How to Avoid Falling for Phishing Emails: 6 Tips From Our Cybersecurity Pro

Email is the number one channel scammers use to trick consumers, and it gets phishier during the holidays. If you’re shopping online, here’s how to stay safe – and the first thing to do if you click a phishing link. 

As the holidays draw near, the hustle and excitement aren’t the only things ramping up. Phishing scams peak between September and November, when inboxes overflow with shopping and travel confirmations, charity requests, and marketing emails. 

The consequences can be severe:

  • In 2023, Americans lost $10 billion to fraud, a 14% jump from the previous year, according to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). 
  • One in four people reported losing money to scams, with a median loss of $500 per person. 
  • Shopping fraud and impostor schemes were the most common frauds, and many were carried out through phishing emails. 
  • Email remains the primary contact channel for cyberattacks. 
  • 40% of consumers check email looking for brand discounts, which makes them more susceptible to phishing during the holidays. 

But don’t panic. According to Vlad Cristescu, Head of Cybersecurity at ZeroBounce, there are steps you can take to protect yourself – even if you already clicked on a malicious link. With October being Cybersecurity Awareness Month, it’s a good time to brush up on these precautions and stay alert. 

The holiday season is scammer season

“The holidays are prime time for scammers to strike,” Cristescu explains. “People are shopping like crazy, donating to causes, and spending more time online than usual. Scammers know we’re feeling generous and maybe a little rushed, so they take advantage of that.”

The psychology behind it is simple: we’re distracted. “We’re all looking for last-minute deals, eager to get things done quickly, and that’s when we let our guard down. When you’re juggling a bunch of things, it’s easy to miss those little signs that something’s off.” And that’s exactly what scammers count on.

Top 3 phishing scams to watch out for

There are many types of scams that could land in your inbox, but according to Cristescu, three types stand out during the holidays:

1. Account log-in scams: “You’ll see emails that claim something’s wrong with your account and urge you to log in to fix it. These can be convincing, but they’re just fake pages set up to steal your username and password.”

2. Fake shipping notifications: “With everyone ordering gifts, scammers send emails that look like they’re from Amazon, FedEx, or other big companies. They know you’re waiting for packages, so they trick you into clicking to ‘track your order’ or ‘fix a delivery issue’ — but they’re really just after your passwords.”

3. Bogus eCommerce or “too good to be true” deals: “These phishing emails often impersonate major retailers or brands. They can lead you to fake websites where you’re prompted to put in sensitive information like credit card details or login credentials.”

Last year, more than 1.2 million scams targeted Amazon alone, according to a Bolster AI study. To safeguard your business domain from spoofing attacks, it’s essential to implement email authentication protocols like DMARC, SPF, and DKIM. These measures help prevent hackers from breaching your domain and sending malicious emails on your behalf.

How to spot a phishing email 

Phishing emails can be sophisticated, “especially with AI making them look pretty legit,” Cristescu says. But the cybersecurity expert emphasizes that there are still a few tell-tale signs.

“A big one is when the email starts with something generic like ‘Dear Customer’ instead of using your name. Another red flag is if the message is trying to induce panic by telling you that your account will be locked or that you need to act fast.”

Here are a few more red flags to watch out for, according to Vlad Cristescu:

  1. Weird sender email addresses: Even if the email looks like it’s from a company you know, check the email address closely. Extra letters or random numbers are usually a giveaway.
  2. Strange attachments: If there’s a random file attached, especially something like a .zip or .exe, be careful. Most companies don’t send attachments unless you’re expecting them.
  3. Suspicious links: Before you click any link, hover over it and see where it’s really taking you. If the URL looks sketchy or doesn’t match the website it claims to be from, don’t click.
  4. Bad grammar or awkward wording: Phishing emails often have little spelling mistakes or just sound a bit off. If it feels weird, it may be a phishing decoy.
  5. Asking for personal info: No legitimate company will ask for sensitive info over email. If they do, that’s a big red flag.
  6. Too-good-to-be-true deals: If the email offers something that sounds way too good, it’s probably a scam trying to get you to click.

Already clicked on an email scam? Here’s the first thing you should do

If you’ve already clicked on a malicious link, “don’t freak out,” Cristescu says. “It happens to a lot of people.” But here’s what you should do immediately:

  • Disconnect from the internet: “Disconnecting from Wi-Fi or turning off your data can help stop any malware from spreading further.”
  • Run a malware scan: “After you’re offline, run a full malware or virus scan on your device to check if anything harmful got installed. It’s better to catch it before it can do more damage.”
  • Change your passwords: “If possible, use a different device that you know is safe to change the passwords on any accounts that might be affected. This helps avoid further compromise if the original device is infected. And if you’ve reused the same password on other accounts, change those too.”
  • Contact your bank or credit card company: “If you gave out any payment info, let your bank or credit card provider know right away. They can monitor any suspicious activity or freeze your account if necessary.”
  • Report the scam: “You should report the phishing email to your email provider, and you can also file a report with authorities like the FTC and FBI.”
  • Keep an eye on your accounts: “For a little while, be extra watchful of your bank, email, and social media accounts. Scammers don’t always act immediately, so staying alert can help you catch any issues before they get worse.”

