How is the coronavirus affecting email marketing?

We are facing an unprecedented event, the coronavirus has reached Spain and the rest of the world, wreaking havoc. Confinement, shops and businesses closed and companies adapting at full speed to carry on with their activity.

Without a doubt, this is a time when organisations, companies and brands need to make decisions and execute them quickly and effectively. In the field of email, it is exactly the same. For that reason, in this post, we will analyse how the coronavirus is affecting email marketingIs the frequency of sending the same, what is the tone of the communications being sent, what strategies are being used in response to the situation? We look at this below.

For companies, it is a time of indecision, particularly because of the how to manage communications with their subscribers. With the closure of shops and shops, their email marketing has been turned upside down and they have had to rethink their strategy. Added to this is the handicap of marketing teams having to make the remote decision-making and any kind of approval is slowed down twice as much.

For this reason, we see how the way of proceeding in many cases is different. In fact, the sector of the company is also a relevant factor. In the fashion sector, shop closures have been a determining factor. We find from those brands that have decided to stop their communications until further notice, to those that have cancelled their scheduled shipments and have only shipped to those countries where their shops are still open.

We can say that in most cases, the frequency of dispatch has decreased and that those who have decided to maintain the same volume are because they already tend to make few shipments.

Many brands have prepared newsletters with official communiqués where they reported the closure of their shops and explained how the new returns policy would work and the security measures they would follow in their shipments. The following have also been used messages reinforcing the #yomequedoencasa campaignThis shows the brand's/company's commitment to the current situation and the measures imposed by the government.

There is a clear tendency to make less commercial newsletters. The tone of the communications takes on an air of more inspirational and are less about driving the user to action. Some brands take the opportunity to add information modules and banners to remind subscribers how they will proceed from now on or to support containment. Bershka is one of those who have followed this initiative by implementing the following module in their campaigns:

With the closure of shops, many active promotions have been cancelled or stopped and postponed until further notice. This situation has also affected the father's day campaigns. However, brands have taken the opportunity to link this special date to the opportunity to celebrate with the family and be together at home. Here is an example of Intimissimi:

As we said, this is an unprecedented event. In the coming days and weeks we will see how this process of adaptation continues and what initiatives appear to combat a situation where online seems to be the only possible form of contact between company and customer.

In the meantime... Digital Response also stays at home!