Why Your Business Shouldn’t Use An @Gmail.com Address

When you start a business, getting the momentum and making profit becomes your target. However, as the venture grows and customer base expands, your focus is more on making everything look professional and building brand image. From designing a suitable logo to focusing on social media profiles of your company, brand image development takes utmost priority in everything! However, some business owners do not think much about changing the email id to a customized address. This is crucial for making your business more successful. Ignoring this can be detrimental for business growth.

Below listed are the reasons why you need a branded email id for business usage

A Stamp of Legitimacy

Using a branded email id works in favor of your company. It makes the target customers feel they are dealing with a legitimate company. For the first time buyers, this is vital. When they come to know about a company and feels like interacting, the email id can make or break the case! When they see a generalized Gmail or yahoo mail id for your company, it may make them feel the company is dubious or there could be a scam behind it. A lot of them are not likely to ever write to such an email id and they cannot be blamed either. The number of fake companies masquerading as genuine on the web is not negligible, as it is. It is very much like the first impression. A customized business id, on the other hand, looks more credible and professional. It helps draw more customers to your company.

Brand Development

Just getting a website developed and a suitable logo designed is not enough for brand development. It is related to every minute aspect of your venture. The email id is the primary level of communication to new customers at many levels. In other words, it reflects an idea of what your venture is all about.

Segregation of Company Departments

When you have customized email id for your brand, it actually offers you several opportunities. You can create a number of email ids meant for various sections of your company which is not possible when you use a Gmail id! For example, you can create an email id for customer care, another for sales inquiry and another for general queries. It makes things more beneficial for both the company and customers in the long run and helps save time and evade complications. The customers know which email id to use for specific needs and situations.

Not So Costly

Some business owners, especially those who are still in expansion mode, have a perception that opting for a commercial mail id can be a costly proposition. However, that is not true. Some service providers can offer you packages at reasonable cost with comprehensive support. You can search for options and compare the packages.

Ways to create professional looking Email ids and making the right impression

For businesses that begin with a branded email id, the journey is relatively smoother. However, for those who began the venture with a Gmail or Yahoo id for their ventures, it can be more time consuming. The first thing you could do is setting the older inbox to auto forward messages to the newer id. This way you can evade losing out those customers who are slow about updating their records.

Listed below are the tips that can make your company email appear absolutely professional to the target customers and to anyone:

• Branded header– If you remember those letterheads used in old era corporate letters, using a branded header does help. Realistically speaking, when the recipients open the email, they look at the header section before scrolling downwards. The link to website should be placed right at the top of your email. The company logo should also be placed at the top section. They should not take up much space, but ensure they grab attention. Making the text bold and using different colors is advisable.
• Proper contact info– When you send emails to target customers, the information provided in it should be absolutely correct. It is even more applicable for company address, phone and email and such details. When the details change, do not forget to change it in email template too. Offering invalid number or an old address in emails does not look professional. It can also lead to embarrassing situations for the company.
• Social media icons– If you look in email of any company, the presence of social media links is a must. Your company needs to have active social media profiles. Links to those profiles should be given in the website as well as emails sent to recipients. This is another way of making your business appear credible and relevant to the customers. A lot of people use social media services like Twitter and Facebook to buy online and search for resources on companies.
• Promotional banner– While the content of the email could contain anything from a greeting on an anniversary or birthday to a direct promotional discount, you can use other promotional weapons too. Promotional banners are ideal for use in emails sent from a branded email id. A catchy tagline with images of an upcoming product or sale is ideal to be used in such a promo banner inside the email body. It is used mostly at the bottom part of the email. Such a banner can be a little flashy, but it is better not to go overboard with the design.
• Appropriate disclaimer-Small details can be important for reflecting credibility and this is true of email sent from a customized business email id too! When emails are sent from your company email id to anyone, including a customer or a potential client, a suitable disclaimer should be included. The disclaimer serves as an assurance that your entity complies with the latest regulations pertaining to online and digital communication and commerce. This should be added to the bottom part of every email sent by your company.