Every business has competition so getting people to spend their money with you is not always easy. You need to take advantage of all opportunities available to present your business as the best and safest choice.
One way to do that is by using a branded email address. It reduces doubts about the legitimacy of your business, which is especially important for bringing in new customers.
What is branded email?
A branded email address is one that ends in @businessname.com whereas an unbranded email is any free email address such as Yahoo or Google (gmail).
When a business has branded email, the domain is usually the same as your website so if your website is abccompany.com, your branded email would be yourname@abccompany.com.
5 reasons you should have branded email
There are many benefits of using branded email, including increased open rates and presenting a more professional image.
- Gives you credibility
- Promotes your brand
- Separates work and personal
- Access to additional tools
- Less likely to go into spam
01. Gain credibility with customers
Branded email lets you present a more professional image to the world. It lets customers know you take your business seriously. You appear more trustworthy and serious, which gives you credibility. And that may be the little extra edge you need to get people to choose you over another company.
02. Promote your brand & website
Every time you send an email, estimate, invoice or appointment confirmation your email address and website shows. And it’s not just when you send an email. Comment on a blog or add your email to a directory and people will see your website.
Consistent branding shows professionalism and branded email provides one more opportunity for people to see your company name and remember it. Gmail (and other unbranded emails) may work great, but it does nothing to build trust.
03. Keep work and personal separate
When starting your business, you may not give a second thought about using your personal email to conduct business. After all, you’ve had it for years and you’re familiar with it. It is good practice to keep your work separate from your personal, so take the time to set up branded email. You’ll be glad you did.
04. Access to additional tools
If you use G suite or Office 365 to set up your branded email, you’ll get access to many office applications that help you manage documents, files, contacts and even scheduling. These tools can make your office run smoother and more efficiently.
05. More chance of landing in inbox
Businesses are more likely to mark emails from free providers as spam. Doesn’t matter if it’s gmail or another provider, they’re at a higher risk of being flagged as spam and going into people’s junk folder.
Branded email address is less risky and helps to separate your emails from spammers.
That free email could cost you jobs when your emails don’t land in their inbox and instead are put into their spam and never seen.
Easiest way to add branded email
While there are several ways to set up branded email, one of the easiest is to go with an online email application such as G Suite or Microsoft Office 365. We suggest G Suite as it’s less expensive and most of our clients use gmail so they’re already familiar with the way it works.
Your image is everything
It all boils down to what kind of image you want to promote. You can be assured that showing a polished professional image will never hurt your business whereas a free email address can when an important email gets sent to spam or deleted.
Branded email may seem like a small thing, but it can be the one little detail that pushes a customer to choose you over another. And that makes is worth the small cost and setup time involved.
