• Aspora gets $50M from Sequioa to build remittance and banking solutions for Indian diaspora

    India has been one of the top recipients of remittances in the world for more than a decade. Inward remittances jumped from billion in 2010-11 to billion in 2023-24, according to data from the country’s central bank. The bank projects that figure will reach billion in 2029.
    This means there is an increasing market for digitalized banking experiences for non-resident Indians, ranging from remittances to investing in different assets back home.
    Asporais trying to build a verticalized financial experience for the Indian diaspora by keeping convenience at the center. While a lot of financial products are in its future roadmap, the company currently focuses largely on remittances.
    “While multiple financial products for non-resident Indians exist, they don’t know about them because there is no digital journey for them. They possibly use the same banking app as residents, which makes it harder for them to discover products catered towards them,” Garg said.
    In the last year, the company has grown the volume of remittances by 6x — from million to billion in yearly volume processed.
    With this growth, the company has attracted a lot of investor interest. It raised million in Series A funding last December — which was previously unreported — led by Sequoia with participation from Greylock, Y Combinator, Hummingbird Ventures, and Global Founders Capital. The round pegged the company’s valuation at million. In the four months following, the company tripled its transaction volume, prompting investors to put in more money.
    The company announced today it has raised million in Series B funding, co-led by Sequoia and Greylock, with Hummingbird, Quantum Light Ventures, and Y Combinator also contributing to the round. The startup said this round values the company at million. The startup has raised over million in funding to date.

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    Boston, MA
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    After pivoting from being Pipe.com for India, the company started by offering remittance for NRIs in the U.K. in 2023 and has expanded its presence in other markets, including Europe and the United Arab Emirates. It charges a flat fee for money transfer and offers a competitive rate. Now it also allows customers to invest in mutual funds in India. The startup markets its exchange rates as “Google rate” as customers often search for currency conversion rates, even though they may not reflect live rates.
    The startup is also set to launch in the U.S., one of the biggest remittance corridors to India, next month. Plus, it plans to open up shop in Canada, Singapore, and Australia by the fourth quarter of this year.
    Garg, who grew up in the UAE, said that remittances are just the start, and the company wants to build out more financial tools for NRIs.
    “We want to use remittances as a wedge and build all the financial solutions that the diaspora needs, including banking, investing, insurance, lending in the home country, and products that help them take care of their parents,” he told TechCrunch.
    He added that a large chunk of money that NRIs send home is for wealth creation rather than family sustenance. The startup said that 80% of its users are sending money to their own accounts back home.
    In the next few months, the company is launching a few products to offer more services. This month, it plans to launch a bill payment platform to let users pay for services like rent and utilities. Next month, it plans to launch fixed deposit accounts for non-resident Indians that allow them to park money in foreign currency. By the end of the year, it plans to launch a full-stack banking account for NRIs that typically takes days for users to open. While these accounts can help the diaspora maintain their tax status in India, a lot of people use a family member’s account because of the cumbersome process, and Aspora wants to simplify this.
    Apart from banking, the company also plans to launch a product that would help NRIs take care of their parents back home by offering regular medical checkups, emergency care coverage, and concierge services for other assistance.
    Besides global competitors like Remittly and Wise, the company also has India-based rivals like Abound, which was spun off from Times Internet.
    Sequoia’s Luciana Lixandru is confident that Aspora’s execution speed and verticalized solution will give it an edge.
    “Speed of execution, for me, is one of the main indicators in the early days of the future success of a company,” she told TechCrunch over a call. “Aspora moves fast, but it is also very deliberate in building corridor by corridor, which is very important in financial services.”
    #aspora #gets #50m #sequioa #build
    Aspora gets $50M from Sequioa to build remittance and banking solutions for Indian diaspora
    India has been one of the top recipients of remittances in the world for more than a decade. Inward remittances jumped from billion in 2010-11 to billion in 2023-24, according to data from the country’s central bank. The bank projects that figure will reach billion in 2029. This means there is an increasing market for digitalized banking experiences for non-resident Indians, ranging from remittances to investing in different assets back home. Asporais trying to build a verticalized financial experience for the Indian diaspora by keeping convenience at the center. While a lot of financial products are in its future roadmap, the company currently focuses largely on remittances. “While multiple financial products for non-resident Indians exist, they don’t know about them because there is no digital journey for them. They possibly use the same banking app as residents, which makes it harder for them to discover products catered towards them,” Garg said. In the last year, the company has grown the volume of remittances by 6x — from million to billion in yearly volume processed. With this growth, the company has attracted a lot of investor interest. It raised million in Series A funding last December — which was previously unreported — led by Sequoia with participation from Greylock, Y Combinator, Hummingbird Ventures, and Global Founders Capital. The round pegged the company’s valuation at million. In the four months following, the company tripled its transaction volume, prompting investors to put in more money. The company announced today it has raised million in Series B funding, co-led by Sequoia and Greylock, with Hummingbird, Quantum Light Ventures, and Y Combinator also contributing to the round. The startup said this round values the company at million. The startup has raised over million in funding to date. Techcrunch event + on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. + on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Boston, MA | July 15 REGISTER NOW After pivoting from being Pipe.com for India, the company started by offering remittance for NRIs in the U.K. in 2023 and has expanded its presence in other markets, including Europe and the United Arab Emirates. It charges a flat fee for money transfer and offers a competitive rate. Now it also allows customers to invest in mutual funds in India. The startup markets its exchange rates as “Google rate” as customers often search for currency conversion rates, even though they may not reflect live rates. The startup is also set to launch in the U.S., one of the biggest remittance corridors to India, next month. Plus, it plans to open up shop in Canada, Singapore, and Australia by the fourth quarter of this year. Garg, who grew up in the UAE, said that remittances are just the start, and the company wants to build out more financial tools for NRIs. “We want to use remittances as a wedge and build all the financial solutions that the diaspora needs, including banking, investing, insurance, lending in the home country, and products that help them take care of their parents,” he told TechCrunch. He added that a large chunk of money that NRIs send home is for wealth creation rather than family sustenance. The startup said that 80% of its users are sending money to their own accounts back home. In the next few months, the company is launching a few products to offer more services. This month, it plans to launch a bill payment platform to let users pay for services like rent and utilities. Next month, it plans to launch fixed deposit accounts for non-resident Indians that allow them to park money in foreign currency. By the end of the year, it plans to launch a full-stack banking account for NRIs that typically takes days for users to open. While these accounts can help the diaspora maintain their tax status in India, a lot of people use a family member’s account because of the cumbersome process, and Aspora wants to simplify this. Apart from banking, the company also plans to launch a product that would help NRIs take care of their parents back home by offering regular medical checkups, emergency care coverage, and concierge services for other assistance. Besides global competitors like Remittly and Wise, the company also has India-based rivals like Abound, which was spun off from Times Internet. Sequoia’s Luciana Lixandru is confident that Aspora’s execution speed and verticalized solution will give it an edge. “Speed of execution, for me, is one of the main indicators in the early days of the future success of a company,” she told TechCrunch over a call. “Aspora moves fast, but it is also very deliberate in building corridor by corridor, which is very important in financial services.” #aspora #gets #50m #sequioa #build
    TECHCRUNCH.COM
    Aspora gets $50M from Sequioa to build remittance and banking solutions for Indian diaspora
    India has been one of the top recipients of remittances in the world for more than a decade. Inward remittances jumped from $55.6 billion in 2010-11 to $118.7 billion in 2023-24, according to data from the country’s central bank. The bank projects that figure will reach $160 billion in 2029. This means there is an increasing market for digitalized banking experiences for non-resident Indians(NRIs), ranging from remittances to investing in different assets back home. Aspora (formerly Vance) is trying to build a verticalized financial experience for the Indian diaspora by keeping convenience at the center. While a lot of financial products are in its future roadmap, the company currently focuses largely on remittances. “While multiple financial products for non-resident Indians exist, they don’t know about them because there is no digital journey for them. They possibly use the same banking app as residents, which makes it harder for them to discover products catered towards them,” Garg said. In the last year, the company has grown the volume of remittances by 6x — from $400 million to $2 billion in yearly volume processed. With this growth, the company has attracted a lot of investor interest. It raised $35 million in Series A funding last December — which was previously unreported — led by Sequoia with participation from Greylock, Y Combinator, Hummingbird Ventures, and Global Founders Capital. The round pegged the company’s valuation at $150 million. In the four months following, the company tripled its transaction volume, prompting investors to put in more money. The company announced today it has raised $50 million in Series B funding, co-led by Sequoia and Greylock, with Hummingbird, Quantum Light Ventures, and Y Combinator also contributing to the round. The startup said this round values the company at $500 million. The startup has raised over $99 million in funding to date. Techcrunch event Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Boston, MA | July 15 REGISTER NOW After pivoting from being Pipe.com for India, the company started by offering remittance for NRIs in the U.K. in 2023 and has expanded its presence in other markets, including Europe and the United Arab Emirates. It charges a flat fee for money transfer and offers a competitive rate. Now it also allows customers to invest in mutual funds in India. The startup markets its exchange rates as “Google rate” as customers often search for currency conversion rates, even though they may not reflect live rates. The startup is also set to launch in the U.S., one of the biggest remittance corridors to India, next month. Plus, it plans to open up shop in Canada, Singapore, and Australia by the fourth quarter of this year. Garg, who grew up in the UAE, said that remittances are just the start, and the company wants to build out more financial tools for NRIs. “We want to use remittances as a wedge and build all the financial solutions that the diaspora needs, including banking, investing, insurance, lending in the home country, and products that help them take care of their parents,” he told TechCrunch. He added that a large chunk of money that NRIs send home is for wealth creation rather than family sustenance. The startup said that 80% of its users are sending money to their own accounts back home. In the next few months, the company is launching a few products to offer more services. This month, it plans to launch a bill payment platform to let users pay for services like rent and utilities. Next month, it plans to launch fixed deposit accounts for non-resident Indians that allow them to park money in foreign currency. By the end of the year, it plans to launch a full-stack banking account for NRIs that typically takes days for users to open. While these accounts can help the diaspora maintain their tax status in India, a lot of people use a family member’s account because of the cumbersome process, and Aspora wants to simplify this. Apart from banking, the company also plans to launch a product that would help NRIs take care of their parents back home by offering regular medical checkups, emergency care coverage, and concierge services for other assistance. Besides global competitors like Remittly and Wise, the company also has India-based rivals like Abound, which was spun off from Times Internet. Sequoia’s Luciana Lixandru is confident that Aspora’s execution speed and verticalized solution will give it an edge. “Speed of execution, for me, is one of the main indicators in the early days of the future success of a company,” she told TechCrunch over a call. “Aspora moves fast, but it is also very deliberate in building corridor by corridor, which is very important in financial services.”
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  • New Zealand’s Email Security Requirements for Government Organizations: What You Need to Know

    The Secure Government EmailCommon Implementation Framework
    New Zealand’s government is introducing a comprehensive email security framework designed to protect official communications from phishing and domain spoofing. This new framework, which will be mandatory for all government agencies by October 2025, establishes clear technical standards to enhance email security and retire the outdated SEEMail service. 
    Key Takeaways

    All NZ government agencies must comply with new email security requirements by October 2025.
    The new framework strengthens trust and security in government communications by preventing spoofing and phishing.
    The framework mandates TLS 1.2+, SPF, DKIM, DMARC with p=reject, MTA-STS, and DLP controls.
    EasyDMARC simplifies compliance with our guided setup, monitoring, and automated reporting.

    Start a Free Trial

    What is the Secure Government Email Common Implementation Framework?
    The Secure Government EmailCommon Implementation Framework is a new government-led initiative in New Zealand designed to standardize email security across all government agencies. Its main goal is to secure external email communication, reduce domain spoofing in phishing attacks, and replace the legacy SEEMail service.
    Why is New Zealand Implementing New Government Email Security Standards?
    The framework was developed by New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairsas part of its role in managing ICT Common Capabilities. It leverages modern email security controls via the Domain Name Systemto enable the retirement of the legacy SEEMail service and provide:

    Encryption for transmission security
    Digital signing for message integrity
    Basic non-repudiationDomain spoofing protection

    These improvements apply to all emails, not just those routed through SEEMail, offering broader protection across agency communications.
    What Email Security Technologies Are Required by the New NZ SGE Framework?
    The SGE Framework outlines the following key technologies that agencies must implement:

    TLS 1.2 or higher with implicit TLS enforced
    TLS-RPTSPFDKIMDMARCwith reporting
    MTA-STSData Loss Prevention controls

    These technologies work together to ensure encrypted email transmission, validate sender identity, prevent unauthorized use of domains, and reduce the risk of sensitive data leaks.

    Get in touch

    When Do NZ Government Agencies Need to Comply with this Framework?
    All New Zealand government agencies are expected to fully implement the Secure Government EmailCommon Implementation Framework by October 2025. Agencies should begin their planning and deployment now to ensure full compliance by the deadline.
    The All of Government Secure Email Common Implementation Framework v1.0
    What are the Mandated Requirements for Domains?
    Below are the exact requirements for all email-enabled domains under the new framework.
    ControlExact RequirementTLSMinimum TLS 1.2. TLS 1.1, 1.0, SSL, or clear-text not permitted.TLS-RPTAll email-sending domains must have TLS reporting enabled.SPFMust exist and end with -all.DKIMAll outbound email from every sending service must be DKIM-signed at the final hop.DMARCPolicy of p=reject on all email-enabled domains. adkim=s is recommended when not bulk-sending.MTA-STSEnabled and set to enforce.Implicit TLSMust be configured and enforced for every connection.Data Loss PreventionEnforce in line with the New Zealand Information Security Manualand Protective Security Requirements.
    Compliance Monitoring and Reporting
    The All of Government Service Deliveryteam will be monitoring compliance with the framework. Monitoring will initially cover SPF, DMARC, and MTA-STS settings and will be expanded to include DKIM. Changes to these settings will be monitored, enabling reporting on email security compliance across all government agencies. Ongoing monitoring will highlight changes to domains, ensure new domains are set up with security in place, and monitor the implementation of future email security technologies. 
    Should compliance changes occur, such as an agency’s SPF record being changed from -all to ~all, this will be captured so that the AoGSD Security Team can investigate. They will then communicate directly with the agency to determine if an issue exists or if an error has occurred, reviewing each case individually.
    Deployment Checklist for NZ Government Compliance

    Enforce TLS 1.2 minimum, implicit TLS, MTA-STS & TLS-RPT
    SPF with -all
    DKIM on all outbound email
    DMARC p=reject 
    adkim=s where suitable
    For non-email/parked domains: SPF -all, empty DKIM, DMARC reject strict
    Compliance dashboard
    Inbound DMARC evaluation enforced
    DLP aligned with NZISM

    Start a Free Trial

    How EasyDMARC Can Help Government Agencies Comply
    EasyDMARC provides a comprehensive email security solution that simplifies the deployment and ongoing management of DNS-based email security protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC with reporting. Our platform offers automated checks, real-time monitoring, and a guided setup to help government organizations quickly reach compliance.
    1. TLS-RPT / MTA-STS audit
    EasyDMARC enables you to enable the Managed MTA-STS and TLS-RPT option with a single click. We provide the required DNS records and continuously monitor them for issues, delivering reports on TLS negotiation problems. This helps agencies ensure secure email transmission and quickly detect delivery or encryption failures.

