Action Mailer is a popular Ruby on Rails library. It is used for sending emails from web applications.
One global study showed that 83% of people prefer email communication from companies. It is also one of the most affordable channels, with a proven return on investment of $42 for every dollar invested.
Whether it's for a welcome message, a newsletter, or a password reset link, the ability to send emails is important until it delivers to your subscriber's inboxes. That's where ActionMailer and SendGrid integrate.
In a nutshell, Action Mailer is a built-in library in Ruby on Rails that allows developers to send emails from their web applications. SendGrid is a popular email delivery service that provides tools to ensure your emails are delivered efficiently.
So, you need the right email provider to handle your email deliverability.
Benefits of SendGrid
Using SendGrid for email delivery can improve email deliverability. It works by preventing emails from being marked as spam or blocked by email providers.
SendGrid provides advanced email delivery features such as email authentication, domain validation, and ISP monitoring to ensure your emails are delivered to your users' inboxes.
Some of the other features that make SendGrid a good choice for email delivery include the following:
- Advanced email analytics
- Delivery optimization
- Spam filter testing
- IP address reputation
- Dedicated IP addresses
ActionMailer and SendGrid Integration
You’ll first need to create an account on the website to set up SendGrid. Once you’ve created your account, you need to generate an API key.
The API key needs to connect your web application with SendGrid. After you've generated your API key, you'll need to add it to your Rails application. It can be done by adding the SendGrid gem to your Gemfile and configuring the API key in your application.
For more detail, find more of the steps for setting up SendGrid in your application below:
1. Create a SendGrid Account
To use SendGrid, you must first create an account on their website. Sign up for a free account or choose one of their paid plans depending on your email volume. Once you've completed your account, you'll need to verify your email address to activate your account.
If you have set up your SendGrid account, it's time to integrate it with Action Mailer to send emails from your Ruby on Rails application.
2. Set up SendGrid in Your Ruby on Rails Application
To set up SendGrid in your Ruby on Rails application, you'll need to add the SendGrid gem to your Gemfile:
Then, run ‘bundle install’ to install the gem. Then, create a file called ‘sendgrid.rb’ in your ‘config/initializers’ directory and add the following code:
This code sets the SendGrid API key, which you must obtain from your SendGrid account.
3. Configure Action Mailer to Use SendGrid
After that, you need to configure the Action Mailer to use SendGrid to send emails. Open your config/environments/production.rb file and add the following code:
This code configures Action Mailer to send emails to SendGrid's SMTP server. You'll need to replace ‘yourdomain.com’ with your domain name.
4 Test Your Email Configuration
Testing the integration is an important step to ensure that emails are being sent. You can do this by sending a test email from your application and verifying that it was delivered successfully.
To test your email configuration, create a new mailer in your application and send a test email. Here's an example mailer:
You can then call the ‘welcome_email’ method and deliver the email to your controller:
This is for sending a welcome email to your user's email address. Enjoy your integration anyway!
Tips to Improve Email Deliverability
Email deliverability is an essential aspect of email marketing. When you send an email, you want to make sure that it reaches the subscriber's inbox. Here are tips for email deliverability, so it doesn't end up in the spam folder.
- Use an email provider: Email service providers (ESP) have the features to ensure that the users follow best practices and comply with the anti-spam policy. ESP also has good relations with major Internet service providers (ISP), which can help your emails get delivered.
- Email authentication: By authenticating your emails, you're letting ISPs know that you're a trusted sender. The two most common authentication methods are Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM).
- Clean email list: You should regularly remove invalid email addresses, spam traps, and inactive subscribers from your list. This will help your emails only be delivered to people who are interested in receiving them.
- Use an exact name and address: Avoid generic email addresses like "no-reply@yourcompany.com" as they look spammy. Your name and email address should be clear and consistent across all your emails. It helps your users know your brand and build trust.
- Create engaging email content: Avoid using words like "free," "buy now," or "act fast." Instead, focus on creating subject lines and content that are clear, concise, and informative. Using certain words in your subject line or email content can trigger spam filters and cause your email to be flagged as spam.
Wrapping Up
Integrating Action Mailer and SendGrid can significantly improve email deliverability for your web application. You can ensure your emails are delivered successfully by taking advantage of SendGrid's advanced email delivery features and Action Mailer.
We hope that this guide helps you have a better understanding of how to set up and integrate ActionMailer and SendGrid to send emails from your web application.
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