What is an SMTP? Functions and benefits of an SMTP server

Such a powerful and simple tool as an email is an essential attribute of modern life and especially useful for e-commerce business. This whole science, Email marketing, built around the ability to send messages via the Internet, and successful email campaigns depend on specialists in this field.

The possibility of usage of such tools should be singled out. Everything is good in moderation, and this kind of campaign also needs specific rules. It would help if you didn't abuse this tool and not bother the buyer with emails that come too often. It might push him to unsubscribe from your news.

Thanks to the judicious use of mass mailings, you will get a lot of benefits:

  • Increasing traffic to the online store due to targeted visits;
  • Increasing the number of sales;
  • Increasing the number of new customers;
  • Strengthening customer confidence and loyalty to your brand or a store;
  • Getting feedback from customers;
  • Opportunity to attract buyers by announcing discounts or sales;
  • Becoming a part of your customers' life, for example, through holiday greetings;
  • Possibility to communicate with your customers about discounts, benefits, news, etc.

These and other benefits can ensure the proper use of mass mailings.

It's essential to choose the right way to send bulk emails to your customers because they need to receive it. That's why we're happy to present you with the SMTP module for Magento 2 platform. Our module will make it easier for you to work with your own or third-party server for mass mailings. Using this module, you can increase the chance of your emails to reach your customers on time.

What's an SMTP server?

The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol or SMTP is a communication push text-based protocol. Based on the name, we can conclude that the SMTP server is responsible for sending messages. SMTP is used for guaranteed delivery of emails because it makes the necessary validations.

Its work usually consists of two main functions.

SMTP verifies that all the settings are correct and grants permission to the computer trying to send this email. The mail server, in its turn, uses SMTP to transmit emails to the right receiver. It confirms the successful sending of the message. If delivery isn't possible or there's some trouble, the server returns a response with an error to the sender.

How does SMTP work?

As already mentioned, a two-way communication establishes between the sending mail server and the receiving mail server through the SMTP. The sending server communicates with the receiving server using protocol-defined commands for an encrypted connection.

An SMTP session consists of commands originated by an SMTP client (the sender) and responses from the SMTP server (the receiver). This "communication" may include from zero to an unlimited number of SMTP transactions. An SMTP transaction consists of three command-reply sequences.

  • command MAIL establishes the return address;
  • command RCPT specifies a recipient of the message. RCPT commands can be issued multiple times (one for each recipient);
  • DATA is a group of commands that serve to send the message header and a text body itself, separated by an empty line.

To deliver the message, all of these three commands must be successfully executed. The SMTP transaction components are similar to the elements of an ordinary paper letter: the definition of the sender's address, the recipient, and the presence of the message's contents. These have always been the prerequisites without which the letter won't be sent.

Below, we are looking step by step at the process of sending an email message after setting up the SMTP server.

  1. The mailing program connects to the SMTP server of the mail client. It transmits the necessary data in order: the sender's and recipient's email addresses, the letter's subject, and its content.
  2. Based on the domain of the recipient's email address, the sender's SMTP server begins to establish a connection with the recipient's SMTP server at the specified IP address of the domain to which it will send the letter.
  3. The connection and data exchange takes place via port 25 (587 or 465).

There are cases when, for some reason, the side of the recipient server doesn't respond. If several automatic attempts to contact the recipient server fails - the sender SMTP server informs the sender with the appropriate message.

The main SMTP server benefits

  • Thanks to the SMTP server's use for sending messages, you can control outgoing emails.
  • A high-quality SMTP server can quickly send a large volume of email messages and avoid provider restrictions.
  • The security of email messages and the percentage of their delivery to the recipient increases.

So, using all the benefits of an SMTP with our Magento 2 SMTP module for mass mailing, you get a lot of advantages in addition to the guarantee of delivery of your emails to customers. Make the most of every opportunity through your successful email campaigns! Read more about mass mailing tasks here.