    Note: In this screenshot, you can see how to deploy MTA-STS and TLS Reporting by adding just three CNAME records provided by EasyDMARC. It’s recommended to start in “testing” mode, evaluate the TLS-RPT reports, and then gradually switch your MTA-STS policy to “enforce”. The process is simple and takes just a few clicks.

    As shown above, EasyDMARC parses incoming TLS reports into a centralized dashboard, giving you clear visibility into delivery and encryption issues across all sending sources.
    2. SPF with “-all”In the EasyDARC platform, you can run the SPF Record Generator to create a compliant record. Publish your v=spf1 record with “-all” to enforce a hard fail for unauthorized senders and prevent spoofed emails from passing SPF checks. This strengthens your domain’s protection against impersonation.

    Note: It is highly recommended to start adjusting your SPF record only after you begin receiving DMARC reports and identifying your legitimate email sources. As we’ll explain in more detail below, both SPF and DKIM should be adjusted after you gain visibility through reports.
    Making changes without proper visibility can lead to false positives, misconfigurations, and potential loss of legitimate emails. That’s why the first step should always be setting DMARC to p=none, receiving reports, analyzing them, and then gradually fixing any SPF or DKIM issues.
    3. DKIM on all outbound email
    DKIM must be configured for all email sources sending emails on behalf of your domain. This is critical, as DKIM plays a bigger role than SPF when it comes to building domain reputation, surviving auto-forwarding, mailing lists, and other edge cases.
    As mentioned above, DMARC reports provide visibility into your email sources, allowing you to implement DKIM accordingly. If you’re using third-party services like Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or Mimecast, you’ll need to retrieve the public DKIM key from your provider’s admin interface.
    EasyDMARC maintains a backend directory of over 1,400 email sources. We also give you detailed guidance on how to configure SPF and DKIM correctly for major ESPs. 
    Note: At the end of this article, you’ll find configuration links for well-known ESPs like Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Zoho Mail, Amazon SES, and SendGrid – helping you avoid common misconfigurations and get aligned with SGE requirements.
    If you’re using a dedicated MTA, DKIM must be implemented manually. EasyDMARC’s DKIM Record Generator lets you generate both public and private keys for your server. The private key is stored on your MTA, while the public key must be published in your DNS.

    4. DMARC p=reject rollout
    As mentioned in previous points, DMARC reporting is the first and most important step on your DMARC enforcement journey. Always start with a p=none policy and configure RUA reports to be sent to EasyDMARC. Use the report insights to identify and fix SPF and DKIM alignment issues, then gradually move to p=quarantine and finally p=reject once all legitimate email sources have been authenticated. 
    This phased approach ensures full protection against domain spoofing without risking legitimate email delivery.

    5. adkim Strict Alignment Check
    This strict alignment check is not always applicable, especially if you’re using third-party bulk ESPs, such as Sendgrid, that require you to set DKIM on a subdomain level. You can set adkim=s in your DMARC TXT record, or simply enable strict mode in EasyDMARC’s Managed DMARC settings. This ensures that only emails with a DKIM signature that exactly match your domain pass alignment, adding an extra layer of protection against domain spoofing. But only do this if you are NOT a bulk sender.

    6. Securing Non-Email Enabled Domains
    The purpose of deploying email security to non-email-enabled domains, or parked domains, is to prevent messages being spoofed from that domain. This requirement remains even if the root-level domain has SP=reject set within its DMARC record.
    Under this new framework, you must bulk import and mark parked domains as “Parked.” Crucially, this requires adjusting SPF settings to an empty record, setting DMARC to p=reject, and ensuring an empty DKIM record is in place: • SPF record: “v=spf1 -all”.
    • Wildcard DKIM record with empty public key.• DMARC record: “v=DMARC1;p=reject;adkim=s;aspf=s;rua=mailto:…”.
    EasyDMARC allows you to add and label parked domains for free. This is important because it helps you monitor any activity from these domains and ensure they remain protected with a strict DMARC policy of p=reject.
    7. Compliance Dashboard
    Use EasyDMARC’s Domain Scanner to assess the security posture of each domain with a clear compliance score and risk level. The dashboard highlights configuration gaps and guides remediation steps, helping government agencies stay on track toward full compliance with the SGE Framework.

    8. Inbound DMARC Evaluation Enforced
    You don’t need to apply any changes if you’re using Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or other major mailbox providers. Most of them already enforce DMARC evaluation on incoming emails.
    However, some legacy Microsoft 365 setups may still quarantine emails that fail DMARC checks, even when the sending domain has a p=reject policy, instead of rejecting them. This behavior can be adjusted directly from your Microsoft Defender portal. about this in our step-by-step guide on how to set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC from Microsoft Defender.
    If you’re using a third-party mail provider that doesn’t enforce having a DMARC policy for incoming emails, which is rare, you’ll need to contact their support to request a configuration change.
    9. Data Loss Prevention Aligned with NZISM
    The New Zealand Information Security Manualis the New Zealand Government’s manual on information assurance and information systems security. It includes guidance on data loss prevention, which must be followed to be aligned with the SEG.
    Need Help Setting up SPF and DKIM for your Email Provider?
    Setting up SPF and DKIM for different ESPs often requires specific configurations. Some providers require you to publish SPF and DKIM on a subdomain, while others only require DKIM, or have different formatting rules. We’ve simplified all these steps to help you avoid misconfigurations that could delay your DMARC enforcement, or worse, block legitimate emails from reaching your recipients.
    Below you’ll find comprehensive setup guides for Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Zoho Mail, Amazon SES, and SendGrid. You can also explore our full blog section that covers setup instructions for many other well-known ESPs.
    Remember, all this information is reflected in your DMARC aggregate reports. These reports give you live visibility into your outgoing email ecosystem, helping you analyze and fix any issues specific to a given provider.
    Here are our step-by-step guides for the most common platforms:

