Cold Emailing

What is an SMTP server? A simple explanation

Noel Bouwmeester
LAST UPDATED
August 13, 2024
READING TIME
7 min.

It’s funny, isn’t it?

Email is such a part of modern life that we never stop and wonder how it actually works.

Truth is, email relies on various protocols and servers that work hard behind the scenes so you can read and send your messages.

SMTP servers play an essential part in that.

What is SMTP? 👨‍🏫

SMTP stands for Simple Mail Transfer Protocol.

It’s an email protocol that is in charge of sending emails.

From the moment you hit send, SMTP becomes busy picking up your email and sending it to the receiving server.

Other protocols, like IMAP or POP3, then take the email to the recipient’s email account.

How Does an SMTP Server Work?

  1. ➡️ When you hit the aforementioned send button, your email client will connect to the SMTP server.
  2. ➡️ Your email client knows which SMTP server to connect to because this was pre-configured, either by you or your email service provider (ESP).
  3. ➡️ The SMTP server then connects to the receiving server associated with the domain in the email address. Typically, the receiving server is an IMAP server.
  4. ➡️ The recipient then connects to the receiving server when checking their email, and voila, there’s the email!

On hitting send, your email clients connect to the SMTP server

The SMTP server then sends email to the receiving server, typically an IMAP server

The recipient then connects to the IMAP server when checking their email, and voila, there’s the email

How to find your SMTP server 🔍

If you’re using an email service provider like Gmail, you’re usually not aware of what SMTP server your account uses.

However, you may need to know the SMTP server when using your Gmail account with third-party tools, such as email marketing apps.

Google’s SMTP server is usually smtp.gmail.com.

However, as of September 30, 2024, all third-party tools need to use “Sign in with Google” to access your account. It will no longer be possible to log in to their SMTP and IMAP servers with just a username and password.

For other email service providers, your SMTP server can probably still be used. You should be able to either find the SMTP server in your account settings or ask your email service for the correct one.

Connecting an SMTP to lemlist

lemlist is a multichannel outreach tool with advanced personalization features that allow you to send human-like emails at scale.

If you want to connect your email account’s SMTP server to lemlist, all you have to do is sign in with Google.

This is much easier than messing around with SMTP servers and their login credentials.

Go to Settings>Sending settings>Connect new email addresses and then log into your Google accounts.

For other email providers you can connect their SMTP server to lemlist:

Then add your email login information:

Finally, add the SMTP server settings and hit “save changes.”

SMTP vs IMAP & POP3 🆚

SMTP is for sending email. IMAP and POP3 are for receiving it.

IMAP allows you to synchronize your email account with the IMAP server so that emails and even folders are the same on whatever device you check your email on.

POP3, on the other hand,  downloads all messages and stores them locally. Any changes you make on your device will not be reflected in your email account on the server level.

SMTP, we’re counting on you 🙏

Although SMTP servers work behind the scenes, they play a crucial role in the delivery of email messages.

They act like postmen but for email. (Just think of the crazy amount of emails that must pass through Gmail’s SMTP servers.)

Despite its literal simple name, SMTP is an essential component we rely on daily for communication.

Without SMTP the email you intend to send wouldn’t go anywhere.