The three months leading up to December account for 20% of all phishing scams for the entire year, according to Bolster AI research. As you rush to check off your holiday to-do list, remember to pause and double-check the emails you receive. “Before you click on a link, take just a few extra seconds to ensure no scam is slipping through,” Vlad Cristescu advises.

About Vlad Cristescu

Vlad Cristescu is the Head of Cybersecurity at ZeroBounce. He has more than 14 years of experience in his field and is passionate about demystifying technology and security for companies and individuals. Previously, Cristescu  provided cybersecurity consultancy services at one of the UKs’ largest cybersecurity distributors.

About ZeroBounce

ZeroBounce is an email validation, deliverability, and email-finding company that helps businesses improve their email marketing performance. A multiple Inc. 5000 honoree, ZeroBounce is the go-to choice for more than 350,000 customers worldwide. 

Ensuring military-grade security, ZeroBounce serves companies of all sizes, from solo business owners to Amazon, Coca-Cola, Disney, Netflix, and Sephora. 

In 2022, ZeroBounce founded Email Day (April 23), now an international holiday honoring email inventor Ray Tomlinson.

For more information, visit https://www.zerobounce.net/

***

Emily’s Email Resource Library


PDF Presentations

Effective Email Marketing (PDF Presentation)

6 Email Hacks for Email That Convert (PDF Presentation)

49 Mailchimp Design Tips (free PDF download) (so many of our best-kept secrets in this!).


VIDEOS

Below you’ll find some of my favorite 2-minute Mailchimp video tips. Enjoy!

VIDEO: Our Best Button/CTA Design Secrets

VIDEO: Mailchimp’s email editor lets you resize images right in your Mailchimp account.

VIDEO: Mailchimp’s nice PDF reports (great for sending to clients)

VIDEO: View this email online.

VIDEO: A cool way to use Mailchimp’s “Image + Text” Block

Adding a Button In An Image + Text Block in Mailchimp

How To Code a Button Into an Image Text Block In Mailchimp

There are some things that the Classic Builder in Mailchimp cannot do and this is one of them. When you use the Drag N Drop Builder to pull in an “Image + Text” block, there is no option to have a clickable button within that same block.

Well, this little html code does the trick. What’s cool is that you can edit the HEX code in here to create the exact type of button you’d like.

First, when you’re in your text block, you will want to click this button <> and paste the code Into this.

Insert code button Mailchimp

 

You should plan to edit the coding some below to whatever you need for your button. Make sure you update the link in the coding below to your own link and you can also change the “Learn More” text too.

Simply copy and paste this coding below into your text block:

 

<table align=”center” border=”0″ cellpadding=”0″ cellspacing=”0″ class=”mcnButtonContentContainer” style=”border-collapse: separate !important; border-radius: 0px; background-color:#2A2A2A;”>

<tbody>

<tr>

<td align=”center” class=”mcnButtonContent” style=”font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; padding: 20px;” valign=”middle”><a class=”mcnButton ” href=”YOUR LINK WILL GO HERE” style=”font-weight: bold; letter-spacing:2px; line-height: 100%; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; color:white;” target=”_blank” title=”Learn More”>LEARN MORE</a></td>

</tr>

</tbody>

</table>

 

That’s it! Have fun coding in this button! 🙂

Learn More

10 Best Practices To Write The Perfect Email Subject Line

10 Best Practices To Write The Perfect Email Subject Line

What is your top tip for creating engaging subject lines for email content?


To help you create engaging subject lines for your email content, we asked marketing experts and business leaders this question for their best tips. From appealing to consumers’ desires not to miss out to highlighting a solution with the subject line, there are several ideas that you may adopt as best practices to help perfect your email subject lines.


Here are 10 best practices to write the perfect email subject line:

  • Appeal To Consumers’ Desires Not To Miss Out
  • Ensure The Subject Line is Under 50 Characters Long
  • Make The Subject Line Bold and Daring
  • Create Action-Oriented Subject Lines
  • Add Numbers To Grab the Attention
  • Use Emojis To Help Your Email Stand Out
  • Avoid Anything Spammy
  • Entice Readers With Actionable Subject Lines
  • A/B-Test and Iterate on Your Subject Lines for Mastery
  • Highlight a Solution With The Subject Line

Appeal To Consumers’ Desires Not To Miss Out

By appealing to consumers’ desires not to miss out, you can create engaging subject lines for your email content. Use words and phrases like “Limited time,” “going fast, “while supplies last,” and “limited quantities.” Put these words and phrases in your subject lines. You’ll boost your Click-Through Rates.

Janice Wald, Mostly Blogging

Ensure The Subject Line is Under 50 Characters Long

Because most consumers read emails on mobile devices, try to utilize shorter email subject lines. In mobile view, longer lines aren’t as effective. You won’t be able to pique your readers’ interest in your product or services if you can’t keep their attention for at least a few seconds after they read the subject line of your email. Ensure the subject line is under 50 characters long. Make sure you choose terminology that is easy to understand.

Axel Hernborg, Tripplo.com

Make The Subject Line Bold and Daring

Be bold and concise. Email subject lines need to grab the reader immediately while also being clear about the content you are delivering. Standing out is half the battle, but even a bold subject line needs to be relevant to your content. Boil down the essence of your email in a way that your target audience will understand and be drawn to. Don’t be afraid to stand out, and use the clearest words to inform them what they are opening.

