Adobe lists some tips for mobile-friendly email campaigns

Email is here to stay, according to Adobe’s annual email survey - at least in the US. The report, which surveyed US white collar workers, found that people constantly check their personal and work email, with smartphones overtaking computers as the device consumers use most regularly to check email. 

This trend is likely to be even stronger in Asia, where mobile device uptake is very high. A report by Experian has found that email continues to come out a top channel for marketers in Singapore, particularly as the biggest driver of online-to-offline conversion.

Adobe’s Kristin Naragon, Director of Email Solutions, has some tips for  designing mobile-friendly email campaigns:

Keep it simple
"This may seem obvious, but the simpler your email, the better your chances are of it displaying properly on mobile devices. When optimising for mobile, think about what offers, links, and images are most important to display," she advises in a blog post.

Optimise for touch
"Remember that customers will be navigating your emails using their fingers — not (mice). Make sure your links and buttons are large enough and have enough space to make them easy to tap," she recommends.

Use images
Naragon adds that screens might be small, and suggests making text "easy to read and to the point". "Remember, an image is worth a thousand words," she says.

Clear call to action.
Naragon also said that it should be obvious what the reader should do as a result of the email. Calls to action are best placed near the top of the email, she recommends. "Don’t force your reader to scroll too much to get to the point," she says.

Leverage technology for testing
Technology can be helpful for editing and testing your email content, especially when there are so many devices, apps and formats available today.

Qantas lets travellers link Instagram snaps with out-of-office email responses

Source: Qantas Out of Office website.

Qantas has launched Qantas Out Of Office, a new service that transforms the generic out-of-office email reply into a real-time photographic travel journal.

Qantas Out of Office connects an email address with Instagram and updates the auto reply message with holiday Instagram photos that are tagged with the hashtag #qantasoutofoffice.

To set it up, people need to go to qantasoutofoffice.com, connect their Instagram account and email address, enter the dates that they are out of the office, where they are travelling to, and a simple message.

Qantas Group Executive Brand, Marketing & Corporate Affairs Olivia Wirth said the airline hoped the new out of office travelogue would inspire more colleagues, friends and family to travel the world.

“The traditional out of office message can be both generic and impersonal in nature and from our research, 60% of employees say they appreciate receiving something more creative,” she said.

“We know that tips from friends and colleagues are the highest driver for people when choosing their next holiday destination, so we saw an opportunity to encourage travel through the millions of out of office emails being sent every day.

“There’s no better real-time platform than Instagram to promote global travel, especially when combined with Qantas’ vast domestic and international network which offers endless opportunities for original and inspirational images.

“Whether it’s a snap of a traveller relaxing under a palm tree in the Whitsundays or sampling dumplings in Hong Kong, the images will create travel envy and travel aspirations.”

Instagram Brand Development Lead, Australia and New Zealand Sophie Blachford said Qantas Out of Office is a unique and clever platform for an airline because most people who are travelling will activate their out of office as their final gesture before jetting off.

“With this new service, moments from the holiday you’re on will provide colour and personalisation to what’s otherwise a rather mundane computer generated email,” she said.

How it works:

+ The application features only the photos tagged with #qantasoutofoffice, so people can choose which photos make up their auto reply message. The service also works with private Instagram accounts.

+ Qantas Out of Office is available globally to anyone with Hotmail and Gmail, including other domains that use the Gmail inbox.

+ The auto reply message for people using email through the Outlook desktop application will feature a link that takes recipients to a webpage collection of their Instagrammed holiday photos.


Interested?

Activate Qantas Out of Office

Watch the how-to video for Qantas Out of Office

Cheap Ray-Ban sunglasses? It's a scam

Source: ESET.

ESET spam filters have detected a rise in scam emails luring recipients to buy luxury goods, mostly heavily discounted Ray-Ban sunglasses. The bogus websites where the fakes are offered use no encryption and may have been created to steal victims’ payment card details. ESET had previously warned that this scam, but that was when it had largely targeted Facebook. By adding email as an attack vector, the range of potential victims increases significantly.

