Essence of Email Weekly - Cut costs by focusing your resources on email marketing

Customer behavior is changing. As businesses across the globe struggle to maintain their sales, many of them have no other choice but to pause their marketing efforts. Still, there are certain things that can be done in order to move forward.

When it comes to digital marketing, flexibility is the key to success. Good marketers know that adapting to the changing landscape and adjusting their efforts based on results is crucial to surviving these uncertain times.

Right now, that is more important than ever.

If you, as a business owner or marketer, are thinking of pausing your marketing efforts, think about where you can relocate them instead.

ROI in email marketing has always been significantly higher than in other forms of marketing. When companies get laser-focused on their best-performing channels, email typically emerges as the clear winner.

If you have been investing in PPC or social media advertising, a free or significantly cheaper marketing option is a better way to go.

Take a look at the tips for agencies provided by two specialists; however, these can be useful to anyone handling digital marketing these days.



This article by Search Engine Journal takes you through additional things you can do when a client pauses or relocates their resources.



EMAIL DELIVERABILITY


Improve Email Deliverability During the COVID-19 Crisis



Now more than ever, brands need to improve their email deliverability and make sure that their emails actually reach subscribers' inboxes.

Messages sent to US subscribers reach the inbox 82% of the time on average, and the number can be even lower for specific industries. This means that during the time of crisis, 1 in 6 of your subscribers may not be getting your email about shorter working hours, free deliveries, or discounted products.

In addition to that, a large number of COVID-19 emails is very likely to cause a drop in the email engagement rate. This leads to a jump in unsubscribes or spam reports and increases the rate at which emails are placed in the junk folders of email clients like Outlook or Gmail.

To help you prevent that, we're sharing email deliverability best practices to improve your email deliverability during the COVID-19 crisis.

The top five tips may seem advanced and you'll need a domain administrator's help to implement them. The rest of them should be handled by your email campaign manager on a regular basis.

1. Implement white-labeling of your domain
2. Divide sending domains by using subdomains
3. Set up a proper SPF record which will help protect the account from spoofing attacks
4. Set up a DMARC record
5. Set up a BIMI record
6. Clean your list
7. Seek permission when capturing emails
8. Segment your list
9. Avoid spam filters

Learn how to get your emails delivered from the full guide on our blog.



RESEARCH


As coronavirus halts in-person interaction, real estate turns to email marketing



According to an ActivePipe customer survey which polled 560 real estate respondents including agents, brokers, and marketing staff, when asked if their businesses could grow at this time, 58% said it "depends on how it all plays out," while 26% said it is "very likely" because they are "growing relationships that will turn into a business." A part of the respondents, 15%, answered that it is "unlikely" because they are "struggling to stay afloat."

The survey results show that amid the pandemic, agents and brokers have leveraged technology, with email marketing as the most utilized, at 92%. Meanwhile, 86% are leveraging property websites, 74% are using online advertising, 65% are continuing to generate lists of prospects and 60% are trying direct-mail marketing. Notably, 50% of respondents said they were "looking for innovative solutions."

Additionally, when asked "How has COVID-19 affected your personal outreach?", they answered:

• "I'm making my interactions more personal because I have more time." (43%)
• "I'm using more online and virtual channels to interact with people." (38%)
• "I'm making less calls and emails because people aren't interested right now." (17%)

Take a look at the full article for more insights from the survey.



CYBER SECURITY


Beware of coronavirus emails in your inbox



While remote working provides much needed protection against COVID-19, it also opens Pandora's box of cybersecurity and privacy threats. Among the growing threats are phishing scams and social engineering attacks that trick their victims into downloading malware or revealing sensitive information.

TechTalks provided a few tips on staying safe as you adjust to your new work environment and culture. Here are some of them:

#1 Beware of coronavirus-related phishing attacks

Any email that claims to provide COVID-19-related information should be eyed with suspicion. Subject lines related to news about a coronavirus cure, or a downloadable guide to avoiding contracting the virus are perfect guises for phishing attacks. Be very careful when it comes to such emails, especially if they contain attachments or external links.

Don't forget: your main source of information about COVID-19 should be the official bodies, such as the World Health Organization or your national health authority such as the CDC or the NHS.

Security tip: A public information website will never ask for your email password. At most, they might ask for your email address to send you newsletters. In these trying times, the general advice is to get your information directly from the WHO coronavirus page instead of clicking on email links.

#2 Phishing attacks targeted at remote workers

Campaigns specially targeted at remote workers and students have become a new phishing trend during the coronavirus lockdown.

There have been several cases where students have received emails that seemingly came from university officials and claimed to provide updates about the coronavirus lockdown. The emails prompted users to click on links that directed them to websites requiring their university login information.

Other phishing scams prey on employees who are just getting started in remote work. One campaign, discovered by a security vendor, was made to look like it came from the human resources department of a company and prompted the recipient to click on a link and enter their credentials to enroll for a remote work program. The email also included a deadline to create urgency.

Other emails claim to come from IT staff and prompt users to install software or provide their work application credentials.

Security tip: Be wary of any work-related email you receive, especially if it seems to come from a very general source such as a department or someone you don't personally know. If it asks for information or asks you to click on a link, be even more suspicious. There are always ways to verify such claims. For instance, you can call the department or person in question by phone or through your collaboration messaging tool (Teams, Slack, etc.).

Take a look at other tips and suggestions on how to stay safe in cyberspace.



EMAIL NEWS. AS IT HAPPENS.