Email marketing in times of COVID-19: Part 1
We give you important insights into the chronicle of the epidemic
Our original plan
Janko Zehe approached me in January of this year and asked me for support in a task to evaluate newsletter marketing data. Our actual goal was to find out more about the marketing campaigns and goals of existing and target customers and other companies in Germany and Switzerland by subscribing to countless newsletters from existing customers, target customers and other companies. For example, how often a company sends e-mails, at what times of day e-mails are sent and what is the content and purpose of the e-mails sent. In total, we subscribed to 74 newsletters in the automotive, retail, tourism and manufacturing sectors from mid-January to the end of January. As of today, 1440 e-mails have arrived in our mailbox.
Our change of plan
In mid-March, a glance into the mailbox revealed that the dynamics had suddenly changed dramatically. Companies that had previously sent out newsletters almost daily were suddenly holding back, companies that we had not heard about before suddenly took the floor ... and we no longer heard anything about entire industries. The trigger was again Covid-19 and the crisis that the global spread of this virus brought about.
We took a closer look and noticed not only changes in broadcasting behaviour, but also in content, and came to some exciting conclusions...
Our new plan
Over the period from 1 March to 24 March, we looked at about 600 newsletters and sorted them according to the above-mentioned sectors. Our main focus was on the content of the Covid-19 topic and a change in the transmission frequency. 4 groups crystallized: the communication winners, the quiet ones, the troubled ones and the challenged ones.
Our expert tip for you:
Stay in regular contact with your subscribers even in these times. Be available on various channels and report on them. Also show what you can do for your customers in the Corona crisis.
In the following articles of this blog series I will go into more detail about the individual groups and explain what makes them winners and losers.
Stay tuned! Stay safe! :-)
Your Caro