“Those who enter their payment card data into these bogus website forms put their money at a serious risk,” says Lukáš Štefanko, ESET Malware Researcher.

Over the last few months, ESET researchers have detected tens of thousands of these scam emails. Parallel to adding email as a new attack vector, the criminals behind the scam have also extended their geographic reach. The bogus sunglasses stores often target countries using their currencies to appear more genuine.

A few months ago, they almost exclusively accepted US dollars, the Eurozone’s euro, British pounds, Canadian dollars and Australian dollars. However, the latest email spamming campaigns have been redirecting to pages that also accept less popular currencies such as New Zealand dollars and the Singapore dollar.

“Internet users should not lose their security instincts when pursuing extremely cheap deals, be it for sunglasses or anything else. Your payment card details open your wallet – so think twice about entering them at websites that have suspicious addresses, offer suspiciously priced goods or use unsecured communications channels,” recommends ESET’s Štefanko.

Recommendations on protecting yourself:

If you receive an email from an untrusted person with similar characteristics selling discounted goods, do not open any URL links, do not download any attachments and report the email as spam

If you are about to enter your payment card details, consider if the store is trustworthy and check if it uses encryption (there must be “https”, not “http” in the address bar, for example, and the link should not be a variation of a more well-known store)

Follow basic rules for safe online behaviour when using the Internet, such as ensuring the system is up-to-date, use a quality security solution or, at least, in case of any suspicion use a free tool to scan your computer.

BlackBerry unveils WatchDox by BlackBerry Email Protector

BlackBerry has announced WatchDox by BlackBerry Email Protector, an entirely new offering that provides businesses with the means of automatically controlling and securing files sent through email by embedding file-level digital rights management (DRM) protection, even after they leave the organisation´s firewall.

WatchDox by BlackBerry is a secure file management platform that enables multi-OS synchronisation and sharing. The solutions limit the risk for data loss or theft by embedding digital rights management (DRM) security into each individual file, so content remains secure and within IT’s control, even after it is downloaded and shared outside of an organisation. Users can easily access, sync, edit, share and control their files from any of their devices and provides unified access to content in SharePoint, file shares, cloud storage services and enterprise content management Systems (ECMs).

“The emergence of cloud services as core components of business infrastructure is changing the way organisations need to approach security. WatchDox protects the new borderless enterprise by delivering not only the most secure EFSS File Sync and Share solutions but enhanced integration with Salesforce.com and the new BlackBerry Email Protector,” said Billy Ho, Executive Vice President, Enterprise Product and Value Added Solutions, BlackBerry. "The risk of data loss is significantly minimised by encrypting and enforcing DRM protection at the file-level when users are viewing, editing and annotating synced documents, no matter on which side of the firewall those documents travel.”

Email Protector leverages the WatchDox platform to automatically apply DRM protection to email attachments sent through an organisation’s email gateway based on controllable policies such as recipient or file type. Administrators can protect or exempt specific file types, users or entire domains. In addition, Email Protector places attached files into an IT-controlled WatchDox repository and replaces the file with a download link in the original email. Email Protector also integrates with email data loss prevention (DLP) solutions to enforce file-level security based on DLP security policies. If the DLP system identifies an email with sensitive business information, WatchDox will embed DRM security into the attachment before it leaves the firewall.

As one of the most used software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications and a system of record, increasing amounts of data are now contained within Salesforce. This includes very sensitive information about the company’s business, including leads, contacts, and sales opportunities as well as other insights into the operations. Companies working with Salesforce can take full advantage of WatchDox storage, sharing, collaboration and customisable document security features, directly from within Salesforce.com. By using WatchDox to store and share files specific to Salesforce records, organisations can apply policies to avoid costly data loss. Access controls are completely customisable and intuitive and files can be set to expire, or be revoked at any time.

Other updates for WatchDox by BlackBerry include:

Edit documents in the browser
WatchDox for Web is now integrated with Office Online, so users can securely view, edit and version their documents without ever having to leave the web browser, download a file, or install any software. When changes are saved, they are automatically synced back to WatchDox and stored as a new version.

