Why Outlook and Gmail aren't good for email marketing
Why Outlook and Gmail aren't good for email marketing
70% of Americans use email daily. Every entrepreneur uses email marketing. Don't choose Outlook or Gmail for email campaigns like most novices.
Email marketing shouldn't be dismissed because it's familiar or free. It drives traffic, boosts conversions, and generates leads. To exhibit its potential, it needs a serious context. Consider the restrictions, benefits, and drawbacks of personal accounts and unique designs with tailored content to see why you shouldn't use Outlook or Gmail for email marketing.
Mailpost
Outlook and Gmail have limits
Outlook was designed for the office. Outlook's office-friendly features make it a poor choice for email marketing. Outlook displays email code using Microsoft Word's rendering engine.
Outlook cleans and alters code for the engine. Some things may vanish. Outlook removes CSS media queries. Other Outlook flaws:
Images don't appear for non-address book contacts. For security.
Unsupported are animated GIFs. The first frame is visible.
Not supported: border-radius. Calls-to-action shouldn't have rounded corners.
Misalignment may occur. Grids show this bug. Not always ideal. Content blocks move up, down, or sideways.
Long pages can be divided.
Some versions merge text and graphics.
The engine may add blank spaces to make email HTML Microsoft Word-compliant.
Outlook versions may render HTML emails differently. Without complete control over what you send and to whom, your newsletter will be inconsistent.
Don't use Outlook for newsletters.
Outlook
Gmail is better at rendering HTML newsletters, but it still has flaws. Two issues:
Email Builder Online
Postcards lets you change internet email templates without scripting. Includes 100 components to create custom email templates faster.
Daily email limits apply. Daily newsletters range from 100-500.
Gmail takes SPAM and privacy seriously. They may consider you a spammer if they receive complaints. They dislike bulk messages and may close your account without warning.
Gmail, Outlook, and others share a common email marketing constraint. It's next.
Don't send newsletters via Gmail
Gmail
Personal account mass emailing disadvantages
Using a personal account for email marketing is limited, whether it's Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo, or AOL. You're powerless.
Automation-free
Personal accounts are self-service. Manually doing everything. You can't schedule when to deliver a group's email newsletter. Lack of automation can waste time.
Ineffective list management
Your subscription list is poorly managed. Create groups? Then what? Adding new email contacts and deleting unsubscribers is difficult.
Worse, you can't segment email campaigns properly with a personal account.
Personalization lacking
Today's email campaigns rely heavily on personalized content. Everyone likes personalized messages. How long will it take to manually insert each recipient's name? Automatically in EMS. You can also create personalized discounts or data for different groups.
None
This is important. Personal accounts weren't designed for bulk emailing. They lack metrics-tracking tools.
You can't measure delivery, bounce, open, or user interactions. You're also blind to email deliveries, opening rates, CTR, and ROI.
Without analytics, it's hard to measure advertising effectiveness, monitor decreasing rates to retain clean contact lists, or determine the optimal time for customers to send an offer.
Calculating CTR
Not A/B
A/B tests are impossible without automation and statistics. A/B tests optimize email marketing tactics, despite appearances. Without them, you can't choose the optimal subject line, images, content, and call-to-action for your audience. This causes low open, deliverability, and CTR rates.
No auto-renewals
The 2003 CAN-SPAM Act requires you to let recipients opt-out of future emails. Without automated subscription cancellation, you must keep a list of manual unsubscribers and risk legal and brand reputation implications.
Two issues arise. First, you may be blacklisted. Second, you're fined. The latter doesn't require much action, whereas the former does.
Blacklisting
Users may mark your emails as spam if they can't unsubscribe automatically. Google, for example, may flag emails from personal accounts as spam. This is blacklisted.
Blacklist contains "dangerous" addresses. Professional email platforms are whitelisted and have predetermined agreements with mail hosts to deliver bulk emails. You're alone. Blacklist is difficult to escape.
Center Reputation
Blacklisting
Inadequate delivery
Personal accounts can't send many emails. Daily sending limits apply. This becomes problematic as your email database expands. Gmail hates mass emails. So you're always at risk of being blocked.
Low-delivery
Sending bulk emails from personal accounts may land them in Spam. Professional EMS systems have solid reputations and agreements that ensure high deliverability, but you can't.
Poor IP Reputation
Sending mass emails with Outlook or others can hurt your reputation. Contacts can easily mark your mailing as spam. Your IP reputation will suffer.
Professional platforms will be contacted so they can remedy the issue; you won't. You'll face consequences.
Poor IP Reputation
Center Reputation
Brand rep
Sending commercial email newsletters from a personal account can damage your brand's reputation.
No one appreciates business-related personal messages. Outlook and Gmail are lame. Invest in your brand and name even if you're a startup. As in the actual world, it will help you stand out. It shows you're serious about your venture.
Oops!
