Properly configuring a newsletter for email authentication is an arcane process few master. Which can be an opportunity for startups and entrepreneurs.
You can build a tool that takes as input :
[email protected]
)and spits out a complete, correct DNS configuration for SPF/DKIM/DMARC with the exact instructions, record entries, and details to properly authenticate the newsletter and keep email systems and clients happy.
This really needs to be on the email server side of things. I use mailinabox, it's free provides a lot of DNS records which can be simply transposed into your DNS.
Anonymized example:
TXT: _dmarc[dot]domain[dot]co
Value: v=DMARC1; p=quarantine
A: domain[dot]co
IP Address: 159.65.14.58
MX: domain[dot]co
Priority: 10
Hostname: mail[dot]mailserver[dot]co.
TXT: domain[dot]co
Value: v=spf1 mx -all
TXT: _dmarc[dot]domain[dot]co
Value: v=DMARC1; p=quarantine
TXT: mail[dot]_domainkey[dot]domain[dot]co
Value: v=DKIM1; k=rsa; s=email; p=QK79w0BAQFD7jjgE613tOACAQ8AMIIBCgKCAQEAyodOESaYMRtqodurKvj4qSVj6xJEFAAO1P61HhepBErq3c1CxjsMsutmsJFiBQqMIIBIjANBgkqhkiGM6967n5fJ6zs3o5qy5RzWoh2xq7tMWIMcahisi9FbhGN7gOMKsPUGx3nAKyZIRVWcJw9Q1e0Wb4rxzi150uXUpfunmRtK6Y7ira5IDtz2FRnVxe91QQuRcB3zdcObBXZp62XqE86/7FOWy4z1G/67IoR+E9NVbOX/ys5FUfGTZOxsax8Ppnlv5A2zUOW94wScroOBYaXJdiuS7+wOZFKg0TlSY0TQrrGApd4iOr4gp8Klb7ihkKoY3g62rCDvw18H6I90nk3S5MwIDAQAB
SRV: _caldavs[dot]_tcp[dot]domain[dot]co
Priority: 0
Weight: 0
Port: 443
Target: mail[dot]mailserver[dot]co.
SRV: _carddavs[dot]_tcp[dot]domain[dot]co
Priority: 0
Weight: 0
Port: 443
Target: mail[dot]mailserver[dot]co.
TXT: autoconfig[dot]domain[dot]co
Value: v=spf1 -all
MX: autoconfig[dot]domain[dot]co
Priority: 0
Hostname: .
TXT: _dmarc[dot]autoconfig[dot]domain[dot]co
Value: v=DMARC1; p=reject
TXT: autodiscover[dot]domain[dot]co
Value: v=spf1 -all
MX: autodiscover[dot]domain[dot]co
Priority: 0
Hostname: .
TXT: _dmarc[dot]autodiscover[dot]domain[dot]co
Value: v=DMARC1; p=reject
TXT: mta-sts[dot]domain[dot]co
Value: v=spf1 -all
MX: mta-sts[dot]domain[dot]co
Priority: 0
Hostname: .
TXT: _dmarc[dot]mta-sts[dot]domain[dot]co
Value: v=DMARC1; p=
It's important to note that you can't host a mail server anywhere. Many hosting providers like slowdaddy, crackspace, hostlater, digital ocean, linode, hetzner etc have periodical ASN level or subnet blocks for MTAs (mail transfer agents) - some even block all MTAs except for the big ones. Expect to get 90% delivery rate self hosting but from within the above hosts that would be more like 80% on a bad month.
For this reason it's recommended to use an email delivery service like sendinblue.
I think you'd be hard pressed to make a profitable business out of this alone - this is something that a company/person generally does once. And if they're too technically challenged to set it up based on the instructions given by their ESP, they'll struggle to even know what to Google to find a service that does it for them. Even if you do get them to sign up, you'll drive yourself crazy trying to keep your funnel full of people who pay you one time and then move on.
If however you have a business focussed on improving email deliverability in general, then you could definitely build this in as a feature, or even a service that you offer as part of a higher-level tier.
That's a good point, thanks.
Did someone make it already?
I can make it but not sure if there will be (enough) customers.... :)
I'm interested but I have no idea whether there's high demand.
Thanks for your response @PaoloAmoroso. Let me look into this a bit deeply. Will post my update here soon! :)
This is 100% an intense problem someone would pay a fee for.
I'd definitely pay for such a product.