Michael Ayjian, 7 Wonders

Create Action-Oriented Subject Lines

The most engaging email subject lines are action-oriented. Email is a quick and convenient way to receive information, but it doesn’t offer users many ways to engage with your content. Therefore, you should use a subject line that urges readers to click through and read your email, rather than offering a quick one-liner that gives them a basic overview of its content. Email is a more intimate form of communication than social media. Therefore, you should use a subject line that reflects your personal connection with readers, rather than a generic statement about the topic of your email.

Farhan Advani, BHPH

Add Numbers To Grab Attention

Saying ‘discounts on products’ and ‘discounts on 100+ products’ has a vast difference. While discount on products is just telling that you’re offering discounts, you’re not giving any data on how many products, how much discount, the offer is valid for how many days etc. On the contrary, saying discounts on 100+ products seem more attractive because the recipient knows they have 100 products to choose from.

Adding numbers is a must if you want to increase the open rate. It makes the subject line much more informative and gives data, and customers love that. But make sure you’re not overdoing it. Adding one number whether it be days, discount percentage, a number of services etc. is great. Adding two to three looks too cluttered which can also make the audience overwhelmed.

Isaac Robertson, Total Shape

Use Emojis To Help Your Email Stand Out

Using emojis in your email subject lines can be effective in grabbing the attention of your recipient and increasing your email open rates in an age of overfull inboxes. Emojis can also imply friendliness or playfulness which can help to improve audience engagement.
Plus, one emoji is worth a thousand words. Well, maybe not quite a thousand but they can help convey a theme or emotion when subject line space is at a premium.
But, be careful, as overuse of emojis can seem spammy or childish. Try to stick to a maximum of 1 emoji where possible.

Josh Smith, Roll To

Avoid Anything Spammy

Get rid of anything spammy. People have developed an amazing radar for sales copy, and they know now better than ever when you are trying to sell them something.
Common phrases and words like “special offer” won’t work anymore. There are many online lists of words that are now considered spam. Before writing any part of your email, make sure you are not using any of the words listed there.

Soji James, 1AND1 Life

Entice Readers With Actionable Subject Lines

Actionable subject lines create the desire to click open. Without this the email is a failure. With so many a day coming in, make yours stand out by being attention-grabbing and fun or dramatic. “We Need 20 Volunteers THIS Saturday!” or “Make Your Weekend Memorable”  is more likely to get a click than “Volunteering.” Grab your reader’s attention with an engaging subject line that has a call to action.

Amy Keller, Climate Candy

A/B-Test and Iterate on Your Subject Lines for Mastery

Constantly A/B test and iterate on your subject lines.  Once a campaign has run for a few weeks, drop the lower-performing subject line, and test a new one. Over time, the most engaging subject lines will emerge.

Paul Chesterman, EthOS

Highlight a Solution With The Subject Line

When you are selling a product or service and highlight a solution that will make the life of the customer easier, you trigger the curiosity of the customer and increase the chances of them opening the email. And this solution that you’re offering to the customer is something you should highlight not just in the subject line but elaborate on throughout the body of the email too. This way, while the subject line acts as the hook that engages the customer, the content you include in the email and the CTA will justify what you offered and enable the customer to take the next step.

Dillon Hammond, Achieve TMS East


Terkel creates community-driven content featuring expert insights. Sign up at terkel.io to answer questions and get published.

6 Ways To Use Canva and Mailchimp

6 Ways To Use Canva and Mailchimp

How can you can use Canva and Mailchimp, together?   


To help you best use Canva and Mailchimp together, we asked marketing professionals with experience in both tools this question for their best insights. From creating engaging email banners to newsletters, there are several was to use Canva and Mailchimp together to enhance your email communication and marketing efforts.


Here are six ways to use Canva and Mailchimp together:

  • Create Engaging Email Banners
  • Personalize Emails With Customer-Centric Designs 
  • Set Up a New Team Member Onboarding Email Sequence
  • Create Data-driven Emails With Infographics
  • Design Graphics to Fit the Dimensions You Need 
  • Create a Newsletter

Create Engaging Email Banners

You can use Canva to find visually engaging banner templates to be used as banners at the top of your marketing emails. Within these banners you can include important announcements such as big sales coming up. By seeing this aesthetically pleasing content right when opening these emails, your readers will receive a positive impression of this company as professional and creative.

Nick Shackelford, Structured Agency

Personalize Emails With Customer-Centric Designs 

You can use Canva to personalize emails to your customers. If, for example, they like a certain design of ours, we can use Canva to craft an email with that design aimed at them to help convince them to take the next step. Then, we take that design and send it to Mailchimp through Canva, directly enabling us to send beautiful, personalized emails to our customers without having to use multiple apps or programs.

Nataly Vanunu, Boho Magic

Set Up a New Team Member Onboarding Email Sequence

While usually used for customer outreach, Canva and Mailchimp make a great pair for internal email campaigns. For instance, a new team member email sequence can include timely reminders each step of the way, with one call to action in a video or presentation link.