Upgrades to WatchDox for Microsoft Outlook
WatchDox delivers incremental productivity by providing users with a consolidated and convenient place to view all of their sent and received files at a glance and with tools to easily create, version, protect and share files up to 10 GB in size.

Custom application workspaces
Third-party application developers benefit from this private storage space that is not exposed through the native WatchDox interface. Combined with a software development kit (SDK) and application programming interfaces (APIs), Web and application developers can leverage the WatchDox platform’s security, mobility, sharing and synchronisation capabilities directly through their custom app interface.

New online viewer
The online viewer for WatchDox has been rebuilt in HTML5 to the same security standards as the original Flash viewer, and introduces new user experiences and design. Users can now create, review and share annotations with other contributors who can then correspond on any device.

Role builder
WatchDox system administrators can create customised permission profiles for unique user workflows, making them available to end-users when they are sharing files.

Authentication enhancements
System administrators can now customise timeout periods for specific users, user groups, or by application. For example, a large private equity firm uses WatchDox to share documents to both internal employees and external partners, vendors and customers. To enhance security, external parties are required to re-authenticate daily, while internal employees are only required to re-authenticate once a week.

WatchDox for Microsoft Windows, now with easy upload
Users on a Windows PC (Windows 7, 8 and 10) can select any file on internal or external storage and upload it directly to a WatchDox workspace (or sub-folder). This way, you can start an upload of a large file now, and if you have to close your computer and resume later, WatchDox will continue where the upload left off.

In addition, WatchDox File Sync and Share integration will be available for Salesforce.com and Microsoft Office Online.

Interested?

WatchDox by BlackBerry Email Protector and WatchDox for Salesforce are available as of today, while the enhanced Outlook plug-in is launching in the upcoming weeks. WatchDox is available for Mac OS X, Windows PC, Android, iOS and BlackBerry 10 devices

Yahoo Mail adds to the types of content that can be added to emails

The updated Yahoo Mail app users can now send files from Google Drive or Dropbox, as well as GIFs from Tumblr when as part of their email messages. Now that users can manage multiple mailboxes from the Yahoo Mail app, the latest update helps them send emails that include content via more sources from any of their email addresses.

Source: Yahoo. Add GIFs
from Tumblr to emails.

When composing an email in the Yahoo Mail app, users can choose from top-trending GIFs around the world, courtesy of Tumblr. Tapping on the cloud icon in compose mode will lead to an invitation to connect Google Drive or Dropbox accounts, allowing instant access to all files in the cloud. Yahoo Mail will also surface items based on title or file contents for easier searching.

Additional features:

Preview large files instantly on iPhone and iPad, without downloading it first

Delete drafts permanently on Android

Android home screen widgets offer dynamically-updated information about the inbox: a preview, a badged icon, and a shortcut to the compose screen.

Interested?

These updates to the Yahoo Mail app are available for iOS (version 4.3) and Android (version 5.4).

posted from Bloggeroid

Yahoo contact cards add new layer of information in Yahoo Mail

Yahoo has launched the contact cards feature, which shares contact details each time users hover over a person’s name in a message, or when composing an email on Yahoo Mail. 

Source: Yahoo.

The company says contact cards, powered by Xobni technology, provide vital information at a glance, including the person's photo (or logo if it is a company), phone number, job title, and links to social profiles including Facebook* and Flickr. 

The data comes from sources which are already available to the Yahoo user, such as the user's own address book as well as Facebook and Flickr profiles (depending on what is publicly available according to the contact’s privacy settings). In addition, the cards include up-to-date phone numbers that a contact may have emailed to you in the past.

Various actions can be performed directly from the cards including searching for emails from that person, composing a new email, and adding the person to the address book. 

*To see Facebook information, users must first link their Yahoo account to Facebook by following these steps: 

1) Click on the gear in the top right corner of Yahoo Mail 

2) Select settings and then accounts 

3) Click on connect to Facebook.

Creating a successful email campaign

Want your marketing emails read? Then make sure it is all about the customer, says GetResponse, a provider of online marketing tools.

