When SPF or DKIM alignment fails
DMARC check
When an email is sent, its sender ID is validated and then its SPF and DKIM records are aligned. Complying with DMARC policy tells the recipient systems that the email sender has done something that only an authentic sender can do: align the DKIM and/or SPF domain with the “From” domain that the recipient sees.
SPF alignment
If you're sending emails through your business domain as "From", DMARC will compare it with the "Envelope From" (also known as "Return-Path") domain. If both the domains or their subdomains match, SPF is aligned.
Why SPF alignment fails
If you're using an email marketing service to send emails, the "Envelope From" domain is the domain of the marketing service. It is the domain used to receive bounce error messages from recipient systems. In your case, Zoho Marketing Automation uses "zcsend.net" as the "Envelope From" domain to collect the bounce error messages so we can display the bounce rate and reasons in your campaign report. During the DMARC check, this "Envelope From" domain will not match with the actual sender's business domain, so SPF alignment will fail. This happens not only with Zoho Marketing Automation but with any email marketing service.
How to resolve
DMARC requires either SPF or DKIM alignment. So, if you have DKIM authentication, you will pass the DMARC check even without SPF alignment. SPF alignment failing won't affect your email deliverability.
What you should do
If you don't have DKIM authentication, both SPF and DKIM alignment will fail, and your email won't pass the DMARC check. So, we recommend that you authenticate your domain with both SPF and DKIM to pass DMARC and improve your email deliverability.
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