Brand identifiers for message identification, or BIMI, is a technology that some expect to become a new standard for email marketing. And for good reason; BIMI offers capabilities that provide higher levels of customer trust and engagement with brands.
“BIMI is a brand-supported logo within supporting email clients,” said Danielle Gallant, Email Strategist at Validity, speaking at MarTech. “BIMI is a critical tool for marketers now because it is a low-cost marketing strategy that increases brand recognition and really helps to build trust between the brand and its audience.”
Google started rolling out BIMI support in Gmail in July 2021, and other email platforms are expected to follow.
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By ensuring brand logos are appended to verified emails, BIMI helps marketers better connect with customers. It also verifies your outgoing emails to prevent fraud, displaying the brand logo next to only authenticated messages.
“BIMI is great because it serves two purposes,” Gallant said. “It pleases the mailbox providers, which now includes Gmail, and also the subscribers, who we’re always trying to cater to by building that brand awareness and trust.”
BIMI improves customer experience
Recent data reinforces the importance of brand recognition. According to the DMA Consumer Email Tracker 2021 report, most consumers (68%) say brand recognition is the most important factor when determining whether or not to open an email.
“I think the results were surprising,” Gallant said. “Most senders would probably argue that that would be the subject line. But more than that, by about a 10% margin, is recognizing the brand.”
She added, “Recognizing the brand is becoming instrumental in getting your messages seen and engaged with. And the first step we know is always to open.”
But just because BIMI offers a standard for brand authentication, brands need to decide if it is worth the complicated setup, especially when it is early for adoption.
“I think it’s a short-term kick right when it first shows up … and then it almost becomes an unconscious indicator of message authentication or method of authenticity,” said Ryan Phelan of Origin Email, speaking at a separate session at MarTech. “I caution people with BIMI. It’s a brand decision. It’s an authentication decision in terms of reassurance, but I don’t think there’s any long-term effect and I haven’t seen any data to indicate this.
And who’s to say once brands fully adopt BIMI that consumers will not tune it out?
“If we get to the point where a lot of brands doing BIMI, it’s something we’re going to become blind to when we look at our inbox,” said MarTech Editorial Director Kim Davis. “We’re just not going to notice anymore.”
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