The top three things companies have to consider for a successful email marketing campaign, according to GetResponse CEO Simon Grabowski are:

Subscribers’ activity

"Check past history of ‘opens’ and ‘clicks’ to understand what your subscribers are interested in, how often they access their inbox and what time do they actively engage with your emails," he said. 

Subscribers’ device preferences

"Currently more than 40% of emails are deleted because of the incorrect display of content on mobile devices," Grabowski shared. "Find out which devices they use to engage with your emails as content for mobile and desktop has to be tweaked accordingly."

Responsive email systems

"Autoresponders should be customised to match your subscribers’ preference to increase the relevance of your outreach," he added.

"Emails of news and offers which do not cater to the preferences along with the presentation and time it was sent risk being irrelevant," he warned. 

Source: GetResponse.
Grabowski.

The company is currently focusing on Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand as the initial countries for building a local presence in Asia.

"The EU and US markets are not developing as rapidly, while there is still room for email marketing to grow in Asia with consumer groups here being more willing to experiment with new solutions and technologies,” he said. 

"This region is also the fastest growing technology market globally but there is a lack of regional email and online marketing solutions. Email also goes hand-in-hand with digital and mobile marketing although small organisations may not have the budget for digital and mobile options. As such, we still think there’s a need for a comprehensive email marketing service such as GetResponse,” he said.

Besides email automation, GetResponse offer complementary marketing strategies and channels such as social media integration, landing pages and stock photos which can be customised for marketing campaigns.

The Landing Page Creator 2.0 software, for example, helps GetResponse clients create promotional landing pages and mini-sites, and can also collect data from potential subscribers. “This helps online marketers and SMEs here to create effective and comprehensive lists of information for their marketing campaigns,” Grabowski said.

For US$15 a month, small businesses are given access to fully-automated marketing tools, while the GetResponse Enterprise version is for companies with more advanced email marketing strategies.

But what about email spam? “All of our subscribers are required to comply with our anti-spam policy which prohibits users from sending out unsolicited emails,” Grabowski said. “We also participate in industry initiatives to promote responsible, permission-based email marketing.”

Grabowski added that every message sent from a GetResponse account contains a link to unsubscribe which cannot be removed. “If a subscriber opts out, the link will automatically update the mailing list to take them out of future mailings,” he said.

GetResponse launches email marketing platform in ASEAN

GetResponse has launched its GetResponse email marketing platform in ASEAN. The cloud-based platform added support for Chinese, Malay and Thai this year, after which it saw an increase in new account registrations of 41.6%. Over the last year, GetResponse has seen email-marketing activity in ASEAN grow 35.8% compared to the year earlier.

Source: GetResponse website.

“Email can be a powerful marketing tool, particularly for small to medium-sized businesses that don’t have the same budgets as large enterprises. But it needs to be done right, and that means getting many separate elements right, from design, to device agnosticism, personalisation and yes, even language support,” said Simon Grabowski, GetResponse CEO. 

“As we turned our attention to Asia, and the ASEAN markets in particular, we knew we needed to put together a comprehensive package of services, with unparalleled levels of customisation to better meet the needs of a diverse group of Asian marketers."

SMRT JV Hailo Singapore will allow taxi e-receipts

SMRT Road Holdings (SMRT Roads) has announced a joint venture agreement with London-based taxi mobile application developer Hailo Network Holdings (Hailo) to form Hailo Singapore. Under the agreement, a taxi booking application will be introduced to passengers and taxi drivers in Singapore.

Benny Lim, Managing Director of SMRT Roads, said that the new joint venture would provide an enhanced travel experience for passengers. "The integration of Hailo Network's expertise in taxi booking systems and SMRT Road's experience in taxi operations and fleet management offers a seamless taxi booking experience for our passengers and taxi drivers in Singapore," he said.

Ron Zeghibe, Executive Chairman and Co-Founder of Hailo Network, said “Hailo's mission is to make taxis work better for both passengers and drivers all across the world. Founded in 2011, Hailo is a global service with extensive operations in Europe, North America and Asia. By partnering with SMRT Roads, we are combining the best-in-class Hailo app with the resources needed to provide a new level of choice, quality and service for Singapore. Hailo is here for the long term and is excited to be working with SMRT, the leading multi-modal public transport operator in Singapore.”

