Common Mark Certificates (CMCs) Datasheet Go to Common Mark Certificates (CMCs) Datasheet
Email is crowded and risky. Sectigo Common Mark Certificates (CMCs) help startups show their logo, build trust, and boost engagement no trademark needed.
CMC Certificates
Display your logo in emails with no trademark needed
Common Mark Certificates (CMCs) are designed to verify brand logos for display in email inboxes without the need for a registered trademark. They offer a faster and more accessible path to BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) compliance, making them ideal for growing brands looking to boost email engagement, visibility, and trust. Studies show brand logos visible in inboxes lead to:
- 21% increase in open rates
- 18% improvement in brand recall
- 34% increase in purchase likelihood
Verified Mark Certificates (VMCs) and CMCs share a common goal of improving trust and credibility through the use of verified brand logos. However, CMCs provide greater flexibility for small to midsize businesses by eliminating the requirement for a registered trademark. They help restore trust at the inbox, increase deliverability, and protect against spoofing and phishing attacks, benefits that can lead to improved engagement metrics like open rates. CMCs are easy to implement and can typically be issued within five to ten days.
VMC vs CMC: Find the Right Email Branding Certificate for Your Business
Your choice of certificate determines how your brand appears in inboxes, the trust you build with customers, and how quickly you can go live.
Verified Mark Certificate (VMC)
Choose VMC if:
- You have a registered trademark
- You need the blue verified checkmark in Gmail
- Maximum email trust is critical (full BIMI compliance)
- Brand protection is paramount
- You can invest in premium certification (as low as $1,350/year)
- Best for large enterprises, regulated industries
Common Mark Certificate (CMC)
Choose CMC if:
- You don't have a registered trademark
- Your logo has 12+ months of public use
- Basic email branding is sufficient (basic BIMI compliance)
- Faster deployment is needed (issued in 5-10 days)
- You want cost-effective branding (as low as $990/year)
- Best for SMBs, startups, unregistered brand logos
Features & Benefits of Common Mark Certificates
| No registered trademark required | Registered trademarks are valuable but can be difficult and time consuming to obtain. CMCs offer a middle ground: the benefits of visual inbox trust and BIMI compliance without the wait for a registered trademark. To qualify, your logo must be in long-term use (typically more than one year), but issuance is fast, often within five to ten days. | |
|---|---|---|
| Enables brand logo visibility in inboxes | CMCs place recognizable logos next to senders' names, rendering emails instantly identifiable. This addresses one of the key obstacles in modern email marketing: a general lack of trust among email recipients. Emails marked by recognizable logos signal visual trust, indicating that emails are safe to open. | |
| 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. |
| Protect against phishing and spoofing attacks | Phishing and spoofing attacks are on the rise, with many cybercriminals successfully impersonating legitimate brands. CMCs make these attacks more difficult to execute by attaching authenticated logos that immediately distinguish legitimate email communication from fraudulent messages. |
|---|---|
| Increase brand engagement | Emails displaying logos signal visual trust, leading to increased engagement. A recent study found that displaying brand logos in email inboxes leads to a 21% increase in open rates, a 18% improvement in brand recall, and a 34% increase in purchase likelihood. |
| More affordable than VMCs | While VMCs offer exceptional branding and protection for enterprises, they can feel financially out of reach for some businesses. CMCs offer a more affordable, yet highly effective alternative from small to mid-sized businesses. |
Requirements for getting a Common Mark Certificate
DMARC compliance: DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) must be correctly implemented with a policy of quarantine or reject published in DNS. This is required to prevent phishing and spoofing and is essential for BIMI compliance.
A domain with email authentication: Your sending domain must have SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) set up correctly.
An official logo in SVG format: Your brand logo must be in SVG Tiny 1.2 format and should include an embedded color profile. The logo must be in public use on your domain for 12+ months.
Business verification: Sectigo will verify your business identity by reviewing your registration and legal documentation to ensure the organization is legitimate and authorized to use the brand logo.
How to set up and activate your CMC
You've acquired all the CMC essentials, and now, it's time to set up and activate this valuable certificate. Follow these steps to get started:
- Configure email security
- DMARC policy must be enforced at p=quarantine or p=reject. SPF and DKIM must also be properly configured.
- Purchase your Common Mark Certificate
- Buy your CMC using the “Add to Cart” button above.
- Complete your CMC setup
- You will receive an email with instructions to help you provide your organization's details and download your certificate. Sectigo will verify your business identity, which may include reviewing registration documents and confirming identity via a notarized ID or video call.
- Set up your logo
- Allow Sectigo to host your logo file, or upload it to a publicly accessible HTTPS URL. The logo must be in public use for at least 12 months.
- If you're hosting your own logo, add a BIMI TXT record to your domain's DNS (your host or IT team can assist)
- Publish your BIMI record
- Add a BIMI TXT record to your domain’s DNS. Your IT team or provider can assist.
- Test and maintain
- Use a BIMI tool to verify setup. Logo should display in supported inboxes when you send a test email. Note: CMCs do not trigger Gmail’s blue verified checkmark. Monitor your DMARC policy and renew your CMC to maintain logo visibility.
FAQs
Have another question?
Reach us by chat in the lower-right corner.
A Common Mark Certificate is a digital certificate that allows organizations to display their brand logo in supported email inboxes using BIMI without a registered trademark. To qualify, the logo must have been in public use for at least 12 months. CMCs help increase brand visibility and build trust with email recipients.
CMC is ideal for any organization that does not yet have a registered trademark but still wants to increase email engagement and protect their brand from spoofing. It offers a faster and more affordable path to BIMI logo display compared to VMCs.
Applicants can demonstrate historical usage by providing proof that the logo has been used on their website for at least 12 months. A common method is showing logo history on the organization’s website using the Internet Archive at archive.org.
CMC issuance typically takes 5-10 business days, depending on how quickly validation materials are submitted. This is generally faster than VMC issuance due to the absence of trademark verification.
CMC validation consists of:
- Organization Validation
- Face-to-Face Validation
- Logo Verification
- Trademark Verification
- Domain Control Validation
- Checks of the domain’s Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA)
Your logo must be:
- In SVG Tiny Portable/Secure (SVG Tiny 1.2) format.
- Square aspect ratio (e.g., 600x600 pixels).
- Under 24 KB in file size.
- Free of scripts, external links, embedded fonts, or raster images.
- Include a <title> tag with your company name.
- Hosted on a secure HTTPS server.
You can use tools provided by the BIMI Group or manually edit the SVG file using a text editor to ensure compliance.
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.
Improve inbox credibility with common mark certificates from Sectigo
Help your brand stand out in supported inboxes and build instant recognition and trust with a Sectigo CMC.
Trusted by Leading Brands Globally
Securing some of the world’s largest and best-known brands.
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Related Resources
What are Verified Mark Certificates & how do they help authenticate emails? Go to What are Verified Mark Certificates & how do they help authenticate emails?
VMCs display logos in email clients to boost trust, security, and brand visibility. Learn how they work and why your business needs one.