Personal accounts make mistakes easier. In a personal account, everything rests on your ability to stay focused. Privacy leaks are common. Your email's "To:" line can disclose your complete list. Unacceptable.
Gmail or Outlook email marketing advantages
Why use personal email? Some:
Cost-free: Email is free.
You know how to produce and send an email newsletter.
Even a simple account might be difficult to setup.
Send immediately: Send offers to everyone you know.
Initially, all your contacts are there.
Few? Still, these stop people from using professional sites.
Business email marketing's importance
According to MarketingSherpa, 90% of U.S. adults like to receive promotional emails, especially from reputable brands. According to the Direct Marketing Association, 25% of email recipients take action. E-newsletters function.
Email marketing is important. It helps drive traffic, boost conversions, make sales, and reach mobile consumers who check email on a smartphone. Business success requires investing in this area.
Email marketing's significance
Email design benefits
Using personal accounts for email marketing lacks custom design. Deliver your message with elegance and brand voice. Without a personalized design, you'll miss out on actual business results. Custom email newsletters have further benefits:
Brand identity differentiates communication.
Mood-set
Mental tricks
Utilize hotspots
Interactive email
Responsive design
Be mobile-friendly
Highlight crucial things
Offer clearly
Language cohesion, and more
Custom design demands developer and design abilities. Email readers are less forgiving than browsers. Depending on email software and device, your hand-made HTML template may damage everything. You should also anticipate issues.
Email newsletters still use tables. Modern email readers don't support Flexbox or CSS3, thus you're stuck with tables. Video and several image formats aren't supported by email readers.
Before generating an email newsletter, you should know a lot. Developers shouldn't have a problem with this. This is a problem if you're a regular entrepreneur. Postcards is a drag-and-drop HTML newsletter creator.
Postcards has a ton of predefined, field-tested components for quick design. With a straightforward interface, you can effortlessly alter details, insert material, and export to EMS.
Email design benefits
Postcards
Beautiful Email Designs
Leesa's New Year's eblast shows how personalized email design can be magical. The email's wintery setting puts everyone in a joyful mood. The offer shines. It fits wonderfully and compels subscribers to act.
Leesa e-newsletter
This email newsletter will create a favorable impression even if the receiver isn't ready to buy.
Gorgeous Email Designs
8Fit's newsletter
eMeals' seasonal email is an example. They replace the monthly deficit with joyful email newsletters. Even in holiday-filled fall and winter, this email works.
8Fit's summer newsletter. Colors, picture, and typeface support the theme "Hot Savings." Everything but the promo was cut. This is enough to communicate, engage the audience, and drive traffic to the landing page.
Thanksgiving Holiday
Black Friday newsletters are popular. BFCM weekend is popular. Don't take it for granted.
Carhartt's marketing team used a unique design and animated gif. Brilliant idea, execution. The gloomy coloring and motion match the topic wonderfully.
First frame: Black Friday weekend. Email clients that don't support animated formats required this. The message gets across. Smart.
Professional Email Marketing Tools
Professional email marketing providers include features Outlook and Gmail lack. You're missing several chances to grow your business and move it forward.
Consider these reasons to use professional email marketing tools:
EMS's reporting capabilities measure email opens, clicks, and shares. Automatically manage bounced emails (full inbox, vacation message, non-existent address, or blacklisted).
EMS provides great segmentation tools.
Professional list-management tools exist.
The email newsletter comes in plain text and HTML.
A/B tests can determine the optimum subject line, email sending timing, etc.
Anti-Spam Test checks email newsletters.
Integrate CRM.
Personalized email content can be dynamic.
Host photos.
Before sending to subscribers, you can preview the message.
Transactional, onboarding, product update, welcome, and remarketing emails are helpful.
24/7 support from success-focused employees.
If you need inspiration, there are several free email themes.
EMS provides double opt-in subscription forms and simply integrated sign-up links for your website or Facebook page.
EMS pages exist.
EMS has strict authorization policies and an active anti-blocking staff to assure email delivery.
EMS helps your business respect CAN-SPAM and Canadian anti-spam legislation (CASL).
EMS protects subscribers' data.
EMS lessons and training help you get started.
Some platforms are ESPA members (ESPC). It means they're on top of things, aware of new rules, and build new email marketing solutions. If you're just starting out and don't have many subscribers, you can locate free or cheap subscriptions.
Email marketing companies
Email marketing services abound. Mailpost.io is recommended.
Consider plans, features, support, current trends, email newsletter templates, and training before getting in.
Conclusion
Outlook is office-focused. Gmail and other personal accounts may treat your email newsletters correctly, but they're limited. Using personal email addresses for email marketing is time-consuming.
Professional EMS may cost money, but it will save your reputation, build trust, grow your subscriber base, boost your brand, and generate traffic and profit. Think twice before sending promo messages from your personal account.