Managing new employee onboarding reminders doesn’t have to be overwhelming or dull. Inexpensive tools like Canva and Mailchimp can support your small business growth including employee onboarding, so you can focus on quality time with your people and customers rather than manually send reminders.

Benjamin Meskin, Cabrella

Create Data-driven Emails With Infographics

Canva and Mailchimp don’t only go together with marketing. If there’s any data you’re presenting in an email, for a client, digital outreach, or within your company, you can use both programs for appeal and simplicity. You can design infographics with incredible ease in Canva by inputting the right keywords in the elements sections. They have intuitive charts and ready-to-go templates if you need a little more help with the visual presentation of the information.

Link your Mailchimp account to Canva, and you’ll be able to import these graphics seamlessly into your carefully crafted email. Presenting data with visuals can make your email more readable, unique and attractive.

Nicole Ostrowska, Zety

Design Graphics to Fit the DImensions You Need

Canva is an excellent platform to create appealing graphics for email newsletters. You can design graphics to fit the dimensions and branding of your newsletter in Canva and then upload them into Mailchimp. Graphics make email newsletters more interactive and visually pleasing. Canva and Mailchimp are best used together, like peanut butter and jelly!

Breanne Millette, BISOULOVELY

Create a Newsletter

One way that you can use Canva and Mailchimp, together is to create a newsletter. A newsletter will help your company stay in touch with customers by providing information about current events, sales promotions or new arrivals. They are also a great way for companies to promote upcoming products or services as well as share their latest updates on the business itself.

Adil Advani, MyPrep

Terkel creates community-driven content featuring expert insights. Sign up at terkel.io to answer questions and get published.

A Cool Mailchimp Hack for More Opens

photo of woman using her laptop

Here is a quick video showing you a really neat Mailchimp hack for the way your subject line and preview text line will appear in subscriber’s inboxes. It takes a small bit of code at the very top, but it’s super easy.

And below you’ll find the code to copy and paste! Enjoy and let me know if any questions. You can reach me at hello (at) westfield-creative (dot) com.

Copy and PASTE this exact code into a code block:

<div style=”display: none; max-height: 0px; overflow: hidden;”>&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;&zwnj;&nbsp;</div>

And that should give you a very pretty preview text line!

9 Ways To Improve Page Experience

8 Ways To Improve Page Experience

What is one way that a small business can ensure visitors have a great page experience?
To help small businesses optimize their websites, we asked PR experts and business leaders this question for their best interface advice. From ensuring that your pages are scannable to adhering to accessibility guidelines, there are several tips that may increase your user experience for your site visitors.

Here are nine ways small businesses can ensure they have a great page experience for site visitors:

  • Ensure Your Pages are Scannable
  • Be Informative and Available
  • Create Local Landing Pages
  • Prioritize Optimization
  • Think About UX
  • Speed Up Your Website
  • Use the Accessibility Guidelines
  • Add a Call to Action
  • Implement a Site Maintenance Plan

Ensure Your Pages are Scannable

Most website pages are scanned by users, not read word for word. It is an SEO best practice to utilize headers to break up content by topic. While John Mueller of Google explains that using keywords in headers is not necessarily a ranking factor anymore, utilizing H1, H2, and H3 headers appropriately creates a better user experience so readers can easily scan the content and find what they’re looking for!

Kayla Centeno, Markitors

Be Informative and Available

Answer customer questions in multiple ways. That may be accomplished by providing useful information in an article or pricing page. For our company, we go one step further by having LiveChat and a clear phone number on our stair lift page so that customers have every option to connect with us. By having several contact options, customers can feel comfortable getting their questions answered.

Liz Riggleman, Arrow Lift

Create Local Landing Pages

Creating local landing pages ensures that the customer receives the right and relevant information according to their location. For example, our denture center lists out local landing pages for our four different locations. This ensures that our patients in Boise have a different website experience than our patients in Caldwell, and receive the correct information like address and phone number.

Henry Babichenko, Eurodenture

Prioritize Optimization

The first step to ensure a great page experience for your customers is to focus on optimization instead of a fancy design. When you get too deep into the design aspects, you can lose sight of making the website easy and simple to use. I’ve seen many big venture-funded brands focusing a lot of capital and resources on intricate designs instead of optimization. Simple, elegant, and optimized is still the most powerful formula for success. Additionally, I learned the importance of spending equal time on desktop design as well as mobile. It’s no secret that the majority of shoppers use mobile. This should be the easiest to use and most optimized piece of your website. My biggest tip here is to limit the amount of scrolling. Give your potential customer the easiest path to checkout!

Brandon Monaghan, Miracle Brand

Think About UX

Since our company is launched on an app, we made sure our website is an extension of what our users can find on their smart devices. Consumers can still subscribe to user profiles, view customer review videos, and purchase products with external brand links. We wanted our consumers to have fun being involved in our community platform, so we livened up our website with bold colors on video thumbnails. We also always feature the reviewer’s faces when we post their videos on the feed.

Savannah Scott, Supergreat

Speed Up Your Website

Both Google and your website visitors will be pleased if they don’t have to wait for your website to load. Speed up the loading time. Use GTMetrix, a free service, to check your site speed. Try to keep your loading time at two seconds or less. Remove needless plugins. This helps speed up your site.

