Inbox Pandemic: Email Marketing During COVID-19
May 21, 2020

The onset of COVID-19 has forced many businesses to stop or tweak their go-to email marketing strategies. They needed to make sure that their content is appropriate, evaluate the execution, and make sure segments are still valid in the new disrupted market.

We can safely say that we have all received a flood of automated emails in the past few weeks. Fast Company explains that the unprecedented upset COVID-19 had on commerce created “a tidal wave of automated emails from every single company you’ve ever bought anything from in the history of your life”.

So how should you adapt your strategy to succeed?

Email marketing can be your best bet right now. A huge portion of people are subject to shelter-in-place guidelines, which offers a level of isolation that we haven’t witnessed before and making room for inbound communication. However, it’s also a time when patience is limited and the tolerance for time-wasting or tone-deaf content can quickly alienate targets.

Stay away from COVID saturation:

Keep in mind that your audience has been immersed in COVID-19 news for the past month. Unless you have something extremely new or unheard of, such as a new support campaign taking place, it’s best to avoid the subject. Focus on getting your message across without being too overt about discussing the pandemic, or you could risk getting roasted on social media.

Don’t drain their energy:

A lot of businesses are acting out in fear as they explore new unchartered territories. Sending out big bulks of emails could convey a fear of losing business. Instead, switch from quantity to more meaningful emails.

To minimize subscriber fatigue and prioritize relevance, consider the following:

  • Evaluate if sending a COVID-19 communication is a necessity that provides brand-relevant details to the subscriber.
  • Monitor subscriber response. If opens and clicks are on the decline, consider adjusting frequency or type of communications to drive engagement.
  • Adjust and/or introduce new segmentation to maximize engagement and keep sending reputation high.
  • Monitor and develop creative, relevant ways to differentiate your brand in the inbox that are audience appropriate.
  • Test, measure and adapt. This crisis is unprecedented, and the market is forced to evolve with it. While best practice guidance remains consistent, shifts in subscriber response may occur that will impact reputation and deliverability.
  • Also, check out our personalized newsletter services.

Each user’s experience is unique:

Demographics and psychological aspects differ drastically throughout your audience. Definitely, not everyone is having the same experience when it comes to COVID-19. Some might welcome a boredom-busting email, whereas others might be unemployed, stressed, worried etc.. Make sure that your content is sensitive to each target audience’s situation.

Focused, well-thought and relevant email marketing is crucial now more than ever. Take some time to audit your campaigns, and make sure that your auto-emails are appropriate as well.

Klangoo NLP
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