Overview
A Branded Sender Domain lets you send marketing emails from your own domain instead of the default system domain. This helps improve brand recognition, trust, and email deliverability when sending campaigns through Marketing Automation.
To set up a branded sender domain, you’ll need to add specific DNS records to your domain provider. Since DNS settings vary by provider, the exact interface may look different depending on where your domain is hosted.
Before You Begin
Only Admin or Owner users can configure branded sender domains.
Location-level users do not have access to configure domains.
Step 1: Navigate to Domain Configuration
Go to Marketing Automation AI in the left navigation rail.
Open Settings.
Select Domain Configuration.
Step 2: Add a New Domain
Click Setup Manually.
Enter the following details:
Root Domain – Your primary domain (for example: yourdomain.com)
Sending Domain – A subdomain used for sending emails (for example: marketing.yourdomain.com)
NOTE:
Do not use prefixes like ‘www.’
Click the location dropdown and select the locations where the domain should be applied.
Click Apply.
Click ‘Generate DNS records’ to generate the required DNS records needed for authentication.
Step 3: Add DNS Records in Your Domain Provider
You now need to add the generated DNS records to your domain hosting provider. There are three ‘CNAME’ records and one ‘TXT’ record.
Log in to your DNS provider or domain hosting account.
NOTE:
The example shown in this guide uses Hostinger for DNS configuration. If your domain is hosted with a different provider (such as GoDaddy, AWS, or others), the steps will be similar, but the interface may vary.
In Hostinger, you would:
Go to ‘Domains’ and select ‘DNS / Nameservers.’
Scroll down to the Manage DNS records section and select CNAME from the Type dropdown.
Enter the ‘Name’ of the record using the corresponding value from the generated DNS records list.
Copy the corresponding ‘Value’ from the generated DNS records and enter it in the ‘Target’ field, and click ‘Add record.’
Once you’ve added the first CNAME record, repeat the same steps to add the remaining CNAME records.
To add TXT records, select TXT from the Type dropdown.
Copy the corresponding ‘Name’ and ‘Value’ from the generated DNS records list.
Paste the Name value into the Name field and the Value into the Points to field, and click ‘Add record.’
These records allow the email service provider to verify that emails can be safely sent from your domain.
DNS Setup Guides for Common Providers
If your domain is hosted with another provider, refer to their DNS documentation for adding records:
Navigate to your provider’s DNS management page and add the records generated in the platform.
Step 4: Authenticate the Domain
After adding the DNS records:
Return to Domain Configuration in Marketing Automation.
Click Authenticate.
The system will check whether the DNS records were added correctly. If the records are verified, the domain will be marked as Verified, and then click ‘Done.’
Step 5: Activate the Domain
Once authentication is successful, you will be directed to the list of domains
The newly added domain will reflect ‘Activation Status’ as ‘Not activated.’ Click 'Activate' next to the domain.
A confirmation pop-up will appear. Check the box, then click Activate to proceed with the activation.
Once you activate, the ‘Activation status’ changes to ‘Activated.’ After activation, emails will be sent using your branded sender domain.
IMPORTANT:
If multiple sender domains are configured for the same location(s):
The most recently added and activated domain takes priority.
Emails will be sent from that domain for the selected locations.
Re-authenticating a Domain
If the DNS records are removed or modified, the domain may lose authentication, and the Authentication status will change to ‘Re-authenticate.’
To fix this:
Hover over the configured domain, click the three-dot menu icon, and select Re-authenticate.
The system will recheck the DNS records and restore the authenticated status if the records are valid.
If Authentication Fails
If the domain cannot be authenticated:
Emails will automatically be sent using the default system domain to ensure delivery continues.
Once DNS records are corrected, you can re-authenticate the domain.
Deleting a Sender Domain
If you delete a configured domain:
Emails will automatically switch to the next available sender domain.
If no other domain exists, emails will be sent using the default system domain.