An SPF record can save your domain from spam and phishing by allowing you to keep a record of your authorized sources. Ambassador highly recommends their customers set up SPF for their respective domains. Here’s how you do it:
Creating SPF record for Ambassador
You'll need the ability to add new DNS records to your DNS provider
Step 1: In the navigation menu on the left, click "Settings."
Step 2: Once in the "Account" settings, scroll down the page until you get to the “Email Setup” section.
Step 3: Click “Add Domain" and enter the domain or subdomain you would like to use into the modal pop-up.
Please note, if you have an existing entry at your m1._domainkey, you will need to use a subdomain. Depending on the DNS provider, you may be able to simply add the entries rather than allocating the subdomain. We recommend creating a subdomain such as referrals.yourcompanyname.com, but it can be anything that is not already in use. Do not use '"mail" or "email."
Click the blue "Add" button to save and view the DNS records for this domain or subdomain.
Step 4: A few seconds after you submit, you’ll receive 3 DNS records: TXT (SPF), MX and TXT (DKIM). Keep this window open. The records shown here will need to be added within your DNS
Step 5: For each DNS record type provided in Ambassador, you will need to create a corresponding entry on your DNS that includes the Host/Name and Value. You can copy these records directly by clicking the “Copy” button next to the record.
Step 6: Once complete, navigate back to Ambassador to verify the status of your email sending domain.
- Pending: Depending on your provider, changes to your DNS records can be immediate or may take several hours.
- Verified: Your email domain is properly authenticated and Ambassador can send emails.
- Error: Typically errors are due to records being removed or mapped to the incorrect record type.
In the modal containing your DNS records, use the blue "Verify" button at the bottom to check the status. If there is an error, it will be displayed at the top of this modal. Please note, it can take up to 24 hours before the changes to your DNS have propagated.
Step 7: Next, scroll down to the "Outgoing Email" section and click to "Edit." The outgoing email name and address should look something like this:
- Outgoing email name: Ambassador Referral Program
- Outgoing email address: referrals@getambassador.com
Please note, your outgoing email address must be an email address that can receive mail. Any responses to emails that are sent by Ambassador will be delivered to this email address.
Click “Save” at the bottom of the modal when you’re done.
Step 8 (Optional): If you would like to use a different email address on a campaign level, go to each of the email templates in that specific campaign and update the from address and name. When complete, click “Save” at the bottom of the email template.
Please note, the campaign email address you use must be an email address that can receive mail.
Finally, you can look up your record using our SPF record lookup tool, and enable DMARC for your domains to minimize spoofing attacks by taking a free DMARC trial.