This shopping holiday season is more important than ever to email marketers. It’s make-it-or-break-it time for those Black Friday email marketing efforts.
According to recent reports, email marketers sent an impressive 222.5 million Black Friday and Cyber Monday emails, and the revenue numbers are just as impressive. In 2023, shoppers spent $9.8 billion online on Black Friday, and US retailers saw a 9.6% jump in online sales on Cyber Monday to $12.4 billion.
You’re already doing everything you can to prepare for Black Friday email marketing success. Your infrastructure is locked into place, your warming and segmentation plans are defined, and your Black Friday email campaigns are designed and ready to be loaded into your automation platform.
But how can you top your metrics and success from last year? We have a little secret that could boost your open rates by 20% this Black Friday.
The answer? Brand Identifiers for Message Identification (BIMI).
What is BIMI?
Brand Identifiers for Message Identification (BIMI) puts your logo in the inbox directly next to your Black Friday email, outshining missing or grayed-out initials. BIMI works with many email clients and webmail providers, such as Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo, and others.
To enable BIMI on your domain, you need to either have a Common Mark Certificate (CMC) or a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC). In the past few months, Google announced that they would support CMCs, which don’t require trademarked logos. This announcement opens the avenue for more brands to get their logo next to a branded email.
BIMI offers many benefits, including increased brand visibility, higher user engagement, and a consistent brand experience. Some BIMI users can also receive the blue verified checkmark next to their name in the Gmail inbox.
How BIMI will boost your Black Friday metrics
Not all brands have implemented a BIMI logo because it’s still a relatively new and emerging technology. More than 20,000 of the top domains have implemented a BIMI logo, which might sound like a lot, but millions of brands haven’t explored their BIMI opportunity.
By trailblazing your way to implementing a BIMI logo, you’ll get your logo (and attention) to display in places that competitors are missing out on.
The BIMI logo shows that your email domain is fully secure, which drives more subscriber trust. More importantly, BIMI drives additional engagement, giving you the chance to drive even more Black Friday email marketing revenue this holiday season.
Every logo that gets seen in your email is also a brand impression. Digital marketers are most likely already using display ad networks like Google and Facebook to drive brand impressions as part of a digital marketing strategy. The great news about email is that you can get amazingly low CPIs in comparison. Depending on which display ad network you are using, you could be paying $2-6 per impression.
Depending on the email volume you send to Google and Yahoo subscribers, with BIMI, you can see CPIs for as little as 10 cents or less. During the holiday season, just think about how all of those brand impressions could add up – more site visits, more search volume, and potentially more revenue.
“We were looking for a solution that could increase our brand protection and brand visibility by having our logo show up in our inbox without having to trademark our logo. The Common Mark Certificate (CMC) [and BIMI] helped us achieve this.”
Global Financial Management Company
Implementing BIMI on your email domain is more than just an upgrade; it’s a game-changer for your Black Friday email marketing strategy. With the ability to display your brand logo next to your emails, you’re not only enhancing your brand’s credibility. Thank it as the next evolution of email marketing, where trust and visibility drive open rates, engagement, and ultimately more revenue.
How to enable BIMI this Black Friday
To be eligible for BIMI capabilities, you have to meet certain requirements, including getting to DMARC enforcement. Domain-Based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance (DMARC) is the gold standard for brand protection, compliance, deliverability improvement, and security. Once DMARC is deployed, your domains are protected, and achieving DMARC enforcement opens the door to BIMI.
Next, obtain a VMC or a CMC. If you’re unsure which one to choose, this table can help you choose the best option for your Black Friday email marketing strategy:
| VMC | CMC | |
| Pros | – Logo and Google’s Blue Checkmark show on desktop and mobile – Highest security bar | – No trademark required – Easier to obtain |
| Cons | – Slower to obtain (if you don’t already have a trademark) | – No Google Blue Checkmark – The logo has to have been in use for over a year |
After that, you’ll need to get a tiny SVG logo to publish with your BIMI record. Once you have those three components, you can create a DNS record for BIMI. The record points to the location of your brand’s logo file so that email clients can display your logo alongside your messages.
Is your domain able to implement BIMI?
Let Valimail power your Black Friday BIMI success
Are you ready to enable BIMI and take back your Black Friday and holiday email marketing to the next level? Valimail’s trusted solutions make securing your domain with DMARC easy and unlock your BIMI potential.
Our streamlined, patented, and easy-to-use technology helps you quickly achieve DMARC enforcement and prepare your brand for success on Black Friday.
Don’t miss out on boosting your open rates and building trust with your email list this holiday season. Secure your domain, enable BIMI, and elevate your marketing strategy with Valimail Amplify.
