Mailchimp vs. HubSpot for Sending Hiring Documents

[Thomas_Oreskov]

Hi smart people,

One of the bosses is asking whether we need Mailchimp. When hiring new employees, we plan to send out forms created in HubSpot via email. These emails will also include seven documents requiring signatures, office rules, and other relevant materials.

The boss is concerned that sending multiple emails with attachments might cause Outlook to flag us as spammers. To clarify, we’re not talking about sending hundreds or thousands of emails—more like 30 to 50.

She has asked me to look into Mailchimp, but I believe we can send these emails directly from HubSpot without them being marked as spam. Am I correct in assuming this?

Thanks!

[Gilempert · Accepted solution]

Hi @Thomas_Oreskov!

You're likely correct.  For sending onboarding emails to a relatively small number of new hires (30-50), HubSpot should be perfectly adequate and you probably don't need Mailchimp. 

HubSpot is designed to send transactional and marketing emails.  Onboarding emails fall under the transactional category (important, individualized communications), and HubSpot is well-equipped to handle them.  It has built-in features to manage email delivery and avoid spam filters. Check it out here: https://knowledge.hubspot.com/marketing-email/how-to-use-transactional-email-in-hubspot

If you do choose to send using marketing emails, the spam concerns are real, but this is also more of a concern with mass marketing emails sent to unengaged or purchased lists.  For a small, targeted list of new hires who are expecting these documents, the risk is much lower.

Key Factors to Minimize Spam Risk with HubSpot (and any email platform):

• Consent: Make sure you have previous consent of the contacts on the platform under a specific subscription type.
• Authentication: Ensure your HubSpot account is properly authenticated with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records. This proves you are a legitimate sender. HubSpot usually handles this for you, but double-check your settings.
• Personalization: Personalize each email as much as possible. Use the new hire's name and other relevant details. Generic, mass-sent emails are more likely to be flagged.
• Clear Subject Lines: Use clear and concise subject lines that accurately reflect the email's content (e.g., "Welcome to the Team! Onboarding Documents"). Avoid spammy words or phrases.
• Reasonable Attachment Sizes: Keep your attachments to a reasonable size. Very large files can sometimes trigger spam filters. If possible, consider hosting the documents online (e.g., on your company intranet or a secure file sharing service) and providing links in the email.
• Unsubscribe/Opt-Out (Even for Onboarding): While they're not likely to unsubscribe from their onboarding emails, including an unsubscribe or opt-out option (even if it's just a note saying "If you have any questions or need these documents in a different format, please reply to this email") can improve your sender reputation.
• Testing: Before sending the actual onboarding emails, send test emails to a few internal addresses to check how they are received and if they trigger any spam filters.

I hope this helps!

[Lucila-Andimol · Accepted solution]

Hi @Thomas_Oreskov 

have you consider any Document Signing app

like PandaDoc, Docusign or Oneflow

any of these are great options that integrate seamlessly with HubSpot

and that will help you handle documents in a secure way

and without afecting any deliverability for your domain.

hope this information help

[Thomas_Oreskov]

Hi @Lucila-Andimol 

Thank you for your suggestion. The individuals we are hiring are cleaning staff, and they are not tech-savvy at all. I had the same thought myself. 😉

[Gilempert · Accepted solution]

Hi @Thomas_Oreskov!

You're likely correct.  For sending onboarding emails to a relatively small number of new hires (30-50), HubSpot should be perfectly adequate and you probably don't need Mailchimp. 

HubSpot is designed to send transactional and marketing emails.  Onboarding emails fall under the transactional category (important, individualized communications), and HubSpot is well-equipped to handle them.  It has built-in features to manage email delivery and avoid spam filters. Check it out here: https://knowledge.hubspot.com/marketing-email/how-to-use-transactional-email-in-hubspot

If you do choose to send using marketing emails, the spam concerns are real, but this is also more of a concern with mass marketing emails sent to unengaged or purchased lists.  For a small, targeted list of new hires who are expecting these documents, the risk is much lower.

Key Factors to Minimize Spam Risk with HubSpot (and any email platform):

• Consent: Make sure you have previous consent of the contacts on the platform under a specific subscription type.
• Authentication: Ensure your HubSpot account is properly authenticated with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records. This proves you are a legitimate sender. HubSpot usually handles this for you, but double-check your settings.
• Personalization: Personalize each email as much as possible. Use the new hire's name and other relevant details. Generic, mass-sent emails are more likely to be flagged.
• Clear Subject Lines: Use clear and concise subject lines that accurately reflect the email's content (e.g., "Welcome to the Team! Onboarding Documents"). Avoid spammy words or phrases.
• Reasonable Attachment Sizes: Keep your attachments to a reasonable size. Very large files can sometimes trigger spam filters. If possible, consider hosting the documents online (e.g., on your company intranet or a secure file sharing service) and providing links in the email.
• Unsubscribe/Opt-Out (Even for Onboarding): While they're not likely to unsubscribe from their onboarding emails, including an unsubscribe or opt-out option (even if it's just a note saying "If you have any questions or need these documents in a different format, please reply to this email") can improve your sender reputation.
• Testing: Before sending the actual onboarding emails, send test emails to a few internal addresses to check how they are received and if they trigger any spam filters.

I hope this helps!

[Thomas_Oreskov]

Hi @Gilempert 

Thank you very much for your response. I have upvoted it and marked it as the solution.

Form replies can only be sent to marketing contacts, so I have no alternative options in that regard.
However, I will incorporate the rest of your suggestions.


Best regards,
Thomas

[Thomas_Oreskov]

BTW: We are not sending bulk message out. We are sending out individual mails out.

 @DianaGomez TY for inviting more to the conversation. 

[DianaGomez]

Hi @Thomas_Oreskov,

Thanks for reaching out to the Community!

I’d like to invite some of our experts to join the conversation and get their input on this question.

Hi @OPerek-Clark, @Ben_M, @Gilempert, @Lucila-Andimol 🙂

Feel free to jump in with any suggestions or ideas you might have—everyone’s take on this would be really helpful!

Thanks!

Diana