Do you want to send a group email using Outlook? Microsoft has three simple methods for this. In this guide, I will tell you how to send an email to many people from your Outlook account at the same time.
Emailing many contacts together is a useful feature. Group emails can help you to:
- Show your services to new people.
- Keep friends or colleagues informed.
- Share important news with customers.
It is not fun to type each email address one by one. It can take a lot of time.
Luckily, Microsoft has three easy ways to make group emails in Outlook:
- Group Contacts,
- Contact Lists,
- Mail Merge.
How does each option work? Which one is better for you? Is Outlook good for sending many personalized emails?
As compared to regular accounts, Outlook business has to offer more options. In this guide, I will explain everything about group emails. I will also talk about how to create and send them.
Are you ready? Let us begin.
Setting Up a Contact Group in Outlook
Contact groups help you to make communication easier. You can share conversations, files, and calendars with everyone in the group.
You can also use this feature to send emails to many people in Outlook at once. Here is how it works.
When you create a contact group, Outlook gives a special email address to that group.
If you send an email to that address, it goes to every person in the group.
Contact groups are great if you email the same people often.
For example, you might create a contact group for:
- Your project team.
- Your family.
- Your work department.
Do you want to make a contact group in Outlook and send emails to its members? Here is how to do it:
Step 1: Start by logging into your Outlook account.
Step 2: Choose “People” from the menu on the left side.
Step 3: You click the arrow next to “New contact.” You choose “New group” from the dropdown options.
Step 4: You give your contact group a name. You can add a brief description if you want. You click “Create.”
Step 5: You start adding members. You enter their email addresses. You hit Enter after each one. When you finish, you click “Add.”
Step 6: Your group is ready. You copy its email address. It is in the “About” tab.
Step 7: You go back to the “Mail” section. You click “New mail.”
Step 8: You compose your message. You enter a subject line. You paste the group’s email address in the recipient field.
Step 9: You are satisfied with your email. You hit “Send.”
Now, your message reaches all members of the contact group fast. Good job!
How to Send Emails Using a Contact List in Outlook
You can email many people in Outlook using a contact list.
Contact lists are also called distribution lists. They help you organize your contacts. They make emailing easier.
Instead of entering each email address, you just type the name of the contact list in the “To” field.
Outlook also lets you update your list. You can add or remove contacts anytime.
Using a contact list is one of the easiest ways to send group emails in Outlook. You can follow these steps:
Step 1: Open your Outlook account.
Step 2: You go to the “People” section. Then, you go to “All Contacts” to see your stored contacts.
Step 3: You choose the contact you want to add to the list. You click “Add to List.” You pick an existing list, or you create a new one.
If you create a new list, you click “New Contact List.” You name it. You press Enter.
Step 4: To send a group email, you start a new message. You type the name of the contact list in the “To” section.
You click the “+” icon to see all email addresses in the list. You can add recipients or remove recipients as you need.
Step 5: Once you are ready, you hit “Send.”
There you have it! You now successfully create a group email in Outlook using the contact list feature. It is easy, right?
However, be aware that contact lists and groups do not allow personalized emails. This means all recipients get the same message.
For sending customized group emails, the mail merge feature in Outlook is the best choice.
Step-by-Step Guide to Using Mail Merge in Outlook
The mail merge feature is a useful tool for sending many emails in Outlook. Here is a simple guide to help you start.
Step 1: Open a new document in Word.
Step 2: Draft the first version of your email content.
Step 3: Go to the “Mailings” tab. Click “Start Mail Merge.” From the dropdown menu, choose “Email Messages.”
Step 4: Choose your recipients by clicking “Select Recipients.” You have three options:
- Create a New List: Enter the details of each recipient manually.
- Use an Existing List: Import contacts from a spreadsheet or database.
- Select from Outlook Contacts: Pick recipients from your Outlook contact list.
In this example, we import an existing list that has 4 recipients. This list has columns for email, first name, last name, and company.
Step 5: Now that your recipients are added, you personalize the email. Click on “Insert Merge Field” to put fields like the recipient’s name or company in your email.
These fields will update for each recipient. For example, instead of the word “Company,” the real company name for each recipient will show.
Step 6: After you insert the merge fields, you click “Preview Results.” You see what the email will look like for each recipient.
If everything looks good, you click “Finish & Merge.” Then, you choose “Merge to Email.” You enter your subject line and press “OK.”
You are all set! You successfully use mail merge to send a bulk email from your Outlook account. However, before you dive into this feature, you must keep a few important details in mind.
Why Outlook Is Not the Best Choice for Group Emails
Outlook is a strong platform, but it is not the best option for sending large emails. Using it for group email campaigns causes frustration and wasted effort.
Here is why:
1. Outlook, like most email services, has several sending limits. You should remember these three:
- A daily recipient limit is 5,000 contacts.
- A cap is 1,000 new contacts per day.
- The limit is 500 recipients per email.
Want to know about the Outlook attachment size limit? Check out our guide to know even the minute details.
2. Outlook does not give good analytics for email campaigns. This means you miss crucial data like open rates and click rates. Without this knowledge, it is hard to improve future campaigns or measure their success.
3. You cannot manage unsubscribe requests in Outlook. This is a needed feature for GDPR rules when you send marketing emails.
4. Sending many emails from Outlook increases the risk of spam filters flagging you. This can harm your sender’s reputation, which leads to a lower success rate for your email outreach.
Still need help! Get in touch with the Outlook customer service team to discuss in detail how to create a group.
Conclusion
Outlook is a strong email platform. Many people use Outlook. However, Outlook is not good for big email campaigns. Outlook has limits in sending capacity. It does not have detailed analytics. It does not manage unsubscribes well. There is a bigger risk of spam detection with Outlook. This makes Outlook not ideal for large communication. Businesses should look for better choices. They should explore email marketing platforms. These platforms have tools and features that help with campaigns. They can help to ensure better results, too.