Janice Wald, Mostly Blogging Academy

Use the Accessibility Guidelines

From my personal experience and our business expertise, the most important part of e-commerce is having an accessible website and an accessible customer service system. This ranges from making sure your web developers and web designers adhere to the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG standards) when creating your website and marketing materials but also having a range of customer service and support channels. For example, a deaf person might prefer instant messaging to a voice phone support system. In travel and hospitality, common issues relate to inaccessible date pickers and graphical captchas, which prevent some populations from buying your product.

Dale Reardon, Travel For All

Add a Call to Action

If your website doesn’t have an easy-to-find Call to Action (CTA) button on your homepage, you’re missing out on a major opportunity to convert potential customers into paying customers. The CTA button is a classic marketing method for a reason — it easily boosts your revenue by directly asking for what you need from your potential customer. Design an aesthetically pleasing CTA button that will stand out on your homepage, and include enough relevant information around it to let your potential customers know what they’ll gain from clicking through. That relevant information is key to transforming your CTA button from a marketing tool into a one-two punch that builds trust in your website and your company through education. The more transparent you are about your product, the more your customers will trust your website.

Bill Glaser, Outstanding Foods

Implement a Site Maintenance Plan

To make sure a site is properly maintained, there should be a regular plan in place to check it monthly. Some tips are to check the webmaster tools data to ensure everything is running smoothly, keep track of the traffic data to see your audience, make sure the software is up to date, and look out for any feedback. Most importantly, run security scans so you know how the site is running internally and externally.

Nina Jensen, 8×8

Terkel creates community-driven content featuring expert insights. Sign up at terkel.io to answer questions and get published.

She Who Mailchimps: 6 Takeaways

She Who Mailchimps Zoom Event

What happens when you get 6 Mailchimp Women Experts (and Mailchimp Partners) in one Zoom room for an hour? You get some awesome email marketing advice and also an hour of fun. I was thrilled to have 5 super-smart email marketing minds join me to answer some of the most asked Mailchimp and email questions we get – including “what’s the best time/day to send an email?” “what’s our favorite Mailchimp hidden egg?” and much more.

We recently asked a few Mailchimp Partners, including some from the live event about their top takeaways were from the session. Here’s a great rundown in case you missed it. Want to watch the replay? You can here.

I loved the relaxed format. The hosts were having an open conversation, which felt very honest and welcoming. There were loads of takeaways points, the honest discussion around the way these Mailchimp partners actually use Mailchimp themselves was enlightening and I made a lot of notes! You can watch the event right here: https://youtu.be/KJpAuJP-WAU

-Doug Dennison, CEO & Co-founder, MailNinja

The talent that was on display at the She Who Mailchimps event was ridiculously good. It was an interactive webinar with a live Q&A where the super-talented panel answered lots of questions about Mailchimp and email marketing in general. With their Mailchimp expertise, they were able to share a lot of great information.

Top takeaways included:

1) Use Mailchimp Partners to help you with any Mailchimp issues

2) Consider using ALL the Mailchimp features including landing pages, postcards, social posts, link-checker, and more.

3) Test, test, and test some more. Conduct subject line testing, content testing, send time optimization, etc. to learn what resonates best with your audience.

-Adam Holden-Bache, Dir. of Email Marketing, Enventys Partners

Holy moly, the brains! I didn’t add it up, but there were probably over 60 years of email marketing experience on that panel. And while for some questions, the answers were similar, everyone had their own spin and just a little different way of looking at things. It was great to get all the email philosophies together in one place and see how they’re similar and so utterly different at the same time. The nuances in the differences were the gold.

-Amy Hall, Email Marketing Strategist and Certified Mailchimp Partner, amyhall.biz

This was the very first time I did a workshop in English, and the days before I was pretty scared about it; but the other ladies were so nice and supportive that I thought oh, what the hell, I can do it! Apart from that, the idea was great and I think the whole formula worked very well: good timing, a balanced distribution of questions, and a bunch of super-expert ladies all willing to share their knowledge. Being part of this network, finding ways to collaborate and learn from each other, is one of the perks of Mailchimp & Co., and I value it immensely.

-Alessandra Farabegoli, Digital Strategist, www.alessandrafarabegoli.it

My office needs much better lighting, and Sequoia Mulgrave has a second career as a broadcaster if she ever opts for it! That said, the talent available in the Mailchimp Experts Directory is something anyone serious about their business or email marketing should tap into. I’m truly impressed with the knowledge of each of these women and would be happy to have them as part of my team, or my own marketing department! If you haven’t watched the recording, reach out to Emily Ryan to get access.

-MaryAnn Pfeiffer, Digital Marketing Strategist, 108 Degrees Digital Marketing

1. There are some very knowledgeable email experts out there… and if you don’t tap into that knowledge, you’re losing out.

2. Being a marketer, this is always at the forefront of my mind, but being clear on your who and how it impacts the best way to approach email marketing was worth reminding – anecdotally there are good times to send and bad times to send an email, but it all depends on the who – the who you are sending to.

-Robin Adams, Founder, Chimp Answers

Want to connect with a Mailchimp Pro Partner? Check out the Mailchimp Experts Directory here.

