메일링크

Maillink (메일링크) is a web-based bulk messaging service that sends email, text messages, fax and KakaoTalk business messages from one account. Its homepage sums it up as "이메일, 문자, FAX, 카카오 비즈메시지를 한 번에" (email, text, fax and Kakao business messages in one go) and calls it an integrated channel marketing service. The company page says Maillink is the web-based ASP service division of Netpathy (주식회사 넷퍼씨), a marketing solutions company founded on 29 July 2000 and based in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Netpathy launched Maillink in December 2006 as a service for small and mid-size businesses, and the company page says it has since won "국내ㆍ외 2만 여 고객의 선택" (the choice of some twenty thousand customers at home and abroad), with more than 15 years of safe and stable service behind it.

The site is written in Korean, and the whole offer, from the channels to billing in won and phone support, is built for Korean-speaking businesses.

What a sender gets

Bulk email. The email service is pitched as "최저 0.27원으로 시작하는 온라인 마케팅" (online marketing starting from as little as 0.27 won). Read receipts, unsubscribe handling, image hosting, scheduled sending and targeted sending are standard. Emails can carry attachments of up to 100Mbytes, and a chatbot helps write the content. On the reporting side, the site lists analysis of the recipient's access environment and follow-up sends based on whether a recipient opened or clicked the first mail. A notice on the homepage announces newly added AI tools for subject line suggestions and typo checking.

Bulk text messages. Maillink calls text messaging "가장 강력하고 확실한 마케팅 채널" (the most powerful and reliable marketing channel). It says it uses a high-quality telecom network for safe and stable delivery, provides a free 080 unsubscribe number, and supports quick registration of sender numbers. Short SMS, long LMS and multimedia MMS messages are priced separately.

Web fax. Fax goes out from the web with no fax machine: "파일만 있으면 메일 보내듯 쉽고 빠르게 팩스 보낼 수 있습니다" (if you have a file, you can send a fax as quickly and easily as an email). Each fax can carry up to 3 files of 30MB each, in formats including JPG and PDF.

KakaoTalk business messages. Important notifications such as sign-up confirmations, payment completions and delivery information are sent through KakaoTalk in real time, around the clock. If the recipient does not use KakaoTalk, Maillink sends the message as a text instead. The site says registering the sender profile that Kakao requires is easier with Maillink.

Automated messaging. The automation service (자동메시징) sends repeated, real-time messages such as sign-up greetings and order confirmations by email, text or KakaoTalk automatically. Setup is done through an API: the automation page says a customer inserts JavaScript into a web page or installs a module on its own server, and that is it. Messages can come from a template saved on the Maillink site or from the HTML of a given URL. Each message can be personalized per recipient, and the page's example is "OOO 고객님의 잔여 포인트는 OOO점 입니다" (Customer OOO, your remaining points are OOO). Sends can be scheduled for a chosen date and time. A monitoring alarm service texts the person in charge when an exception occurs in the module installed at the client. Reports give detailed results by day and by recipient, with Excel download, and a user can search for specific recipients and resend to them.

Managed sending. For customers with no time, no HTML skills or no wish to do it themselves, the 발송대행 (sending on your behalf) service has email marketing specialists handle everything from registering the address book and building the template to sending.

Private servers. The 프라이빗 (private) option builds a dedicated sending server used by one customer only, with its own domain and IP, which the site says minimizes sending delays, traffic problems and spam classification issues, keeping the advantages of an on-premises setup.

Prices and plans

Maillink publishes per-message prices. The automation page gives the basic rate per successful send as 0.9 won for email, 18 won for SMS, 50 won for LMS, 182 won for MMS and 7.3 won for a KakaoTalk notification (알림톡), all excluding VAT. Rates are tiered by volume, and customers can pay afterwards for what they used. The homepage advertises lowest unit prices of 0.27 won per email, 10.8 won per SMS, 29.9 won per LMS and 80 won per MMS, also excluding VAT.

The pricing section is split into five models:

• Cash (캐시), the basic plan, where "발송에 성공한 것만 결제" (you pay only for successful sends).
• Coupons (쿠폰), which make sending up to 70% cheaper.
• Fixed or postpaid (정액/후불제) plans for companies with high monthly volume.
• Managed sending, priced as a service.
• Private, for the dedicated server setup.

New members get 100 free emails and 10 free text messages, an extra 20% credit on their first payment, 12 special discount coupons worth up to 70% off, and "1회 무료 발송 최대 100만통까지" (one free send of up to a million messages). The homepage also says many customers join on a friend's recommendation and that the rejoin rate is high.

Support and account rules

Support runs through a phone line on weekdays from 9 am to 6 pm, excluding the lunch hour from noon to 1 pm and public holidays, a 1:1 online inquiry form, an FAQ covering service use, payment, address books, sending and results, a user guide, a blog and a notice board. The company page lists separate lines for service questions, pricing questions and partnerships, and an email address for help.

Maillink publishes a spam mail policy alongside its privacy policy and terms. The site also offers an abnormal use report: if unusual activity is found or suspected in an account, the customer can have the service stopped at once. Campaigns in progress stop, scheduled campaigns are canceled, and mileage use and address book downloads are blocked, and lifting the block is only possible by phone.

Netpathy's other business, according to the company page, includes NETPION, its email marketing solution and channel integration system for email, text, KakaoTalk notifications and push, whose technology it says was recognized by "2백 여 국내 대표기업" (some two hundred leading domestic companies). It also resells text and KakaoTalk messaging through partners.

Who it suits

Maillink suits Korean-speaking businesses that need more than email: an online shop sending order and delivery notices by KakaoTalk with a text fallback, a membership service sending point balances automatically, or a company that still faxes documents to partners. The pay-per-successful-send model, free starter credits and coupons make it easy for a small business to start without a subscription, while fixed plans, managed sending and dedicated servers cover larger senders. Developers can connect the automation service with a JavaScript snippet or a server module.

The caveat is language. The site, the support and the channels, above all KakaoTalk, are built for a Korean-speaking audience. For that audience, one account for email, text, fax and KakaoTalk is the main draw.