KLCubeMail: Building Malaysia’s Own Smart Email Marketing Platform

When you work with clients across different industries — from clinics and tech startups to e-commerce brands — one thing becomes clear very fast: email marketing still works.

But managing campaigns, verifying domains, tracking opens, and keeping deliverability high can be a pain. That’s exactly why I started developing KLCubeMail, my own internal email marketing dashboard built on Laravel, React, and Amazon SES.

Today, I want to share the journey behind building this platform — how it works, what makes it different, and how it ties into my broader work as a freelance web developer in Malaysia.

From Freelance Campaign Chaos to One Central Dashboard

Running multiple email campaigns for clients under my agency, KLCube Network, used to be messy. Each project had its own tools, Excel sheets, and third-party dashboards. Nothing was connected, and every new domain meant another setup headache.

That’s why I built KLCubeMail v1.0 — an internal system to manage all client campaigns under one roof, fully powered by Amazon SES.

This version isn’t a SaaS for the public (yet). It’s a private agency-grade dashboard, capable of sending up to 50,000 emails per month through one SES account. Every domain, client, and campaign can be tracked seamlessly — verified, logged, and analyzed.

Designed to Look and Feel Like a Modern SaaS

Even though this project is internal, I didn’t cut corners on design.
The dashboard UI was built using ShadCN components with React + Inertia.js on the frontend and Laravel 11 on the backend.

Every page follows a clean, modern layout — similar to what you’d expect from enterprise marketing tools like Mailchimp or ConvertKit, but optimized for internal agency work.

You’ll see this in the screenshots below (taken from the actual app):

1. Overview Dashboard – Shows total emails sent, open rate, click rate, and bounce rate over the last 7 days.
2. Campaigns Page – Lists all campaigns with recipient counts, open/click rates, and sending statuses.
3. Domains Page – Manages verified domains and DKIM configuration through SES.

Built With the Right Stack for Scalability

KLCubeMail is powered by a tech stack that I’ve refined over years of building Laravel-based systems:

If you’re a Laravel developer yourself, you’ll appreciate that this setup is clean, modular, and built to scale — not a “quick WordPress plugin,” but a real web application engineered for reliability and performance.

Domain Management That Feels Effortless

Email deliverability starts with domain verification, and KLCubeMail makes that process painless.
Using the AWS SDK v3 and SES APIs, the system automatically handles:

• Adding and verifying domains
• Generating DKIM & TXT DNS records
• Monitoring status updates
• Handling bounce/complaint notifications

Each verified domain gets a visual indicator in the dashboard — green for verified, yellow for pending, gray for not configured. You can even see how many emails each domain has sent historically.

This solves a common headache for agencies managing multiple clients: no more jumping between AWS consoles or spreadsheets to check DNS statuses.

Campaign Management — Clean, Visual, and Data-Driven

The Campaigns section is where the app really shines. You can view every campaign — whether it’s a scheduled product launch, newsletter, or survey — with full visibility over:

• Recipients sent / total
• Open rate and click-through rate
• Status (Draft, Scheduled, Sending, Sent)
• Domain used
• Send date and trend performance

Every metric is live and visualized with Recharts for clear insights.
As someone who’s both a developer and a marketer, I designed it to feel analytical but simple — no data overload, just what matters.

For example:

“October Newsletter – 4,123 recipients – 46.6% open rate – 14.2% click rate – Sent via mail.example.com”

Everything’s there at a glance.

Real-Time Analytics with AWS SES Event Tracking

Behind the scenes, KLCubeMail processes thousands of SES events daily — delivery confirmations, bounces, complaints, opens, and clicks.
These events are captured through SNS webhooks and logged into the database for full traceability.

This means that when an email bounces, you don’t just get a vague error — you know which recipient, why it bounced, and whether it was a hard or soft bounce.

Each event runs through a background Laravel queue, processed asynchronously for performance.
All this ensures you can monitor your campaigns’ real-world performance accurately.

A Developer’s Playground — and a Serious Tool

As a developer, one of my biggest joys in building KLCubeMail has been experimenting with AI-assisted coding pipelines using Claude Code, Cursor, and Codex.

I treat this app not only as a product but also as a living documentation of full-stack Laravel development best practices. Every phase, from SES integration to event logging and frontend architecture, was planned in advance using my internal VibeMail Development Playbook.

