Setting up Branded URLs

Branded URLs allow you to personalize your unsubscribe, open, and click tracking links and improve your spam score by putting these services under a domain that matches your brand.  Setting this up will require access to your DNS provider.  If you're not sure who this is, you can check with the company that you purchased your domain name from.

Here are the steps to set up your own branded URL:

1. Decide on your domain name.

Decide on the domain you want Outreach to use for your unsubscribe, open and click tracking links.  For example, if your main website is at http://mycompany.com, you might choose sales.mycompany.com.

2. Add the CNAME record mapping this domain to Outreach.

To find the record you need to add, navigate to Settings > Branded URLs.  This is an Admin setting and you will not see it if you don't have admin privileges.

If you haven't set up and branded URL yet, you'll see the default Outreach domain already in use.  Click on the Add button in the top right.

You'll see the New Branded URL dialog appear.  Make note of the value in the blue box; you'll need this to complete this step.

You'll then need to add a CNAME record to your DNS entries for this domain.  The process for doing this will vary depending on your DNS provider.  Here are the details of the records you need to add:

You can see instructions for adding a CNAME record at various DNS providers here:

GoDaddy: https://www.godaddy.com/help/add-a-cname-record-19236

Namecheap: https://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article.aspx/9646/10/

Google Domains: https://support.google.com/domains/answer/3290350?hl=en&ref_topic=3251230

Amazon Route 53: http://docs.aws.amazon.com/Route53/latest/DeveloperGuide/resource-record-sets-editing.html

Depending on your DNS provider, the record may take up to 20 minutes to be created on their servers.

3. Add the Branded URL to Outreach.

Add the domain to the "New Branded URL" dialog and click Save.  Make sure to enter just the domain (sales.mycompany.com) and not the full address (http://sales.mycompany.com).

The new domain will appear in the list in "Pending" status.  Please wait a few minutes and refresh the page.  It can take anywhere from an additional few minutes to 24 hours for the DNS change to fully propagate, depending on your DNS provider.

When the "Pending" status changes to "Active", the Branded URL is live!  

All unsubscribe, email open, and click tracking links delivered from Outreach will now contain your branded URLs.