    Google Workspace

    Microsoft 365

    These guides will help ensure your DNS records are configured correctly as part of the Secure Government EmailFramework rollout.
    Meet New Government Email Security Standards With EasyDMARC
    New Zealand’s SEG Framework sets a clear path for government agencies to enhance their email security by October 2025. With EasyDMARC, you can meet these technical requirements efficiently and with confidence. From protocol setup to continuous monitoring and compliance tracking, EasyDMARC streamlines the entire process, ensuring strong protection against spoofing, phishing, and data loss while simplifying your transition from SEEMail.
    #new #zealands #email #security #requirements
    New Zealand’s Email Security Requirements for Government Organizations: What You Need to Know
    The Secure Government EmailCommon Implementation Framework New Zealand’s government is introducing a comprehensive email security framework designed to protect official communications from phishing and domain spoofing. This new framework, which will be mandatory for all government agencies by October 2025, establishes clear technical standards to enhance email security and retire the outdated SEEMail service.  Key Takeaways All NZ government agencies must comply with new email security requirements by October 2025. The new framework strengthens trust and security in government communications by preventing spoofing and phishing. The framework mandates TLS 1.2+, SPF, DKIM, DMARC with p=reject, MTA-STS, and DLP controls. EasyDMARC simplifies compliance with our guided setup, monitoring, and automated reporting. Start a Free Trial What is the Secure Government Email Common Implementation Framework? The Secure Government EmailCommon Implementation Framework is a new government-led initiative in New Zealand designed to standardize email security across all government agencies. Its main goal is to secure external email communication, reduce domain spoofing in phishing attacks, and replace the legacy SEEMail service. Why is New Zealand Implementing New Government Email Security Standards? The framework was developed by New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairsas part of its role in managing ICT Common Capabilities. It leverages modern email security controls via the Domain Name Systemto enable the retirement of the legacy SEEMail service and provide: Encryption for transmission security Digital signing for message integrity Basic non-repudiationDomain spoofing protection These improvements apply to all emails, not just those routed through SEEMail, offering broader protection across agency communications. What Email Security Technologies Are Required by the New NZ SGE Framework? The SGE Framework outlines the following key technologies that agencies must implement: TLS 1.2 or higher with implicit TLS enforced TLS-RPTSPFDKIMDMARCwith reporting MTA-STSData Loss Prevention controls These technologies work together to ensure encrypted email transmission, validate sender identity, prevent unauthorized use of domains, and reduce the risk of sensitive data leaks. Get in touch When Do NZ Government Agencies Need to Comply with this Framework? All New Zealand government agencies are expected to fully implement the Secure Government EmailCommon Implementation Framework by October 2025. Agencies should begin their planning and deployment now to ensure full compliance by the deadline. The All of Government Secure Email Common Implementation Framework v1.0 What are the Mandated Requirements for Domains? Below are the exact requirements for all email-enabled domains under the new framework. ControlExact RequirementTLSMinimum TLS 1.2. TLS 1.1, 1.0, SSL, or clear-text not permitted.TLS-RPTAll email-sending domains must have TLS reporting enabled.SPFMust exist and end with -all.DKIMAll outbound email from every sending service must be DKIM-signed at the final hop.DMARCPolicy of p=reject on all email-enabled domains. adkim=s is recommended when not bulk-sending.MTA-STSEnabled and set to enforce.Implicit TLSMust be configured and enforced for every connection.Data Loss PreventionEnforce in line with the New Zealand Information Security Manualand Protective Security Requirements. Compliance Monitoring and Reporting The All of Government Service Deliveryteam will be monitoring compliance with the framework. Monitoring will initially cover SPF, DMARC, and MTA-STS settings and will be expanded to include DKIM. Changes to these settings will be monitored, enabling reporting on email security compliance across all government agencies. Ongoing monitoring will highlight changes to domains, ensure new domains are set up with security in place, and monitor the implementation of future email security technologies.  Should compliance changes occur, such as an agency’s SPF record being changed from -all to ~all, this will be captured so that the AoGSD Security Team can investigate. They will then communicate directly with the agency to determine if an issue exists or if an error has occurred, reviewing each case individually. Deployment Checklist for NZ Government Compliance Enforce TLS 1.2 minimum, implicit TLS, MTA-STS & TLS-RPT SPF with -all DKIM on all outbound email DMARC p=reject  adkim=s where suitable For non-email/parked domains: SPF -all, empty DKIM, DMARC reject strict Compliance dashboard Inbound DMARC evaluation enforced DLP aligned with NZISM Start a Free Trial How EasyDMARC Can Help Government Agencies Comply EasyDMARC provides a comprehensive email security solution that simplifies the deployment and ongoing management of DNS-based email security protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC with reporting. Our platform offers automated checks, real-time monitoring, and a guided setup to help government organizations quickly reach compliance. 1. TLS-RPT / MTA-STS audit EasyDMARC enables you to enable the Managed MTA-STS and TLS-RPT option with a single click. We provide the required DNS records and continuously monitor them for issues, delivering reports on TLS negotiation problems. This helps agencies ensure secure email transmission and quickly detect delivery or encryption failures. Note: In this screenshot, you can see how to deploy MTA-STS and TLS Reporting by adding just three CNAME records provided by EasyDMARC. It’s recommended to start in “testing” mode, evaluate the TLS-RPT reports, and then gradually switch your MTA-STS policy to “enforce”. The process is simple and takes just a few clicks. As shown above, EasyDMARC parses incoming TLS reports into a centralized dashboard, giving you clear visibility into delivery and encryption issues across all sending sources. 2. SPF with “-all”In the EasyDARC platform, you can run the SPF Record Generator to create a compliant record. Publish your v=spf1 record with “-all” to enforce a hard fail for unauthorized senders and prevent spoofed emails from passing SPF checks. This strengthens your domain’s protection against impersonation. Note: It is highly recommended to start adjusting your SPF record only after you begin receiving DMARC reports and identifying your legitimate email sources. As we’ll explain in more detail below, both SPF and DKIM should be adjusted after you gain visibility through reports. Making changes without proper visibility can lead to false positives, misconfigurations, and potential loss of legitimate emails. That’s why the first step should always be setting DMARC to p=none, receiving reports, analyzing them, and then gradually fixing any SPF or DKIM issues. 3. DKIM on all outbound email DKIM must be configured for all email sources sending emails on behalf of your domain. This is critical, as DKIM plays a bigger role than SPF when it comes to building domain reputation, surviving auto-forwarding, mailing lists, and other edge cases. As mentioned above, DMARC reports provide visibility into your email sources, allowing you to implement DKIM accordingly. If you’re using third-party services like Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or Mimecast, you’ll need to retrieve the public DKIM key from your provider’s admin interface. EasyDMARC maintains a backend directory of over 1,400 email sources. We also give you detailed guidance on how to configure SPF and DKIM correctly for major ESPs.  Note: At the end of this article, you’ll find configuration links for well-known ESPs like Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Zoho Mail, Amazon SES, and SendGrid – helping you avoid common misconfigurations and get aligned with SGE requirements. If you’re using a dedicated MTA, DKIM must be implemented manually. EasyDMARC’s DKIM Record Generator lets you generate both public and private keys for your server. The private key is stored on your MTA, while the public key must be published in your DNS. 4. DMARC p=reject rollout As mentioned in previous points, DMARC reporting is the first and most important step on your DMARC enforcement journey. Always start with a p=none policy and configure RUA reports to be sent to EasyDMARC. Use the report insights to identify and fix SPF and DKIM alignment issues, then gradually move to p=quarantine and finally p=reject once all legitimate email sources have been authenticated.  This phased approach ensures full protection against domain spoofing without risking legitimate email delivery. 5. adkim Strict Alignment Check This strict alignment check is not always applicable, especially if you’re using third-party bulk ESPs, such as Sendgrid, that require you to set DKIM on a subdomain level. You can set adkim=s in your DMARC TXT record, or simply enable strict mode in EasyDMARC’s Managed DMARC settings. This ensures that only emails with a DKIM signature that exactly match your domain pass alignment, adding an extra layer of protection against domain spoofing. But only do this if you are NOT a bulk sender. 6. Securing Non-Email Enabled Domains The purpose of deploying email security to non-email-enabled domains, or parked domains, is to prevent messages being spoofed from that domain. This requirement remains even if the root-level domain has SP=reject set within its DMARC record. Under this new framework, you must bulk import and mark parked domains as “Parked.” Crucially, this requires adjusting SPF settings to an empty record, setting DMARC to p=reject, and ensuring an empty DKIM record is in place: • SPF record: “v=spf1 -all”. • Wildcard DKIM record with empty public key.• DMARC record: “v=DMARC1;p=reject;adkim=s;aspf=s;rua=mailto:…”. EasyDMARC allows you to add and label parked domains for free. This is important because it helps you monitor any activity from these domains and ensure they remain protected with a strict DMARC policy of p=reject. 7. Compliance Dashboard Use EasyDMARC’s Domain Scanner to assess the security posture of each domain with a clear compliance score and risk level. The dashboard highlights configuration gaps and guides remediation steps, helping government agencies stay on track toward full compliance with the SGE Framework. 8. Inbound DMARC Evaluation Enforced You don’t need to apply any changes if you’re using Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or other major mailbox providers. Most of them already enforce DMARC evaluation on incoming emails. However, some legacy Microsoft 365 setups may still quarantine emails that fail DMARC checks, even when the sending domain has a p=reject policy, instead of rejecting them. This behavior can be adjusted directly from your Microsoft Defender portal. about this in our step-by-step guide on how to set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC from Microsoft Defender. If you’re using a third-party mail provider that doesn’t enforce having a DMARC policy for incoming emails, which is rare, you’ll need to contact their support to request a configuration change. 9. Data Loss Prevention Aligned with NZISM The New Zealand Information Security Manualis the New Zealand Government’s manual on information assurance and information systems security. It includes guidance on data loss prevention, which must be followed to be aligned with the SEG. Need Help Setting up SPF and DKIM for your Email Provider? Setting up SPF and DKIM for different ESPs often requires specific configurations. Some providers require you to publish SPF and DKIM on a subdomain, while others only require DKIM, or have different formatting rules. We’ve simplified all these steps to help you avoid misconfigurations that could delay your DMARC enforcement, or worse, block legitimate emails from reaching your recipients. Below you’ll find comprehensive setup guides for Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Zoho Mail, Amazon SES, and SendGrid. You can also explore our full blog section that covers setup instructions for many other well-known ESPs. Remember, all this information is reflected in your DMARC aggregate reports. These reports give you live visibility into your outgoing email ecosystem, helping you analyze and fix any issues specific to a given provider. Here are our step-by-step guides for the most common platforms: Google Workspace Microsoft 365 These guides will help ensure your DNS records are configured correctly as part of the Secure Government EmailFramework rollout. Meet New Government Email Security Standards With EasyDMARC New Zealand’s SEG Framework sets a clear path for government agencies to enhance their email security by October 2025. With EasyDMARC, you can meet these technical requirements efficiently and with confidence. From protocol setup to continuous monitoring and compliance tracking, EasyDMARC streamlines the entire process, ensuring strong protection against spoofing, phishing, and data loss while simplifying your transition from SEEMail. #new #zealands #email #security #requirements
    EASYDMARC.COM
    New Zealand’s Email Security Requirements for Government Organizations: What You Need to Know
    The Secure Government Email (SGE) Common Implementation Framework New Zealand’s government is introducing a comprehensive email security framework designed to protect official communications from phishing and domain spoofing. This new framework, which will be mandatory for all government agencies by October 2025, establishes clear technical standards to enhance email security and retire the outdated SEEMail service.  Key Takeaways All NZ government agencies must comply with new email security requirements by October 2025. The new framework strengthens trust and security in government communications by preventing spoofing and phishing. The framework mandates TLS 1.2+, SPF, DKIM, DMARC with p=reject, MTA-STS, and DLP controls. EasyDMARC simplifies compliance with our guided setup, monitoring, and automated reporting. Start a Free Trial What is the Secure Government Email Common Implementation Framework? The Secure Government Email (SGE) Common Implementation Framework is a new government-led initiative in New Zealand designed to standardize email security across all government agencies. Its main goal is to secure external email communication, reduce domain spoofing in phishing attacks, and replace the legacy SEEMail service. Why is New Zealand Implementing New Government Email Security Standards? The framework was developed by New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) as part of its role in managing ICT Common Capabilities. It leverages modern email security controls via the Domain Name System (DNS) to enable the retirement of the legacy SEEMail service and provide: Encryption for transmission security Digital signing for message integrity Basic non-repudiation (by allowing only authorized senders) Domain spoofing protection These improvements apply to all emails, not just those routed through SEEMail, offering broader protection across agency communications. What Email Security Technologies Are Required by the New NZ SGE Framework? The SGE Framework outlines the following key technologies that agencies must implement: TLS 1.2 or higher with implicit TLS enforced TLS-RPT (TLS Reporting) SPF (Sender Policy Framework) DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) with reporting MTA-STS (Mail Transfer Agent Strict Transport Security) Data Loss Prevention controls These technologies work together to ensure encrypted email transmission, validate sender identity, prevent unauthorized use of domains, and reduce the risk of sensitive data leaks. Get in touch When Do NZ Government Agencies Need to Comply with this Framework? All New Zealand government agencies are expected to fully implement the Secure Government Email (SGE) Common Implementation Framework by October 2025. Agencies should begin their planning and deployment now to ensure full compliance by the deadline. The All of Government Secure Email Common Implementation Framework v1.0 What are the Mandated Requirements for Domains? Below are the exact requirements for all email-enabled domains under the new framework. ControlExact RequirementTLSMinimum TLS 1.2. TLS 1.1, 1.0, SSL, or clear-text not permitted.TLS-RPTAll email-sending domains must have TLS reporting enabled.SPFMust exist and end with -all.DKIMAll outbound email from every sending service must be DKIM-signed at the final hop.DMARCPolicy of p=reject on all email-enabled domains. adkim=s is recommended when not bulk-sending.MTA-STSEnabled and set to enforce.Implicit TLSMust be configured and enforced for every connection.Data Loss PreventionEnforce in line with the New Zealand Information Security Manual (NZISM) and Protective Security Requirements (PSR). Compliance Monitoring and Reporting The All of Government Service Delivery (AoGSD) team will be monitoring compliance with the framework. Monitoring will initially cover SPF, DMARC, and MTA-STS settings and will be expanded to include DKIM. Changes to these settings will be monitored, enabling reporting on email security compliance across all government agencies. Ongoing monitoring will highlight changes to domains, ensure new domains are set up with security in place, and monitor the implementation of future email security technologies.  Should compliance changes occur, such as an agency’s SPF record being changed from -all to ~all, this will be captured so that the AoGSD Security Team can investigate. They will then communicate directly with the agency to determine if an issue exists or if an error has occurred, reviewing each case individually. Deployment Checklist for NZ Government Compliance Enforce TLS 1.2 minimum, implicit TLS, MTA-STS & TLS-RPT SPF with -all DKIM on all outbound email DMARC p=reject  adkim=s where suitable For non-email/parked domains: SPF -all, empty DKIM, DMARC reject strict Compliance dashboard Inbound DMARC evaluation enforced DLP aligned with NZISM Start a Free Trial How EasyDMARC Can Help Government Agencies Comply EasyDMARC provides a comprehensive email security solution that simplifies the deployment and ongoing management of DNS-based email security protocols like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC with reporting. Our platform offers automated checks, real-time monitoring, and a guided setup to help government organizations quickly reach compliance. 1. TLS-RPT / MTA-STS audit EasyDMARC enables you to enable the Managed MTA-STS and TLS-RPT option with a single click. We provide the required DNS records and continuously monitor them for issues, delivering reports on TLS negotiation problems. This helps agencies ensure secure email transmission and quickly detect delivery or encryption failures. Note: In this screenshot, you can see how to deploy MTA-STS and TLS Reporting by adding just three CNAME records provided by EasyDMARC. It’s recommended to start in “testing” mode, evaluate the TLS-RPT reports, and then gradually switch your MTA-STS policy to “enforce”. The process is simple and takes just a few clicks. As shown above, EasyDMARC parses incoming TLS reports into a centralized dashboard, giving you clear visibility into delivery and encryption issues across all sending sources. 2. SPF with “-all”In the EasyDARC platform, you can run the SPF Record Generator to create a compliant record. Publish your v=spf1 record with “-all” to enforce a hard fail for unauthorized senders and prevent spoofed emails from passing SPF checks. This strengthens your domain’s protection against impersonation. Note: It is highly recommended to start adjusting your SPF record only after you begin receiving DMARC reports and identifying your legitimate email sources. As we’ll explain in more detail below, both SPF and DKIM should be adjusted after you gain visibility through reports. Making changes without proper visibility can lead to false positives, misconfigurations, and potential loss of legitimate emails. That’s why the first step should always be setting DMARC to p=none, receiving reports, analyzing them, and then gradually fixing any SPF or DKIM issues. 3. DKIM on all outbound email DKIM must be configured for all email sources sending emails on behalf of your domain. This is critical, as DKIM plays a bigger role than SPF when it comes to building domain reputation, surviving auto-forwarding, mailing lists, and other edge cases. As mentioned above, DMARC reports provide visibility into your email sources, allowing you to implement DKIM accordingly (see first screenshot). If you’re using third-party services like Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or Mimecast, you’ll need to retrieve the public DKIM key from your provider’s admin interface (see second screenshot). EasyDMARC maintains a backend directory of over 1,400 email sources. We also give you detailed guidance on how to configure SPF and DKIM correctly for major ESPs.  Note: At the end of this article, you’ll find configuration links for well-known ESPs like Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Zoho Mail, Amazon SES, and SendGrid – helping you avoid common misconfigurations and get aligned with SGE requirements. If you’re using a dedicated MTA (e.g., Postfix), DKIM must be implemented manually. EasyDMARC’s DKIM Record Generator lets you generate both public and private keys for your server. The private key is stored on your MTA, while the public key must be published in your DNS (see third and fourth screenshots). 4. DMARC p=reject rollout As mentioned in previous points, DMARC reporting is the first and most important step on your DMARC enforcement journey. Always start with a p=none policy and configure RUA reports to be sent to EasyDMARC. Use the report insights to identify and fix SPF and DKIM alignment issues, then gradually move to p=quarantine and finally p=reject once all legitimate email sources have been authenticated.  This phased approach ensures full protection against domain spoofing without risking legitimate email delivery. 5. adkim Strict Alignment Check This strict alignment check is not always applicable, especially if you’re using third-party bulk ESPs, such as Sendgrid, that require you to set DKIM on a subdomain level. You can set adkim=s in your DMARC TXT record, or simply enable strict mode in EasyDMARC’s Managed DMARC settings. This ensures that only emails with a DKIM signature that exactly match your domain pass alignment, adding an extra layer of protection against domain spoofing. But only do this if you are NOT a bulk sender. 6. Securing Non-Email Enabled Domains The purpose of deploying email security to non-email-enabled domains, or parked domains, is to prevent messages being spoofed from that domain. This requirement remains even if the root-level domain has SP=reject set within its DMARC record. Under this new framework, you must bulk import and mark parked domains as “Parked.” Crucially, this requires adjusting SPF settings to an empty record, setting DMARC to p=reject, and ensuring an empty DKIM record is in place: • SPF record: “v=spf1 -all”. • Wildcard DKIM record with empty public key.• DMARC record: “v=DMARC1;p=reject;adkim=s;aspf=s;rua=mailto:…”. EasyDMARC allows you to add and label parked domains for free. This is important because it helps you monitor any activity from these domains and ensure they remain protected with a strict DMARC policy of p=reject. 7. Compliance Dashboard Use EasyDMARC’s Domain Scanner to assess the security posture of each domain with a clear compliance score and risk level. The dashboard highlights configuration gaps and guides remediation steps, helping government agencies stay on track toward full compliance with the SGE Framework. 8. Inbound DMARC Evaluation Enforced You don’t need to apply any changes if you’re using Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, or other major mailbox providers. Most of them already enforce DMARC evaluation on incoming emails. However, some legacy Microsoft 365 setups may still quarantine emails that fail DMARC checks, even when the sending domain has a p=reject policy, instead of rejecting them. This behavior can be adjusted directly from your Microsoft Defender portal. Read more about this in our step-by-step guide on how to set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC from Microsoft Defender. If you’re using a third-party mail provider that doesn’t enforce having a DMARC policy for incoming emails, which is rare, you’ll need to contact their support to request a configuration change. 9. Data Loss Prevention Aligned with NZISM The New Zealand Information Security Manual (NZISM) is the New Zealand Government’s manual on information assurance and information systems security. It includes guidance on data loss prevention (DLP), which must be followed to be aligned with the SEG. Need Help Setting up SPF and DKIM for your Email Provider? Setting up SPF and DKIM for different ESPs often requires specific configurations. Some providers require you to publish SPF and DKIM on a subdomain, while others only require DKIM, or have different formatting rules. We’ve simplified all these steps to help you avoid misconfigurations that could delay your DMARC enforcement, or worse, block legitimate emails from reaching your recipients. Below you’ll find comprehensive setup guides for Google Workspace, Microsoft 365, Zoho Mail, Amazon SES, and SendGrid. You can also explore our full blog section that covers setup instructions for many other well-known ESPs. Remember, all this information is reflected in your DMARC aggregate reports. These reports give you live visibility into your outgoing email ecosystem, helping you analyze and fix any issues specific to a given provider. Here are our step-by-step guides for the most common platforms: Google Workspace Microsoft 365 These guides will help ensure your DNS records are configured correctly as part of the Secure Government Email (SGE) Framework rollout. Meet New Government Email Security Standards With EasyDMARC New Zealand’s SEG Framework sets a clear path for government agencies to enhance their email security by October 2025. With EasyDMARC, you can meet these technical requirements efficiently and with confidence. From protocol setup to continuous monitoring and compliance tracking, EasyDMARC streamlines the entire process, ensuring strong protection against spoofing, phishing, and data loss while simplifying your transition from SEEMail.
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  • Recipients of Public Awareness Sponsorship Program announced

    The latest recipients of the OAA’s Public Awareness Sponsorship program, held twice a year, have been announced.
    Under its five-year strategic plan, the OAA has identified public education as a key pillar with the goal to advance the public’s understanding and recognition that architecture is integral to the quality of life and well-being of society. As a result, the OAA offers Public Awareness Funding in amounts from to to applicants working to expand an awareness of the value of architecture in their communities.
    The Communications and Public Education Committeehas agreed to fund the following applicants.

