Email marketing is a powerful tool for effective digital marketing. Businesses rely on email campaigns to enhance their digital presence and reach their customers directly, which requires sending bulk marketing and transactional emails. 

However, your email provider’s SMTP (outgoing server) has its rules and guidelines that might not allow optimum mass mailing or other email marketing requirements. These outgoing servers may also not provide robust configuration options. 

Do you want a permanent solution to this problem and increase your emailing efficiency? You need to purchase a dedicated SMTP host. Furthermore, SMTPs have high deliverability and anti-spamming protocols to improve the chances of your emails reaching your lead’s inbox. This comprehensive blog will help you with the process through step-by-step guidance on buying an SMTP server and configuring it for maximum results. Continue to learn more!

What is an SMTP host?

SMTP, or Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, is an essential protocol that lets you communicate by sending your emails over the Internet by deciding how they are delivered. Email providers use their own SMTP servers for email transactions. However, you can also integrate dedicated SMTP servers into your websites to send bulk mail, have greater control over your email delivery, or streamline the delivery process. 

An SMTP server service sometimes offers additional features, including checking your sender reputation and validating domain or email addresses. The SMTP server maintains the standards and procedures of email transactions. 

It also ensures that your mail is sent to the right recipients and prevents your communication from being marked as spam. Additionally, the SMTP servers keep the emails in queue if the recipient server is down and send them later. 

The SMTP server service is solely used to send and relay emails to the right mail servers. Other protocols like IMAP or POP must be configured correctly to receive emails. Emails sent through the SMTP host are secured with SSL (Secured Socket Layer) or TLS (Transport Layer Security), established between the server and client to maintain data integrity and confidentiality in email transactions.

How Does the SMTP Host Work?

SMTP is the most secure way to deliver emails. Delivering and receiving emails is a sequence of tasks carried out by different agents in the workflow, and the email client is connected to the SMTP server through port 25 or 587. Let us see how SMTP works:

Step 1. Sending the email 

Your mail user agent (MUA), like Neo, Gmail, or Outlook, connects with the server’s SMTP and communicates with the Mail Transfer Agent (MTS) to send the email to your recipient.  

Step 2. Verifying

The SMTP server's message transfer agent (MTA) validates and locates the recipient’s domain server with the Domain Name System (DNS). 

Step 3. Routing

The MTA then checks the recipient's MX record. The message is routed to another MTA where the recipient’s domain is connected to its SMTP server. If the recipient domain is not connected to the respective MTA, the process is repeated until the right MTA is found. 

Step 4. Delivering 

Upon locating the right recipient server, the MTA sends the mail to the recipient’s mail delivery agent (MDA), which is saved for the recipient’s MUA. The MUA requests to receive the mail through IMAP or POP protocols, which is then delivered to the recipient's inbox.

Benefits of Using an SMTP Server Service

Using SMTP servers has its own set of benefits. While multiple free SMTP servers are available, and you can host your own SMTP server, these options are viable only for people with fewer email delivery requirements. 

Private SMTP hosts will be a more suitable option for businesses with bulk and large email-sending requirements. The benefits of using a private SMTP server service are as follows:

1. Bulk Sending

SMTP servers support your email providers in sending multiple emails simultaneously, letting you scale your email marketing operations effectively. A private SMTP server is the correct choice if you need a robust and quick email delivery service to send your newsletters and email campaigns.

2. Technical Support

A private SMTP server service will provide professional support throughout your journey. They will assist in setting up and configuring the email setup and resolve issues that may arise later. 

3. Better Deliverability 

SMTPs increase the chances of your mail being delivered to the correct recipient. If there are temporary issues at the recipient's end, the message may be sent to the backup server and ensured that it is delivered when the issues have been resolved. Furthermore, the SMTP host allows users to send data-driven and targeted emails for promotional purposes.

4. Secure Communication

The SMTP servers use SSL and TSL encryption layers to connect the server and client for secure communication. Remember that the SMTP receives email details like the IP, domain, address, and content. The MUA sends the code of the email message to the SMTP, which is transferred to the IMAP or POP. It also ensures that the mail is sent to the right recipient address only. 

5. Enhances Email Automation

With a dedicated SMTP, you can streamline your communication and set up more automation. You can send bulk emails effectively, set alerts and notifications for any issues, and track email status and performance. 

6. Improves Sender’s Reputation

Private SMTPs increase the chance of your emails escaping the spam trap of many mail clients and your leads opening and reading the emails. Furthermore, an SMTP host may even optimize your email to enhance delivery and improve your sender reputation. 

7. Greater Customization and Scalability

Your email provider’s SMTP may not support customization or scale along with your requirements. Using a dedicated SMTP server can help you handle both of these issues. 

You can configure the outgoing protocol to choose how you want your emails delivered, along with the domain authentication process, security settings, and protocols in case of email bouncing. Similarly, a dedicated SMTP can provide higher scalability with diverse plans to handle high delivery volumes. 

8. Easy Integration

Most private SMTP servers also offer easy integration with your operations system, including CMS, CRM, HR platform, and other solutions. This makes it easy to manage your organization's various functions from a single source. 

