation and maximize inbox placement rates.
• Streamlined workflow: Eliminate the need to manually select your 'from' address every time you create a new email.

How default from addresses work

You can configure separate default 'from' addresses for each message type:

• Campaigns: One-time promotional emails sent to segments of your audience
• Journeys: Automated message sequences triggered by customer behavior
• Transactional: Order confirmations, shipping updates, and other essential customer communications

For each message type, you can set both a default local address (the part before @) and a default subdomain. Once configured, all new email drafts of that type will automatically use your selected defaults unless manually changed in the composer.

Configure default from addresses

1. Go to Settings > Email Settings.
2. In the Email sending presets section, locate the message type you want to configure (Campaigns, Journeys, or Transactional).
3. Enter your preferred local address in the text field (the part before @).
4. Select your preferred subdomain from the dropdown menu.
5. Click Save to apply your changes.

Apply changes to existing emails

When you update your default 'from' address settings, you can choose whether to apply those changes to existing emails or only to new emails you create going forward.

To apply your new defaults to existing emails:

1. After configuring your new default addresses, check the box to apply changes to existing emails.
2. Confirm changes by typing in your company name.

This will update all active, draft, and scheduled emails. This cannot be undone, please use with caution. The only way to revert this is to update your defaults and then resubmit an update.

Override defaults on individual emails

Default 'from' addresses are applied automatically, but you can always change the 'from' address on any individual email. Simply edit the email and select a different address from the 'from' dropdown or type in a new local address. This override only affects that specific email and does not change your default settings.

Set up your DNS records

As part of setting up email with Attentive, you’ll need to add CNAME records to your domain’s DNS record. You can get these CNAME records by following the steps in the Send from a shared domain section above.

Go to your domain registrar panel, and follow the step-by-step instructions linked below (based on your domain provider) to add CNAME records.

• Amazon Route 53
• Bluehost
• DNS Made Easy
• Dreamhost
• Dynadot
• ENOM
• GoDaddy
• Google
• Hostgator
• Namecheap
• NameSilo
• Network Solutions
• Register.com
• Shopify

The following are examples of how you’d complete the fields for each of the example CNAME records shown above.

Examples

GoDaddy, Shopify, Amazon Route 53, Google, or Namecheap

All other domain providers

Learn more about Attentive Email

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