    Toronto Public Space Committee and Cyan Station – To the Loo! Toronto Toilet Design Challenge
    The “To the Loo! Toronto Toilet Design Challenge” is a global call to reimagine public washrooms as vital elements of the urban landscape. A joint effort by the Toronto Public Space Committee and Cyan Station, the initiative emphasizes accessibility, public health, and innovative design. Featuring a summer 2025 public event and exhibition, the challenge invites architects, designers, and engaged citizens to explore creative solutions that transform how we experience these essential public spaces.
    Heritage Ottawa – 2025 Heritage Ottawa Walking Tours
    Heritage Ottawa is an advocate for the preservation and appreciation of Ottawa’s built heritage. For more than 50 years, its signature guided Walking Tours, offered in both English and French, have attracted diverse audiences and have highlighted the city’s architectural and cultural history.
    Kelvin Kung – Designing Dignity: Community-Driven Insights for Better Palliative and Long-Term Care Spaces
    “Designing Dignity: Community-Driven Insights for Better Palliative and Long-Term Care Spaces” focuses on enhancing the quality of life for aging populations by reimagining care spaces through thoughtful architectural design. By leveraging online engagement tools, AI-driven analysis, and stakeholder input, this initiative will develop data-driven reports and recommendations for the public, policymakers, and design professionals. The project aims to raise awareness about architecture’s crucial role in shaping compassionate care spaces, empowering communities to advocate for better design and influence future policies and practices.
    McEwen School of Architecture, Laurentian University – Archi-North Summer Camp
    Archi·North Summer Camp, offered by Laurentian University’s McEwen School of Architecture, is a bilingual and tricultural program designed for Northern Ontario high school students entering Grades 11 and 12. The week-long, immersive camp aims to provide an affordable introduction to architectural design through hands-on experience in drafting, model-making, and digital tools with an emphasis on sustainable materials. Led by faculty and recent graduates, the Sudbury-based camp encourages youth to be agents of change and reimagine their own communities.
    Moses Structural Engineers Inc. – TimberFever 2025
    Now in its 11th year, TimberFever 2025, presented by Moses Structural Engineers, is a hands-on design-build competition that brings together architecture and engineering students from Canadian and U.S. universities to collaborate, create, and innovate. Under the guidance of professional mentors, carpenters, and industry leaders, participants tackle real-world challenges like affordable housing and climate resilience while refining both design and construction skills.
    RAW Design – Architectural and Design Summer Camp, “Diversity in Design”
    RAW Design’s “Diversity in Design” Summer Camp introduces underrepresented high school students to the architecture profession through an immersive, hands-on experience. Now in its fifth year, this free week-long mentorship program fosters creativity, critical thinking, and teamwork with activities like model-making, workshops, and urban exploration led by architects and volunteers.
    Urban Minds – 1UP Fellowship 2025-2026
    Urban Minds’ 1UP Fellowship 2025-2026 aims to empower high school students across Ontario to become urban changemakers through mentorship and hands-on projects. The Fellowship features two streams: the Design-Builders Stream, where students launch school chapters to tackle community design challenges, and the Learners Stream, which introduces students to city-building topics through structured learning activities.

    The next deadline for submissions is September 15, 2025.
    For more information, click here.
    The post Recipients of Public Awareness Sponsorship Program announced appeared first on Canadian Architect.
    #recipients #public #awareness #sponsorship #program
    Recipients of Public Awareness Sponsorship Program announced
    The latest recipients of the OAA’s Public Awareness Sponsorship program, held twice a year, have been announced. Under its five-year strategic plan, the OAA has identified public education as a key pillar with the goal to advance the public’s understanding and recognition that architecture is integral to the quality of life and well-being of society. As a result, the OAA offers Public Awareness Funding in amounts from to to applicants working to expand an awareness of the value of architecture in their communities. The Communications and Public Education Committeehas agreed to fund the following applicants. Toronto Public Space Committee and Cyan Station – To the Loo! Toronto Toilet Design Challenge The “To the Loo! Toronto Toilet Design Challenge” is a global call to reimagine public washrooms as vital elements of the urban landscape. A joint effort by the Toronto Public Space Committee and Cyan Station, the initiative emphasizes accessibility, public health, and innovative design. Featuring a summer 2025 public event and exhibition, the challenge invites architects, designers, and engaged citizens to explore creative solutions that transform how we experience these essential public spaces. Heritage Ottawa – 2025 Heritage Ottawa Walking Tours Heritage Ottawa is an advocate for the preservation and appreciation of Ottawa’s built heritage. For more than 50 years, its signature guided Walking Tours, offered in both English and French, have attracted diverse audiences and have highlighted the city’s architectural and cultural history. Kelvin Kung – Designing Dignity: Community-Driven Insights for Better Palliative and Long-Term Care Spaces “Designing Dignity: Community-Driven Insights for Better Palliative and Long-Term Care Spaces” focuses on enhancing the quality of life for aging populations by reimagining care spaces through thoughtful architectural design. By leveraging online engagement tools, AI-driven analysis, and stakeholder input, this initiative will develop data-driven reports and recommendations for the public, policymakers, and design professionals. The project aims to raise awareness about architecture’s crucial role in shaping compassionate care spaces, empowering communities to advocate for better design and influence future policies and practices. McEwen School of Architecture, Laurentian University – Archi-North Summer Camp Archi·North Summer Camp, offered by Laurentian University’s McEwen School of Architecture, is a bilingual and tricultural program designed for Northern Ontario high school students entering Grades 11 and 12. The week-long, immersive camp aims to provide an affordable introduction to architectural design through hands-on experience in drafting, model-making, and digital tools with an emphasis on sustainable materials. Led by faculty and recent graduates, the Sudbury-based camp encourages youth to be agents of change and reimagine their own communities. Moses Structural Engineers Inc. – TimberFever 2025 Now in its 11th year, TimberFever 2025, presented by Moses Structural Engineers, is a hands-on design-build competition that brings together architecture and engineering students from Canadian and U.S. universities to collaborate, create, and innovate. Under the guidance of professional mentors, carpenters, and industry leaders, participants tackle real-world challenges like affordable housing and climate resilience while refining both design and construction skills. RAW Design – Architectural and Design Summer Camp, “Diversity in Design” RAW Design’s “Diversity in Design” Summer Camp introduces underrepresented high school students to the architecture profession through an immersive, hands-on experience. Now in its fifth year, this free week-long mentorship program fosters creativity, critical thinking, and teamwork with activities like model-making, workshops, and urban exploration led by architects and volunteers. Urban Minds – 1UP Fellowship 2025-2026 Urban Minds’ 1UP Fellowship 2025-2026 aims to empower high school students across Ontario to become urban changemakers through mentorship and hands-on projects. The Fellowship features two streams: the Design-Builders Stream, where students launch school chapters to tackle community design challenges, and the Learners Stream, which introduces students to city-building topics through structured learning activities. The next deadline for submissions is September 15, 2025. For more information, click here. The post Recipients of Public Awareness Sponsorship Program announced appeared first on Canadian Architect. #recipients #public #awareness #sponsorship #program
    WWW.CANADIANARCHITECT.COM
    Recipients of Public Awareness Sponsorship Program announced
    The latest recipients of the OAA’s Public Awareness Sponsorship program, held twice a year, have been announced. Under its five-year strategic plan, the OAA has identified public education as a key pillar with the goal to advance the public’s understanding and recognition that architecture is integral to the quality of life and well-being of society. As a result, the OAA offers Public Awareness Funding in amounts from $500 to $10,000 to applicants working to expand an awareness of the value of architecture in their communities. The Communications and Public Education Committee (CPEC) has agreed to fund the following applicants. Toronto Public Space Committee and Cyan Station – To the Loo! Toronto Toilet Design Challenge The “To the Loo! Toronto Toilet Design Challenge” is a global call to reimagine public washrooms as vital elements of the urban landscape. A joint effort by the Toronto Public Space Committee and Cyan Station, the initiative emphasizes accessibility, public health, and innovative design. Featuring a summer 2025 public event and exhibition, the challenge invites architects, designers, and engaged citizens to explore creative solutions that transform how we experience these essential public spaces. Heritage Ottawa – 2025 Heritage Ottawa Walking Tours Heritage Ottawa is an advocate for the preservation and appreciation of Ottawa’s built heritage. For more than 50 years, its signature guided Walking Tours, offered in both English and French, have attracted diverse audiences and have highlighted the city’s architectural and cultural history. Kelvin Kung – Designing Dignity: Community-Driven Insights for Better Palliative and Long-Term Care Spaces “Designing Dignity: Community-Driven Insights for Better Palliative and Long-Term Care Spaces” focuses on enhancing the quality of life for aging populations by reimagining care spaces through thoughtful architectural design. By leveraging online engagement tools, AI-driven analysis, and stakeholder input, this initiative will develop data-driven reports and recommendations for the public, policymakers, and design professionals. The project aims to raise awareness about architecture’s crucial role in shaping compassionate care spaces, empowering communities to advocate for better design and influence future policies and practices. McEwen School of Architecture, Laurentian University – Archi-North Summer Camp Archi·North Summer Camp, offered by Laurentian University’s McEwen School of Architecture, is a bilingual and tricultural program designed for Northern Ontario high school students entering Grades 11 and 12. The week-long, immersive camp aims to provide an affordable introduction to architectural design through hands-on experience in drafting, model-making, and digital tools with an emphasis on sustainable materials. Led by faculty and recent graduates, the Sudbury-based camp encourages youth to be agents of change and reimagine their own communities. Moses Structural Engineers Inc. – TimberFever 2025 Now in its 11th year, TimberFever 2025, presented by Moses Structural Engineers, is a hands-on design-build competition that brings together architecture and engineering students from Canadian and U.S. universities to collaborate, create, and innovate. Under the guidance of professional mentors, carpenters, and industry leaders, participants tackle real-world challenges like affordable housing and climate resilience while refining both design and construction skills. RAW Design – Architectural and Design Summer Camp, “Diversity in Design” RAW Design’s “Diversity in Design” Summer Camp introduces underrepresented high school students to the architecture profession through an immersive, hands-on experience. Now in its fifth year, this free week-long mentorship program fosters creativity, critical thinking, and teamwork with activities like model-making, workshops, and urban exploration led by architects and volunteers. Urban Minds – 1UP Fellowship 2025-2026 Urban Minds’ 1UP Fellowship 2025-2026 aims to empower high school students across Ontario to become urban changemakers through mentorship and hands-on projects. The Fellowship features two streams: the Design-Builders Stream, where students launch school chapters to tackle community design challenges, and the Learners Stream, which introduces students to city-building topics through structured learning activities. The next deadline for submissions is September 15, 2025. For more information, click here. The post Recipients of Public Awareness Sponsorship Program announced appeared first on Canadian Architect.
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  • Adidas data breach reveals customer info in vendor attack

