[June 23, 2016] |
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New Research from Return Path Reveals the Consequences for Marketers Who Do Nothing to Fight Email Fraud
Email drives more leads, conversions, and revenue than any other
marketing channel, but it's also the weapon of choice for cybercriminals
around the world. New research from Return Path finds that the damage
caused by email fraud goes far beyond the immediate impact to a brand's
reputation. Released today, Return Path's Phishing:
The Cost of Doing Nothing for Marketers demonstrates how
phishing and spoofing attacks erode consumer trust, compromise the
performance of legitimate email campaigns, and ultimately reduce
marketing ROI.
According to the report:
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Phishing has real, direct costs. The average large company
(defined as 10,000+ employees) spends $3.7
million annually to recover from phishing attacks, including lost
productivity, customer service, and regulatory fines.
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Phishing damages engagement. Subscribers are less likely to
trust a brand following a phishing attack. The report finds that when
negatively impacted, average read rates dropped by up to 18 percentage
points at Gmail and 11 percentage points at Yahoo.
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Phishing impacts deliverability. Following a phishing attack,
mailbox providers are more likely to flag legitimate email as spam.
Research shows that when negatively impacted, average inbox placement
rates dropped by up to 10 percentage points at Gmail and 7 percentage
points at Yahoo.
"The immediate cost of phishing is staggering, but the bigger impact
comes from loss of trust," said Estelle Derouet, VP Marketing, Email
Fraud Protection at Return Path. "If your brand reputation is damaged by
email fraud, customers won't open your emails and mailbox providers may
not deliver your messages to the inbox. When that happens, you've lost a
revenue opportunity - both now and in the future."
Marketers recognize the cost of email fraud, but are ill-equipped to
act
While marketers understand the threat that email fraud poses, few brands
are taking the necessary steps to fight back. Return Path's research
shows that 81 percent of marketers would be concerned or very concerned
if customers received a maliciousemail that appeared to come from their
brand. Yet only 32 percent of marketers say that securing the email
channel is a top priority in 2016.
And perhaps more troubling, marketers are ill-equipped to fight phishing
even if they wanted to. A full 76 percent of survey respondents say they
have little to no visibility into email attacks on their brand.
"Email security is everyone's responsibility," continued Derouet. "As
guardians of the brand and owners of the email channel, it's time for
marketers to join the fight against email fraud - and for CMOs to
prioritize customer security."
Mailbox providers are changing the game
Major mailbox providers like Google (News - Alert) and Microsoft are taking action to
crack down on companies that fail to follow best practices for email
security. As of February 2016, Google is flagging emails that fail
authentication by replacing company avatars with a red question mark,
thereby removing the guesswork for their end users. Similarly, Microsoft (News - Alert)
now inserts a red safety notification at the top of known phishing
messages and any message that fails authentication.
When consumers see these warnings, they are less likely to engage with
both the individual email and the brand that sent it.
"When it comes to phishing, email authentication standards like SPF,
DKIM,
and DMARC
are no longer optional. They are essential best practices for ensuring
that legitimate email won't be treated like spam," added Derouet. "Any
company not proactively securing their email channel today risks losing
not only priceless brand loyalty but also marketing-generated revenue."
Phishing: The Cost of Doing Nothing for Marketers can be found in
its entirety here.
Return Path will co-host a webinar with EEC to further discuss these
findings. "Marketing's Hidden Phishing Tax: The Cost of Doing Nothing
About Email Fraud" will be held on June 28 at 2PM ET. Register
here to join us for this webinar.
Methodology
Return Path surveyed more than 220 marketers in May 2016 on the value of
trust in email marketing. 45 percent of respondents had a title of
manager while 26 percent had a title of director and above. Of the
companies surveyed, 33 percent employed more than 1,000 people. In
addition, Return Path conducted further research across 71 large brands
between April 1 and September 30, 2015, analyzing Gmail and Yahoo! inbox
placement rate as well as read rates of legitimate programs within 10
days of a detected phishing attack on the brand.
About Return Path
Return Path analyzes the world's largest collection of email data to
show businesses how to stay connected with their audiences, strengthen
their customer engagement, and protect their brands from fraud. Our data
solutions help analysts understand consumer behavior and market trends.
We help mailbox providers and security providers around the world
deliver great user experiences and build trust in email by ensuring that
wanted messages reach the inbox while spam and abuse don't. For more
information on Return Path's Email Fraud Protection solution, visit www.returnpath.com/StopEmailFraud
or follow us on Twitter (News - Alert) @StopEmailFraud.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160623005770/en/
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