How to Authenticate your domain with Mailchimp

Authenticating your domain with Mailchimp helps improve your email deliverability, enhances sender reputation, and prevents your marketing emails from being marked as spam.

This guide explains how to add the required DKIM and DMARC records in your DNS Management zone from your Client Area to complete the Mailchimp domain authentication process.

Step 1: Add Your Domain in Mailchimp

1. Log in to your Mailchimp account.
2. Go to Account & billing → Domains.
3. In the Email Domains section, click Add & Verify Domain and enter your domain name (e.g., example.com).
4. Enter the email address at the domain you want to verify and click Send Verification Email

5. Mailchimp will send a verification email to a domain-based address (e.g., info@example.com). Open the email and click Verify Domain.
6. Once verified, click Authenticate next to your domain to view the required DNS records.

Step 2: Copy the Required DNS Records from Mailchimp

Mailchimp provides two DKIM (CNAME) records and recommends adding a DMARC (TXT) record for complete email authentication.

Step 3: Access the DNS Management Interface

1. Log in to your Client Area.

2. Navigate to My Domains.

3. Locate the domain name you wish to manage.

4. Click on the three dots (⋮) next to the domain and select Manage Domain.

5. On the Domain Overview page, click **DNS Management **from the available options..

You will be redirected to the DNS Zone Editor interface, where you can view and modify DNS records for your domain.

Step 4: Add the Mailchimp DNS records

Click Add row to create a new record for each entry.

DKIM 1

Name / Host: k1._domainkey.example.com

Type: CNAME

Value: dkim1.mcsv.net

TTL: 3600 (recommended)

DKIM 2

Name / Host: k2._domainkey.example.com

Type: CNAME

Value: dkim2.mcsv.net

TTL: 3600 (recommended)

DMARC

Name / Host: _dmarc.example.com

Type: TXT

Value: v=DMARC1; p=none; 

TTL: 3600 (recommended)

Note: Be sure to enter the complete subdomain name in the Name field when adding DNS records.

Example: k1._domainkey.example.com, not just k1._domainkey.

Step 5: Verify DNS Propagation

After adding the records, use a DNS checker tool to confirm that your DKIM and DMARC records have propagated.

This process can take anywhere from a few minutes to 24 hours.

Step 6: Validate your domain in Mailchimp

Once the DNS records have fully propagated, go back to your Mailchimp account to verify the domain. If the authentication is successful, you’ll see an “Authenticated” label displayed next to your domain in Mailchimp.

Updated on: 13/11/2025