Targeted for launch in Singapore in October, the Hailo taxi booking application offers passengers an easy way to organise taxi claims. Passengers can register their credit cards with Hailo and receive e-mail receipts at the end of their trips. This shortens the time required for the processing of payment for both the passenger and taxi driver. The app will also allow users to book and track their taxi’s arrival through a real-time display.

Scammers using Singapore Airlines brand in attempts to harvest personal data

Singapore Airlines has warned that its brand is being used by scammers to harvest personal details. 

A May travel alert states that scammers are using emails and phone calls that claim to be from Singapore Airlines, and which inform recipients that they have been selected for a draw or have won air tickets, and then proceed to request their personal data. 

"To appear more authentic, such callers are also able to modify their caller ID to imitate our official telephone numbers," states the warning on the website.

The company advises recipients to verify calls and emails by sending details here. It also asks recipients to exercise discretion when revealing personal data and if they have any doubts to lodge a police report.

New phishing technique brings in the government, warns against phishers

The phishers are at it again, but this time they've called in reinforcements. Rather than offering to work directly with the potential victim, this email claims to be from authorities which have discovered unusual activity, and want to be contacted about it. To add further authenticity, the message further warns that there are scammers out there, and not to deal with them. 

For the negligible sum of US$195, they promise to send the victim either US$75,000 or US$7,500,000 (depending on where you feel the comma should lie, no pun intended). There is no need to contact the victim further as payment instructions are conveniently listed.

This type of email is not yet common, but if it works, more phishers will definitely be trying some variation of it. It could work well as a two-part series, first with the offer to send a prepaid card with the money in it, and then later on to send this email asking for further details. 

The text of the email follows:

From: Koffi Annan 
Sent: Monday, 16 June, 2014 3:08 AM
To: Recipients
Subject: YOUR IMMEDIATE CONTRACT PAYMENT.(CASE FILE 54AC003)

YOUR IMMEDIATE CONTRACT PAYMENT.
CONTRACT#: MAV/NNPC/FGN/MIN/011.

Attention:


The Federal Government of Nigeria has been seriously warned by the United States Government, International Monetary Fund (IMF), World Bank, United Nations (UN) and other international bodies to make sure we settle most of our outstanding foreign debts we owed to Next of Kin's. Fund Beneficiaries and foreign contractors that executed contract with us immediately, this program is organized by the Board of Trustees and Directors for the end of the Year "POVERTY REDUCTION AND ERADICATION". We are using our reputable and well known organization to let you know that you are one of our chosen beneficiaries for this program of "POVERTY REDUCTION AND ERADICATION" in your country e-mail directory.

We hereby inform you that you have successfully being chosen and compensated for an International ATM card written out in your name in the amount of $750, 000, 00 here in the state (U.S.A). Now, for the compensated price, you will have to contact the Finance House and the Compensation Department for your perusals and claims of your compensated price and my dear beneficiary, below is the contact of the Finance House and Compensation Department (FHCD) for the collection and claims of your international certificated ATM card:

But, a very surprising record was discovered in your payment file that is why you have not been contacted about this since then. Records showed that your inheritance payment has been approved four times and duly completed two times. Also we found out that these funds totaling $750,000,00 was transferred directly from the central bank of Nigeria to the below stated bank account on your authorization and an international ATM CARD was also sent to your house address. This has now resulted in bringing the USA and British Government into the case and we really want you to explain to us what you know about this transfer/payment and delivery.


