What Is Amazon SES? Does Your Business Need It?

Does your Amazon Web Services (AWS) based business do any email marketing? Or does your company have a busy B2B communication that requires bulk or transactional emails on a daily basis? If your app is hosted on Amazon's AWS platform, you, too, could benefit from using its Simple Email Service.

This article gives you an introduction to Amazon Simple Email Service, or Amazon SES, and its key features, as well as a tutorial for using SES. And in case you're not satisfied with it, we'll tell you about one of its best alternatives.

What Is AWS Simple Email Service?

Amazon Simple Email Service (SES) was introduced in 2011 as a flexible and cost-effective client that enables developers to add mailing functionality to an app running on AWS. Many software engineers could confirm that integrating email services into existing technology is not always an easy task; however, SES provides a convenient way to personal , business & corporate email management from any AWS application.

SES allows for sending a practically unlimited number of emails to an unlimited number of receivers without having to think about blocking your servers or even about storage space. However, the best part is that you can quickly and easily configure SES to send either bulk or individual emails and, overall, use it like your Gmail account.

Another highlight of SES is that as part of AWS, it provides on-demand cloud computing, that is, a technology that allows users to have virtual computers available as long as they have an internet connection.

Amazon Simple Email Service: Key Features

Amazon SES is popular with businesses of all sizes, mostly because of its compatibility with the apps with which you're already familiar. However, there are many other features available that will make your workday much simpler.

1. Multiple Options for Sending Emails

One useful feature of Amazon SES is the sender configuration options. AWS Simple Email Service boasts a variety of sending methods such as Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) and SES API. If you decide to use the API option, you can access it via the AWS command-line interface (AWS CLI) or Amazon's very own software development kit.

2. Multiple IP Address Options

Amazon SES's default configuration uses IP addresses shared between customers across the Amazon workmail client. This option is an excellent choice for all users who want to start sending emails right away with an established IP address.

If you're among the users who want to shape and manage their own IP reputation, Amazon offers an option to lease a dedicated IP address to use along with your personal address.

It is also possible to use the dedicated IP pools feature to create pools of addresses, and if you have to migrate from another service provider, the BYOIP (bring your own IP) feature will let you use IP addresses that you already own.

3. Identity Security and Management

Whenever an internet service provider receives an email, it checks whether it is authenticated before delivering it in order to verify your ownership of the address from which you are sending. As for Amazon SES, it includes an advanced authentication mechanism, domain-based message authentication, reporting, and conformance (DMARC). If that doesn't suffice, you also have the choice of Sender Policy Framework (SPF) or DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM).

4. Detailed Statistics

If you want to keep an eye on your sending activity, a monitoring system is at your disposal. You can view statistics on the number of sent, delivered, or opened emails, etc. There are also insights on clicks, bounces, rejects, and complaints. Amazon SES allows you to monitor this activity thanks to its Sending Statistics Report.

5. Available Dashboards

Amazon's email service features two types of dashboards. The first one, the Reputation Dashboard, allows you to keep an eye on any issues that could impact the delivery of your messages. For example, this dashboard will inform you of errors such as email bounces, spamtrap hits, or reports from anti-spam organizations.

The Deliverability Dashboard shows you the issues that could negatively impact the delivery of your emails, such as substandard content or messages to users who have unsubscribed.

6. Receiving Options

If you want complete control of the messages that land in your inbox, Amazon SES is the one for you!. You get to choose what incoming correspondence you will accept and what happens to it once it goes to your Inbox.

Getting Started with Amazon SES

If you've decided to experiment with SES, you are just four simple steps away from sending your first message with Amazon's integrated service!

1. Create Credentials

The first step to using Amazon SES is to create SMTP credentials, or what you'd normally call a username and password.

First, log into the AWS Management Console and choose "SES Email Sending Service."

Then, click on "SMTP Settings" located in the left navigation bar. Choose "Create My SMTP Credentials."

Once you complete this process, copy your login details (credentials, that is) to a separate document or click on the "Download Credentials" button.

2. Verify Your Email Address

As with any registration process, you'll need to prove you used your own email address or, at least, that you used the right one. Once you log into the Amazon SES Console, click on the "Verify a New Email Address" link. Then, enter your preferred address and click the corresponding button, which you can see on the image below.

Once you complete the previous step, you should receive a confirmation email from Amazon SES. Keep in mind that the verification link is valid for 24 hours only once you submit the request. After clicking the link, the status of the address in the SES Console should change from "pending verification" to "verified."

3. Request Removal of Restrictions

Amazon SES is very particular about fraud and abuse, and to prevent both, it doesn't grant unlimited usage to new users. Amazon has established various restrictions to protect customers, including for sending emails to and from verified addresses or having a 200-message limit per day. If you wish to remove these restrictions, you have to request a higher level of access from the Amazon support center.

4. Start Sending Emails

Once you've created your credentials and verified your address, you're ready to start sending emails! Amazon SES allows you to send either a formatted or raw message. As you can guess, choosing a formatted email means SES formats it for you. If you choose the raw email option, you will have to do all the formatting yourself. The latter is not that bad, actually, as it gives you more control over headers.

Amazon SES — Not What You're Looking For? Try Mailbird!

Amazon SES is packed with many great features that can benefit any business or company. However, it is not really that simple; some users may find it overwhelming, but don't worry, we have another recommendation for you — Mailbird!

Mailbird is a desktop email client that will completely transform your mailing experience. Mailbird comes with numerous advanced features that will make reading, responding to, and sending emails easier than ever before. It will also save you time and make email management more productive. Best practice is to save email as pdf to read it in your leisure time or share via social networks..

Here are some Mailbird features with which you can up your email game!

• Unified Inbox with Colour Indicators - allows you to consolidate all your email accounts and messages in one inbox. The color indicators help you differentiate which messages come from which account.
• Attachment Search - search for attachments instead of having to open the emails. This is a super handy feature that can save you and your team a lot of time.
• Avatar Search / Profile Picture Search - see all the emails in your inbox that are from the specific person/avatar you click on.
• Drag and Drop Attachments - choose whether you want to attach or add the docs inline in the compose window. This feature is incredibly helpful for anyone who has to deal with a lot of documents and revisions on a daily basis.
• Inline Reply - respond to each line of an email and keep all threads clean and easy to follow for all recipients.
• Quick Action Bar - hover over the email in the inbox and have an instant action bar appear. The bar will enable you to "process" that email as fast as possible.
• Quick Preview of Attachments - look at an attached picture/document/PDF or any other file without having to open or download it.

Wrap Up

Amazon Simple Email Service is an email client that allows companies to send a large number of communications (notifications and announcements) individually or in bulk. The greatest advantage of using this service is that you can easily integrate it into any of your existing technology (e.g., an app) and send emails from it.

However, Amazon SES is not a proper solution for all companies. Sometimes, you just need a powerful desktop email client to help you organize your emails and respond to them efficiently, which is where Mailbird comes in! This multi-account email client is packed with features to help you manage your business emails efficiently and stop wasting time.