How Small Steel Trading Companies Can Use Email Marketing to Stay Top of Mind and Win New Business

In today’s fast-moving business world, especially in industries like steel trading where competition is tough and customer loyalty is easily lost, staying visible to your customers is critical. For small steel trading companies, this can be a challenge. Often, you don’t have large marketing budgets or dedicated teams like big corporations. But there is one powerful, cost-effective tool you can use to boost sales and maintain relationships: email marketing.

Whether you're trying to bring back customers who haven’t placed an order in a while or reach out to new leads, email marketing can help you stay top of mind, drive repeat purchases, and grow your business sustainably.

Why Customers “Forget” About You

It’s a common scenario in B2B industries: a customer places a few orders, seems happy, and then suddenly disappears. In many cases, they haven’t had a bad experience—they just moved on to other suppliers or simply forgot about you.

Why does this happen?

• Lack of ongoing communication: If you only speak to a customer when they order, you risk being forgotten.

• No reminder of your value: Out of sight is often out of mind, especially when buyers juggle multiple vendors.

• No visibility of new offerings: Customers might not know you’ve added new products or services unless you tell them.

This is where email marketing comes in.

The Power of Email Marketing for Small Businesses

You don’t need a huge budget or sophisticated tools to get started. With a simple strategy and a well-maintained list of emails, you can:

• Nurture potential leads by introducing your company, your values, and your product range.

• Re-engage dormant clients by reminding them of the quality and reliability you offer.

• Promote special deals to encourage ordering during slower periods.

• Showcase your expertise to build trust and long-term relationships.

Let’s look at how to make this work for your steel trading business.

---

Step 1: Build and Segment Your Email List

Before sending any emails, you need to organize your audience. You likely already have a list of customers and contacts. Break this list into two primary segments:

1. Potential new customers: Leads collected from industry expos, referrals, website inquiries, or networking.

2. Dormant existing customers: Clients who haven’t purchased from you in over a year.

Segmenting your email list allows you to tailor messages to each group more effectively.

💡 Tip: Always ask for permission before emailing someone. Use opt-in forms on your website or confirm by phone if needed.

---

Step 2: Craft the Right Messages

For Potential Customers:

Your goal is to introduce your business, show credibility, and spark interest. A good first email might include:

• A short introduction to your company

• What products or services you specialize in

• Why customers choose you (reliability, pricing, delivery speed, etc.)

• A call-to-action (e.g., “Get a quote,” “Call us for pricing,” “View our product catalog”)

Follow-up emails can include:

• Customer testimonials or case studies

• Industry news and how your products fit into current trends

• Limited-time offers or discounts

For Dormant Customers:

These contacts already know you but haven’t ordered in a while. Your approach should be friendly and focused on re-establishing a connection.

Email ideas include:

• “We’ve missed you!” message with a gentle reminder of your past work together

• New product announcements or stock availability

• Loyalty rewards or special discounts for returning customers

• A simple “Let’s reconnect” email offering a phone call or meeting

Keep the tone warm, professional, and helpful.

---

Step 3: Choose the Right Email Tools

There are many affordable email marketing platforms like Mailchimp, Brevo (formerly Sendinblue), Moosend, or MailerLite that offer easy-to-use templates, automation, and analytics.

Features to look for:

• Ability to schedule campaigns

• Templates for newsletters and promotions

• List segmentation and tagging

• Basic analytics (open rates, click-throughs)

You don’t need the fanciest software. Choose something simple and reliable that suits your team’s comfort level.

---

Step 4: Timing and Frequency

Avoid overloading your contacts with daily emails. For most steel trading businesses, a monthly or bi-monthly email is ideal. For re-engagement campaigns, you might consider a short series of 2–3 emails spaced over a few weeks.

Best practices:

• Don’t email just for the sake of it. Each email should offer value.

• Test different days/times to see what works best (Tuesdays and Thursdays often perform well).

• Avoid long emails—get to the point quickly and clearly.

---

Step 5: Track and Improve

Once you send a few campaigns, study the results:

• Open Rate: Are your subject lines grabbing attention?

• Click Rate: Are people clicking on your product links or quote request buttons?

• Unsubscribe Rate: Are you emailing too frequently or sending irrelevant content?

Use these insights to fine-tune your subject lines, content, and frequency.

---

What Should You Include in Your Emails?