How to Buy an SMTP Server?

With email marketing taking over the digital world, multiple SMTP server service providers are available. The key objective is to buy an SMTP server that suits your business needs, enhances deliverability, is cost-efficient, and is scalable. Let us list the factors to consider before choosing an SMTP server. 

Step 1. Analyze your Business Needs

Every business has different needs, and every SMTP server has different rules and standards. Understanding your needs is important to choosing the right SMTP for your business. Check if you need bulk emails or large email volumes or if your business relies on data security. Understanding the outline of your business needs is the first step in choosing an SMTP plan. 

Step 2. Research on SMTP Providers

There are myriad options of SMTP providers ranging from free to paid private plans in the market. A few providers are MailGun, SendGrid, Amazon SES, Postmark. These services are reliable and come in different pricing structures and features. The ideal service should also come with a complete support system to help you troubleshoot effectively. 

Step 3. Evaluate the Integrability 

The SMTP you choose should be integrated with system software like CRM and email marketing software to support email campaigns. It should have features like active email list update and bulk email scheduling. It should also have a user-friendly interface for better usage and configuration. 

Step 4. Estimate the Security Concerns

Email communications often contain confidential information that needs to be encrypted. Choose an SMTP server that provides SSL and TSL protocols for client-server secure communication. The SMTP host should also provide two-factor authentication, infrastructure for strong password settings, data and security compliance with local and international laws, and frequent audits and patch support. 

Step 5. Explore the Prices and Plans

The provider and plan you choose should be economical yet provide useful features. Several SMTP server service providers offer free plans for a limited number of emails per month. They also have various packages at different prices with advanced features. Compare all the plans and choose the one that fits your needs cost-efficiently. 

Step 6. Test Run the Service

Many SMTP providers offer a limited trial period that allows you to explore their services and evaluate whether they suit your organization. Grab this opportunity before making your final decision. It will also expose the provider's perks and limitations, saving you from investing in a plan that underdelivers or is overwhelming for your use case.

Best SMTP Service Providers

With so many options in the market, it is difficult to buy the right SMTP server. To help you streamline your choice, we have compiled a list of the top 3 SMTP hosts. Let’s take a look at them:

1. Neo

While Neo does not offer a dedicated SMTP server, it utilizes a robust SMTP protocol, allowing you to send bulk emails in minutes. This budget-friendly email hosting platform is perfect for those looking for email marketing solutions with its powerful features like email blast options, email tracking, and custom domain support. Its other features are:

• A free one-page website with all its plans.
• Ability to send 200-300 emails per hour, depending on the plan.
• Input custom DKIM for domain verification.

2. Mailgun

Designed for developers, Mailgun provides a dedicated SMTP server, API support for seamless integration, and email sending and receiving facilities. It also provides email routing options and domain verification features to improve your sender reputation. Its features are:

• Regular Expression rules for email parsing and routing with Inbound Routes. 
• Dynamic reports and analytics on your email campaigns. 
• Improve sender score with reputation and blocklist monitoring along with spam trap protection. 

3. Amazon SES (Simple Email Service)

Amazon SES is a cloud-based email service provider that allows you to send bulk emails using its API or SMTP interface. It is a scalable service that helps you deliver any kind of communication, whether newsletters, transactional, or marketing emails, effectively. Its features are:

• Provides dedicated IPs for high deliverability, security, and customization.
• Bulk email automation through trigger events, bulk delivery, and API integration.
• Analytics and reports on your email deliverability and other metrics. 

Our Review

All 3 SMTP hosts have their flaws and strengths. However, our review and rating will help you choose the best option. We review the email providers using parameters like functionality, pricing, ease of use, etc.

Wrapping up 

Businesses now have too many things on their plate, and investing in the right SMTP provider will allow them to enjoy successful email marketing campaigns without having to worry about its security or deliverability. 

The dedicated SMTP server you use must be compatible with your email client. Email clients like Neo, Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook actually give you access to your emails and allow you to send and receive them. They can send and receive mail using SMTP and IMAP or POP protocols. 

Neo offers an inbuilt growth suite that supports email marketing and helps you create and analyze campaigns. Choosing one of those web clients or integrating an SMTP server service provider into your website or email domain is necessary to improve the success rate of your bulk email deliverability. So, register on Neo today and enjoy the ease of sending mass emails. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What is an SMTP host?

An SMTP host is the software run on a computer by your mail client to send emails. It is connected to the email client through port 25 or 587. 

Q2. What is the difference between SMTP and Web Clients?

Web clients are email providers like Neo, Gmail, Outlook, and Yahoo, who read emails and give you access to receive and send them. SMTP is a protocol used by web clients to send emails to the recipient’s inbox. 

Q3. What is the difference between SMTP, IMAP, and POP?

SMTP, IMAP, and POP are all protocols used by web clients to access emails. SMTP sends emails, while IMAP or POP is configured to receive the emails. A web client should configure SMTP, IMAP, or POP for complete email transactions.