9 Email Marketing Segmentation Strategies For Ecommerce

9 Email Marketing Segmentation Strategies For Ecommerce (1)

What is one way e-commerce companies should segment their customer list for email marketing? 

To help your company segment their customer lists for email marketing, we asked marketing experts and business leaders this question for their best advice. From reaching out to customers with abandoned carts to analyzing customer spending patterns, there are several pieces of advice that may help you with your email marketing.

Here are nine ways e-commerce companies should segment their customer list for email marketing: 

  • Track Your Promoters
  • Complement Their Past Purchases
  • Reach Out With Their Abandoned Carts
  • Target Your Engaged Audience
  • Analyze Customer Spending Patterns
  • Segment By Platform
  • Organize By Location
  • Target Last Website Visit
  • Streamline Follow-Up Campaigns

Track Your Promoters 

Promoters. Some customers are so happy with their purchase that they will promote your brand through beneficial actions like leaving a review on an e-commerce site or sharing their purchase on a social media profile. Tracking which customers are your “promoters” can be a beneficial way to segment and reward customers on an email list.

Daniel Richmond, Tic Watches

Complement Their Past Purchases

The best way to segment an email marketing campaign for an e-commerce company is by looking at the buyer’s past purchases. The easiest way to do this is to start sending out email recommendations for similar items that you sell that would go well with the buyer’s previous purchases. This will ensure that you are capturing the right target market! 

Kayla Centeno, Markitors

Reach Out With Their Abandoned Carts

We have a shopping section on our website for the products we sell. There are many ways to segment customer lists from e-commerce for email marketing. For instance, creating lists of those who abandoned carts can be useful to eventually follow up with those customers. They were obviously interested in our products in the first place, so there is still a chance to gain their interest and eventually gain more conversions.

Matt Seaburn, Rent A Wheel

Target Your Engaged Audience

It’s important to segment engaged versus unengaged audiences. Many e-commerce brands send out their email campaigns to their whole newsletter list. We recommend sending out all campaigns to just your engaged list—this helps with spam, open rates, etc. It’s also important to have a strategy to warm up unengaged users or remove them after a win-back series!

Hannah Byrd, Absolute Web

Analyze Customer Spending Patterns

As with all things in marketing, there is no right or wrong way to segment your customer list for email marketing as every business is different. The one thing that holds true across all businesses, however, is the need to thoroughly understand your customers and their spending patterns, i.e., how often they shop at your store, what their average basket ring is, what products are commonly purchased together, etc. With a solid understanding of these metrics, you can create powerful segments that target your best customers, repeat buyers, and even the ones that don’t convert with highly targeted promotions. My one rule of thumb is that the customer metrics being used to develop these segments must come from first-party sales data, as no one knows your customers better than you!

Amy Zwagerman, The Launch Box

Segment By Platform 

One quick and easy way that e-commerce companies can segment their lists is by how they arrived at your website. So if it’s through social media, drill down more and find out which platform, like Instagram, Pinterest, or Facebook. Analyzing the different platforms and other ways customers found you, such as organic search or ads, will help you create a more customized customer journey for the people coming to your website.

Gresham Harkless Jr., Blue 16 Media

Organize By Location 

Location is an important way that ecommerce businesses should segment their customer lists. Segmenting by location has been shown to increase open and click-through rates. This is because location-specific targeting creates value for the customer. You are sending them something that is of interest to them and is relevant to where they are.

Joe Flanagan, VelvetJobs

Target Last Website Visit 

Segmenting by “last website visit” is big for us. We know that if a user has visited our site within 30 days, they are likely to be more receptive to marketing emails, and we can send them more. Conversely, if a user bought something last year and we never saw them again, we don’t want to be emailing them weekly until they show back up on our site. In short, we let them determine how close they are to buying again and, therefore, how many emails they should be getting.

Quincy Smith, TEFL Hero

Streamline Follow-Up Campaigns

People dislike getting spammed with similar emails. If you plan to send a follow-up to a marketing email, most email marketing tools offer the option to segment and target users who did not open the first email. Doing so helps create values for users who inadvertently missed the first message while avoiding sending the same email to users who already opened and engaged with the first email. Failing to omit engaged users can lead to poor user frustration and a high unsubscribe rate.

Hung Nguyen, Smallpdf

Terkel creates community-driven content featuring expert insights. Sign up at terkel.io to answer questions and get published. 

How often should you send an email? (Advice for B2Bs and B2C’s)

How often should you email?

This is, by far, one of the most-asked questions I hear about email marketing. And below you’ll hear some great advice from 8 Mailchimp Partners/Experts with actual, concrete answers that can really help your email strategy.

Weekly or fortnightly is a good frequency for most businesses. Some e-commerce business send more than that, and some companies we work with send every 2 months, which in my opinion is not as often. Of course, if you factor in sending to smaller segments, you could effectively be sending a few emails every week, just not to your entire audience.

-Doug Dennison, CEO & Co-founder, MailNinja

The companies reaping rewards from email marketing, email frequently. Weekly if you can (although there is no perfect answer for this). Once a month is simply not enough to move the needle. Most of our clients do at least one email per week and many e-commerce clients do 3-7 per week (to different targeted segments). If unsubscribes start increasing, pull back some and if you want to increase sales, consider emailing more. One of the biggest mistakes I see is companies not emailing enough. Many business owners worry they will bother their subscribers, but if you’re sending interesting, relevant content, people will open your emails.

