There is no doubt that without e-mail, the worlds of communications and digital business would be very different. But have you ever wondered about the advantages and disadvantages of email?
On the plus side, email is a fast, easy-to-use from anywhere, ecological and flexible means of business communication.
It’s also an inexpensive tool for mass promotions.
As for the disadvantages of email, it can cause information overload and be disruptive at work, in addition to the fact that it depends on a timely response to be effective.
In the case of free mail, it can be the target of cyberattacks or viruses.
Keep reading to learn more about each of these points.
6 advantages of email
- It's fast. Sending and receiving email happens almost instantly. When you click "Send," the email protocols and the network of email servers work with precision and speed to take your emails to the correct recipients.
- It is easy to use. Composing, reading and organizing emails is intuitive even for someone who has minimal knowledge of the internet and computers.
- It can be opened from anywhere. Collaborators who have to travel or work remotely can always be reached by email.
- It is ecological. In this time of climate crisis, avoiding paper helps save natural resources and reduces the environmental footprint of companies and the people who run them.
- It allows corporate communicators to stay agile and flexible. In addition to speed, email makes it easy for any organization to create a very efficient internal communication structure in two ways: first, by creating personalized email addresses for employees and service areas, customer queries reach the exact person or department directly. And second, the email chains and saved emails serve as a record that makes it easy to follow up on requests, questions or daily work tasks.
- It is a very useful tool for promoting products and services. As you probably know, email marketing is the practice of sharing useful information, news or sales announcements with customers and prospects. As a promotional technique, it has one of the highest returns on investment. According to Constant Contact, the average ROI through email marketing is $36 for every $1 spent.
5 disadvantages of email
- Email can cause information overload. Without spamfilters or labels to classify senders, irrelevant messages (such as newsletters or offers) may get in the way of business communication.
- It can reduce productivity. The ads often displayed on emails sent from free email accounts can be distracting. Same with constant notifications if they are not managed correctly.
- Email requires continuous attention and timely response. If teammates let their inboxes fill up, they may miss emails. And an email that goes unanswered for days can be the difference between having a satisfied customer base or seeing your contact list dwindle (and with it your business prospects).
- It is a frequent carrier of viruses, fraud or cyberattacks. Messages from both spammers and legitimate contacts can have harmful attachments or links to sites with malware (malicious programs). Also, anyone can create a free email address and impersonate you or your business. And if that were not enough, free email accounts are always in the crosshairs of hackers, who program robots to attack well-known email providers such as gmail.com or yahoo.com.
Reasons to invest in business email
When it comes to using a free email service or paying for a business email account, experts and users agree:
An email address that contains your business domain name is the key to a credible online image.
And perhaps you will wonder, isn't it better to have something free than something you have to pay for? The reality is that any serious venture must invest in its public image.
A business email account gives your business:
- A more professional image
- Targeted customer service addresses
- Better performance and efficiency
- The ability to send marketing emails
- Increased data security
Below we describe the benefits of having an email with your own domain name in it and debunk three myths.
1. More professional image
A business email account projects confidence, security and seriousness by including the website address with the name of the business or brand.
An email such as info@sroyalcanada.com advertises the name of your business with every email you send.
Also, having an email address based on your own domain is a way to build credibility and create your business personality. This in turn makes your customers and prospects feel safe and makes it easy for them to identify your emails quickly.
If you use a free email account for business, you may arouse distrust in the people you’re hoping will buy your products or services.
Branded business email will also make people more likely to:
- Respond to your emails
- Visit your website
- Ultimately do business with your company or project
Along with your custom domain name and website, professional email is one of the three pillars of any online presence.
Although it is not necessary to have a website to use a professional email, having both will make your business look much stronger and more credible online.
Related: 3 steps to building an online business in a weekend
2. Targeted customer service addresses
With business email, you can create personalized email addresses with the name of individual employees or their area of responsibility.
For example, you can have an email alias for each of the major types of customer requests:
- sales@yourbusiness.com
- service@yourbusiness.com
- billing@yourbusiness.com
This ensures the right email gets to the person most able to solve the customer’s issue or request.