Here are some content ideas tailored to your industry:

• Stock updates (e.g., “Fresh consignment of Mild Steel Coils now available”)

• Case studies (e.g., “How we helped a construction firm reduce procurement delays by 30%”)

• Industry insights (e.g., “What rising raw material costs mean for steel buyers”)

• Special offers (e.g., “Order in July and get 5% off on structural steel”)

• Company news (e.g., “We’ve expanded our warehouse capacity”)

Visuals help too—photos of your inventory, delivery trucks, staff at work, or even satisfied customers add a human touch.

---

Final Thoughts

For small steel trading companies, email marketing is not just a sales tool—it’s a relationship builder. By staying in touch, sharing relevant information, and being present in your customer’s inbox, you make it easier for them to remember you when the next need arises.

You don’t need to be loud. You just need to be there—consistently, clearly, and professionally.

So if you’ve been waiting to “find time” to start email marketing, the time is now. Build that list, draft your first message, and press send. Your future customers are just a few clicks away.

Mastering the Email Blast: How to Reach Your Audience Without Getting Blacklisted

Email is still one of the most powerful tools for communicating with customers. But if you’ve ever sent out a bulk email only to find many of them bounce back or get flagged as spam, you know how frustrating that power can be when misused. It only takes one blacklist to derail your outreach efforts.

Sure, you could try emailing people one by one or hope they check your website or social media—but let’s be honest: that’s time-consuming and often ineffective. If your emails aren’t landing where they should, your message is getting lost.

Why Emails Get Blocked — And Why It Matters

When your messages are flagged as spam or land in the "Promotions" tab, it’s not just an inconvenience — it’s a major roadblock to reaching your audience. With laws like the CAN-SPAM Act in place and increasingly strict filters from Gmail, Outlook, and others, your emails must strike the right balance between engaging and compliant.

That’s where email best practices come in — helping you increase open rates, drive clicks, and avoid the dreaded blacklist.

---

Step One: Know Your Audience and Purpose

Before writing a single word, get clear on two things:

• Who are you talking to?

• What do you want them to do?

Kayc Ullrich from Yuit Communications puts it simply: “If you don’t know what you’re trying to say or who you’re saying it to, your email won’t connect.”

---

Understand the Reader’s Email Experience

Your recipients don’t live in a vacuum. Their reaction to your email is shaped by four major factors:

1. The Law – The CAN-SPAM Act requires every email to include a physical address and an unsubscribe link. Failing to comply can land you in hot water (and possibly on a blacklist).

2. Email Overload – People are drowning in emails. Inboxes are more crowded than ever, and your message has to stand out to get noticed.

3. Mobile Reading – Most users now check emails on their phones. If your message isn’t mobile-friendly, you’ll lose readers fast.

4. Email Filters – Clients like Gmail automatically sort and hide emails in promotions or spam tabs. Microsoft Outlook, for example, blocks images by default. Long messages get clipped. If you’re not testing for this, your email might never be seen.

---

Writing Emails That Actually Work

Let’s break down how to write emails that are engaging, legal, and likely to be opened.

✅ Subject Lines That Spark Curiosity

• Make it short and direct.

• Avoid spammy terms like "Free!" or "Cash Bonus."

• Keep the first 40 characters sharp and informative.

Your subject line and preview text are your first impression. If it doesn’t grab attention in under 3 seconds, it’s probably getting ignored.

✅ Sender Info That Builds Trust

Use your organization’s name in the sender field. If you’re using tools like MailChimp, you can split the name into two fields. Avoid using random team members’ names — your audience may not recognize them, and it might trigger spam filters.

✅ Message Body That Delivers Value

• Make it scannable with bullet points and subheadings.

• Use short sentences and simple words.

• Put the most important info at the top.

• Avoid using big images or attachments — they often don’t display correctly.

Want to go deeper without overwhelming readers? Use links. Direct them to a landing page or blog post with the full content.

Pro Tip: Want to check your email's spam score before sending it out? Use TestMailScore.com — a free and powerful tool that gives you an in-depth look at your email’s deliverability.

✅ Legal Footers That Don’t Get You Flagged

Every email needs a physical address and an unsubscribe link. Don’t hide it in tiny text — make it easy for people to find and act on.

---

Test, Test, and Test Again

Before you hit “Send,” run tests:

• View it on different devices (mobile vs. desktop, light mode vs. dark mode).