Of course, it always depends on your business and your Audience. For e-commerce, weekly but for say, a lawyer, a lot less…

Emily Ryan, Co-founder & Mailchimp Strategist, Westfield Creative

There is no one-size-fits-all answer to email frequency. It will vary for senders based on many factors including their ability to create engaging content, the types of products and services they are selling, the frequency at which subscribers want to receive emails, and many other factors.

Through my experience I’ve found that recipients don’t mind receiving emails if they offer valuable, relevant content. So as long as you are sending something that subscribers WANT to receive, it seldom creates a negative experience. The problem is that many brands don’t have enough quality content to email at a high frequency.

If you do email frequently, want your metrics for a plateau or drop in positive metrics (opens, clicks, and conversions) along with a rise in negative metrics (non-opens, reduced click ratio, unsubscribes, etc). If you see that happen, dial back your frequency until you see things return to positive results

-Adam Holden-Bache, Dir. of Email Marketing, Enventys Partners

As a general rule, you should send an email whenever you’ve something interesting and useful to say; if you rarely have something relevant to say, you have a problem, and it is not an email marketing issue: you better reconsider what you’re doing and why.

This said, the key to finding the right frequency is the reasonable expectations of your audience: not exceedingly many, but also not so seldom that they forget having subscribed.

Once a month is a minimum, and it’s a risky one because if somebody misses one, they won’t hear from you for too long; a weekly newsletter with a fixed day and hour, instead, soon becomes a habit for the reader and builds expectation and loyalty.

-Alessandra Farabegoli, Digital Strategist, www.alessandrafarabegoli.it

This is a question I get asked a lot and I’ll split out B2B vs B2C below.

Email is great at two things: keeping you top of mind and prompting action. That applies to both B2B and B2C.

However, do I want to hear from my accountant every day? Probably not. Once a month is enough to use the Power of the BCC to create great content I will read. That applies to most B2B service businesses.

B2B businesses selling products, especially consumables, need to up their game and think like retailers. Sending less more often. To do that you need a Marketing Plan.

For B2C I believe the minimum is 3 times a week. That should be possible. For example, Monday send all the deals, Thursday a reminder of your top deals from Monday and Saturday last chance for the deals. This requires a good e-commerce platform, good deals and again a Marketing Plan.

-Glenn Edley, Director & Email Strategist, Spike

For an email program to be effective, your subscribers need to remember who you are and find your information relevant. Whether you have a B2B or B2C audience, the minimum number of campaigns to leverage brand recognition and relevance is once per month. As some of your audience is likely to miss some of those campaigns, anything less will render you irrelevant in just a few months.

From there, the frequency really depends on the relevance of your messaging and the responsiveness of your list. Journalistic emails and e-commerce coupons are sent daily by industry leaders, industry news and special offers can happen weekly… but some industries and lists will not tolerate more than twice per month before the unsubscribe rate starts to climb. At the end of the day, the frequency and cadence depend on what your audience will tolerate. The best way to know this is to TEST your list, and when possible, allow your subscribers to select their preferences for subscriptions, so you reach them as often as they want to hear from you.

-MaryAnne Pfeiffer, Digital Marketing Strategist, 108 Degrees Digital Marketing

Ask not how often you should send an email, rather ask, how often would my email list like to receive one! Like most of marketing, it’s never about you, and always about your customer/prospect and the nature of your relationship. It doesn’t matter if it’s B2B or B2C, every relationship is different, every product is different.

…and remember, not everyone on your list is the same, some want more emails, some less – so test, and give them the option.

-Robin Adams, Founder, Chimp Answers

I think how often you send your emails depends on your industry & business. Some businesses have so much going on in their business and industry that a daily update email works. Some businesses are slow-moving and a quarterly email is enough. My default is a once a month email.

-Amy Hall, Email Marketing Strategist and Certified Mailchimp Partner, amyhall.biz

Want to connect with a Mailchimp Pro Partner? Check out the Mailchimp Experts Directory here.

Is there a way to ethically hack email list growth?

How to grow your email list, ethically

Below you’ll hear some of the best tips and advice from 8 Mailchimp Pro Partners (including myself) on how you can ethically grow your email list. Growing your email list should always be a priority when it comes to your email marketing, but there are creative ways to do it that are still in compliance with Mailchimp Best Practices.

One hack works above all else. Create high-value and relevant content such as a free course or an ebook to drive signups, rather than simply saying ‘signup to my newsletter’, then add multiple captures like popups on your website to do the heavy lifting for you.

-Doug Dennison, CEO & Co-founder, MailNinja

I always recommend aiming for quality over quantity when it comes to growing your email list. Capture data in as many places as possible, provide an appealing reason for someone to subscribe, and follow through on what you promise by delivering relevant content. Anything other than this can lead to less than desirable results from your email audience.

-Adam Holden-Bache, Dir. of Email Marketing, Enventys Partners

There are countless smart and ethical ways to grow your email list that don’t involve purchasing emails. Purchasing emails and then marketing to them is not only illegal but it’s simply a bad idea. As long as people are agreeing to opt-in, the sky’s the limit in terms of ways to gain subscribers.