If you work alone, you can use email aliases to give the impression that you’re bigger than you are. All emails sent to your alias address go into your primary email account’s inbox.
Aliases can diversify a single email account without requiring you to pay for multiple inboxes. For example, you can create up to 400 aliases for the same GoDaddy email account.
3. Better performance and efficiency
Both sending and receiving emails use the resources of an email server, which is similar to web hosting but specifically dedicated to email.
With a free email service, you share both the benefits (e.g. the bandwidth) and the limits of the service (e.g. slowness, downed servers).
Investing in business email is gives you exclusive hosting space and dedicated resources.
In addition, you will be able to enjoy features such as antivirus, spam filters and other advanced security measures.
4. The ability to send marketing emails
Business mail is essential if you plan to launch email marketing campaigns, since these require a solid and reliable email server.
Popular mailing platforms like Mailchimp do not allow you to use email addresses ending in @yahoo.com, @gmail.com or @aol.com.
Mailchimp will only allow you to use emails based on domain names you or your business own.
Another problem with the free email service is that it limits both the number of contacts you can store and the number of emails you’re allowed to send.
Once your company grows beyond a certain point, you will not be able to increase your lists of clients, subscribers and prospects .
And as if that were not enough, emails sent from generic email accounts are commonly classified as spam. Email based on your own domain is more reliable, which immediately increases open rates.
Related: 10 tips for choosing the perfect domain name
5. Increased data security
Undoubtedly, an extremely important aspect for digital businesses is internal and external data security. Handling banking or personal information of clients, suppliers and employees is not a game.
With free email, your company's equipment or devices are susceptible to possible viruses or computer attacks, since hackers always target these services.
On the other hand, a corporate email offers security measures such as advanced antivirus and antispam filters to keep your inbox clean and give you peace of mind that the confidential information shared via email will be protected.
GoDaddy Email brings you the industry's leading email security solution, with automatic threat monitoring and a team of messaging abuse experts who block more than 300 million spam and potentially dangerous emails every day.
Related: How to create a beautiful email for your next campaign
Are there any disadvantages to business email?
In spite of all the evidence, there are a few who still resist paying for business email because of alleged disadvantages. These naysayers contend that paid email accounts:
- Are an unnecessary cost
- Do not guarantee the integrity or the privacy of the information
- Are an ineffective means of communication
Let's review each of these myths.
MYTH 1: Email with your own domain is very expensive
GoDaddy's professional email plans start at less than $3 per user per month for an individual account. Check current pricing here.
Editor's Note: If you still need a professional, domain-based email, GoDaddy offers 1 free year with certain hosting plans or a free 30-day trial for customers who utilize GoDaddy Airo, our AI-powered solution available through a new domain purchase.
Also, as we mentioned above, you don't have to worry about data loss (whether due to cyberattacks or data centre failures), which can be much more costly in the long run.
MYTH 2: Business email does not guarantee security or privacy
Free email services do not offer you any guarantee of privacy or security of your information. They also do not have backup if your account is suspended, blocked or hacked.In contrast, when you buy a business email plan you are also getting the technology, infrastructure and experience of the email provider.
A company like GoDaddy offers you that and more, since you have data encryption and network protocols at the same high level as in their domain, hosting and website services.
In addition, you will have a team of experts available 24/7/365 to help you with any issues.
And if you already have your domain with GoDaddy, it is extremely easy to activate your business email on it. Just follow the steps outlined in this article.
MYTH 3: Email is a flawed medium
Although there are those who say that people ignore emails regardless of the From: address, the truth is that it is very rare for that to happen.
If you create a network of email accounts with a clear and organized structure, you won't have to worry about emails getting lost.
Another mistaken belief about corporate email is that "you cannot convey ideas, emotions or exact information by email."
Nothing could be further from the truth, since the people who communicate daily by this means know that a short, concise email can be much more effective than phone calls or even virtual meetings.
And with a good email marketing strategy, you can promote the personality, values and benefits of your brand through newsletters or promotional emails.
Now that you know the advantages and disadvantages of business email with your own domain, project a more professional image to encourage current and potential customers to do business with you.
