How to Send Emails From Your Own Domain (Custom Domain Setup)

Sending from your own domain — instead of a shared address — builds your reputation with inbox providers like Gmail and Outlook, presents you as a legitimate business, and considerably improves deliverability. You set it up once by adding a handful of DNS records that prove you're allowed to send from your domain.

This guide explains exactly what each record is, how to add it at any registrar, and the mistakes that trip most people up. For click-by-click instructions at your specific provider, jump to the registrar-specific guides below.

Step 1: Add your domain in Audienceful

Go to Settings → Domains → New and enter the domain you want to send from.

You can send from your root domain (yourdomain.com) or a subdomain (mail.yourdomain.com or news.yourdomain.com).

Once you add the domain, Audienceful shows you a set of DNS records to create. These records are generated for your specific domain — in particular, your DKIM targets are unique — so always copy the values from your own Domains screen rather than from any guide, including this one.

Step 2: Understand the records

Audienceful shows each record as three things: a Type, a Hostname (the "name" or "host"), and a value to enter. Here's what each one does.

A few specifics worth knowing:

• SPF is a TXT record on the domain itself with the value v=spf1 include:mailgun.org ~all. You can only have one SPF record per domain — if you already have a v=spf1 record, merge ours into it (see common mistakes).
• DKIM is delivered as two CNAME records (pdk1._domainkey and pdk2._domainkey) that point at Mailgun. You are not pasting a long public key — just point the two CNAMEs at the targets shown in-app.
• The tracking CNAME (usually email.yourdomain.com → mailgun.org) is what makes link clicks and opens report correctly. Audienceful automatically provisions an SSL certificate for it so your links can be served securely; you don't need to do anything extra for that.
• DMARC is optional but recommended. We provide a safe starter policy, v=DMARC1; p=none;, which only monitors — it won't block any mail. If you already have a _dmarc record, keep yours.

Step 3: Add the records at your DNS provider

Go to wherever your domain's DNS is hosted and add each record. This is the part that varies by provider, so read this section carefully — most setup problems come from the Hostname field.

The golden rule of the Hostname field

Audienceful shows each record's hostname as a full name (like pdk1._domainkey.yourdomain.com or email.yourdomain.com), but almost every registrar automatically adds your domain for you. So in the host/name field you usually enter only the part before your domain:

If you paste the full hostname and your registrar also appends the domain, you end up with a broken record like email.yourdomain.com.yourdomain.com — the single most common mistake. (Audienceful's verifier specifically detects this doubled-domain error and will flag it.)

Two platform quirks to watch for

• The @ symbol isn't universal. Most registrars use @ for the root domain, but a few — notably AWS Route 53 and Netlify — treat @ literally. On those, leave the name field empty instead of typing @.
• Trailing dots on CNAME targets. Most registrars add the trailing dot for you, so enter mailgun.org (no dot). A few (like Route 53) want the fully-qualified value; if a CNAME won't verify, that's worth checking.

Registrar-specific guides

Pick your provider for exact, click-by-click steps — including where to find DNS settings and the specific quirks of that platform:

• GoDaddy
• Namecheap
• Cloudflare
• Squarespace (and Google Domains)
• Wix
• Bluehost
• HostGator
• AWS Route 53
• Porkbun
• Name.com
• IONOS
• Hover
• DreamHost
• Network Solutions

Don't see yours? The steps are the same everywhere — add the records exactly as shown in-app, following the Hostname rule above. Your registrar's own help center will have a "how to add a DNS record" article, and you can always email us.

Step 4: Verify

Once the records are in, come back to Audienceful and click Verify domain. Audienceful checks your records and shows a green checkmark on each. When SPF and DKIM are verified, your domain is active and ready to send.

If a record isn't verified yet:

• Give it time. DNS changes can take anywhere from a few minutes to 24 hours (occasionally up to 48) to propagate. If everything looks right, wait and click verify again later.
• Read the message. When Audienceful can pinpoint the problem (a doubled domain, a missing record, a second SPF record), it tells you exactly what's wrong instead of just "try again."

Step 5: Send yourself a test

When all records are green, open any draft and click Publish → New Task → Send as Email (this doesn't email your whole list). In the From: dropdown, switch to your newly verified domain, then use Send test to email yourself.

To confirm authentication passed, open the test email and use your inbox's "Show original" view (on Gmail: the three-dot menu → Show original). Search for SPF and DKIM — both should say PASS.

Common mistakes

These are the issues we see most often — skim them before you open a support ticket.

• Doubled domain (the #1 mistake). Entering the full hostname (email.yourdomain.com) when your registrar already appends the domain, producing email.yourdomain.com.yourdomain.com. Enter only the part before your domain — see the Hostname rule.
• Two SPF records. You can only have one v=spf1 record. If your domain already has one, don't add a second — merge the include:mailgun.org part into the existing one, e.g. v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com include:mailgun.org ~all.
• GoDaddy's pre-inserted SPF. GoDaddy often adds its own SPF record referencing secureserver.net. Merge include:mailgun.org into it (or replace it) — two SPF records will break sending. See the GoDaddy guide.
• Cloudflare proxy left on. On Cloudflare, mail-related CNAMEs must be set to DNS only (grey cloud), not proxied (orange cloud). A proxied record won't authenticate. See the Cloudflare guide.
• Wrong record type. DKIM must be a CNAME, not a TXT. If you tried to paste a key into a TXT record, delete it and add the two CNAMEs instead.
• @ entered literally. On Route 53 and Netlify, @ is taken literally — leave the name field empty for root-domain records.
• MX conflict. Adding our optional MX records to a domain that already receives email breaks your inbox. Only add MX if the domain doesn't already have it.
• Verifying too soon. If you click verify seconds after saving, the records may not have propagated yet. Wait a few minutes (sometimes hours) and try again.
• Extra characters. Watch for stray spaces, smart quotes, or a trailing dot the registrar didn't want. Copy values exactly as shown in-app.

If your emails are landing in spam after setup, look up your domain on DNSBuddy to see what inboxes actually see, and compare it against the records in Audienceful. Still stuck? Email support@audienceful.com — we can even log into your DNS provider and add the records for you.

Why do I have to deal with DNS at all?

We get it — DNS is the 1980s plumbing of the internet and it's not friendly. But authenticating your domain is the only real way to keep your emails out of spam. Some tools skip it by sending on your behalf from a shared domain, which quietly tanks your deliverability down the line. Doing it properly once sets you up for the long haul — and we're happy to help you through it.