How Agencies Can Use the WordPress SendGrid Plugin to Send Email

Many agencies are aware that sending and receiving email from a WordPress website can be challenging at times. There have even been scenarios where the PHP mail function in WordPress just stops working!

I don’t want to conjure up any bad memories, but what happens within an agency team when one single email doesn’t hit its destination?

OK, it might not be an actual red alert, but if we took a quick gauge of your resident project manager’s blood pressure when they receive a notification about this, it feels like a red alert. Clients are likely puzzled, frustrated or upset, and rightfully so, because key transaction loops are not executing according to plan.

As a result, your project manager rallies the troops. The ensuing frenzy results in either valuable working hours pulled away from core value-add focus or, and potentially even worse for your development team—sleep loss!

Addressing issues like this, whether it has to do with something as basic as password resets, or critical transactional emails for e-commerce sites, take time and resources that can be much more effectively spent on areas of core expertise.

The SendGrid WordPress plugin

There’s a simple solution that can help prevent a lot of these challenges, and from an agency perspective, it doesn’t come with any additional costs. SMTP plugins for WordPress are available in the WordPress repository and can be a lot more reliable than the typical mail function in WordPress.

SMTP plugins for WordPress offer an alternative to the host being the agent responsible for sending the mail. With an SMTP plugin installed, that plugin handles sending email instead of your host. You’re essentially turning the responsibility over to a specialist!

The SendGrid integration replaces the wp_mail function included with WordPress. The SendGrid plugin is free and routes all of your WordPress emails through SendGrid, improving email deliverability. The plugin uses SMTP or API integration to send outgoing emails from your WordPress installation.

SendGrid WordPress plugin case study: PinDrop

PinDrop is a web and app development agency based in the Netherlands. They’re a good friend of the ‘Grid and are an official agency partner. PinDrop prides themselves on providing seamless customer interactions through web and mobile app platforms.

“We distinguish ourselves through responsive website development, parallax design, content management system (CMS) integration, interfacing to external systems, and apps on diverse platforms,” says PinDrop Owner, Nico Veenman.

PinDrop builds close to 50 websites and applications throughout the year. By leveraging the WP plugin and flexible APIs, it makes their integration process “super easy, super fast, and removes any potential headache.” Their customers (and as a result their account teams) no longer need to worry about diagnosing and solving urgent challenges that result on missing opportunities and potential sales.

While this lowers stress levels and blood pressure, what’s critical to note is that this frees the entirety of their team to focus on what they do best—custom design focused on customer engagement.

Our WP plugin is also Marketing Campaigns friendly and allows you to upload contacts directly to your SendGrid Marketing Campaigns account via the SendGrid Subscription widget.

Takeaways

When we set out to establish the SendGrid for Agencies program, one of the key aspects we wanted to focus on was helping you grow your overall agency business. Our WordPress plugin and flexible APIs help your agency be less stressed and have more time to focus on what you do best, core activities such as:

• Acquiring new business
• Gaining greater cross-functional focus on higher fee-driving business (like strategy and creative)
• Improving the client experience

For more on email best practices and industry benchmarks, check out SendGrid’s 2018 Email Benchmark Report for Agencies.