BANK NAME: STANDARD CHATTERED BANK,
BANK ADDRESS, 138-141 1ST FLOOR, EDINBURGH TOWER, THE LANDMARK, 15 QUEENS ROAD, CENTRAL HONG KONG, ACCOUNT NAME: INDO-CHINA GROUP LTD, A/C #: USD114-102-5567-8, SWIFT CODE: SCBL 11K111


The most baffling part is this payment keeps coming up in every period of debt reconciliation and verification always receives approval like now. NOW OUR QUESTION IS, HAVE YOU RECEIVED YOUR FULL PAYMENT OR ANY PART OF YOUR FUND ENTITLEMENT OWED TO YOU BY THE NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT? WE NEED AN ANSWER FROM YOU WITHIN 24HOURS FROM NOW. AND IF WE DO NOT HEAR FROM YOU IMMEDIATELY YOU RECEIVE THIS MESSAGE TODAY, WE WILL ASSUME YOU ARE INVOLVED AND HAVE RECEIVED OVER PAYMENT, WHICH ONE SHOULD BE RETURNED TO NIGERIA


Help us to help you, If not call him immediately you receive this message today on is direct number(  +1 760 422 5040 ) or send me a details email disclaiming the information so that you will be issued with claim identification code (CIC) which will help you to secure your claim and payment from fraudulent officials. And also you will be advised and guided accordingly on how you will receive your legitimate fund entitlement from the Nigerian Government, which will be credited into your nominated bank account within 72hours from now or delivered to you as well to your door step.


Therefore, i would advise you to contact FBI Agent Rev. Kelvin Williams for assistance and inform him that your CASE FILE is 54AC003. Contact him directly via the information below if you are yet to receive your funds.


UNITED NATIONS COMPENSATION AWARD PROGRAM CONTACT Officer: Rev. Kelvin Williams EMAIL :(yahoo email account listed) CELL PHONE:  (US number listed)

Once again it is important to note that your Fund/Payment was released with the following particulars attached to it.

(1) File Number: F1267-2009
(2) Ref. Code: KP23/857/MCL5 /CO
(3) Grant Number: MICC/97846563459/206
(4) Personal Identification Number (PIN): 0866750


Once again stop contacting those people. I advise that you contact Rev. Kelvin Williams so that he can help you in the collection of your ATM CARD payment instead of dealing with those liars that will be turning you around asking for different kind of money to complete your transaction and the FBI agent can also direct you to the paying bank.

Finally remember that I have forwarded instruction to the finance house on your behalf to send the International ATM card to you as soon as you contact them without delay. Please be informed that you should treat this as confidential as ever and in good faith from the Board and Management of the Organization, Also be informed that the International ATM CARD must get to you through a courier company which you will be responsible for the fees as soon as you contact the agent and also if you want the fund to be transferred as well through the paying bank.

What you have to do now is to contact the Rev. Kelvin Williams as soon as possible to know when they will deliver your package to you because of the expiring date, The only money you will send to the agent to deliver your International ATM card to your postal Address in your country is ($195USD) Dollars only being documentation and Security Keeping Fee of the Courier Company so far. Again, don't be deceived by anybody to pay any other money except $195USDollars, beside if you fail to comply with the needed $195 US Dollars required there’s no way we can deliver the International ATM card to your country.

You are to provide the following information.

Your Full Name:....................
Your Address:...............
Personal Telephone Number:................
Age:...................
Sex:....................
Occupation:................
Nationality:....................
Country:.................

Thanks. God Loves and Bless you and your family.

Hope to contact the F.H.C.D soon.

Your's Faithfully,

Koffi Annan

FORMER UN SECRETARY GENERAL

(CHAIRMAN OF FUND RELEASE)

HSBC Hong Kong warns customers against phishing emails

The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) has alerted its Hong Kong customers that it has no connection to phishing e-mails which link to fraudulent HSBC websites. The websites feature links such as http://mercipapa.com.br/files/.files/HK/ and http://www.birth.hk/bb3/ol.php.
 

Source: HSBC. Sample phishing email.

"HSBC would like to remind its customers that the Bank's internet banking site does not carry a web page such as the one hyperlinked in the fraudulent e-mails, and has not sent these e-mails to its customers," the bank said in a statement on its website. "The bank has no connection with the fraudulent sites involved."
 

Source: HSBC. Another sample phishing email.

HSBC asked customers to type in the website address directly into the address bar of their browsers, and asked customers who suspect that they have been duped to call the HSBC customer service hotline at +852 2748 8288 for business
Internet banking users or +852 2233 3000 for personal Internet banking customers.