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DirectLync Insights

The Downsides of Using a Free Email Address for Your Business

by Kevin Lynch
Read Time: 5 minutes
Company Email Domain

It’s time to talk about your business email address. Although it may not seem extremely important or exciting, it’s most likely your primary channel for communicating with your customers. So that is a big deal!

We know there are many costs when getting your business up and running. When you are given the option of spending money on an email domain or using a free email address, it is tempting to choose free. However, there are some serious drawbacks to using a free email address, especially with a bulk email marketing platform. Whether you decide to purchase a company email domain or continue to use a free email address, we have a solution for you!

Our goal is to provide customers with all the pros and cons to help you make the right decision for your business.  

Here is what you need to consider: 

Why your email domain matters?

As you create an email campaign in DirectLync, you are required to use a reply-to email address. While you have the option to use a free email domain such as gmail.com or yahoo.com, there are concerns to this option.   

Deliverability

Don’t get stuck in spam! When you use a free email domain to send emails from DirectLync, or any email marketing service, you are at the risk of deliverability issues. Having your emails get stuck in a spam filter is a significant concern for marketing.

Since you don’t own the domain, you can’t control policies. Meaning, by using a free email, you are bound to your provider's email deliverability policies. These policies are built for personal use, not business use. As you start sending higher volumes of emails, you are more likely to be flagged as spam, increasing the possibility of your email getting caught in your recipient’s spam filter. 

These policies are put in place to help prevent scams, but they can hurt your chances of getting marketing content to your audience. 

Privacy & Support

One thing to keep in mind about free email addresses is that your emails are scanned by that provider to serve you personalized ads. If you are worried about the privacy of your emails, you should not be using a free email domain. 

Most email domain packages also come with technical support. With a free email address, it is up to you to troubleshoot any issues. We all know that you already have your hands full as a small business owner. When you purchase an email domain name, you’ll most likely receive technical support. And that’s always a plus!

Professionalism

As a small business owner, it is vital to establish credibility with your customers in every interaction. That includes sending an email and handing out a business card with your information. When you use a free email address, it discredits your business. It gives the vibe that you aren’t serious about your business, even though we know that isn’t true. Having an email address with your business name as the domain gives you a more official look to your potential customers. And perception can be the difference between gaining a new customer and losing them to a competitor. 

Your Solutions

1. Purchase an email domain for your company. 

We highly recommend that you take this route. The overall cost is worth the benefits. Not only do you avoid the concerns mentioned above, but it also gives you a more recognizable and consistent brand across your digital channels (i.e., website, email, social, etc.). 

If you are ready to purchase your company domain, there are many different options. If you already have a website domain, you can check with your host if they also provide email domains. For example, GoDaddy offers personalized email domains. You can also purchase from an email provider you trust. Google offers GSuite for Business and Yahoo! has Yahoo! Small Business. There are also other hosting providers like Rackspace that provide small business options. There isn’t a right or wrong provider. Check out the different pricing plans and choose one that is right for your business.

2. Continue using a free email address

We understand that purchasing an email domain may not be something you are ready for yet. That doesn’t mean that you can’t use DirectLync. 

How DirectLync helps?

If you decide to use a free email address, we make a small, simple change to the end of your email each time you send from DirectLync. We will add directlyncemail.com as an extension to the end of your domain when you send from a free email address. 

Here is what that will look like: 

Let’s say Sycamore Coffee’s email is sycamorecoffeeco@gmail.com. When they send from DirectLync, the address will change to sycamorecoffeeco@gmail.com.directlyncemail.com.

We make this change on our end, so you don't need to worry about adding that to your reply-to address. Just enter your email address as is and we’ll do the rest for you. We add this extension to help with some of the downsides we mentioned above; email deliverability and bypassing recipients spam filters. 

DirectLync doesn’t add this extension to an email domain that isn't from a free provider. If you have purchased your email address, we will never add this extension.  

Keep in mind that this extension will help with deliverability, but we can’t ensure that it will fix all issues or bypass all spam filters. 

Again, we strongly encourage you to purchase a domain for your email address, but we don’t penalize you if it’s not right for your business yet. If you have any questions regarding free email addresses, contact us at support@directlync.com.