Here are some ways you maybe haven’t thought of:

1. Contributing to a guest blog is a fantastic way to get people back to your own website and hopefully sign up (like the contributors on this post).

2. Offering a simple lead magnet/opt-in via Instagram (like a one-page PDF checklist) and asking people to click the link in your bio to sign up and get it.

As long as you’re asking for permission and people know they’re opting-in, you can dream up almost anything to get a new subscriber.

Emily Ryan, Co-founder & Mailchimp Strategist, Westfield Creative

For me, hacking means knowing very well from the inside how things work and to use this knowledge to reach your goals; there’s nothing inherently unethical in this, as long as the goals are correct and respectful. List growth happens through focusing on our target’s identity, needs and expectations, forging a message that resonates with them and putting that message in front of them, in the right place, at the right time; this requires a deep knowledge not only of email marketing but of CRO, UX, advertising and the rules of persuasion. Most importantly, I don’t believe in short term goals such as the mere quantity of new subscribers; I’d better work for quality subscribers, who not only enter the list but keep reading and maintain the engagement for a long period of time.

-Alessandra Farabegoli, Digital Strategist, Co-Founder, Digital Update and Freelancecamp Italia

List growth can definitely be hacked, by hard work. Every point of contact with your business is a marketing opportunity and an opportunity to get permission to send emails to someone. The question people should be asking before they go outside of their business is, “Are we using every single point of contact we have to get email addresses?”. They’re generally not.

Some other ways are:

1. Using google to get people to your website and asking them once they get there to sign up.

2. Using co-registration and working with other businesses to access their database.

3. Advertising on podcasts or being featured on a podcast.

There are endless ethical ways to hack list growth. They generally take more planning and work but will gain you a much higher value customer.

-Glenn Edley, Director & Email Strategist, Spike

If executed correctly and with precision, cold email campaigns can be used very effectively to build permission-based email lists. Cold email reaches out to a qualified list of potential customers or subscribers, tactfully introducing them to the brand in a way that is non-offensive. With the right lures and effective targeting, this method can provide a stream of traffic to your website or offer, which can then be converted into a permission-based email list.

-MaryAnne Pfeiffer, Digital Marketing Strategist, 108 Degrees Digital Marketing

Firstly, make sure you are ethical with your email list… please… if you’re not it’ll hurt both you AND everyone else so don’t send marketing emails to people who you shouldn’t. In terms of ethically hacking, well, if you take the fact that hacking implies some sort of shortcut or ‘easy path’, I’m not sure… Ultimately, you need to have a way of getting people onto an email list, and not just anyone, but people who want to engage with your business and brand – anyone can build an email list quickly – but is it actually worthwhile, or would you rather focus on emailing the RIGHT people? (but if you do want a short-cut, make sure it’s as easy as possible for the right people to sign up – I’ve seen too many bad forms and no automation to believe that just doing the basics is a good start for most!)

-Robin Adams, Founder, Chimp Answers

I’m not sure I would call this a hack… running ads on Facebook and LinkedIn for newsletter subscribers. Your list will grow quickly, but in my opinion, your list won’t be as engaged as organic subscribers.

-Amy Hall, Email Marketing Strategist and Certified Mailchimp Partner, amyhall.biz

Want to connect with a Mailchimp Pro Partner? Check out the Mailchimp Experts Directory here.

This Canva/Mailchimp secret is my fave

Wanna see something real cool?

Canva has this super handy Mailchimp integration that most people don’t know about. It allows you to take any of your Canva graphics and with a click of a button, they go straight into your Mailchimp Content Studio. I thought it would be helpful to show you where it’s hidden, so I made ya video.

CLICK HERE to see a quick video of this awesome integration.


Also, did you know Mailchimp has 273 integrations?! That’s more than any other email provider out there. From Unsplash, to Photoshop to Salesforce and so many more.



7 Things I Loved This Week (Jan 10)

7 Things I Loved This Week

I heard this yesterday on a podcast with Laura Belgray — Don’t wait to be inspired to write your next email (or to write anything). Just start writing and then you’ll be inspired in the process, much like now, when I had not a single idea for this email until I sat down and sifted through the last few weeks of links I’ve collected. If you want to send out more emails then just sit down and start. Cool?

7 Other Things I Loved Recently:

1. I wasted 13 mins of my life watching these 10 Instagram Stories hacks last week, but they’re all really good. 

2. This free cliche finder tool (for your writing)…is so cliche.

3. What if your CTAs (Call to Action) buttons were this instead of “contact us.”

4. I share this article on email subject line spam trigger words with my clients often.

5. I discovered the absolute most perfect WFH sweatshirt. 

6. If you haven’t seen Mailchimp’s 2020 Annual Report, it’s amazing.

7. I got together with 8 other Mailchimp Partners on this blog about what tools we couldn’t live without. For me, it’s Slack. (And remember when Slack went down last week?!)

In other news, I bought the domain name emilyryanemails.com this week, Stay tuned for some cool stuff there soon, including my new Mailchimp course, with everything you could possibly need to start sending great emails. 

Have a great week ahead and if I ever inspire you to write an email, purchase something or read one of these articles above, I’d love to know. Just hit reply and lemme know anytime.