When you receive an email, have you ever noticed a picture of the person or company logo from whom you received the message in Gmail or Apple Mail? This is an email avatar that shows the sender’s profile picture or logo. In addition to the aesthetic effect, an avatar helps with brand awareness, increases recipient trust and reduces the risk of phishing attacks.

Most email avatars are stored locally, i.e. within the individual email client’s system. This means that an avatar you set up in Gmail will not be visible to recipients using Apple Mail or Yahoo Mail. This can be a problem for businesses in particular, as it is difficult for them to achieve uniform brand recognition.

While conventional avatars are limited to a single email system, the BIMI protocol allows the logo to be displayed across different systems. Using BIMI, the sender’s logo is linked to the domain and verified through standardised protocols, allowing a uniform brand display regardless of the email client.

Table of contents

• BIMI – a standardised/universal solution
• Conditions for using BIMI
  • 1. Email authentication
  • 2. Preparation of the logo
  • 3. Publication of the BIMI record in the DNS
  • 4. Obtaining a VMC certificate
  • 5. Additional conditions
• Setting up the profile picture in email clients

BIMI – a standardised/universal solution

BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) is a protocol that allows the company logo to be displayed alongside emails in different email clients. This standardised approach increases the trust of recipients and at the same time enhances the security of the use of e-mail.

BIMI is supported in all major email systems, including Gmail, Yahoo Mail, Apple Mail, AOL Mail, Zoho Mail and Fastmail, and is slowly gaining support elsewhere. Its use is thus gradually becoming the standard in the world of email.

* Currently Yahoo does not require VMC to display the logo (BIMI) in their applications. If the VMC is edited, Yahoo still considers it as an additional factor when checking whether a record qualifies for logo display.

Benefits of using BIMI

• Increased brand awareness – the logo is very often visible to the recipient.
• Increased trust of recipients – visual sign of authenticity of the message.
• Improved security – reduces the risk of phishing attacks.
• Higher email open rates – recipients can more easily identify trustworthy senders.

Conditions for using BIMI

For BIMI to work properly, a number of technical and design requirements need to be met.

1. Email authentication

• SPF – must be correctly configured and cover all authorised senders’ servers.
• DKIM – the signature must be valid and consistent with the sender’s domain.
• DMARC – must have a policy of p=quarantine or p=reject (policy p=none is not sufficient).
• DNS records must be error-free and publicly accessible.

2. Preparation of the logo

• Format: exclusively SVG Tiny PS (Portable/Secure).
• Shape: square layout.
• Background: the logo must have a full colour background (not transparent) as most clients do not display transparent images correctly.
• Simplicity: clear logo without small details or text that is difficult to read at small sizes.

3. Publishing the BIMI record in the DNS

• As a TXT record on the subdomain: default._bimi.domena.si
• Mandatory parameters:
  • v=BIMI1 – BIMI protocol version
  • l= – URL to the SVG logo
• Optional parameter:
  • a= – URL to VMC (required for Gmail and Apple Mail)

Example of a BIMI DNS record:

default._bimi.example.com. IN TXT "v=BIMI1; l=https://example.com/logo.svg; a=https://example.com/vmc.pem"

4. Obtaining a VMC certificate

A VMC(Verified Mark Certificate) is a digital certificate issued by an authorised issuer (e.g. DigiCert or Entrust). The certificate certifies that the company logo is officially protected as a trademark.

• Mandatory: in Gmail and Apple Mail clients – the logo will not be displayed without a VMC certificate.
• Optional: in Yahoo Mail, Fastmail, Zoho Mail, etc. – the logo can be displayed without VMC.

5. Additional terms

• The domain must have a valid SSL/TLS certificate for the logo to be accessible via a secure HTTPS connection.
• The logo must be accessible without redirects and without access restrictions (e.g. no passwords).
• The domain must have a good sender reputation, as BIMI will not display the logo if your messages are frequently marked as spam.

Setting up a profile picture in email clients

BIMI allows companies to have their logo displayed directly next to the email sent, regardless of which client the recipient is using. This visual sign increases brand awareness, contributes to a professional impression of the communication and builds user trust by authenticating the message. If you want to take your email communication to the next level, BIMI is an effective and standardised way to improve your company’s visibility and credibility.

Although BIMI allows companies to display a single logo, many users only want to set up a profile picture in their chosen email client. The process is usually quite straightforward, but you should be aware that your avatar only becomes visible to recipients using the same system.

To find out how to add or change your profile picture in the most popular email clients, read this article:

• Setting up a profile picture in email clients