That means KLCubeMail isn’t a weekend project — it’s a long-term, evolving system that demonstrates how a Malaysian freelance developer can build enterprise-grade tools with structure and discipline.

Why I Built This Myself (and Why You Can Too)

Many developers in Malaysia rely heavily on ready-made SaaS tools like Mailchimp or Brevo. But as I learned from years of managing web development projects and digital marketing for local brands, sometimes you need more control, more transparency, and lower recurring costs.

That’s why I advocate building in-house tools when possible.

By using Amazon SES, you can send emails at a fraction of the cost of typical SaaS — often less than USD 1 for 10,000 messages.
When paired with a Laravel-powered backend, you have a system that’s:

• Cost-efficient
• Secure (data stays within your environment)
• Customizable for any workflow
• Scalable for future automation and analytics

KLCubeMail is proof of that approach.

Key Features in This Version (v1.0)

Here’s a quick rundown of what’s live right now:

✅ Dashboard Overview – Real-time KPI metrics and performance trends
✅ Domain Verification System – Automated SES identity & DKIM management
✅ Campaigns Management – Draft, schedule, send, and analyze email campaigns
✅ Recharts Visualization – Interactive performance graphs
✅ Mock Data Layer – Ready for backend API integration in the next phase
✅ Responsive UI – Works smoothly across mobile, tablet, and desktop
✅ Role-Ready Architecture – Prepared for future multi-tenant access via Spatie Permission

And what’s coming soon:

🚀 Phase 3.2: API-connected data from SES logs
📊 Phase 4: Authentication & role-based permissions
📬 Phase 5: Deliverability enhancements (warm-up, suppression lists)
🧠 Phase 6: AI-driven subject lines and smart segmentation

Each new phase moves the platform closer to a full-fledged email intelligence dashboard.

How This Ties Into My Freelance Work

If you’re new to my work — hi, I’m Zahid Aramai, a Malaysian web developer with over 12 years of technical experience, currently working in energy sector engineering and digital systems, and freelancing under KLCube Network Enterprise.

My projects span from WordPress e-commerce and custom Laravel apps to API integrations, AWS cloud automation, and analytics dashboards.
Building KLCubeMail is an extension of that — a demonstration of what’s possible when deep backend knowledge meets frontend craftsmanship.

When clients come to me for custom platforms — whether it’s a CRM, internal dashboard, or marketing automation — they’re not just getting code; they’re getting architecture, scalability, and real-world reliability tested on my own systems.

SEO Optimization & Local Relevance

For those searching Google for “Laravel developer Malaysia”, “AWS SES email integration Malaysia”, or “custom email marketing dashboard Malaysia” — this post is for you.

My goal isn’t to compete with massive SaaS players, but to show how Malaysian developers and agencies can build in-house marketing systems that rival international tools — without the huge costs.

If you’re running a digital agency, marketing team, or SME, I can help you:

• Build custom dashboards like KLCubeMail
• Integrate AWS SES, Google Analytics, or CRM data
• Automate reports or client campaign visibility
• Create shareable analytics portals for your clients

Every project I take on carries the same discipline I’ve used in KLCubeMail’s phased roadmap: planned, tracked, and continuously improved.

Why This Matters for Malaysia’s Tech Ecosystem

Malaysia’s digital scene is growing fast, but many local businesses still depend heavily on external SaaS platforms.
By building tools like KLCubeMail, we’re showing that local developers can create enterprise-grade systems — right here, with open-source frameworks, cloud infrastructure, and the right mindset.

It’s not just about sending emails; it’s about data ownership, privacy, and technical literacy.

When agencies manage their own systems, they:

• Retain client data securely in Malaysia
• Reduce costs dramatically
• Improve customization and brand consistency
• Create opportunities for technical upskilling within their teams

That’s the bigger picture behind KLCubeMail.

Final Thoughts (and an Invitation)

You can reach me via my website zahidaramai.com or follow my updates on LinkedIn — where I often share development logs, AWS tips, and Laravel tricks.

And if you’re a fellow developer, consider this project an open inspiration:
Build tools that solve your own problems. Make them beautiful. Document them.

That’s how KLCubeMail started.