Mark Certificates for Email Identity and Brand Trust
Mark certificates allow organizations to display their brand logo in supported email clients, giving recipients a clear way to identify legitimate messages and recognize your brand. This strengthens brand identity, improves inbox visibility, and builds trust with every send.
Sectigo offers two types of mark certificates: Verified Mark Certificates (VMCs) and Common Mark Certificates (CMCs). Both support BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) and require DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) enforcement. These certificates improve email security, deliverability, and brand protection by providing visual authentication that helps reduce the risk of phishing and spoofing attacks.
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Choose the right mark certificate for your brand
Selecting the correct mark certificate depends on your verification needs and trademark status. Both of our solutions meet high security standards and deliver consistent brand recognition.
Verified Mark Certificates
- Requires a registered trademark for logo
- Triggers Gmail’s blue checkmark beside sender
- Offers highest level of visual trust and brand protection (full BIMI compliance)
- Helps enterprise level brands reinforce authenticity and engagement
Common Mark Certificates
- Ideal for businesses without a registered trademark
- Displays a brand logo in email inboxes of BIMI-supporting providers (basic BIMI compliance)
- More affordable entry point to email branding
- Fast deployment (5-10 days)
What are Mark Certificates?
Mark certificates are a type of email-focused digital certificate. They support the BIMI standard, which requires email authentication protocols such as SPF (Sender Policy Framework), DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail), and DMARC. By linking a logo to a verified domain, they provide a visual indicator of trust in the email inbox and help recipients recognize legitimate messages, reinforcing credibility every time you send an email.
Two main types of mark certificates are Verified Mark Certificates and Common Mark Certificates. Both increase brand visibility in the inbox, with VMCs requiring a registered trademark and CMCs available without one.
Benefits of Mark Certificates
Mark certificates deliver the core benefit of brand recognition, with studies showing that displaying logos in inboxes can increase open rates by 21%, improve brand recall by 18%, and boost purchase likelihood by 34%.
| Boost brand visibility in inboxes | Prominently display your brand's verified logo in recipients' inboxes. This helps your brand stand out and maintain a consistent, recognizable presence while confirming message legitimacy. | |
| Protect against phishing and spoofing | Safeguard email recipients against common attacks such as phishing and spoofing. Mark certificates work with DMARC authentication to prevent attackers from impersonating your domain. Recipients can more easily identify legitimate emails and avoid those without verified logos. | |
| Compatible with BIMI-supported clients | CMCs are recognized by major email providers like Gmail and Yahoo, offering seamless compatibility across platforms that support BIMI logo display. |
| Increase open rates and engagement | Brand recognition and credibility give recipients confidence to open your emails. Mark certificates help messages stand out, supporting higher open rates, stronger engagement, and improved customer loyalty over time. |
| BIMI compliance | Mark certificates support compliance with the BIMI standard by aligning with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC. These standards ensure that only verified senders display brand logos within email inboxes. |
| Support for all business sizes | Mark certificates offer flexible verification options. Whether or not your organization has a registered trademark, they provide logo validation and a way to display your brand in inboxes. |
Understanding CMCs
Common Mark Certificates do not require registered trademarks, but do require a logo that’s been in public use for 12+ months. This is a faster, more affordable option for getting your logo displayed in email inboxes. They leverage basic BIMI standards, and require proper DMARC, SPF, and DKIM configurations.
Understanding VMCs
Verified Mark Certificates require legally registered trademarks and then display those trademarked logos within email inboxes. These high-trust certificates enable the Gmail blue checkmark, providing a clear signal of email authenticity. Many businesses favor VMCs, but these are especially compelling to recognizable brands within highly regulated sectors. The validation process takes longer since trademark ownership must be verified.
Why choose Sectigo?
The Market Leader
Sectigo is the market leader in SSL/TLS certificates, DevOps, IoT, enterprise-grade public key infrastructure (PKI) management, and multi-layered web security.
Over 700,000 Customers
Businesses worldwide rely on Sectigo for solutions ranging from SSL certificates to our award winning certificate management platform, Sectigo Certificate Manager.
Security at scale
Sectigo has issued over 1 billion certificates and currently secures more than 57 million active certificates, ensuring trust and security worldwide.
24/7 Full Service Support
Offering customers 24/7 support and a money-back guarantee, Sectigo is the obvious choice for best-in-class customer service.
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