Download This is a Header

Eloqua Branding & Deliverability
Eloqua Professional Services
Eloqua Branding and Deliverability
Silver Package Configuration Workbook
Last Modified: September 15, 2009
© 2009 Eloqua
www.eloqua.com
1
Eloqua Branding and Deliverability
Silver Package Configuration Workbook
Contents
1.0
Branding and Deliverability Overview
3
2.0
Marketing Configuration Instructions
4
2.1
Email Sub-Domain Selection
4
2.2
Bounceback Email Address Selection
4
2.3
Default From and Reply-To Email Address Selections
5
3.0
IT Configuration Instructions
6
3.1
IT Configuration Summary
6
3.2
Domain Registration
6
3.3
DNS Configuration
6
3.4
A Record Configuration
7
3.5
CNAME Configuration
8
4.0
IP Warming
9
5.0
Branding and Deliverability Boost Package (ADD-ON)
9
5.1
Provide Main Contact / User – Boost Package Only
9
© 2009 Eloqua
www.eloqua.com
2
Eloqua Branding and Deliverability
Silver Package Configuration Workbook
1.0 Branding and Deliverability Overview
Eloqua® Branding and Deliverability helps maximize deliverability of your email communication through a combination of
technology solutions (Sender Policy Framework, Dedicated IPs, etc…), Services/Relationships (3 rd Party Deliverability
Services), and Client Tactics (Best Practices, Subscription Management, Content Auditing, etc…).
The main benefits of Eloqua® Branding and Deliverability:
1. Improved deliverability. Coupled with existing Eloqua measures, it improves the likelihood
of reaching the recipient’s Inbox.
2. Maintain corporate identity through sub-domain. Improved branding as email arrives from
‘marketing.client.com’ for example rather than “en25.com”
3. Remove doubt as to the origin of an email and control reputation. Only you can deploy from a unique IP.
© 2009 Eloqua
www.eloqua.com
3
2.0 Marketing Configuration Instructions
2.1 Email Sub-Domain Selection
One sub-domain should be chosen:
This sub-domain will be used for the bounceback address in emails sent from Eloqua. This sub-domain
should be unique to Eloqua and will be leveraged for bounceback reporting in Eloqua.
NOTE: You may use the same sub-domain to brand form landing pages. When you configure the DNS
record for the root of your sub-domain in step 3.4 below, you will be able to use this sub-domain for
landing pages. The URL format of a form published on an Eloqua hosted sub-domain will be http://<your
selected sub-domain>/forms/<rest of form URL as defined by marketer>
Naming Convention Suggestions:
If your company domain is www.company.com, it is recommended that you create a sub-domain of
example.company.com
It is recommended you use a sub-domain specific to your company / industry / mailing. For example, for
our own internal marketing Eloqua uses “demand.eloqua.com” as our bounceback sub-domain as we are
a leader in Demand Generation.
Don’t use the word “email” anywhere in the address.
It is best if the desired sub-domain is not currently in use and has not been used previously.
Examples of what other Eloqua clients have selected in the past:
 response.company.com
 learn.company.com
 go.company.com
Action
Select an Email Sub-domain that will be used for your bounceback address and From email address.
response.stratfor.com
2.2 Bounceback Email Address Selection
This email address will be used to capture bounceback responses to your Eloqua system. This email address will
be based on the email sub-domain created for branding, and therefore will not be a real email address configured
in your system. Valid bounceback responses to this email address will be captured, processed and available
through the bounceback reporting tool in Eloqua (some Out-of-Office replies will be captured by this address and
will be available in the Bounceback History report).
© 2009 Eloqua
www.eloqua.com
4
Action
Select a bounceback email address (the latter part of the email address after the @ symbol should be the
email sub-domain selected in section 2.1).
[email protected]
2.3 Default From and Reply-To Email Address Selections
The Default From email address should have the same sub-domain as the bounceback address, but is not
explicitly required. If another email address is used with a different domain, then it is strongly recommended that
the SPF record for this other domain is updated with the text value indicated in section 3.1.
Action
Select a default From Email Address.
[email protected]
The Default Reply-To email address should be a valid email address. The domain of this email address should
not match the sub-domain chosen for the bounceback address.
Action
Select a default Reply-To Email Address.
[email protected]
© 2009 Eloqua
www.eloqua.com
5
3.0 IT Configuration Instructions
3.1 IT Configuration Summary
Below is a summary of the configuration required by your IT department. Sections 3.2 to 3.5 provide descriptions for the
changes. Edit the text in red italics to specify your sub-domain selection.
Configuration for Email Sub-domain
DNS Records for
response.stratfor.com
MX
mail.en25.com
MX pref
10
TXT
v=spf1 include:_netblocks.eloqua.com -all
NS
Copy the NameServer and SOA records from the parent domain
A Record #1
response.stratfor.com
209.167.231.15
A Record #2
mail01.response.stratfor.com
204.92.19.141
Configuration for Image Alias
DNS Records for
images.response.stratfor.com
CNAME
now.eloqua.com.edgesuite.net
Configuration for Application Alias
DNS Records for
app.response.stratfor.com
CNAME
now.eloqua.com
3.2 Domain Registration
Action
 Register the email sub-domain response.stratfor.com
3.3 DNS Configuration
MX Record
This MX record will direct all of the bounceback messages back to the Eloqua bounceback processing servers.
This record also provides additional reputation for the sending domain as some recipient servers may look for this
record.
© 2009 Eloqua
www.eloqua.com
6
MX preference is a required setting for all MX records. The value (10) may be changed if you have an internal
default value for MX records. The value of 10 is just a suggestion.