    Published
    June 4, 2025 10:00am EDT close Windows bug leaves computer Wi-Fi vulnerable to hackers Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson explains how to keep your Windows computer safe and the security risks of online retail giant Temu. NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
    Hackers are no longer targeting only tech giants or hospitals. Any business that collects valuable personal information, such as names, phone numbers, email addresses or even basic financial details, is now a target.Companies that rely heavily on third-party vendors or outsourced customer support are even more at risk, especially if they are not particularly strong in the technology sector.German retailer Adidas learned this the hard way. The company recently confirmed a data breach involving one of its external partners, and although it has acknowledged the issue, many important details are still missing. A hacker at workAdidas confirms vendor breach: Here’s what we knowAdidas has officially acknowledged that a third-party vendor suffered a breach, resulting in unauthorized access to consumer data. In a public notice titled "Data Security Information," the company revealed that a "third-party customer service provider" had been compromised. While the brand was initially silent on the scope, it had already been reported earlier this month that customers in Turkey and Korea had received breach notifications.MASSIVE DATA BREACH EXPOSES 184 MILLION PASSWORDS AND LOGINSAdidas posted this information on both its German and English websites. However, no specific region or number of affected individuals has been confirmed. The company’s statement did clarify that no payment information, such as credit card details, nor passwords were included in the breach. Instead, it involved contact details submitted by users to Adidas’ help desk in the past.Data obtained reportedly includes names, phone numbers, email addresses and dates of birth. While this might seem limited compared to financial data, this type of information can be exploited for phishing scams and identity theft.  An Adidas signWhat Adidas told customers after the breachIn the wake of the breach, Adidas began notifying potentially affected customers directly. The company's email to customers below aimed to reassure recipients and clarify what information was involved. Here is the full text of the notification sent to affected individuals.Dear customer,We are writing to inform you of an issue that we recently became aware of which may have impacted some of your data.What happenedadidas recently learned that an unauthorized external party gained access to certain customer data through a third-party customer service provider.What information was involvedThe affected data does not contain passwords, credit card or any other payment-related information. Nor have any Social Security numbers been impacted.It mainly consists of contact information relating to customers who had contacted our customer service help desk in the past. This may have included one or more of the following: name, email address, telephone number, gender and/or birth date.What we are doing Privacy and the security of your data is our priority. Upon becoming aware of this incident, adidas took proactive and immediate steps to investigate and contain the incident. This includes further enhancing security measures and resetting passwords for customer service accounts.What you can doWe are currently unaware of any harmbeing caused to our customers as a result of this incident. There are no immediate steps that you need to take. Although, as always, please remain vigilant and look out for any suspicious messages. As a reminder, adidas will never directly contact you to ask that you provide us with financial information, such as your credit card details, bank account information or passwords.Who you can contactIf you have any questions, then please contact our Customer Service team at  apologise for any inconvenience caused by this incident.adidas TeamWhat Adidas hasn’t said about the vendor hackDespite the official acknowledgment, several questions remain unanswered. Adidas has yet to clarify whether this is a single breach affecting multiple regions or several separate incidents. The lack of transparency around the name of the third-party vendor and the absence of concrete numbers or locations for affected users has created frustration among observers and possibly among customers themselves.The earlier regional reports from Turkey and Korea might suggest that this incident was either global in scale or that similar third-party vendors were independently targeted. In either case, the company's current handling of the situation has left room for speculation. Adidas claims it is in the process of informing potentially affected customers, but it has not detailed the method or timeline for this outreach.We reached out to adidas for a comment, and a representative referred us to this statement on their website. In part, the company said, "We remain fully committed to protecting the privacy and security of our consumers, and sincerely regret any inconvenience or concern caused by this incident."GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE An Adidas shoe6 critical steps to take after the Adidas data breachIf you think you were affected or just want to be cautious, here are some steps you can take right now to stay safe from the Adidas data breach:1. Scrub your data from the internet using a personal data removal service: The more exposed your personal information is online, the easier it is for scammers to use it against you. Following the Adidas breach, consider removing your information from public databases and people-search sites. Check out my top picks for data removal services here.Get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web.2. Watch out for phishing scams and use strong antivirus software: With access to your email and phone number, Adidas attackers can craft convincing phishing emails pretending to be from healthcare providers or banks. These emails might include malicious links designed to install malware or steal login information. To defend yourself, use a strong antivirus program. Get my picks for the best 2025 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices.3. Safeguard against identity theft and use identity theft protection: Hackers now have access to high-value information from the Adidas breach. This makes you a prime target for identity theft. You might want to consider investing in identity theft protection, which can also assist you in freezing your bank and credit card accounts to prevent further unauthorized use by criminals. Signing up for identity theft protection gives you 24/7 monitoring, alerts for unusual activity and support if your identity is stolen. See my tips and best picks on how to protect yourself from identity theft.4. Set up fraud alerts: Requesting fraud alerts notifies creditors that they need extra verification before issuing credit in your name. You can request fraud alerts through any one of the three major credit bureaus; they’ll notify the others. This adds another layer of protection without completely freezing access to credit.5. Change passwords and use a password manager: Update passwords on any accounts tied to compromised data. Use unique passwords that are hard to guess and let a password manager do the heavy lifting by generating secure ones for you. Reused passwords are an easy target after breaches. Consider password managers for convenience and security. Get more details about my best expert-reviewed password managers of 2025 here.6. Be wary of social engineering attacks: Hackers may use stolen details like names or birthdates from breaches in phone scams or fake customer service calls designed to trick you into revealing more sensitive info. Never share personal details over unsolicited calls or emails. Social engineering attacks rely on trust, and vigilance is key.Kurt’s key takeawayThe Adidas breach shows that even companies with decades of brand equity and a massive global footprint are not immune to lapses in data security. It underscores the need for companies to go beyond basic compliance and actively evaluate the cybersecurity standards of every partner in their ecosystem. Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the trade-offs they make when sharing their personal information, and brands that fail to meet this moment may find their reputations eroding faster than they expect.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPShould retailers be penalized for neglecting basic cybersecurity practices? Let us know by writing us atCyberguy.com/Contact.For more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to Cyberguy.com/Newsletter.Ask Kurt a question or let us know what stories you'd like us to cover.Follow Kurt on his social channels:Answers to the most-asked CyberGuy questions:New from Kurt:Copyright 2025 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved. Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on "FOX & Friends." Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.
    #adidas #data #breach #reveals #customer
    Adidas data breach reveals customer info in vendor attack
    Published June 4, 2025 10:00am EDT close Windows bug leaves computer Wi-Fi vulnerable to hackers Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson explains how to keep your Windows computer safe and the security risks of online retail giant Temu. NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Hackers are no longer targeting only tech giants or hospitals. Any business that collects valuable personal information, such as names, phone numbers, email addresses or even basic financial details, is now a target.Companies that rely heavily on third-party vendors or outsourced customer support are even more at risk, especially if they are not particularly strong in the technology sector.German retailer Adidas learned this the hard way. The company recently confirmed a data breach involving one of its external partners, and although it has acknowledged the issue, many important details are still missing. A hacker at workAdidas confirms vendor breach: Here’s what we knowAdidas has officially acknowledged that a third-party vendor suffered a breach, resulting in unauthorized access to consumer data. In a public notice titled "Data Security Information," the company revealed that a "third-party customer service provider" had been compromised. While the brand was initially silent on the scope, it had already been reported earlier this month that customers in Turkey and Korea had received breach notifications.MASSIVE DATA BREACH EXPOSES 184 MILLION PASSWORDS AND LOGINSAdidas posted this information on both its German and English websites. However, no specific region or number of affected individuals has been confirmed. The company’s statement did clarify that no payment information, such as credit card details, nor passwords were included in the breach. Instead, it involved contact details submitted by users to Adidas’ help desk in the past.Data obtained reportedly includes names, phone numbers, email addresses and dates of birth. While this might seem limited compared to financial data, this type of information can be exploited for phishing scams and identity theft.  An Adidas signWhat Adidas told customers after the breachIn the wake of the breach, Adidas began notifying potentially affected customers directly. The company's email to customers below aimed to reassure recipients and clarify what information was involved. Here is the full text of the notification sent to affected individuals.Dear customer,We are writing to inform you of an issue that we recently became aware of which may have impacted some of your data.What happenedadidas recently learned that an unauthorized external party gained access to certain customer data through a third-party customer service provider.What information was involvedThe affected data does not contain passwords, credit card or any other payment-related information. Nor have any Social Security numbers been impacted.It mainly consists of contact information relating to customers who had contacted our customer service help desk in the past. This may have included one or more of the following: name, email address, telephone number, gender and/or birth date.What we are doing Privacy and the security of your data is our priority. Upon becoming aware of this incident, adidas took proactive and immediate steps to investigate and contain the incident. This includes further enhancing security measures and resetting passwords for customer service accounts.What you can doWe are currently unaware of any harmbeing caused to our customers as a result of this incident. There are no immediate steps that you need to take. Although, as always, please remain vigilant and look out for any suspicious messages. As a reminder, adidas will never directly contact you to ask that you provide us with financial information, such as your credit card details, bank account information or passwords.Who you can contactIf you have any questions, then please contact our Customer Service team at  apologise for any inconvenience caused by this incident.adidas TeamWhat Adidas hasn’t said about the vendor hackDespite the official acknowledgment, several questions remain unanswered. Adidas has yet to clarify whether this is a single breach affecting multiple regions or several separate incidents. The lack of transparency around the name of the third-party vendor and the absence of concrete numbers or locations for affected users has created frustration among observers and possibly among customers themselves.The earlier regional reports from Turkey and Korea might suggest that this incident was either global in scale or that similar third-party vendors were independently targeted. In either case, the company's current handling of the situation has left room for speculation. Adidas claims it is in the process of informing potentially affected customers, but it has not detailed the method or timeline for this outreach.We reached out to adidas for a comment, and a representative referred us to this statement on their website. In part, the company said, "We remain fully committed to protecting the privacy and security of our consumers, and sincerely regret any inconvenience or concern caused by this incident."GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE An Adidas shoe6 critical steps to take after the Adidas data breachIf you think you were affected or just want to be cautious, here are some steps you can take right now to stay safe from the Adidas data breach:1. Scrub your data from the internet using a personal data removal service: The more exposed your personal information is online, the easier it is for scammers to use it against you. Following the Adidas breach, consider removing your information from public databases and people-search sites. Check out my top picks for data removal services here.Get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web.2. Watch out for phishing scams and use strong antivirus software: With access to your email and phone number, Adidas attackers can craft convincing phishing emails pretending to be from healthcare providers or banks. These emails might include malicious links designed to install malware or steal login information. To defend yourself, use a strong antivirus program. Get my picks for the best 2025 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices.3. Safeguard against identity theft and use identity theft protection: Hackers now have access to high-value information from the Adidas breach. This makes you a prime target for identity theft. You might want to consider investing in identity theft protection, which can also assist you in freezing your bank and credit card accounts to prevent further unauthorized use by criminals. Signing up for identity theft protection gives you 24/7 monitoring, alerts for unusual activity and support if your identity is stolen. See my tips and best picks on how to protect yourself from identity theft.4. Set up fraud alerts: Requesting fraud alerts notifies creditors that they need extra verification before issuing credit in your name. You can request fraud alerts through any one of the three major credit bureaus; they’ll notify the others. This adds another layer of protection without completely freezing access to credit.5. Change passwords and use a password manager: Update passwords on any accounts tied to compromised data. Use unique passwords that are hard to guess and let a password manager do the heavy lifting by generating secure ones for you. Reused passwords are an easy target after breaches. Consider password managers for convenience and security. Get more details about my best expert-reviewed password managers of 2025 here.6. Be wary of social engineering attacks: Hackers may use stolen details like names or birthdates from breaches in phone scams or fake customer service calls designed to trick you into revealing more sensitive info. Never share personal details over unsolicited calls or emails. Social engineering attacks rely on trust, and vigilance is key.Kurt’s key takeawayThe Adidas breach shows that even companies with decades of brand equity and a massive global footprint are not immune to lapses in data security. It underscores the need for companies to go beyond basic compliance and actively evaluate the cybersecurity standards of every partner in their ecosystem. Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the trade-offs they make when sharing their personal information, and brands that fail to meet this moment may find their reputations eroding faster than they expect.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPShould retailers be penalized for neglecting basic cybersecurity practices? Let us know by writing us atCyberguy.com/Contact.For more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to Cyberguy.com/Newsletter.Ask Kurt a question or let us know what stories you'd like us to cover.Follow Kurt on his social channels:Answers to the most-asked CyberGuy questions:New from Kurt:Copyright 2025 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved. Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on "FOX & Friends." Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com. #adidas #data #breach #reveals #customer
    WWW.FOXNEWS.COM
    Adidas data breach reveals customer info in vendor attack
    Published June 4, 2025 10:00am EDT close Windows bug leaves computer Wi-Fi vulnerable to hackers Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson explains how to keep your Windows computer safe and the security risks of online retail giant Temu. NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Hackers are no longer targeting only tech giants or hospitals. Any business that collects valuable personal information, such as names, phone numbers, email addresses or even basic financial details, is now a target.Companies that rely heavily on third-party vendors or outsourced customer support are even more at risk, especially if they are not particularly strong in the technology sector.German retailer Adidas learned this the hard way. The company recently confirmed a data breach involving one of its external partners, and although it has acknowledged the issue, many important details are still missing. A hacker at work (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)Adidas confirms vendor breach: Here’s what we knowAdidas has officially acknowledged that a third-party vendor suffered a breach, resulting in unauthorized access to consumer data. In a public notice titled "Data Security Information," the company revealed that a "third-party customer service provider" had been compromised. While the brand was initially silent on the scope, it had already been reported earlier this month that customers in Turkey and Korea had received breach notifications.MASSIVE DATA BREACH EXPOSES 184 MILLION PASSWORDS AND LOGINSAdidas posted this information on both its German and English websites. However, no specific region or number of affected individuals has been confirmed. The company’s statement did clarify that no payment information, such as credit card details, nor passwords were included in the breach. Instead, it involved contact details submitted by users to Adidas’ help desk in the past.Data obtained reportedly includes names, phone numbers, email addresses and dates of birth. While this might seem limited compared to financial data, this type of information can be exploited for phishing scams and identity theft.  An Adidas sign (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)What Adidas told customers after the breachIn the wake of the breach, Adidas began notifying potentially affected customers directly. The company's email to customers below aimed to reassure recipients and clarify what information was involved. Here is the full text of the notification sent to affected individuals.Dear customer,We are writing to inform you of an issue that we recently became aware of which may have impacted some of your data.What happenedadidas recently learned that an unauthorized external party gained access to certain customer data through a third-party customer service provider.What information was involvedThe affected data does not contain passwords, credit card or any other payment-related information. Nor have any Social Security numbers been impacted.It mainly consists of contact information relating to customers who had contacted our customer service help desk in the past. This may have included one or more of the following: name, email address, telephone number, gender and/or birth date.What we are doing Privacy and the security of your data is our priority. Upon becoming aware of this incident, adidas took proactive and immediate steps to investigate and contain the incident. This includes further enhancing security measures and resetting passwords for customer service accounts.What you can doWe are currently unaware of any harm (such as identity theft or fraud) being caused to our customers as a result of this incident. There are no immediate steps that you need to take. Although, as always, please remain vigilant and look out for any suspicious messages. As a reminder, adidas will never directly contact you to ask that you provide us with financial information, such as your credit card details, bank account information or passwords.Who you can contactIf you have any questions, then please contact our Customer Service team at https://www.adidas.com/us/helpWe apologise for any inconvenience caused by this incident.adidas TeamWhat Adidas hasn’t said about the vendor hackDespite the official acknowledgment, several questions remain unanswered. Adidas has yet to clarify whether this is a single breach affecting multiple regions or several separate incidents. The lack of transparency around the name of the third-party vendor and the absence of concrete numbers or locations for affected users has created frustration among observers and possibly among customers themselves.The earlier regional reports from Turkey and Korea might suggest that this incident was either global in scale or that similar third-party vendors were independently targeted. In either case, the company's current handling of the situation has left room for speculation. Adidas claims it is in the process of informing potentially affected customers, but it has not detailed the method or timeline for this outreach.We reached out to adidas for a comment, and a representative referred us to this statement on their website. In part, the company said, "We remain fully committed to protecting the privacy and security of our consumers, and sincerely regret any inconvenience or concern caused by this incident."GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE An Adidas shoe (Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson)6 critical steps to take after the Adidas data breachIf you think you were affected or just want to be cautious, here are some steps you can take right now to stay safe from the Adidas data breach:1. Scrub your data from the internet using a personal data removal service: The more exposed your personal information is online, the easier it is for scammers to use it against you. Following the Adidas breach, consider removing your information from public databases and people-search sites. Check out my top picks for data removal services here.Get a free scan to find out if your personal information is already out on the web.2. Watch out for phishing scams and use strong antivirus software: With access to your email and phone number, Adidas attackers can craft convincing phishing emails pretending to be from healthcare providers or banks. These emails might include malicious links designed to install malware or steal login information. To defend yourself, use a strong antivirus program. Get my picks for the best 2025 antivirus protection winners for your Windows, Mac, Android and iOS devices.3. Safeguard against identity theft and use identity theft protection: Hackers now have access to high-value information from the Adidas breach. This makes you a prime target for identity theft. You might want to consider investing in identity theft protection, which can also assist you in freezing your bank and credit card accounts to prevent further unauthorized use by criminals. Signing up for identity theft protection gives you 24/7 monitoring, alerts for unusual activity and support if your identity is stolen. See my tips and best picks on how to protect yourself from identity theft.4. Set up fraud alerts: Requesting fraud alerts notifies creditors that they need extra verification before issuing credit in your name. You can request fraud alerts through any one of the three major credit bureaus; they’ll notify the others. This adds another layer of protection without completely freezing access to credit.5. Change passwords and use a password manager: Update passwords on any accounts tied to compromised data. Use unique passwords that are hard to guess and let a password manager do the heavy lifting by generating secure ones for you. Reused passwords are an easy target after breaches. Consider password managers for convenience and security. Get more details about my best expert-reviewed password managers of 2025 here.6. Be wary of social engineering attacks: Hackers may use stolen details like names or birthdates from breaches in phone scams or fake customer service calls designed to trick you into revealing more sensitive info. Never share personal details over unsolicited calls or emails. Social engineering attacks rely on trust, and vigilance is key.Kurt’s key takeawayThe Adidas breach shows that even companies with decades of brand equity and a massive global footprint are not immune to lapses in data security. It underscores the need for companies to go beyond basic compliance and actively evaluate the cybersecurity standards of every partner in their ecosystem. Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the trade-offs they make when sharing their personal information, and brands that fail to meet this moment may find their reputations eroding faster than they expect.CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPShould retailers be penalized for neglecting basic cybersecurity practices? Let us know by writing us atCyberguy.com/Contact.For more of my tech tips and security alerts, subscribe to my free CyberGuy Report Newsletter by heading to Cyberguy.com/Newsletter.Ask Kurt a question or let us know what stories you'd like us to cover.Follow Kurt on his social channels:Answers to the most-asked CyberGuy questions:New from Kurt:Copyright 2025 CyberGuy.com. All rights reserved. Kurt "CyberGuy" Knutsson is an award-winning tech journalist who has a deep love of technology, gear and gadgets that make life better with his contributions for Fox News & FOX Business beginning mornings on "FOX & Friends." Got a tech question? Get Kurt’s free CyberGuy Newsletter, share your voice, a story idea or comment at CyberGuy.com.
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  • This DMV Text Is the Latest Phishing Scam

