Did you know that you can now control and customize how your business appears in your Apple Mail inboxes? Apple Branded Mail enables you to do just that!

Branded Mail is part of Apple Business Connect and allows companies to level up their email presence. By displaying their brand logo and name directly in email messages, Branded Mail will help your business stand out in crowded inboxes.

Key Takeaways

In late 2024, Apple’s iOS 18.2 introduced Branded Mail. This aims to enable businesses to display verified logos in Apple Mail.
Apple Branded Mail offers a wide range of benefits, such as improved visibility, enhanced trust, increased safety, higher cost-effectiveness, etc.
There are several requirements and prerequisites to sign up for Apple Branded Mail.
Businesses need valid, correctly configured DMARC, DKIM, SPF, and an Apple Business Connect account with a verified logo.
Using Apple Branded Mail can significantly benefit your marketing efforts with even higher open rates, enhanced trust, and visibility.
PowerDMARC’s hosted services can help you facilitate DMARC compliance and ensure you have full access to the benefits of Apple Branded Mail.

What is Branded Mail?

Branded Mail enables business owners to add their brand logo and name to their commercial emails. So if you are looking to make your brand identity stronger and more visible, boost open rates, and make your emails more trustworthy, then Branded Mail is a fantastic solution to your needs. You can find it in the Mail app on Apple devices and iCloud Mail on the web.

What are the Benefits of Branded Mail?

The benefits of Apple Branded Mail are numerous, including faster rates of recognition, better visibility, higher open rates, etc.

Easier Recognition

Branded Mail makes your brand easier to recognize: Seeing your logo and brand name will make it easier for recipients to recognize your emails. This will also make your brand image stick in their minds.

Enhanced Trust

Your emails will enjoy a higher degree of trust. Recognizing your brand visually will help you build trust with customers.

Improved Visibility

Your emails will be more visible. It is often hard to tell important emails apart from the unimportant, especially in the busy, crowded inboxes of today. Your brand logo and name will signal the safety and importance of your emails, which will encourage recipients to open them.

Higher Cost-Effectiveness

There is no longer a need for expensive trademarks. Branded Mail is completely free to use. This is especially great for small businesses with tight budgets.

Less Spam

Branded Mail helps distinguish malicious emails from safe ones, reducing spam.

Eligibility and Requirements

To use Branded Mail, all you need is to meet the below criteria:

Have an Apple Business Connect account
Be DMARC verified
Ensure both DKIM and SPF setups (only SPF will not work).
Own the logo used for Branded Mail
Use a commercial email domain (non-commercial domains like gmail.com are not permitted)
Have the company verified by Apple

Setting Up Branded Mail

You can follow the steps below to set up Branded Mail:

Step 1: Ensure DMARC Compliance

Configure your DNS records to quarantine or reject unverified emails. You can check your current DMARC with policy using tools like PowerDMARC’s DMARC checker tool. The pct value needs to be set to 100% to apply DMARC to all emails.

Step 2: Get Your Logo Ready

Create a square logo (1024px-4864px) in JPG, PNG, or HEIF format. You will need to publish this logo to your Apple Business Connect account. You can preview its appearance before you finalize it.

Step 3: Use Apple Business Connect

Step 4: Choose Domain Structure

You can decide between the three domain levels (this should be the domain for which you aim to enable logo display):

Domain and subdomains (e.g., @betterbagcompany.com)
Subdomain only (e.g., @members.betterbagcompany.com)
Specific email address (e.g., [email protected])

Step 5: Verify Your Domain

You need to add the provided TXT record to your domain’s zone file. This has to be done within 14 calendar days of submission. All you need to do is log in to your domain provider (e.g. Cloudflare) and add this record to your domain’s DNS. Your next step is to return to Apple Business Connect and click Verify.

Step 6: Wait for Verification

Apple usually completes the verification process within 5-7 business days.

How to Reach DMARC Compliance

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) is a crucial email authentication protocol and an essential component of the email authentication process. It helps domain owners to protect their domains from hacking attempts and other forms of unauthorized activity. As important as DMARC is, it is often difficult to reach full DMARC compliance when you have to do everything manually by yourself. This is why some companies offer hosted DMARC services to take the trouble and hassle out of your way and do everything in an effective, professional manner.

PowerDMARC’s Hosted DMARC service assists users in DMARC setup and monitoring, ensuring maximum compliance and alignment with Branded Mail criteria.

The hosted DMARC feature allows businesses to manage DMARC records for their business domains from within the all-encompassing interface. First, only a quick and easy one-time configuration is necessary. Everything starts by publishing the generated Hosted DMARC record onto the user’s DNS.
In case there is a need for updates at a later stage, you can complete the modifications directly within the platform. All the changes will immediately appear on your DNS.
This means that you can change your DMARC record directly from PowerDMARC’s interface. So there is no longer a need to contact your DNS provider every time!
PowerDMARC’s hosted DMARC services also enable you to transition to stricter DMARC policies like reject or quarantine without any problems in the transition process.
We also make the monitoring of your DMARC records and compliances easier, smoother, and more effective. This means that even if you don’t have any technical knowledge, you can still draw insights from the reports and thereby qualify for Branded Mail benefits.

It’s Important to Note

Franchisee Requirements: Franchisees must collaborate with brand owners to use Branded Mail.
Email Limit: There is a limit of 100 combined domains, subdomains, and email addresses.
Third-Party Management: Partners who manage locations and brands in Apple Business Connect now can also manage Branded Mail for their clients.

Summing Up

Apple Mail commands an impressive 55% market share in email opens. This means that using Branded Mail will significantly improve your market position when it comes to email authentication and branding. This is thanks to higher open rates, enhanced trust levels, improved visibility, and a higher degree of transparency in communications with the help of Branded Mail.

Improve engagement and effectiveness of your email marketing communications with the help of Branded Mail. May your relationship with your partners and customers grow stronger in 2025!

Patrick Allen

How Apple is Changing Email Branding with Branded Mail in 2025