If this is not set up – bouncebacks will not be tracked and suppressed correctly in the Eloqua system.
SPF Record
This TXT record is used to create the SPF record and is used to improve the reputation of the sending domain.
The “include:_netblocks.eloqua.com” section pulls the IP address block list from a central location hosted by
Eloqua. More information on SPF is available here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sender_Policy_Framework
If this is not set up – some recipients may reject the email because the IPs listed on the SPF record do not match
the IP that email was sent from.
NS Record
Copying the NameServer records from the parent zone is optional, but it may provide additional reputation for
some recipient domains that look for these records.
Action
Make the following DNS Changes for the email sub-domain indicated in section 2.1: smtp.stratfor.com
 Set the MX record to mail.en25.com and MX pref to 10 for the new domain.
 Set the TXT record to the value of v=spf1 include:_netblocks.eloqua.com –all
 Copy the NameServer and SOA records from the parent domain (Optional)
3.4 A Record Configuration
Two A Records must be configured:
One A record points to the IP address that has been allocated to your B&D configuration. Eloqua will
create a matching reverse DNS record. This record provides reputation for the sending IP address. When
some recipient domains receive an email, they will perform a reverse DNS lookup on the IP to get the
name, then take that name and perform a forward lookup. If this record is missing or doesn’t line up, the
message may be rejected.
One A record in the root of the sub-domain. E.g. if your main domain is client.com and your sub-domain is
marketing.client.com, then this record points marketing.client.com to the Eloqua servers. This provides
additional validation for the sub-domain as some recipient domains may perform A record lookups on
sending domains. As indicated above, this will also allow you to use this sub-domain for form landing
pages.
© 2009 Eloqua
www.eloqua.com
7
Action
Create the following two ‘A’ records for the dedicated IP provided by Eloqua.

A Record
Name
IP Address
A Record #1
smtp.stratfor.com
209.167.231.15
A Record #2
mail01.smtp.stratfor.com
204.92.19.141
Complete
3.5 CNAME Configuration
These records are used in email messages. The ‘images’ record is used for hosting images (Edgesuite.net is an
Akamai brand – Akamai is used to improve delivery of the images to the recipient of the email). The ‘app’ record is
used to track email opens and link clicking.
Action
Configuration of Image Alias:
 Create DNS Record for images.smtp.stratfor.com with CNAME now.eloqua.com.edgesuite.net
Configuration of Application Alias:
 Create DNS Record for app.smtp.stratfor.com with CNAME now.eloqua.com
Once the new email sub-domain has been configured, please contact Eloqua Product Support or your Implementation
team who will verify the changes and complete your Eloqua email configuration to support the new sub-domain. Please
note that sending from your dedicated IP does not commence until this completed document is returned to Eloqua.
Notice for Customers who have upgraded to the Branding and Deliverability Package. If you were previously using a
branded bounceback address without a dedicated IP address, then you must make the following modifications to your
existing Eloqua configuration after your new Branding and Deliverability Package has been set up:
Update your new Bounceback and default FROM address in Email Details area of the application.
Update existing links in all email headers and footers by deleting the existing links and re-inserting same links.
Update any images that are currently used in an existing email that will be sent in the future. (i.e. any email’s
created before Branding and Deliverability that was set up and will be deployed sometime into the future).
Visit Customer Central you are unable to do this or verify with your implementation team that this has been done.
© 2009 Eloqua
www.eloqua.com
8
4.0 IP Warming
Once the configuration is completed, it is essential that your dedicated IP be ‘warmed’ slowly, in order to avoid
blocks by ISPs.
Whenever an ISP sees email traffic enter their network via an IP they have never seen before, traffic from that IP
is heavily scrutinized in order to determine if emails sent from that IP is legitimate or SPAM. As a result, sending
large volumes of email immediately via a new IP can result in it being blocked. Other factors to consider are the
number of complaints, hard bouncebacks, and SPAM trap hits that result from these sends.
It takes approximately four weeks to sufficiently warm an IP. During this time, outbound emails from your IP
should gradually increase and batches closely monitored for irregularities. Eloqua can help with the warming
process on request, and more information can be found in Customer Central via the Eloqua IP Warming 4.4.ppt or
contact your Project Manager or Customer Success Manager.
5.0 Branding and Deliverability Boost Package (ADD-ON)
Eloqua’s Email Deliverability Management capabilities have expanded to include several top-of-the-line management and
testing tools. Below are the two inventory categories of tools available to users:
1. General Testing Tools – Available to All Customers. Email Test Center (Lite & Express: 5 Tests/month, Team:
10 Tests/month, Enterprise: 15 Tests/month)
a. General Deliverability Test
b. Inbox Preview Test
c. Spam Content Check
d. Test Results History Interface
2. Boost Package – Add On. Available for customers on Silver or Gold Branding and Deliverability:
a. Additional General Testing Events – 35/month for all product tiers
b. “Live” Deliverability Testing
c. IP Reputation Analytics
d. Blacklist Monitoring
Contact your Account Manager for details on pricing for the Boost Package.
5.1 Provide Main Contact / User – Boost Package Only
To configure the single-sign-on Reputation Monitor and Blacklist Alert functionality, please provide an email
address for the main user as well as whether you would like to receive Blacklist Alerts sent to that email address.
Action
Provide Email Address of main contact/user
Would you like to be notified if your IP gets Blacklisted?
© 2009 Eloqua
Yes
www.eloqua.com
No
9