    The newest text scam making the rounds is a message thatimpersonates your state DMV with a threat to rescind your license unless you pay outstanding fees. NPR reports that departments of motor vehicles in New York, Florida, and California have alerted residents to the scam, but it has been spotted in other places too. How the DMV text scam worksThis scam purports to be from the DMV or transportation department in your state and warns of unpaid fees for traffic violations or tolls. The message directs recipients to a link to pay these supposed penalties or risk losing their licenseor face legal action. It also references a state statute that may actually be legitimate, but that doesn't mean the text itself is. The DMV scam currently circulating is similar to the unpaid tolls scam and the unpaid parking fee scam, both of which are examples of smishing, or SMS phishing. This type of attack relies on text messages to try to convince targets to click malicious links and disclose personal or financial information or download malware to their device in the process. Scammers engaging in smishing often attempt to impersonate legitimate institutions, such as banks and government agencies. According to data from Robokiller, Americans received 19.2 billion spam texts, of which smishing is an example, in April 2025. That's an average of 63 messages per person. Text scam red flags to watch for The DMV scam may seem obvious, but bad actors hope that some recipients will be swayed by an official-looking text that threatens real-life consequences and act without investigating further. That's why you should be wary of any message, text or otherwise, that demands urgent action or invokes an emotional response. Once you read more carefully, you'll notice additional red flags. The sender may be an email address or non-localphone number— official texts from government agencies typically come from five-digit numbers. The name of the department may be incorrect, such as the Florida State Department of Motor Vehiclesinstead of Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. The URL to pay the supposed fine is not an official state website, and it may not be clickable, so it skirts your device's security features. And, of course, there may be minor spelling and grammar errors and odd formatting.
    #this #dmv #text #latest #phishing
    This DMV Text Is the Latest Phishing Scam
    The newest text scam making the rounds is a message thatimpersonates your state DMV with a threat to rescind your license unless you pay outstanding fees. NPR reports that departments of motor vehicles in New York, Florida, and California have alerted residents to the scam, but it has been spotted in other places too. How the DMV text scam worksThis scam purports to be from the DMV or transportation department in your state and warns of unpaid fees for traffic violations or tolls. The message directs recipients to a link to pay these supposed penalties or risk losing their licenseor face legal action. It also references a state statute that may actually be legitimate, but that doesn't mean the text itself is. The DMV scam currently circulating is similar to the unpaid tolls scam and the unpaid parking fee scam, both of which are examples of smishing, or SMS phishing. This type of attack relies on text messages to try to convince targets to click malicious links and disclose personal or financial information or download malware to their device in the process. Scammers engaging in smishing often attempt to impersonate legitimate institutions, such as banks and government agencies. According to data from Robokiller, Americans received 19.2 billion spam texts, of which smishing is an example, in April 2025. That's an average of 63 messages per person. Text scam red flags to watch for The DMV scam may seem obvious, but bad actors hope that some recipients will be swayed by an official-looking text that threatens real-life consequences and act without investigating further. That's why you should be wary of any message, text or otherwise, that demands urgent action or invokes an emotional response. Once you read more carefully, you'll notice additional red flags. The sender may be an email address or non-localphone number— official texts from government agencies typically come from five-digit numbers. The name of the department may be incorrect, such as the Florida State Department of Motor Vehiclesinstead of Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. The URL to pay the supposed fine is not an official state website, and it may not be clickable, so it skirts your device's security features. And, of course, there may be minor spelling and grammar errors and odd formatting. #this #dmv #text #latest #phishing
    LIFEHACKER.COM
    This DMV Text Is the Latest Phishing Scam
    The newest text scam making the rounds is a message that (poorly) impersonates your state DMV with a threat to rescind your license unless you pay outstanding fees. NPR reports that departments of motor vehicles in New York, Florida, and California have alerted residents to the scam, but it has been spotted in other places too (including Utah, where I live). How the DMV text scam worksThis scam purports to be from the DMV or transportation department in your state and warns of unpaid fees for traffic violations or tolls. The message directs recipients to a link to pay these supposed penalties or risk losing their license (or "driving privileges") or face legal action. It also references a state statute that may actually be legitimate (albeit unrelated to the warning), but that doesn't mean the text itself is. The DMV scam currently circulating is similar to the unpaid tolls scam and the unpaid parking fee scam, both of which are examples of smishing, or SMS phishing. This type of attack relies on text messages to try to convince targets to click malicious links and disclose personal or financial information or download malware to their device in the process. Scammers engaging in smishing often attempt to impersonate legitimate institutions, such as banks and government agencies. According to data from Robokiller, Americans received 19.2 billion spam texts, of which smishing is an example, in April 2025. That's an average of 63 messages per person. Text scam red flags to watch for The DMV scam may seem obvious, but bad actors hope that some recipients will be swayed by an official-looking text that threatens real-life consequences and act without investigating further. That's why you should be wary of any message, text or otherwise, that demands urgent action or invokes an emotional response. Once you read more carefully, you'll notice additional red flags. The sender may be an email address or non-local (even international) phone number— official texts from government agencies typically come from five-digit numbers. The name of the department may be incorrect, such as the Florida State Department of Motor Vehicles (fake) instead of Florida Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (real). The URL to pay the supposed fine is not an official state website (https://utah[dot]gov-etcwirs[dot]cc, for example), and it may not be clickable, so it skirts your device's security features. And, of course, there may be minor spelling and grammar errors and odd formatting.
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  • Drip Email Software: The Ultimate Pricing and Buying Guide

    Reading Time: 11 minutes
    Choosing the right drip email software can be a game-changer for your marketing strategy. With a variety of options available, understanding the pricing models and features each tool offers is key to making an informed decision.
    In this guide, we’ll walk you through essential factors to consider when evaluating pricing, so you can select the best solution that fits your needs and budget for your drip email campaigns.
    Ready to dive deeper? Let’s explore your options.

     
    What Does Drip Email Marketing Software Cost?
    Drip email marketing software typically follows a few different pricing models, depending on the provider. Here’s a quick breakdown of the most common ones:

    Pricing Based on MAUs: You pay based on how many unique subscribers actually engage with your emailseach month, not your entire list size. It’s a much fairer, scalable way to pay, especially if your audience fluctuates. You only pay for real activity.
    Flat-Rate Pricing: You pay a fixed monthly fee, regardless of usage, list size, or activity. But flat rates are often bloated to cover all usage types, so you’re likely overpaying if you’re not sending a massive volume of emails. It’s not cost-efficient for scaling brands.
    List-Based Pricing: You pay based on the total number of contacts in your database, whether they engage or not. However, you end up paying for cold leads, dead emails, and inactive contacts. This makes your costs climb unnecessarily as your list grows.
    Email Volume-Based Pricing: You’re charged based on how many emails you send each month. It can discourage you from running important nurturing campaigns or re-engagement flows because every email adds to your bill. It’s unpredictable and can spike costs during promotions. For email marketers, this model means added pressure to limit sends, often at the cost of customer experience and long-term engagement.

    Some platforms even bundle unnecessary features into expensive tiers, which bloats the pricing, especially for features you may not actually need. This is where MoEngage stands out. The platform offers a more transparent and scalable approach so that pricing is aligned to your actual usage and outcomes rather than inflated send limits.
     
    6 Biggest Factors that Affect Drip Email Pricing
    Drip email pricing depends on several factors. Here are some of the biggest ones:
    1. Number of active contacts
    Some platforms, particularly the ones that use the MAU pricing model, charge based on the number of customers who interact with your emails. The higher the number of active customers, the higher the pricing.
    2. List size
    Managing an email list is easier said than done. Nevertheless, if you have a large database of contacts, you will be charged a higher monthly fee. In this case, pricing will remain the same even if you don’t have many active subscribers on your list.
    3. Email volume
    The number of emails you send plays a big role in pricing. This is because high-volume automated email marketing campaigns require significant infrastructure for email delivery, tracking, and reporting.
    4. Advanced features
    Platforms offering advanced features like RFM segmentation, automation, A/B testing, analytics, and AI-driven personalization typically charge more than others. Some pricing models allow you to opt for some or all of these features, depending on your business requirements.
    5. Automation complexity
    If your drip campaign involves complex workflows, like different stages, conditions, triggers, etc., it can impact the pricing. Automation requires more resources to set up and maintain, which increases the price.
    6. Integration with other tools
    Connecting your email platform with CRMs, Ecommerce tools, or analytics systems can drive up costs, especially if platforms charge extra for native integrations or require third-party connectors.
    Before signing up, ask yourself: how many of these tools are truly essential? Can any be replaced with ones that integrate more easily? A cluttered tech stack not only costs more but also complicates your workflows.
     
    Top Features to Look For in a Drip Email Marketing Software
    Since you’re on the lookout for a drip email marketing software platform, focus on the features we’ve mentioned below.
    Core features that drip email software absolutely needs
    These features are the must-haves. They are the foundational tools required to automate, personalize, and optimize your email drip campaigns at scale.

    Journey designer: Easily set up multi-step workflows triggered by parameters like customer actions, behaviors, or time delays with minimal coding.
    Behavioral targeting: Send emails based on real-time customer behavior, such as cart additions, subscriptions, app activity, and more, for highly relevant messaging.
    Personalization engine: Dynamically include customer attributes based on past interactions and preferences to personalize emails at scale.
    High inbox deliverability: Tools and practices that ensure you have a healthy sender reputation and high inbox placement.
    Campaign optimization with A/B testing: Test different email versions to learn what drives higher engagement and optimize your drip flows continuously.
    Real-time analytics and insights: Access detailed reports and dashboards that track key drip email marketing metrics like opens, clicks, and conversions, and identify drop-offs in your drip journeys.

    Other features that are very useful to have
    These features aren’t absolutely necessary to run an effective campaign, but they can improve customer experience and operational efficiency.

    AI-based predictive segmentation: Leverage AI to predict customer behavior like churn or likelihood of conversion, and automatically adjust campaigns accordingly.
    Omnichannel messaging: Integrate messaging across various channels, like push notifications, SMS, WhatsApp, and in-app messaging for a cohesive customer journey.
    Pre-built templates: Quickly access pre-built, customizable email templates to launch campaigns faster without heavy design work.

     
    9 Steps to Choosing a Drip Email Marketing Software
    With so many options available in the market, choosing the right drip email marketing software can seem like an uphill battle.
    No worries! We’ll even walk you through exactly how to evaluate and compare drip email tools for yourself.

    Once you’ve asked the right questions and gathered the facts during demos, it’s time to break down your decision-making process into clear, actionable steps.
    Step 1: Define Your Non-Negotiable Features
    The first step is to make a list of all the features that are necessary for you.
    For example, if your goal is to send behavior-triggered drip campaigns, then features like behavioral targeting and multi-step customer journey automation are non-negotiable. On the other hand, if you only need basic scheduled newsletters, you might not need advanced workflow builders or AI recommendations.
    Once you have a list of non-negotiable features, it becomes easier to narrow down your platform choices.
    Step 2: Research and Compare All Viable Options
    Don’t just go with the most well-known or even the most affordable-looking tool. Research platforms that fit your business size and industry.
    Use peer reviews, comparison guides, and case studies to understand how the platform performs in real-world use cases.
    Also, remember that low entry pricing can be misleading. What matters is the total cost of ownership. Look for things like hidden fees, integration costs, or feature-based tier upgrades. These will add to the pricing later.
    Step 3: Book a Personalized DemoWhen choosing your drip email marketing tool, make sure you request a personalized demo based on your business context, use cases, and workflows.
    A simple, generic walkthrough isn’t helpful because this is your first real glimpse into how the platform is going to support you long-term. If the demo isn’t tailored to your business, that’s a red flag—because if they can’t offer personalized attention when they’re trying to win your business, you’re unlikely to get it during onboarding or implementation.
    Ask to see features live, rather than just screenshots or slide decks. If a feature is critical, ask to see it in action. At times, sales teams may promise features that are still ‘in development’.
    Step 4: Attend the Demo with a List of Questions
    Once you’ve booked a demo, prepare a checklist of questions, like the one we shared above. This will help you stay focused and gain the clarity you need.
    Ask whether the features you care about are included in the base plan or locked behind premium tiers. Dig into pricing: will the costs scale predictably as you grow, or are there hidden fees that only show up later?
    Some platforms may offer attractive deals upfront but raise prices later or charge extra for essentials like API access, automation workflows, or deliverability support. The demo is your chance to surface all of this before signing anything.
    Step 5: Evaluate Ease of Use
    The drip email software you choose must be easy to use. Since marketers with little to no technical knowledge are most likely to use the platform, look for solutions that allow you to build email campaigns, segment audiences, and personalize messages easily.
    Say no to complicated or clunky interfaces that are not intuitive and require a steep learning curve.
    Step 6: Check for Advanced Capabilities
    Ask about AI features like predictive segmentation or email send-time optimization. Even if you don’t need them right now, having future-ready capabilities ensures you won’t outgrow the tool too soon.
    Step 7: Test for Scalability and Deliverability
    This is an important one. Look for solutions that can handle large volumes of emails with good email deliverability rates. Make sure the software you choose has a high inbox placement rate. Check if they have a solid infrastructure and dedicated IPs, should you need them. Also, consider scalability: will this platform still meet your needs when your contact list grows from 10,000 to 100,000? Make sure you’re not locked into expensive pricing jumps or performance bottlenecks.
    Step 8: Review Integration Options
    Make sure the tool you choose fits seamlessly into your existing workflow. It should integrate with your CRM, mobile app, Ecommerce system, and anything else in your ecosystem.
    Even if it doesn’t directly integrate, ensure that it offers flexible APIs and webhooks, or supports third-party connectors like Zapier, so you can still automate data flow without manual workarounds.
    Step 9: Compare Customer Support Quality
    Good software with bad support can be a nightmare. Check for onboarding help, technical support, availability, account management, and resources. Ask about how quickly the support team responds and resolves software issues to ensure that you have minimal downtime.
     
    5 Best Email Drip Campaign Software and Tools
    It’s time to weigh your options in choosing an email drip campaign software for your business. Give this list a quick read!
    1. MoEngage: Best for Omnichannel Engagement and Behavioral Targeting

     
    MoEngage is a comprehensive customer engagement platform designed to deliver personalized and automated drip email campaigns at scale. Its powerful AI capabilities allow you to use behavioral targeting to reach customers at the right time with the right message at different stages of their customer journey.
    Why MoEngage is Best for Omnichannel Engagement and Behavioral Targeting: MoEngage offers multiple features that allow you to provide cohesive customer experiences across various touchpoints. You can reach out to customers via not just email, but also SMS, push notifications, in-app messages, and even ad networks without missing a beat.
    Features like advanced segmentation enable you to send hyper-personalized drip email campaigns tailored to individual customer actions, such as cart abandonment or inactivity. This ensures that messages are timely, relevant, and effective in driving engagement.
    How Pricing Works: MoEngage offers flexible drip email pricing based on the scale of your business and the exact features you’d need. You can always reach out to their sales team to learn more about their custom pricing plans.
    How to Set Up a Demo: To experience MoEngage firsthand, you need to book a demo first. Their team will then contact you to schedule a personalized walkthrough that showcases how the platform can meet your specific drip email marketing goals.
    2. ActiveCampaign: Best for Email and Marketing Automation

    ActiveCampaign is a marketing automation platform that allows you to create email campaigns on channels your customers connect with. The platform offers predictive content features that help you show customers the most meaningful content.
    Why ActiveCampaign is Best for Email and Marketing Automation: ActiveCampaign excels in delivering sophisticated automation campaign workflows that can be tailored to various customer journeys.
    How Pricing Works: ActiveCampaign offers a four-tiered drip email pricing plan. The basic plan starts at /month for 1K contacts, while the Enterprise plan starts at /month for 50K contacts. If you have contacts upwards of that number, you need to talk to their sales team.
    3. Kit: Best for Creators Using Emails

    Kit is tailored for creators, bloggers, and solo entrepreneurs who want to send customer relationship emails. It offers a user-friendly interface with powerful automation capabilities.
    Why Kit is Best for Creators and Solo Entrepreneurs: Kit’s email-first operating system allows creators to build long-term connections with customers. Its intuitive email designer can be used to create effective on-brand emails that are optimized for deliverability. Plus, it allows you to send email broadcasts for announcing product launches, sharing content updates, or promoting limited-time offers to your entire list in bulk.
    How Pricing Works: Kit offers a free Newsletter plan with basic features like visual automation, opt-in forms, and email broadcasts to up to 10K subscribers. But you can implement just 1 visual automation and an email sequence on the free plan. Advanced plans start at per month for up to 1K subscribers, and go up to /month for 400K contacts.
    4. Drip: Best for Ecommerce Marketing Automation

    Drip is a marketing automation platform designed specifically for Ecommerce brands. It offers tools to create personalized email campaigns that drive customer engagement and sales.
    Why Drip is Best for Ecommerce Marketing Automation: Drip provides deep integrations with Ecommerce platforms, allowing businesses to leverage customer data for targeted campaigns. Features like behavior-based automation and pre-built workflows help in crafting effective drip campaigns.
    How Pricing Works: Drip’s pricing starts at /month for up to 2,500 contacts. The cost scales up to /month based on the number of contacts, with custom pricing available for larger lists of over 180K subscribers.
    5. Mailmodo: Best for Interactive Email Marketing

    Mailmodo is an email marketing platform that enables the creation of interactive drip emails using AMP technology. This allows recipients to take actions like filling out forms or booking appointments directly within the email.
    Why Mailmodo is Best for Interactive Email Marketing: Mailmodo stands out by offering interactive email capabilities that enhance customer engagement and conversion rates. Its drag-and-drop editor simplifies the creation of dynamic emails without any coding required.
    How Pricing Works: Like the other drip email marketing software on this list, Mailmodo’s pricing is based on the number of contacts and emails sent per month. Its three-tiered pricing model starts at /month for 500 contacts, going up to /month for 250K subscribers. Any more contacts, and you have to reach out to their sales team.
     