Noel Bouwmeester
SEO Content Writer @ lempire
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Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes
Steep learning curve
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Connected planning
Complexity and steep learning curve
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Companies with complex sales structures
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Companies who want to automate commission calculations and payouts
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4.8
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Companies with modern sales culture and businesses who want real-time insights
A built-in dispute management and real-time visibility
Users say it works slowly, customer support is slow
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Smaller sales teams
Powerful automation
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Companies with scalable needs
Automated Commission Calculations
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CRM
Summary
Backbone of a business's internal operations.
Backbone of customer-centric interactions and operations.
Goal
To centralize and streamline core business processes in a company.
To increase customer experience, satisfaction and loyalty, and boost sales.
Focus
Internal operations and processes across departments (finance, accounting, inventory, supply chain, HR, and sales).
All interactions with leads and customers.
Manages
Internal business data like financial data, inventory levels, production details, supply chain, HR info.
All customer data like contact info, purchase history, communication history, customer preferences and more.
Users
Finance, accounting, operations, supply chain, and HR departments.
Customer-facing teams like sales, marketing, and customer service.
Benefits
Streamlines operations, improves data accuracy, enhances decision-making, boosts collaboration, increases productivity.
Improves customer relationships, increases sales, strengthens customer service, personalizes marketing campaigns, provides insights.
Price
$150 per user per year on average.
$10 to $30 per user per month on average.
PRM Tool
Rating
Feature
Pro
Con
Mobile App
Integrations
Free Plan
Pricing
4.65
star
star
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star-half
Org-wide alignment
User-friendly layout and database
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3.1
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star
Simple iOS app
Ideal for non-tech-savvy users
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iOS only
Limited
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1-month trial
$1.49/month or
$14.99/month
3.6
star
star
star
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Smart Contact Management
Feature-rich and flexible
Reported bugs
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Rich
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7-day trial
Premium: $13.99/month
Teams: $17.99/month
4.4
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Customizable Interface
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square-xmark
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Integrated Calling
Integrated Calling
Too sales-oriented & pricey
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Rich
square-xmark
14-day trial
Startup: $59/user/month
Professional: $329/user/month
4.8
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Business Card Scanning
Business Card Scanning
Mobile only
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$9.99/month
4.45
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160+ app integrations
Comprehensive integrations
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Rich
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14-day trial
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14-day
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30-day
square-xmark
But it offers reduced price to authorised nonprofit organisations
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Best overall operational CRM
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square-xmark
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Limited to 3 users
Comprehensive incentive management
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Small-medium businesses and automation
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4.1
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star
star
star
square-xmark
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Limited 10 users
$9.99/user/month billed annually
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Free plan for very small teams up to 10
CRM goal
Increase the sales conversion rate for qualified leads from marketing automation campaigns by 10% in the next 6 months.
SMART Breakdown
1. Specific: It targets a specific area (conversion rate) for a defined segment (qualified leads from marketing automation).
2. Measurable: The desired increase (10%) is a clear metric, and the timeframe (6 months) allows for progress tracking.
3. Achievable: A 10% increase is possible based on historical data and potential improvements.
4. Relevant: Boosting sales from marketing efforts aligns with overall business objectives.
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Actions
Step 1: Refine lead qualification criteria to ensure high-quality leads are nurtured through marketing automation.
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Increased sales and revenue
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Marketing and sales alignment
Data-driven marketing optimization
Table
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Approach
Data-centric
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Focus
Interactions across various channels and touchpoints, both online and offline.
Sales, marketing, and customer service interactions.
Functionality
Automatically collects, organizes, tags, and makes data available in real-time.
Helps businesses track customer interactions, sales pipelines, prospects, and service requests.
Goals
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Personalized marketing campaigns, targeted advertising, content customization across multiple channels.
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Insider, Bloomreach, Salesforce Marketing Cloud CDP
HubSpot, Salesforce Sales Cloud Lightning Professional, and Zoho CRM
CRM
Free plan
Best feature
Best for
Con
1. HubSpot CRM
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Sales automation
Sales teams
Up to 1,000 contacts
2. Insightly
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Custom fields
Basic needs
Not enough info about the free plan
3. Agile CRM
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Deal and sales pipeline tracking
Small teams
Up to 10 users
4. Zoho CRM
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Lead and contact management
Businesses of all sizes
Limited to 3 users
5. ClickUp
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Unlimited tasks and unlimited members
Personal use
Up to 100MB storage
6. EngageBay
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Live chat
Small and midsize enterprises
Up to 1,000 branded emails per month
7. Bitrix24
square-check
Unlimited users and 5 scrum teams
Big teams
Up to 5GB of cloud storage
8. FreshSales
square-check
Easy to use and simple setup
Beginners
Up to 3 users
9. Mailchimp
square-check
Very beginner friendly
Marketing teams
Send up to 500 branded emails per month
Type of Affiliate Marketing
Unattached
Related
Involved
Format
Paid advertising
Social media or YouTube channels
Dedicated website or blog
Focus
Quick income
Your niche
Your audience
Engagement with your audience
square-xmark
square-check
square-check
square-check
square-check
Very close connection with your audience
Pro
Little effort
Higher credibility thanks to your niche
Long-lasting and scalable
Con
Paid ads cost a lot
Potential for bias since you don’t use the thing you promote
Require time, effort, and dedication

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