Converting to a Branded Domain

Important: This feature is only available if it is enabled for your account.

Domain branding gives you the ability to use a domain/sub-domain branded for your corporate entity instead of the standard Oracle Responsys domain. The branded domain appears in all your From Addresses, Responsys-hosted Reply To Address, image links, and redirection links (Response Handler URL). The domain/sub-domain you choose to delegate to Oracle Responsys must be one that no other entity is using, as we will manage all traffic for the domain/sub-domain. Learn more about Working with multi-brand accounts

Tip: Because ISPs track domain name reputation as a factor in anti-spam filtering, changing your domain name affects you deliverability. For this reason, if you plan to convert to a branded domain, we recommend you do it as soon as possible.

To use Domain Branding, you must delegate your sub-domains (for example, news.example.com) to Oracle Responsys nameservers. These nameservers are shown in the Notes section of the Convert to branded domain dialog.

Converting to a Branded Domain

Note: You may convert to a branded domain once after your account is created, and may create up to 5 branded domains.

Before you begin: Choose a branded domain/sub-domain for each brand

The branded domain is ideally a sub-domain, but it can be a full domain as well.

Tips for choosing a branded domain/sub-domain:

  • If you use a full domain, ensure that the full domain is one that is dedicated to your corporate marketing and is not the main domain for your company. If you use a full domain for one brand, it will be specific to this brand + your account, and it can’t be used for other accounts or brands. Responsys will receive all receive WWW and corporate email traffic sent to the full domain.
  • Avoid using “email” as the sub-domain, because that may subject your communications to more scanning by the receiving ISPs.
  • Branded sub-domains are an opportunity to strengthen your brand image and recognition with your recipients. It is important to select a branded sub-domain that helps to increase your brand identity, and so, it should be easily identifiable with your brand. In our examples, we use news.yourcompany.com. But you might choose a sub-domain that is more specific to your company or brand. For example, if your stock ticker symbol has a significant tie-in with your brand, you might choose it as your sub-domain.
  • The sub-domain is used for From addresses, Responsys-hosted Reply To addresses, and the Response Handler URL. Recipients will see the Response Handler URL in tracked links, Conversion Tracking image pixels, and their web browser location bar for forms hosted by Responsys or View Message in Browser renderings.
  • If you have more than one brand set up for your account, you must have a unique branded domain/sub-domain for each one.

To convert to a branded domain:

  1. From the side navigation bar, select Account . (If you do not see the side navigation bar, click the Menu button (aka Hamburger menu) icon.)
  2. Select Brand management.

    If the Account page does not have a choice titled "Brand management" but instead has a choice titled "Convert to branded domain" or "Branded domain conversion", please use the instructions in the topic Converting to a branded domain as a single brand prior to the 18B Update instead.

    The Brand management page opens. This page shows one or more brands for your Oracle Responsys account.

  3. Locate the unbranded brand that you want to convert to a branded domain, and then click its Edit icon.
  4. On the Details tab, edit the brand as follows:
    1. Click the Edit icon.
    2. Change the Brand name field to your actual brand name. This name may be 20 characters or fewer. The brand name is the label that refers to the brand wherever the brand appears in Responsys. (For example, it appears as a choice when creating a Profile List, in the email campaign designer - About your campaign, and so on.)
    3. Brand code is a field reserved for a future purpose. You do not need to change this field.
    4. Click Save.
  5. Click the Email tab. The page displays the account status of "Not branded" when your account has not been converted to using a branded domain.
  6. Click the Convert to branded domain button.
  7. On the Convert to branded domain dialog, scroll to the Notes section and obtain the nameserver names. Look for the item about domains delegated via NS entries (“Only domains delegated via NS entries may be used….”) and write down or take a screenshot of the values to use.
  8. Click Cancel - you'll return later to complete the convert to branded domain process.
  9. Submit a request to your IT department for them to add domain delegation to your organization’s master zone file. Give them the nameserver names you obtained from the Convert to branded domain dialog.
  10. After your IT department has completed the domain delegation, return to the Convert to branded domaindialog. Complete the following fields:
    1. Enter new branded domain: Enter your branded sub-domain (recommended) or domain name (see the note below), for example, news.example.com.
    2. Domain Type: Delegated is the default selection. (If your IT department can't use the NS delegation method, please contact Oracle Support for assistance.)
    3. From address: Enter the user name to use as the default "from" user. For example, if you enter BigCompany, the branded from address will be BigCompany@news.example.com. We strongly encourage entering your company/brand name for this value. This will help recipients recognize your brand as the sender. You can add up to six From addresses.
    4. Responsys hosted reply to address: Email address for customer replies that Responsys handles; for example, if a customer sends a reply to the sender email with text in the message, such as "Unsubscribe" or with an out-of-office message.
    5. Notification email: Enter the email address that should receive the notification when the conversion is completed.
  11. Click Submit.

    The account administrator and notification email address will receive a notification when branded domain delegation is complete.

  12. Repeat this procedure for each brand configured for your account.

After conversion is complete, we will create the new From email address, and an Oracle Responsys-hosted reply-to address using the branded domain. You can then add and edit your SSL Certificates and SSH2 keys using the Manage SSL Certificate and Manage SSH2 Keys pages. You can also return to the Brand Management – Email page to add more "From' addresses and "Reply to" addresses, as needed, up to 6 per category.

About SSL Certificates

SSL ( Secure Socket Layer) protocol is a process where data passed between the user and server is encrypted/decrypted so that external third party cannot hijack the connection.

SSL behaves as a digital passport which verifies your and the end web server credentials using public and private keys. When both identities are verified, SSL grants a secured connection through HTTPS. This process is performed using SSL Certificates.

Note: Enabling SSL support for your branded domain is required for the Responsys Conversion Tracking and Responsys Universal Links features.

About SSH2 Keys

Connect utilizes an Oracle Responsys-hosted file server, files.responsys.net, as a file transfer point between your account and Oracle Responsys. Each account on the file server is called a Data Gateway account, and is provided when Connect is enabled for your account.

To login to the Data Gateway account on files.responsys.net, you need to provide us with a public SSH2 key that we can associate with your Data Gateway account. We use that key for authentication when trying to access the Data Gateway account with a login we provide.

Your public SSH2 key must be:

  • SSH2 compliant
  • RSA or DSA compatible
  • At least 1024 bit strong

We recommend the key pair is generated without a passphrase.

Next steps

Managing SSL certificates

Managing SSH2 Keys

Learn more