    How to Get the Most Value Out of Your Drip Email Software
    Here are some of the ways in which you can leverage your drip email software to its maximum potential.

    time through automation: Automate welcome emails, follow-ups, and re-engagement campaigns to free up your team for more strategic work.
    Boost engagement with timely messaging: Set up triggers so that emails are automatically sent based on customers’ actions. This keeps your audience interested at every stage of their customer journey.
    Drive higher conversions with targeted sequences: Send the right email at the right time to move leads through the sales funnel towards a conversion.
    Personalize customer experiences at scale: Use segmentation and dynamic content to create a personalized customer experience without manually customizing every email.
    Continuously optimize with data-driven insights: Track performance metrics like open rates and conversions to refine your drip email campaigns and maximize results over time.

     
    Maximize Engagement With MoEngage’s Drip Email Marketing Software
    To sum it up, drip email marketing can be quite powerful for engaging customers at different stages of their journey.
    Having the right drip email software in your tech stack ensures smooth, efficient workflows. Your team can focus on higher-value tasks while automating routine processes. It also ensures that your drip emails always reach the right person with the right message at the perfect time.
    MoEngage’s powerful email automation platform allows you to automate personalized campaigns that drive higher engagement and conversions. With advanced segmentation, behavior-triggered messaging, and seamless integration with your ecosystem, you can nurture relationships more effectively than ever.
    Curious to see how MoEngage can elevate your campaigns? Schedule a discovery call today.
    The post Drip Email Software: The Ultimate Pricing and Buying Guide appeared first on MoEngage.
    #drip #email #software #ultimate #pricing
    Drip Email Software: The Ultimate Pricing and Buying Guide
    Reading Time: 11 minutes Choosing the right drip email software can be a game-changer for your marketing strategy. With a variety of options available, understanding the pricing models and features each tool offers is key to making an informed decision. In this guide, we’ll walk you through essential factors to consider when evaluating pricing, so you can select the best solution that fits your needs and budget for your drip email campaigns. Ready to dive deeper? Let’s explore your options.   What Does Drip Email Marketing Software Cost? Drip email marketing software typically follows a few different pricing models, depending on the provider. Here’s a quick breakdown of the most common ones: Pricing Based on MAUs: You pay based on how many unique subscribers actually engage with your emailseach month, not your entire list size. It’s a much fairer, scalable way to pay, especially if your audience fluctuates. You only pay for real activity. Flat-Rate Pricing: You pay a fixed monthly fee, regardless of usage, list size, or activity. But flat rates are often bloated to cover all usage types, so you’re likely overpaying if you’re not sending a massive volume of emails. It’s not cost-efficient for scaling brands. List-Based Pricing: You pay based on the total number of contacts in your database, whether they engage or not. However, you end up paying for cold leads, dead emails, and inactive contacts. This makes your costs climb unnecessarily as your list grows. Email Volume-Based Pricing: You’re charged based on how many emails you send each month. It can discourage you from running important nurturing campaigns or re-engagement flows because every email adds to your bill. It’s unpredictable and can spike costs during promotions. For email marketers, this model means added pressure to limit sends, often at the cost of customer experience and long-term engagement. Some platforms even bundle unnecessary features into expensive tiers, which bloats the pricing, especially for features you may not actually need. This is where MoEngage stands out. The platform offers a more transparent and scalable approach so that pricing is aligned to your actual usage and outcomes rather than inflated send limits.   6 Biggest Factors that Affect Drip Email Pricing Drip email pricing depends on several factors. Here are some of the biggest ones: 1. Number of active contacts Some platforms, particularly the ones that use the MAU pricing model, charge based on the number of customers who interact with your emails. The higher the number of active customers, the higher the pricing. 2. List size Managing an email list is easier said than done. Nevertheless, if you have a large database of contacts, you will be charged a higher monthly fee. In this case, pricing will remain the same even if you don’t have many active subscribers on your list. 3. Email volume The number of emails you send plays a big role in pricing. This is because high-volume automated email marketing campaigns require significant infrastructure for email delivery, tracking, and reporting. 4. Advanced features Platforms offering advanced features like RFM segmentation, automation, A/B testing, analytics, and AI-driven personalization typically charge more than others. Some pricing models allow you to opt for some or all of these features, depending on your business requirements. 5. Automation complexity If your drip campaign involves complex workflows, like different stages, conditions, triggers, etc., it can impact the pricing. Automation requires more resources to set up and maintain, which increases the price. 6. Integration with other tools Connecting your email platform with CRMs, Ecommerce tools, or analytics systems can drive up costs, especially if platforms charge extra for native integrations or require third-party connectors. Before signing up, ask yourself: how many of these tools are truly essential? Can any be replaced with ones that integrate more easily? A cluttered tech stack not only costs more but also complicates your workflows.   Top Features to Look For in a Drip Email Marketing Software Since you’re on the lookout for a drip email marketing software platform, focus on the features we’ve mentioned below. Core features that drip email software absolutely needs These features are the must-haves. They are the foundational tools required to automate, personalize, and optimize your email drip campaigns at scale. Journey designer: Easily set up multi-step workflows triggered by parameters like customer actions, behaviors, or time delays with minimal coding. Behavioral targeting: Send emails based on real-time customer behavior, such as cart additions, subscriptions, app activity, and more, for highly relevant messaging. Personalization engine: Dynamically include customer attributes based on past interactions and preferences to personalize emails at scale. High inbox deliverability: Tools and practices that ensure you have a healthy sender reputation and high inbox placement. Campaign optimization with A/B testing: Test different email versions to learn what drives higher engagement and optimize your drip flows continuously. Real-time analytics and insights: Access detailed reports and dashboards that track key drip email marketing metrics like opens, clicks, and conversions, and identify drop-offs in your drip journeys. Other features that are very useful to have These features aren’t absolutely necessary to run an effective campaign, but they can improve customer experience and operational efficiency. AI-based predictive segmentation: Leverage AI to predict customer behavior like churn or likelihood of conversion, and automatically adjust campaigns accordingly. Omnichannel messaging: Integrate messaging across various channels, like push notifications, SMS, WhatsApp, and in-app messaging for a cohesive customer journey. Pre-built templates: Quickly access pre-built, customizable email templates to launch campaigns faster without heavy design work.   9 Steps to Choosing a Drip Email Marketing Software With so many options available in the market, choosing the right drip email marketing software can seem like an uphill battle. No worries! We’ll even walk you through exactly how to evaluate and compare drip email tools for yourself. Once you’ve asked the right questions and gathered the facts during demos, it’s time to break down your decision-making process into clear, actionable steps. Step 1: Define Your Non-Negotiable Features The first step is to make a list of all the features that are necessary for you. For example, if your goal is to send behavior-triggered drip campaigns, then features like behavioral targeting and multi-step customer journey automation are non-negotiable. On the other hand, if you only need basic scheduled newsletters, you might not need advanced workflow builders or AI recommendations. Once you have a list of non-negotiable features, it becomes easier to narrow down your platform choices. Step 2: Research and Compare All Viable Options Don’t just go with the most well-known or even the most affordable-looking tool. Research platforms that fit your business size and industry. Use peer reviews, comparison guides, and case studies to understand how the platform performs in real-world use cases. Also, remember that low entry pricing can be misleading. What matters is the total cost of ownership. Look for things like hidden fees, integration costs, or feature-based tier upgrades. These will add to the pricing later. Step 3: Book a Personalized DemoWhen choosing your drip email marketing tool, make sure you request a personalized demo based on your business context, use cases, and workflows. A simple, generic walkthrough isn’t helpful because this is your first real glimpse into how the platform is going to support you long-term. If the demo isn’t tailored to your business, that’s a red flag—because if they can’t offer personalized attention when they’re trying to win your business, you’re unlikely to get it during onboarding or implementation. Ask to see features live, rather than just screenshots or slide decks. If a feature is critical, ask to see it in action. At times, sales teams may promise features that are still ‘in development’. Step 4: Attend the Demo with a List of Questions Once you’ve booked a demo, prepare a checklist of questions, like the one we shared above. This will help you stay focused and gain the clarity you need. Ask whether the features you care about are included in the base plan or locked behind premium tiers. Dig into pricing: will the costs scale predictably as you grow, or are there hidden fees that only show up later? Some platforms may offer attractive deals upfront but raise prices later or charge extra for essentials like API access, automation workflows, or deliverability support. The demo is your chance to surface all of this before signing anything. Step 5: Evaluate Ease of Use The drip email software you choose must be easy to use. Since marketers with little to no technical knowledge are most likely to use the platform, look for solutions that allow you to build email campaigns, segment audiences, and personalize messages easily. Say no to complicated or clunky interfaces that are not intuitive and require a steep learning curve. Step 6: Check for Advanced Capabilities Ask about AI features like predictive segmentation or email send-time optimization. Even if you don’t need them right now, having future-ready capabilities ensures you won’t outgrow the tool too soon. Step 7: Test for Scalability and Deliverability This is an important one. Look for solutions that can handle large volumes of emails with good email deliverability rates. Make sure the software you choose has a high inbox placement rate. Check if they have a solid infrastructure and dedicated IPs, should you need them. Also, consider scalability: will this platform still meet your needs when your contact list grows from 10,000 to 100,000? Make sure you’re not locked into expensive pricing jumps or performance bottlenecks. Step 8: Review Integration Options Make sure the tool you choose fits seamlessly into your existing workflow. It should integrate with your CRM, mobile app, Ecommerce system, and anything else in your ecosystem. Even if it doesn’t directly integrate, ensure that it offers flexible APIs and webhooks, or supports third-party connectors like Zapier, so you can still automate data flow without manual workarounds. Step 9: Compare Customer Support Quality Good software with bad support can be a nightmare. Check for onboarding help, technical support, availability, account management, and resources. Ask about how quickly the support team responds and resolves software issues to ensure that you have minimal downtime.   5 Best Email Drip Campaign Software and Tools It’s time to weigh your options in choosing an email drip campaign software for your business. Give this list a quick read! 1. MoEngage: Best for Omnichannel Engagement and Behavioral Targeting   MoEngage is a comprehensive customer engagement platform designed to deliver personalized and automated drip email campaigns at scale. Its powerful AI capabilities allow you to use behavioral targeting to reach customers at the right time with the right message at different stages of their customer journey. Why MoEngage is Best for Omnichannel Engagement and Behavioral Targeting: MoEngage offers multiple features that allow you to provide cohesive customer experiences across various touchpoints. You can reach out to customers via not just email, but also SMS, push notifications, in-app messages, and even ad networks without missing a beat. Features like advanced segmentation enable you to send hyper-personalized drip email campaigns tailored to individual customer actions, such as cart abandonment or inactivity. This ensures that messages are timely, relevant, and effective in driving engagement. How Pricing Works: MoEngage offers flexible drip email pricing based on the scale of your business and the exact features you’d need. You can always reach out to their sales team to learn more about their custom pricing plans. How to Set Up a Demo: To experience MoEngage firsthand, you need to book a demo first. Their team will then contact you to schedule a personalized walkthrough that showcases how the platform can meet your specific drip email marketing goals. 2. ActiveCampaign: Best for Email and Marketing Automation ActiveCampaign is a marketing automation platform that allows you to create email campaigns on channels your customers connect with. The platform offers predictive content features that help you show customers the most meaningful content. Why ActiveCampaign is Best for Email and Marketing Automation: ActiveCampaign excels in delivering sophisticated automation campaign workflows that can be tailored to various customer journeys. How Pricing Works: ActiveCampaign offers a four-tiered drip email pricing plan. The basic plan starts at /month for 1K contacts, while the Enterprise plan starts at /month for 50K contacts. If you have contacts upwards of that number, you need to talk to their sales team. 3. Kit: Best for Creators Using Emails Kit is tailored for creators, bloggers, and solo entrepreneurs who want to send customer relationship emails. It offers a user-friendly interface with powerful automation capabilities. Why Kit is Best for Creators and Solo Entrepreneurs: Kit’s email-first operating system allows creators to build long-term connections with customers. Its intuitive email designer can be used to create effective on-brand emails that are optimized for deliverability. Plus, it allows you to send email broadcasts for announcing product launches, sharing content updates, or promoting limited-time offers to your entire list in bulk. How Pricing Works: Kit offers a free Newsletter plan with basic features like visual automation, opt-in forms, and email broadcasts to up to 10K subscribers. But you can implement just 1 visual automation and an email sequence on the free plan. Advanced plans start at per month for up to 1K subscribers, and go up to /month for 400K contacts. 4. Drip: Best for Ecommerce Marketing Automation Drip is a marketing automation platform designed specifically for Ecommerce brands. It offers tools to create personalized email campaigns that drive customer engagement and sales. Why Drip is Best for Ecommerce Marketing Automation: Drip provides deep integrations with Ecommerce platforms, allowing businesses to leverage customer data for targeted campaigns. Features like behavior-based automation and pre-built workflows help in crafting effective drip campaigns. How Pricing Works: Drip’s pricing starts at /month for up to 2,500 contacts. The cost scales up to /month based on the number of contacts, with custom pricing available for larger lists of over 180K subscribers. 5. Mailmodo: Best for Interactive Email Marketing Mailmodo is an email marketing platform that enables the creation of interactive drip emails using AMP technology. This allows recipients to take actions like filling out forms or booking appointments directly within the email. Why Mailmodo is Best for Interactive Email Marketing: Mailmodo stands out by offering interactive email capabilities that enhance customer engagement and conversion rates. Its drag-and-drop editor simplifies the creation of dynamic emails without any coding required. How Pricing Works: Like the other drip email marketing software on this list, Mailmodo’s pricing is based on the number of contacts and emails sent per month. Its three-tiered pricing model starts at /month for 500 contacts, going up to /month for 250K subscribers. Any more contacts, and you have to reach out to their sales team.   How to Get the Most Value Out of Your Drip Email Software Here are some of the ways in which you can leverage your drip email software to its maximum potential. time through automation: Automate welcome emails, follow-ups, and re-engagement campaigns to free up your team for more strategic work. Boost engagement with timely messaging: Set up triggers so that emails are automatically sent based on customers’ actions. This keeps your audience interested at every stage of their customer journey. Drive higher conversions with targeted sequences: Send the right email at the right time to move leads through the sales funnel towards a conversion. Personalize customer experiences at scale: Use segmentation and dynamic content to create a personalized customer experience without manually customizing every email. Continuously optimize with data-driven insights: Track performance metrics like open rates and conversions to refine your drip email campaigns and maximize results over time.   Maximize Engagement With MoEngage’s Drip Email Marketing Software To sum it up, drip email marketing can be quite powerful for engaging customers at different stages of their journey. Having the right drip email software in your tech stack ensures smooth, efficient workflows. Your team can focus on higher-value tasks while automating routine processes. It also ensures that your drip emails always reach the right person with the right message at the perfect time. MoEngage’s powerful email automation platform allows you to automate personalized campaigns that drive higher engagement and conversions. With advanced segmentation, behavior-triggered messaging, and seamless integration with your ecosystem, you can nurture relationships more effectively than ever. Curious to see how MoEngage can elevate your campaigns? Schedule a discovery call today. The post Drip Email Software: The Ultimate Pricing and Buying Guide appeared first on MoEngage. #drip #email #software #ultimate #pricing
