Email is still one of the most popular, as well as one of the most effective means of communication in today’s business world. What’s more, email is also one of the most crucial marketing strategies used by every company today. 

It’s no secret that an effective email campaign can elevate a business to a whole new level in a competitive and crowded market. However, as effective as email can be, it’s also one of the most frequent targets for cybercriminals. 

Hackers know all too well just how important email is to companies and consumers alike and they won’t hesitate to seize the opportunity that will allow them to obtain some sensitive information. 

Therefore, aside from ensuring that their email campaigns are reliable and effective, companies must also ensure that both themselves and their customers are adequately protected. With that in mind, here are a few of the best security practices for email marketing in 2019. 

Phishing scams

Phishing is one of the most common malware present in emails. What it means is that hackers would oftentimes present themselves as someone legit and trustworthy, in order to encourage recipients to disclose either financial or other kinds of sensitive information. 

More importantly, anyone can fall for these scams if they aren’t aware of the threat. Therefore, when you start considering email marketing, you should also have phishing scams in mind. More precisely, hackers can pose as you to scam your customers and you want to prevent that by any means necessary. Here are a few ways how you can protect your customers:

  • Educate them
  • Include a disclaimer in your email that you’d never ask for any personal information
  • Verify and authenticate your email address
  • Ask customers to add you to their address list

email marketing

Analyze your inbox

It’s common for consumers to reply to your email marketing newsletter, which can also be a risk if it turns out to be a scam. Businesses are in as much risk of falling for a scam as consumers are. Therefore, analyze your inbox well. 

One of the things you can do is to have a proper secure web gateway that will filter any inbound traffic. Choosing the right IAM solution, with intelligent traffic management that provides control over both Wired and Wireless networks, will allow you to effectively use data to not only avoid email scams and cyberattacks but also improve the overall security of your business.

Also, check the email for any signs of a phishing scam before you click on anything. For instance, here are a few signs that an email might be a scam:

  • Grammar or spelling errors
  • Increased sense of urgency
  • False hyperlinks
  • Asking for personal information
  • Seems to be a legit source

Invest in security software

Security software is simply a must for businesses these days and not just for your email marketing, but for everything else, for that matter. Cyber threats are not just common but cyber attacks are more frequent than ever. 

Opening a shady email doesn’t just mean that it can be a phishing scam. As a matter of fact, an email can contain malicious software, such as viruses, malware, ransomware and others. What’s more, you’re not the only one who can get their system infected. The infection can spread through email and infect your customers’ systems as well. 

Security software can help you combat these threats and even prevent them from entering your network, in the first place. Having adequate security measures in place can quarantine infections and warn you about potential threats, such as spam email. Without such security measures, it’s very dangerous to start an email campaign for both your company and your customers.

Email Marketing


Analyze outbound traffic

When email marketing is involved, it oftentimes means sending out large batches of emails to customers. Companies also tend to automate such tasks, in order to ensure that they sent out as many emails to as many customers as possible.

An attack can happen when you send those emails and you can hardly notice that anything has happened at all. Hackers have a way to intercept outbound traffic and infect it with malicious software. 

As a company whose emails customers have to receive, it’s up to you to prevent such incidents so that your reputation and your business, in general, don’t suffer the consequences. You can implement a proper firewall system that will analyze and filter any outbound traffic and warn you if there’s any suspicious activity going about.


Email marketing is still a powerful tool, just like it’s always been. Companies simply cannot do without email marketing and that’s exactly why they must focus on security. Preventing attacks and having safeguards if an attack does happen will protect both your company and your customers.