HubSpot Ideas

JoeDavies

URGENT: enable DKIM authentication for HubSpot Starter

Hi there,


We recently looked at onboarding a client to Marketing Starter from Mailchimp, all during the time that HubSpot was switching from Basic to Starter. It appears there is a rather concerning lack in functionality that could be a dealbreaker, and isn't indicated anywhere on the pricing page.

I'm sure HubSpot is well aware that without being able to properly authenticate an email sending domain, emails are likely to land exclusively in junk folders, particularly with Outlook, thus rendering one of the major, if not the most important functionalities of the product, rather unfit for purpose. 

This is a basic feature that even Mailchimp does as standard! Why this has been taken away is baffling. I'm told this is a limitation the product team is well aware of, and that my feedback, along with that of other Marketing Starter customers, is being taken into serious consideration - as it should be.

Support could not provide a timeline for re-instating this feature, but doing so should be a real priority in order to make the prodct viable. 

HubSpot Updates
Delivered
May 19, 2019 12:15 PM

Hi all, just a quick update that the ability to connect an email sending domain is now available to all Marketing Hub Starter customers. You can find instructions on how to connect one here: https://knowledge.hubspot.com/articles/kcs_article/cos-general/how-to-connect-your-email-sending-domain

 

Thanks again for your feedback.

January 14, 2019 10:04 AM

Hi @lachlanmacdonal provided we don't experience any issues with the rollout it should be this quarter.

Re: URGENT: enable DKIM authentication for HubSpot Starter - changed to: In Planning
January 14, 2019 08:06 AM

Hi all, wanted to share some good news here, we're actively working on bringing the Email Sending Domain feature from Marketing Hub Professional down into Marketing Hub Starter asap. As I have updates on this I'll be sure to let you know. Thanks!

25 Replies
JoeDavies
Top Contributor | Elite Partner

Hi there,


We recently looked at onboarding a client to Marketing Starter from Mailchimp, all during the time that HubSpot was switching from Basic to Starter. It appears there is a rather concerning lack in functionality that could be a dealbreaker, and isn't indicated anywhere on the pricing page.

I'm sure HubSpot is well aware that without being able to properly authenticate an email sending domain, emails are likely to land exclusively in junk folders, particularly with Outlook, thus rendering one of the major, if not the most important functionalities of the product, rather unfit for purpose. 

This is a basic feature that even Mailchimp does as standard! Why this has been taken away is baffling. I'm told this is a limitation the product team is well aware of, and that my feedback, along with that of other Marketing Starter customers, is being taken into serious consideration - as it should be.

Support could not provide a timeline for re-instating this feature, but doing so should be a real priority in order to make the prodct viable. 

I've posted this in the ideas section here:
https://community.hubspot.com/t5/HubSpot-Ideas/URGENT-enable-DKIM-authentication-for-HubSpot-Starter...

I recommend anyone using HubSpot Starter to add their two cents there! 

dijytal
Participant | Platinum Partner

Cant believe this still has to be brought up.

elvakennedy
Member

After recommending HubSpot to a client and purchasing on their behalf I found this out the hard way. Hope this is fixed asap.

lachlanmacdonal
Member

Please can we get this sorted so i dont have to return back to Mailchimp

EmilieB42
Member

Hello,

I recently sent my first emailing with hubspot and realize that the "from address" was not mine but a complicated one with "hubspot" branding in it.

I opened a ticket to realize that it was a feature only available for the pro version. I think it is a basic feature that should be accessible to everyone as it is in a free software such as mailchimp. 

Or at least, it should be better communicated in the packs. In the starter pack it says "branding removed" so we don't expect to see soéething like this just after...

 

Thank you.

 

Emilie

Shay
HubSpot Product Team

Hi @EmilieB42, I have some good news on this, we're actively working on providing the Email Sending Domain feature (which provides the ability to remove that "sent via HubSpot" messaging as part of the Marketing Hub Starter product asap. I'm going to merge this idea into https://community.hubspot.com/t5/HubSpot-Ideas/URGENT-enable-DKIM-authentication-for-HubSpot-Starter... as it's the same feature, but wanted to give you a heads up.

Shay
HubSpot Product Team

Hi all, wanted to share some good news here, we're actively working on bringing the Email Sending Domain feature from Marketing Hub Professional down into Marketing Hub Starter asap. As I have updates on this I'll be sure to let you know. Thanks!

dijytal
Participant | Platinum Partner

Woohoo!

lachlanmacdonal
Member

@Shay Is this happening in this quarter this year or is this happening ever faster as we all hope. I am sure you are well aware there are many persons who have not complained.........so this will be great for many many clients.

