Send Campaigns from Your Own Domain

Why Use a Custom Sender Domain?

By default, campaigns are sent from marketing@mk.houfy.com. With a custom sender domain, your emails come from your own address like hello@yourcompany.com. This improves:

- Brand recognition — guests see your business name, not Houfy

- Deliverability — emails from verified domains are less likely to land in spam

- Replies reach you, if you set Reply-To - verifying your domain changes who the email is FROM; it does not by itself change where replies go. Open your campaign, go to the Settings tab, and type your own address into the Reply-To box. The grey text you see in that box is only an example - if you type info@houfy.com into it, every reply from your guests goes to Houfy support instead of to you, and you will never see them. If you leave Reply-To empty, replies go to your verified sender address.

How to Set Up Your Sender Domain

Step 1: Add Your Domain

1. Go to Campaign Designer > Sender Domains

2. Click "Add Domain"

3. Enter your email address (e.g. hello@yourcompany.com) and display name

4. Click "Add Domain"

Step 2: Add DNS Records

You need to add 3 required records and 1 recommended record at your domain registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare, Route 53, etc.).

| # | Record Type | Host (enter this) | Value | Required |

|---|---|---|---|---|

| 1 | TXT | @ | v=spf1 a mx include:spf.mtasv.net ~all | Yes |

| 2 | TXT | {selector}pm._domainkey | k=rsa; p=MIGfMA0... (provided in app) | Yes |

| 3 | CNAME | pm-bounces | pm.mtasv.net | Yes |

| 4 | TXT | _dmarc | v=DMARC1; p=none; | Recommended |

The exact values for each record are shown in the app after you add your domain. Use the copy buttons to copy the host and value.

Important The Host field shows only the subdomain part. Your DNS provider automatically appends your domain. For example, if the app shows pm-bounces, your DNS provider will create pm-bounces.yourcompany.com.

For the SPF record, the host is @ which means the root domain (yourcompany.com).

Step 3: Wait for DNS Propagation

DNS changes can take anywhere from 5 minutes to 48 hours to propagate worldwide. Most changes propagate within 30 minutes.

Tip: Add all DNS records BEFORE adding the domain in the app. This avoids delays caused by negative DNS caching.

Step 4: Verify Your Domain

1. Go back to Campaign Designer > Sender Domains

2. Click "Verify Domain"

3. The system checks all DNS records at once

4. Each record shows a green checkmark when verified

Once all 3 required records are verified, your domain is ready to use.

What Each DNS Record Does

SPF (Sender Policy Framework)

Tells email providers that Houfy is authorized to send emails on behalf of your domain. Without SPF, your emails may be flagged as spam.

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)

Adds a cryptographic signature to every email, proving it hasn't been tampered with in transit. This is the most important record for deliverability.

Return-Path (Bounce Handling)

Routes bounced emails back for proper delivery tracking. This helps maintain your sender reputation by handling undeliverable emails correctly.

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication)

Tells email providers what to do when an email fails SPF or DKIM checks. The recommended p=none policy means "monitor but don't block." This is optional but recommended, especially for high-volume senders. Google and Yahoo require DMARC for senders sending 5,000+ emails per day.

Using Your Custom Sender in Campaigns

Once your domain is verified:

1. Open any campaign in the Campaign Builder

2. Go to the Settings tab

3. In the "From" dropdown, select your verified sender

4. Your campaign will be sent from your custom address

If you don't select a custom sender, the default Houfy sender is used.

DNS Provider Guides

Route 53 (AWS)

1. Go to Route 53 > Hosted zones > your domain

2. Click "Create record"

3. For TXT records: enter the record name, select TXT, paste the value in quotes

4. For CNAME records: enter pm-bounces, select CNAME, enter pm.mtasv.net

Important: Before adding DNS records, edit your SOA record and change the last number (minimum TTL) from 86400 to 300. This reduces negative caching from 24 hours to 5 minutes.

Cloudflare

1. Go to DNS > Records

2. Click "Add record"

3. Select the record type (TXT or CNAME)

4. Enter the name and value

5. Set proxy status to "DNS only" (gray cloud) for all Postmark records

GoDaddy

1. Go to My Products > DNS

2. Click "Add" under Records

3. Select the record type, enter the host and value

4. For SPF: host = @, value = v=spf1 a mx include:spf.mtasv.net ~all

Namecheap

1. Go to Domain List > Manage > Advanced DNS

2. Click "Add New Record"

3. Select the record type, enter host and value

4. For root domain records, use @ as the host

---

Troubleshooting

Verification fails even though records are added

DNS changes can take time to propagate. Wait 30 minutes and try again. If using Route 53, check that the SOA minimum TTL is set to 300 (not 86400).

SPF verified but DKIM not verified

The DKIM record has a long hostname. Make sure you entered it exactly as shown — including the timestamp prefix (e.g. 20260401094140pm._domainkey). Your DNS provider should auto-append your domain.

Return-Path not verified

Make sure the record type is CNAME (not TXT). The host should be pm-bounces and the value should be pm.mtasv.net.

"Domain already exists" error when adding

The domain was previously added. The system will fetch the existing configuration from Postmark. Your DNS records should already be shown.

Emails still show as from Houfy after verification

Make sure you selected your custom sender in the campaign settings (Settings tab > From dropdown). Each campaign needs to be individually set to use your sender.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I use a free email provider (Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook)?

No. You need your own domain. Houfy refuses sender addresses at gmail.com, yahoo.com, hotmail.com, outlook.com, aol.com, icloud.com, mail.com, protonmail.com, zoho.com and yandex.com, because free providers do not allow third-party sending authorization.

Can I add multiple sender domains?

Yes. You can add and verify multiple domains and choose which one to use per campaign.

What happens if my DNS records are removed?

Your domain will become unverified. Campaigns will automatically fall back to the default Houfy sender. Re-add the DNS records and verify again to restore your custom sender.

Do I need to verify for each email address on the same domain?

Each email address needs its own sender entry, but addresses on the same domain share the same DNS records. Add the new address, then click Verify Domain - it will pass straight away, because the DNS for that domain is already in place. A newly added address is not usable until you have clicked Verify Domain at least once.

Is there a limit on sender domains?

There is no fixed limit on the number of sender domains you can add. If you are managing a large number of domains and something does not behave as expected, contact support.