Even before we were all forced to work from home due to the Covid-19 pandemic, businesses all over the world needed to empower employees to collaborate, keep in touch, and reach out to prospects and customers. That’s even more important for new businesses or startups. When you’re just starting out, your entire business might be dependent on how the tools you are using internally support productivity and an efficient way of working. At the same time, the platforms you are using to connect with partners, collaborators, or clients will also dictate how agile you are at spotting new opportunities and converting them.
Startup email tools
Email tools are probably the cornerstone of each modern business. While there are companies out there that are trying to revolutionize email, from using AI to integrating email threads into chats, we are confident that some aspects of our current workday will not change anytime soon. With that in mind, here are four categories of email tools that any startup needs to consider. For each category, we will highlight a tool as a recommendation, while also pointing out some alternatives, for good measure.
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This article is part of our Email for Startups series, where we offer an overview of the most important aspect that any startups will have to deal with in the email field. Read our first article in the series, about when to include email verification in your application or website. If you are curious about another listicle about email tools, check out our article about 12 online tools for every email marketer.
Email service provider: Customer.io
An email service provider is the online platform businesses are using to host and organize email lists, design, and plan email marketing strategies and send out newsletters to subscribers. These tools are usually subscription-based and the monthly price is normally tied to either the number of email contacts in your lists or to the number of emails sent out each month.
For startups, one of the best options for an ESP is Customer.io. If you are looking for a platform that integrates email, SMS, and push notification, as well as one that allows users to create trigger-based campaigns, you will have a hard time finding a better ESP.
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Customer.io offers the ability to create HTML templates, to send out A/B and multivariate tests for emails. Pricing starts at $150 per month for up to 12,000 profiles.
ESP alternatives: MailChimp, ConstantContact, MailUp, GetResponse.
Email list cleaning service: DataValidation
Building and growing an email list is simply not enough to deliver good email marketing results. Because email contacts tend to depreciate in quality over time, one solution is to constantly check email lists using email verification solutions.
When choosing an email verification provider, there are some aspects to keep in mind. First of all, you want to pick a reputable one, one that offers native integrations with the most well-known ESPs on the market. If that provider also includes an email quality monitoring solution, you know you have found your match. We are, of course, describing our own solution, DataValidation. With DataValidation, you can easily and quickly check to see if your email list is compliant with industry best practices and email regulations.
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You can access bulk and real-time API email verification, AutoPilot, the solution for monitoring email list quality, a subscription for getting more verification tokens for less than a one time purchase. On top of all of that, DataValidation offers a free quality report for each list imported or uploaded in the application.
Sign-up for a new account today.
Email client: Microsoft Outlook for desktop and Gmail for mobile
We live in a dynamic world, where different operating systems dictate different choices when it comes to picking an email client. While both Windows and macOS offer standalone email clients, the truth is that none of them can compare to Microsoft Outlook when it comes to features.
Available as a standalone application or included in the Office 365 bundle, Microsoft Outlook is probably the most advanced email client for Windows. With features such as Priority Inbox, scheduling emails, or calendar sharing, Outlook remains a top choice for startups and enterprises alike.
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For mobile, we cannot make the same recommendation. For both iOS and Android, Gmail stands out as the clear option for keeping up with emails on the go. Offline access, email scheduling, labels for sorting emails, an AI composer, and more, Gmail is without a doubt a competent and helpful companion.
Alternatives for desktop: Thunderbird, eM Client, MailBird, Inky
Alternatives for mobile: Apple Mail, Samsung Mail, ProtonMail
MailBox Provider: Google Workspace
To properly ensure that employees are not just connected to an email account, but can also collaborate, share documents and ideas, meet during online calls, you need powerful productivity and collaboration tools. This is where Google Workspace actually shines.
Previously known as GSuite, Google Workspace is designed to be a competitor for the enterprise Office 365. It bundles together its already established online Google Docs software, with Google Drive, Gmail, Calendar, and Chat. For startups, this might just be the best option out there.
Google Workspace will look very familiar to Google and Gmail users because it is built on the platform as their free offering. Now you can keep using the systems that you enjoy and are accustomed to even for working.
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MailBox provider alternatives: Office 365, Zoho Office, WPS Office
Takeaways
Managing the digital workplace aspect of a startup is no easy job. But with the tips and tricks from this article, we hope we can make things clearer and smoother. Here is what we have learned today:
- Picking a good email service provider will remove the hassle of dealing with email marketing
- Email verification is critical for making sure that email communications are sent out to valid contacts
- Email clients can save employees a lot of time if they are oriented towards saving time and supporting productivity
- Efficiency and productivity are two factors dependent on strong and reliable collaboration tools, not just on email
source https://blog.datavalidation.com/best-startup-email-tools/
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