If you’re in the U.S., you would have to be living under a rock to not have heard about Hilary Clinton’s email scandal, in which the former secretary of state used her personal email account for work-related purposes. It’s a cautionary tale that serves as a good reminder to keep your business communications separate from your personal ones.

You've got your website, social media accounts and lots of branded items to that reflect how professional your business is. Ok so what do you about your email addresses? Did you use an email address linked to your domain name or did you go with a freebie? Even if you are not dealing with classified information it’s definately in your best interests to avoid using an email address through a free service like Yahoo, Gmail, Hotmail, etc., for business purposes. Here’s why.

It looks unprofessional

Email recipients expect businesses to look professional online—and that applies to email addresses as well. Sad as it may be, you’re not likely to score a major client when you send them your pitch via a Hotmail email address. A branded email address will inspire more customer trust than one that’s from a free service provider.

It doesn’t promote growth

It may be all well and good using your free email for business communications for now, but what happens down the line when you’re ready to add an employee? Or when you decide that it makes sense to have separate email accounts for sales and customer support? Creating a branded custom email account from the get-go can build consumer trust and make it easier to adapt for growth in the long term.

Your emails are more likely to get caught in a spam filter

With increased adoption of Domain-based Message Authentication, there’s a good chance that spam filters will catch an email sent from a free account and send it straight to your recipient’s junk folder. Marketing platforms like MailChimp and Constant Contact now require that users send from custom email addresses, and even free service providers have indicated that they plan to be more strict with filtering their users’ inboxes.

It’s a potential direct mail marketing violation in the making

That’s right—UK. citizens using personal email addresses for marketing purposes can land themselves in hot water if they don’t include some specific features. Because the GDPR Act requires marketers to include an opt-out method in marketing communications (like an Unsubscribe button), using a personal email for these messages presents the issue that there is no simple way for recipients to remove themselves from an email list.

A custom email address is an important tool for business owners who want to promote their business’s growth. Setting up your own is quick, easy, and a great investment in your company’s future. If you would like any assistance with this then please do get in touch.