Rock on and sort asap

LMK

thanks

Lachlan

Shay
HubSpot Product Team

Hi @lachlanmacdonal provided we don't experience any issues with the rollout it should be this quarter.

NGosz
Member | Partner

Hoping this is fixed sooner rather than later. With this issue not being documented in the product catalog, and being a standard best practice I am surprised that this isn't already available. Really frustrating.

 

Can you at least update the product catalog so that others are aware of this limitation before purchase until the issue is resolved?

andyhoek
Participant | Diamond Partner

I completely agree, this should be included in Marketing Starter.

kevinbflanagan
Member

We switched from MailChimp to HubSpot Starter in Q4 2018.   We've only sent 4 emails so far, but I've been pretty shocked at the drop-off in open rate.  On the last email I ran plenty of spam tests, verified our sender score, and cleaned 1/3 of our entire recipient list.  The result?  Still a relatively low open rate compared to MailChimp!

 

I'm convinced the lack of DKIM authentication is the culprit, especially for a B2B firm in a highly regulated industry.  I'm very excited for this fix!

 

This is an additional request in relation to staying out of junk folders:

I think it should be possible to turn off link tracking in Marketing Starter.  This would be universally or on an individual link basis.  For one, the long unique URLs probably trigger spam filters.  Second, in a highly regulated industry the recipients are trained to be extra-weary of malicious emails.  They'll hover over the link and see how spammy it looks, deterring them from a click-through.  Both open rate and click rate are affected by link tracking.

 

Simply inserting a regular, non-tracking link into a marketing email should not be an exclusive feature.

JoeDavies
Top Contributor | Elite Partner

Hi @kevinbflanagan 

Sorry to hear you've suffered as a result - if you're targeting inboxes that are typically well protected then the lack of domain authentication will 100% be a big factor in your drop results. Hopefully the feature will be made live soon for you!

Regarding your link tracking request, switching this off is actually a feature of Marketing Hub Professional, but I appreciate you may not be looking to upgrade at this time.

I've done a fair bit of research on link length myself for a prior client and found that HubSpot's links fall well under a length that might typically cause an issue, and on experimentation found no issues myself, but as you mention you are in a particularly regulated field and there are always myriad factors to consider with deliverability.

There is the issue with the links appearing in inboxes differently to the destination URL and so essentially being a redirect. Similarly on testing I've not found this to be a noticeable issue when the destination is clearly not malicious, and has not impacted deliverability for our clients in any noticeable way, albeit being on Pro/Enterprise and with proper authentication in place.

Switching it off would of course mean losing a lot of your ability to report on results, but I'm sure that's a measured consideration you've taken in trying to jump the first hurdle of actually getting the emails into the inboxes. 

What I would suggest is posting your issue as its own ideas post in the community, where it might get picked up by the product team. If you send me a link here, I'd happily upvote it for you.

Best,
Joe

kevinbflanagan
Member

Hi @JoeDavies 

Thank you so much for this response!  You've definitely put me more at ease in regards to the links.  I found someone else who posted about this topic and I added my comment:  https://community.hubspot.com/t5/HubSpot-Ideas/Disable-Click-Tracking-On-a-Per-Email-Basis/idi-p/209...

I really appreciate the insight from an avid user, and thanks for this original post.  I was starting to get worried that I simply lost all copywriting powers!

 

Best,

Kevin

JoeDavies
Top Contributor | Elite Partner

Hi @kevinbflanagan 

My pleasure - I've upvoted that post for you now.

Feel free to give me a shout if you have any more HubSpot questions!

Thanks,
Joe

scotta22
Member

anyone know when DKIM authentication will be enabled for HubSpot Starter? Support are just saying "this quarter" and point me to product update page, but I cant see any reference to this coming as a feature, which is a real shame as it renders the email tool 90% useless.

 

Feeling mis-sold!

agravel
Member | Partner

(following)

ryangray
Member

...We are approaching the end of Q1 - please update us on the status of this! It is a critical issue for some of us.

inboundshop
Participant | Partner

I am looking for news on this as well.  Would like to propose more Marketing Starter using email however until the DKIM issue resolves sticking to Mailchimp integration.    Dropping a comment here to follow this topic.