• Use different email clients (Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook).

• Check how it displays across screen sizes and platforms.

Use test accounts and tools like TestMailScore.com to pre-check formatting, links, and potential spam triggers.

---

Smart Sending Strategy

Not every email list is a good one. If someone hasn’t interacted with your brand in 3+ years, it’s time to remove them. Old or disengaged contacts can damage your sender reputation.

Segment your list based on audience types — customers, journalists, B2B — and tweak the message for each group. Personalized messages almost always perform better.

---

Analyze Your Results

After sending, don’t just forget about the email. Track:

• Open rates

• Click-through rates

• Bounce rates

High bounces from a specific domain? You might be blacklisted. Visit Spamhaus to check your IP and domain reputation.

If open rates are low, ask yourself: Did my subject line work? Was my email valuable? A low open rate means your communication didn’t land—literally or figuratively.

---

Final Thoughts

Email isn’t just about sending—it’s about delivering a message that actually gets seen, read, and acted upon. By combining smart strategy with the right tools, like TestMailScore.com, you can create powerful, compliant campaigns that grow your reach, not your spam score.

Email Spam: What It Is, How to Avoid It as a User, and Best Practices for Email Marketers

Email is a powerful communication tool. But when misused, it becomes a source of frustration—thanks to spam. We’ve all seen those annoying messages promising quick wealth, miracle pills, or shady deals. But spam emails aren’t just irritating; they can be dangerous. Whether you're a casual user or an email marketer, understanding spam is crucial to keeping your inbox (and reputation) clean.

---

What is Email Spam?

Email spam refers to unsolicited bulk messages sent through email. These messages are often sent for advertising, phishing, or malicious intent. Spammers use email to reach thousands (even millions) of inboxes with little cost and effort. Unfortunately, this floods our inboxes with irrelevant or harmful content.

But spam isn’t limited to scams. Sometimes, legitimate businesses unknowingly send spammy emails due to poor practices. That’s where things get tricky—because what seems like a harmless newsletter to you might look like spam to someone else (or worse, to spam filters).

---

For Users: How to Avoid Email Spam

If you're a regular email user, spam can clutter your inbox and expose you to threats like malware or phishing attacks. Here’s how you can protect yourself:

1. Be Mindful Where You Share Your Email

Don’t post your email publicly on forums or websites. Spambots crawl the web to collect email addresses. Use a secondary email for sign-ups or newsletters.

2. Use Spam Filters

Most modern email providers (like Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo) have built-in spam filters. These automatically push suspicious emails into a spam folder. Make sure it’s enabled.

3. Don’t Interact with Suspicious Emails

Never click links or download attachments from unknown senders. Just opening these emails can sometimes signal to spammers that your email is active.

4. Unsubscribe from Unwanted Newsletters

Instead of deleting promotional emails every day, use the unsubscribe link at the bottom (if it’s a legitimate sender). This helps reduce inbox clutter.

5. Report Spam

Reporting spam helps email providers improve their filters. If enough users report a sender, future emails will likely get blocked automatically.

---

For Email Marketers: How to Stay Out of the Spam Folder

Sending emails that go directly to spam is a nightmare for marketers. It ruins deliverability, harms your sender reputation, and affects business outcomes. Here’s how you can avoid that fate:

1. Get Permission (Always!)

Never buy email lists. Always use double opt-in methods to confirm that subscribers genuinely want your emails. Consent-based marketing is not just ethical—it performs better.

2. Avoid Spammy Language

Certain phrases trigger spam filters—like “Buy now!”, “Free gift”, “Act fast”, or “Guaranteed income.” Be professional, and write like you’re talking to a human.

3. Authenticate Your Emails

Use SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records to authenticate your emails. These security settings help mail servers verify that you’re the rightful sender, reducing the chances of your emails being marked as spam.

4. Monitor Engagement

If subscribers aren’t opening your emails, it’s a red flag. Internet service providers (ISPs) track engagement to judge your sender reputation. Regularly clean your list to remove inactive users.

5. Use a Reputable Email Service Provider (ESP)

Platforms like Mailchimp, Brevo, or ConvertKit follow industry standards and offer tools to improve your deliverability.

6. Test Before You Send

Before launching a campaign, run tests to see how your email scores in terms of spam risk.

