Sending out emails

[Lpolky]

Hi everyone,

Does anyone have any recommendations on how to send out mass emails? I have been currently using my outlook for my business and have to send them in groups as it’s not a business account and I have a large database now. However there are other issues now with outlook which I don’t like and as I am growing bigger I am going to get a business account and email address.

I wondered if there are any good email newsletter companies I can use? I have tried mailchimp before and was quite good but thought I’d ask if anyone has any other recommendations.

Many thanks

 

[Tan Eraser]

I think MailChimp is going to be your best option, and a very good one. Will you be over the free plan limit though? 2,000 subscribers and 12,000 emails per month?

 

[Lpolky]

Thankyou Tan Eraser, should be fine I have about 1000 emails and generally only send out monthly offers and newsletters. When I used it before you get the report through of how many emails get opened and I was so surprised it was so low, about 30%. Wasn’t sure if it was because it wasn’t very good

 

[Tan Eraser]

I would recommend sticking with MailChimp then.

30% is actually not a bad open rate. If you have set your industry in your account it will give you the industry average in each report. It's around 15% for beauty and personal care.

It can be frustrating to have low open rates but it's just the nature of it really. The key is to make sure you are delivering great content and using interesting subject lines. Keep an eye out for the ones that perform well and try and learn and improve as you go along.

Anyway, maybe someone will have another suggestion but I would recommend continuing with MailChimp.

 

[salonfrog]

I helped a salon client of ours send their first mail chimp newsletter email before Xmas. It was really easy to use and the feedback from their clients was great. Well impressed with it.

 

[Lpolky]

Thankyou both that’s reassuring

 

[Minkeybox]

I use Mail Chimp & as a total technophobe with really limited knowledge it is fab!

Very user friendly, it gives you quite detailed reports, has lots of templates & is freeee!!

Ive not used it for about a year (been too busy with life!) but i did get clients booking because of it. Xx

 

[BannerPenguin]

MailChimp is good to get going and free for the most part until a certain amount of subscribers. 30% open rate isn't bad. Subject line dictates your own rate a lot.

A benefit of using MailChimp vs Outlook in chunks is because legally you need to have an unsubscribe option to meet spam laws. If you don't give people the option to unsubscribe you can be fined heavily. Also, if people can't unsubscribe they're likely to spam your emails. If you keep getting your emails marked as spam your domain becomes 'blacklisted' and this causes all sorts of problems, especially with email deliverability of your normal emails.

 

[user 111574]

MailChimp is good to get going and free for the most part until a certain amount of subscribers. 30% open rate isn't bad. Subject line dictates your own rate a lot.

A benefit of using MailChimp vs Outlook in chunks is because legally you need to have an unsubscribe option to meet spam laws. If you don't give people the option to unsubscribe you can be fined heavily. Also, if people can't unsubscribe they're likely to spam your emails. If you keep getting your emails marked as spam your domain becomes 'blacklisted' and this causes all sorts of problems, especially with email deliverability of your normal emails.

That's really interesting info, thanks, I didn't realise about the domain blacklisting.

So if I send emails using outlook, is it sufficient to write at the bottom "If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list please reply with the word 'UNSUBSCRIBE' . " or do I need to use some other standard method?

thanks

 

[BannerPenguin]

That's really interesting info, thanks, I didn't realise about the domain blacklisting.

So if I send emails using outlook, is it sufficient to write at the bottom "If you wish to unsubscribe from this mailing list please reply with the word 'UNSUBSCRIBE' . " or do I need to use some other standard method?

thanks

Are you sending out mass emails such as newsletters or just individual personalised emails? If it's mass emails there is a bit of a grey area about if asking them to email back to unsubscribe being sufficient. I always suggest being on the side of caution. If your sending out newsletters and the like it's always best to use a platform as makes your life easier anyway.

Mailchimp is free for most people but I personally prefer Campaign Monitor which has a small monthly fee. Personal preference

If your just sending emails like I'd send to you if I knew you like, Hi, how you doing, blah blah blah then you don't have to worry

 

[DuncanDOW]

Whatever you do, don't use outlook or similar to send emails, you will get blacklisted straight away and any emails you send from that address and domain name will end up in people's spam folder.

Use a dedicated service as they will not only stop this from happening but will also let you know if an email has bounced, incorrect, howmany times an email has been opened and what links have been clicked and more.

We recommend the following services to our clients:

• MailChimp
• SendGrid
• Campaign Monitor

Best of luck with it, all. Done right newsletters can bring in a lot of additional revenue for a salon.

 

[Cathy Johns]

Hi First post so here goes. Used to do the outlook but that's not the proper way to do it. We used mail chimp for a while. They were fine the jokey appearance can be a little off putting sometimes. Currently using Icontact which is really good. The only reason switched was because of accidently loading the unsubscribe list (which had been down loaded to cross check against appointment database) therefore it gave a 99% reject. They were very very slow to undo this so we looked like spammers and it was easier to switch to another service.
Thanks
CJ