Email API Explained: Definition, Benefits, and Usage

Mailtarget

What is Email API and Its Benefit?

Email is one of the most effective communication tools for businesses. You can use this channel to send transactional emails, marketing emails, and various other types of email campaigns. However, sending emails manually can be a tedious and time-consuming task. To solve this problem, developers can use the email API.

In this article, we will discuss the email API, including its meaning, benefits, and use.

What is Email API?

Email API is an application programming interface that allows developers to access email functionality from their applications or websites. It can automate email sending, achieve high-deliverability rates, and improve email security. You may be familiar with several email provider services, such as mailtarget, Mailgun, Mailchimp, and Sendgrid.

Email APIs work by connecting a developer's application or website to an email service provider's server. Developers use the API to send emails to the email service provider's server. The email service provider's server will then send the email to the recipient.

In general, We can divide into work stages into 3 parts:

  1. Authentication stage. You have to provide your credentials to the provider's server to prove that they have permission to access the email service.
  2. Sending stage. You should use a method or function from the API to send an email to the email service provider's server.
  3. Reception stage. At this stage, the email service provider's server will send the email to the recipient.

Below is an example of implementing this email program using the cURL programming language.

API Key: HC7BFuoaxkatg8gNlEQfPtBg
API Base URL: https://apiconfig.mailtarget.co
Code (cURL):

curl --location 'https://apiconfig.mailtarget.co/v1/layang/transmissions' \
--header 'accept: application/json' \
--header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
--header 'Authorization: Bearer HC7BFuoaxkatg8gNlEQfPtBg' \
--data-raw '{
    "bodyText": "Congratulation, you just sent email with mailtarget. You are truly awesome!",
    "bodyHtml": "<!DOCTYPE html><html lang=\"en\"><head><meta charset=\"UTF-8\"><title>Hello from mailtarget</title></head><body><p>Congratulation, you just sent email with mailtarget. You are truly awesome!</p></body></html>",
    "from": {
        "email": "[email protected]",
        "name": "mailtarget Sandbox"
    },
    "subject": "Hello from mailtarget",
    "to": [
        {
          "email": "[email protected]",
          "name": ""
        },
        {
          "email": "[email protected]",
          "name": ""
        }
    ]
}'

Generally, email services only provide the API key (and API documentation) for you to implement yourself in your code. This means you must first integrate the database with the service system.

The Benefits of Using This API

Now, let's look at the benefits of this technology for you as a developer, project manager, or business owner.

1. Automate email sending

You can use API to automate email sending, so you don't have to write email-sending code from scratch. You can use it to send transactional emails, marketing emails, or internal emails.

2. Improve email deliverability

APIs can help improve email deliverability by providing some essential features. You may find them like email testing, personalized email sending, and email tracking. Email testing allows developers to test their emails before sending them to recipients.

Sending personalized emails can increase the opens & clicks of the email content. On the other hand, it leads to better email performance.

💡
Insight: Usually the email API service provides a Sandbox environment for testing purposes to avoid the risk.

3. Improve email security

APIs can help improve email security by providing features such as spam and phishing protection. Spam protection can help prevent emails from ending up in recipients' spam folders. Phishing protection can help prevent recipients from opening malicious emails.

Email API Usage

You can use it in different ways, depending on the purpose. Retail companies may use this technology for different purposes than banking companies.

Below are some examples of using RESTful API for various email purposes in different industrial fields.

  • E-commerce websites can send order confirmation and payment confirmation emails to customers.
  • Video streaming services can create email to automatically send email notifications to subscribers about new shows or movies.
  • SaaS companies can use it to send email newsletters to their customers automatically.
  • Financial companies can send transaction details and invoices to their customers automatically.

In conclusion, email API is a technology in email that allows you to send emails automatically. Companies or organizations that require a high sending frequency of email love to use this.Don't hesitate to visit our blog for other interesting information. You can also register here to try our Email API Sandbox! We can help you if you feel like integrating this API to your business.

(V.A)