Many SMEs use free email platforms for their business email addresses. Businesses that are serious about communication and branding strategies are moving towards custom email services that represent their business i.e. yourname@yourcompany.co.za instead of yourname6758@shared.co.za
In a recent study done by Verisign, 65 percent of consumers believe a company branded email is more credible than a business using a free email account.
A custom branded email address is all about building credibility and brand awareness, essentially the impression your business is promoting to the outside world. For small businesses in today’s competitive market, branding is how one business will stand out from the other.
Custom branded email addresses present your business as professional and helps increase brand awareness. Each time someone sees your brand name on an email address, it becomes even more memorable. Brand recognition for your business means clients trust you more and have a higher likelihood of spending their money with you.
Here are a few reasons as to why you should have a business branded email address for your company.
- Give the right first impression
A branded email shows the world your business is established and professional. A generic email may project inexperience – or even worse, raise doubts as to whether you’re a real business at all. When you utilise a branded email, your clients feel you are here to stay and are serious about your business.
- Promote your brand
Publishing your brand name by using it as your personalised domain name means not only investing in protecting your brand but also building your brand recognition. If you have the name of your business as the basis of your email address you immediately add brand recognition to your email address and the professional status that goes with it.
Every time you send an email, your brand name is not only seen in the body of the email but the email address. A consistent and complete brand will not only show that extra level of professionalism, it will expand your name further. Your email address is seen in a lot of places, not just those you send email to. If you comment on a blog or add your email to a directory site, your email address will be visible.
This is one more opportunity for you to brand your business and look professional.
- Build credibility and trust
It is unfortunate that scam artists exist, but they do. This is why many clients are not comfortable emailing personal information to a Gmail (e.g. business1@gmail.com) owned account. Having a branded email address provides a sense of security and reassurance to your clients that your business is legitimate.
- It is easy and inexpensive
You can set up a branded email address with minimal effort through a domain name provider or web hosting company such as Vox, at a reasonably low cost.
- You can standardise email addresses
This is especially important as you grow your staff: when you have your own custom email address, you can use a format for all other email addresses. So maybe you use firstname@company.co.za or first[initial]lastname@company.com. This provides consistency in your business, and customers can easily remember the formula for your company email addresses.
When you use free emails, you’re at the mercy of whatever usernames are still available. If your name is Stan Smith, good luck getting that email without adding all kinds of characters and numbers to the address like firstnamelastname123456@gmail.com
It also assists your business with creating email aliases for different departments within the business, such as marketing@company.co.za etc. This makes it even more credible and easy to remember for clients wanting to reach out to any department.
- Less emails flagged as spam
Most businesses are more likely to mark email from a free provider as spam.
If you have an @gmail.com (or other free email provider email address) email address then your emails are at higher risk of being marked as spam.
Most of the spam emails clients receive come from free email providers. You don’t want to be lumped in with them.
A branded email address will help separate your emails from spammers. Your emails will become less risky than if it ends with @outlook.com, @yahoo.com, or any of the other free email addresses.
- A branded email address does your marketing for you
Email allows businesses to efficiently and effectively spread information about their products and services, both to existing customers and to potential ones.
For example, a clothing company could set up an email list which anybody can subscribe to and then send weekly emails to everybody on the list detailing new additions to the catalogue.
There are three times more email accounts than Facebook and Twitter accounts combined. You are also six times more likely to get a click through from email than from Twitter. Reports show that email has the highest ROI of any marketing channels available and should be used to drive sales and revenue for your business.
Email banners also are a great help to businesses for marketing their products and services.
First impressions are everything. How potential clients see you will determine how successful your brand will be. Not only does a custom email address deliver a level of professionalism, it allows your users to send and receive mail that is consistent with the business’ brand. Consider your email address your calling card, and most importantly your primary brand. Make it memorable! Sign up for Cloud Mail with Vox today.
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