---

How to Check If Your Email Will Land in Spam

A great way to test your email’s spam score is by using TestMailScore.com. It’s a completely free tool that analyzes your email for:

• Authentication records (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)

• Blacklist status

• Spammy content

• HTML/CSS errors

• And much more

You simply send a test email to the address they provide, and within seconds, you’ll get a detailed report. This can help you identify issues before hitting send.

---

Conclusion

Email spam is a shared problem—users want clean inboxes, and marketers want better deliverability. Understanding what causes spam, how to avoid it, and how to test your emails for potential red flags can significantly improve your email experience, no matter which side you're on.

Whether you're protecting your inbox or sending your next campaign, don’t leave it to chance. Always test before you send.

🔍 Check your email score now at TestMailScore.com — it’s free, fast, and insightful!

IMAP Protocol Explained: History, Usage, Advantages, and Disadvantages

When setting up your email on a new phone or switching between devices, you’ve probably seen options like IMAP or POP3. While they may seem technical, understanding the difference can improve how you manage your inbox every day. In this blog, we’re going to focus on IMAP — the Internet Message Access Protocol — and explore its history, how it works, its advantages, disadvantages, and how it compares with POP.

We’ll also show you how to test whether your emails are likely to end up in a spam folder using a completely free tool.

---

📜 A Brief History of IMAP

IMAP was developed in 1986 at Stanford University by Mark Crispin. Back then, the most common email protocol was POP (Post Office Protocol), which worked by downloading emails and then deleting them from the server. That meant if you checked your email on your office computer, it wouldn't show up on your phone.

IMAP solved that issue by keeping the email on the server and syncing your actions across all devices. The most used version today is IMAP4rev1, standardized in 2003 (RFC 3501), which is still the core of most modern email systems.

---

💡 How Does IMAP Work?

Unlike POP, which stores emails locally, IMAP keeps them on the server. Every time you open your inbox, your email client fetches the latest state from the server. Whether you mark an email as read, delete it, or move it to a folder — it reflects across all your devices in real-time.

This makes IMAP perfect for modern-day users who check email on laptops, smartphones, and tablets interchangeably.

---

✅ Advantages of IMAP

• Access from Multiple Devices
  You can check your email from any device, and everything stays synced.

• Server-Based Storage
  Emails remain on the server until you decide to delete them, which helps protect against local data loss.

• Folder Management
  IMAP supports creating and managing folders on the server for better organization.

• Real-Time Updates
  New emails appear instantly through “push” notification systems supported by many email clients.

---

❌ Disadvantages of IMAP

• Limited Storage
  Since messages are stored on the server, you may run into storage limits, especially if you don’t regularly delete old emails.

• Internet Required
  IMAP requires a stable internet connection to fetch and sync data. Offline access is limited unless your email client supports local caching.

• Security Considerations
  Storing messages on remote servers introduces risk if proper security measures like SSL/TLS aren’t used.

• More Complex Configuration
  Some advanced IMAP setups (especially with custom domains) can be slightly more technical to configure.

---

📬 IMAP vs POP: A Quick Comparison

• Sync Across Devices

  • IMAP: Yes – emails and actions sync across all devices

  • POP: No – emails are downloaded to one device only

• Storage Location

  • IMAP: Emails remain on the server

  • POP: Emails are downloaded and stored locally

• Folder Support

  • IMAP: Supports organizing emails into folders

  • POP: Doesn’t support server-side folders

• Offline Access

  • IMAP: Limited offline access unless cached

  • POP: Full offline access

• Best Use Case

  • IMAP: Great for accessing email from multiple devices

  • POP: Good for single-device users or limited internet environments

---

🛡️ Final Thoughts

In today’s always-connected world, IMAP is the email protocol of choice for most users. Whether you’re managing work emails or personal messages, IMAP ensures your inbox stays in sync across all platforms. Although it requires more server storage and depends on an internet connection, the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks for most people.

---

📊 Bonus: Test Your Email Before You Send

Even if you understand how your email is delivered, you also want to make sure it’s not landing in spam.

That’s where TestMailScore.com comes in. This free tool allows you to:

• Check your email's spam score

• Validate SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records

• Review formatting issues

• Ensure your domain isn’t blacklisted

Just send a test email, and get a full spam report within seconds — no account needed. It's a must-have tool for marketers, freelancers, and businesses sending emails to customers.