    WWW.MOENGAGE.COM
    Drip Email Software: The Ultimate Pricing and Buying Guide
    Reading Time: 11 minutes Choosing the right drip email software can be a game-changer for your marketing strategy. With a variety of options available, understanding the pricing models and features each tool offers is key to making an informed decision. In this guide, we’ll walk you through essential factors to consider when evaluating pricing, so you can select the best solution that fits your needs and budget for your drip email campaigns. Ready to dive deeper? Let’s explore your options.   What Does Drip Email Marketing Software Cost? Drip email marketing software typically follows a few different pricing models, depending on the provider. Here’s a quick breakdown of the most common ones: Pricing Based on MAUs (Monthly Active Users): You pay based on how many unique subscribers actually engage with your emails (or your system) each month, not your entire list size. It’s a much fairer, scalable way to pay, especially if your audience fluctuates. You only pay for real activity. Flat-Rate Pricing: You pay a fixed monthly fee, regardless of usage, list size, or activity. But flat rates are often bloated to cover all usage types, so you’re likely overpaying if you’re not sending a massive volume of emails. It’s not cost-efficient for scaling brands. List-Based Pricing: You pay based on the total number of contacts in your database, whether they engage or not. However, you end up paying for cold leads, dead emails, and inactive contacts. This makes your costs climb unnecessarily as your list grows. Email Volume-Based Pricing: You’re charged based on how many emails you send each month. It can discourage you from running important nurturing campaigns or re-engagement flows because every email adds to your bill. It’s unpredictable and can spike costs during promotions. For email marketers, this model means added pressure to limit sends, often at the cost of customer experience and long-term engagement. Some platforms even bundle unnecessary features into expensive tiers, which bloats the pricing, especially for features you may not actually need. This is where MoEngage stands out. The platform offers a more transparent and scalable approach so that pricing is aligned to your actual usage and outcomes rather than inflated send limits.   6 Biggest Factors that Affect Drip Email Pricing Drip email pricing depends on several factors. Here are some of the biggest ones: 1. Number of active contacts Some platforms, particularly the ones that use the MAU pricing model, charge based on the number of customers who interact with your emails. The higher the number of active customers, the higher the pricing. 2. List size Managing an email list is easier said than done. Nevertheless, if you have a large database of contacts, you will be charged a higher monthly fee. In this case, pricing will remain the same even if you don’t have many active subscribers on your list. 3. Email volume The number of emails you send plays a big role in pricing. This is because high-volume automated email marketing campaigns require significant infrastructure for email delivery, tracking, and reporting. 4. Advanced features Platforms offering advanced features like RFM segmentation, automation, A/B testing, analytics, and AI-driven personalization typically charge more than others. Some pricing models allow you to opt for some or all of these features, depending on your business requirements. 5. Automation complexity If your drip campaign involves complex workflows, like different stages, conditions, triggers, etc., it can impact the pricing. Automation requires more resources to set up and maintain, which increases the price. 6. Integration with other tools Connecting your email platform with CRMs, Ecommerce tools, or analytics systems can drive up costs, especially if platforms charge extra for native integrations or require third-party connectors. Before signing up, ask yourself: how many of these tools are truly essential? Can any be replaced with ones that integrate more easily? A cluttered tech stack not only costs more but also complicates your workflows.   Top Features to Look For in a Drip Email Marketing Software Since you’re on the lookout for a drip email marketing software platform, focus on the features we’ve mentioned below. Core features that drip email software absolutely needs These features are the must-haves. They are the foundational tools required to automate, personalize, and optimize your email drip campaigns at scale. Journey designer: Easily set up multi-step workflows triggered by parameters like customer actions, behaviors, or time delays with minimal coding. Behavioral targeting: Send emails based on real-time customer behavior, such as cart additions, subscriptions, app activity, and more, for highly relevant messaging. Personalization engine: Dynamically include customer attributes based on past interactions and preferences to personalize emails at scale. High inbox deliverability: Tools and practices that ensure you have a healthy sender reputation and high inbox placement. Campaign optimization with A/B testing: Test different email versions to learn what drives higher engagement and optimize your drip flows continuously. Real-time analytics and insights: Access detailed reports and dashboards that track key drip email marketing metrics like opens, clicks, and conversions, and identify drop-offs in your drip journeys. Other features that are very useful to have These features aren’t absolutely necessary to run an effective campaign, but they can improve customer experience and operational efficiency. AI-based predictive segmentation: Leverage AI to predict customer behavior like churn or likelihood of conversion, and automatically adjust campaigns accordingly. Omnichannel messaging: Integrate messaging across various channels, like push notifications, SMS, WhatsApp, and in-app messaging for a cohesive customer journey. Pre-built templates: Quickly access pre-built, customizable email templates to launch campaigns faster without heavy design work.   9 Steps to Choosing a Drip Email Marketing Software With so many options available in the market, choosing the right drip email marketing software can seem like an uphill battle. No worries! We’ll even walk you through exactly how to evaluate and compare drip email tools for yourself. Once you’ve asked the right questions and gathered the facts during demos, it’s time to break down your decision-making process into clear, actionable steps. Step 1: Define Your Non-Negotiable Features The first step is to make a list of all the features that are necessary for you. For example, if your goal is to send behavior-triggered drip campaigns (like abandoned cart emails or re-engagement nudges), then features like behavioral targeting and multi-step customer journey automation are non-negotiable. On the other hand, if you only need basic scheduled newsletters, you might not need advanced workflow builders or AI recommendations. Once you have a list of non-negotiable features, it becomes easier to narrow down your platform choices. Step 2: Research and Compare All Viable Options Don’t just go with the most well-known or even the most affordable-looking tool. Research platforms that fit your business size and industry. Use peer reviews, comparison guides, and case studies to understand how the platform performs in real-world use cases. Also, remember that low entry pricing can be misleading. What matters is the total cost of ownership. Look for things like hidden fees, integration costs, or feature-based tier upgrades. These will add to the pricing later. Step 3: Book a Personalized Demo (and Demand Proof) When choosing your drip email marketing tool, make sure you request a personalized demo based on your business context, use cases, and workflows. A simple, generic walkthrough isn’t helpful because this is your first real glimpse into how the platform is going to support you long-term. If the demo isn’t tailored to your business, that’s a red flag—because if they can’t offer personalized attention when they’re trying to win your business, you’re unlikely to get it during onboarding or implementation. Ask to see features live, rather than just screenshots or slide decks. If a feature is critical, ask to see it in action. At times, sales teams may promise features that are still ‘in development’. Step 4: Attend the Demo with a List of Questions Once you’ve booked a demo, prepare a checklist of questions, like the one we shared above. This will help you stay focused and gain the clarity you need. Ask whether the features you care about are included in the base plan or locked behind premium tiers. Dig into pricing: will the costs scale predictably as you grow, or are there hidden fees that only show up later? Some platforms may offer attractive deals upfront but raise prices later or charge extra for essentials like API access, automation workflows, or deliverability support. The demo is your chance to surface all of this before signing anything. Step 5: Evaluate Ease of Use The drip email software you choose must be easy to use. Since marketers with little to no technical knowledge are most likely to use the platform, look for solutions that allow you to build email campaigns, segment audiences, and personalize messages easily. Say no to complicated or clunky interfaces that are not intuitive and require a steep learning curve. Step 6: Check for Advanced Capabilities Ask about AI features like predictive segmentation or email send-time optimization. Even if you don’t need them right now, having future-ready capabilities ensures you won’t outgrow the tool too soon. Step 7: Test for Scalability and Deliverability This is an important one. Look for solutions that can handle large volumes of emails with good email deliverability rates. Make sure the software you choose has a high inbox placement rate. Check if they have a solid infrastructure and dedicated IPs, should you need them. Also, consider scalability: will this platform still meet your needs when your contact list grows from 10,000 to 100,000? Make sure you’re not locked into expensive pricing jumps or performance bottlenecks. Step 8: Review Integration Options Make sure the tool you choose fits seamlessly into your existing workflow. It should integrate with your CRM, mobile app, Ecommerce system, and anything else in your ecosystem. Even if it doesn’t directly integrate, ensure that it offers flexible APIs and webhooks, or supports third-party connectors like Zapier, so you can still automate data flow without manual workarounds. Step 9: Compare Customer Support Quality Good software with bad support can be a nightmare. Check for onboarding help, technical support, availability, account management, and resources. Ask about how quickly the support team responds and resolves software issues to ensure that you have minimal downtime.   5 Best Email Drip Campaign Software and Tools It’s time to weigh your options in choosing an email drip campaign software for your business. Give this list a quick read! 1. MoEngage: Best for Omnichannel Engagement and Behavioral Targeting   MoEngage is a comprehensive customer engagement platform designed to deliver personalized and automated drip email campaigns at scale. Its powerful AI capabilities allow you to use behavioral targeting to reach customers at the right time with the right message at different stages of their customer journey. Why MoEngage is Best for Omnichannel Engagement and Behavioral Targeting: MoEngage offers multiple features that allow you to provide cohesive customer experiences across various touchpoints. You can reach out to customers via not just email, but also SMS, push notifications, in-app messages, and even ad networks without missing a beat. Features like advanced segmentation enable you to send hyper-personalized drip email campaigns tailored to individual customer actions, such as cart abandonment or inactivity. This ensures that messages are timely, relevant, and effective in driving engagement. How Pricing Works: MoEngage offers flexible drip email pricing based on the scale of your business and the exact features you’d need. You can always reach out to their sales team to learn more about their custom pricing plans. How to Set Up a Demo: To experience MoEngage firsthand, you need to book a demo first. Their team will then contact you to schedule a personalized walkthrough that showcases how the platform can meet your specific drip email marketing goals. 2. ActiveCampaign: Best for Email and Marketing Automation ActiveCampaign is a marketing automation platform that allows you to create email campaigns on channels your customers connect with. The platform offers predictive content features that help you show customers the most meaningful content. Why ActiveCampaign is Best for Email and Marketing Automation: ActiveCampaign excels in delivering sophisticated automation campaign workflows that can be tailored to various customer journeys. How Pricing Works: ActiveCampaign offers a four-tiered drip email pricing plan. The basic plan starts at $15/month for 1K contacts, while the Enterprise plan starts at $1,169/month for 50K contacts. If you have contacts upwards of that number, you need to talk to their sales team. 3. Kit: Best for Creators Using Emails Kit is tailored for creators, bloggers, and solo entrepreneurs who want to send customer relationship emails. It offers a user-friendly interface with powerful automation capabilities. Why Kit is Best for Creators and Solo Entrepreneurs: Kit’s email-first operating system allows creators to build long-term connections with customers. Its intuitive email designer can be used to create effective on-brand emails that are optimized for deliverability. Plus, it allows you to send email broadcasts for announcing product launches, sharing content updates, or promoting limited-time offers to your entire list in bulk. How Pricing Works: Kit offers a free Newsletter plan with basic features like visual automation, opt-in forms, and email broadcasts to up to 10K subscribers. But you can implement just 1 visual automation and an email sequence on the free plan. Advanced plans start at $25 per month for up to 1K subscribers, and go up to $2,166/month for 400K contacts. 4. Drip: Best for Ecommerce Marketing Automation Drip is a marketing automation platform designed specifically for Ecommerce brands. It offers tools to create personalized email campaigns that drive customer engagement and sales. Why Drip is Best for Ecommerce Marketing Automation: Drip provides deep integrations with Ecommerce platforms, allowing businesses to leverage customer data for targeted campaigns. Features like behavior-based automation and pre-built workflows help in crafting effective drip campaigns. How Pricing Works: Drip’s pricing starts at $39/month for up to 2,500 contacts. The cost scales up to $1,999/month based on the number of contacts, with custom pricing available for larger lists of over 180K subscribers. 5. Mailmodo: Best for Interactive Email Marketing Mailmodo is an email marketing platform that enables the creation of interactive drip emails using AMP technology. This allows recipients to take actions like filling out forms or booking appointments directly within the email. Why Mailmodo is Best for Interactive Email Marketing: Mailmodo stands out by offering interactive email capabilities that enhance customer engagement and conversion rates. Its drag-and-drop editor simplifies the creation of dynamic emails without any coding required. How Pricing Works: Like the other drip email marketing software on this list, Mailmodo’s pricing is based on the number of contacts and emails sent per month. Its three-tiered pricing model starts at $39/month for 500 contacts, going up to $939/month for 250K subscribers. Any more contacts, and you have to reach out to their sales team.   How to Get the Most Value Out of Your Drip Email Software Here are some of the ways in which you can leverage your drip email software to its maximum potential. Save time through automation: Automate welcome emails, follow-ups, and re-engagement campaigns to free up your team for more strategic work. Boost engagement with timely messaging: Set up triggers so that emails are automatically sent based on customers’ actions. This keeps your audience interested at every stage of their customer journey. Drive higher conversions with targeted sequences: Send the right email at the right time to move leads through the sales funnel towards a conversion. Personalize customer experiences at scale: Use segmentation and dynamic content to create a personalized customer experience without manually customizing every email. Continuously optimize with data-driven insights: Track performance metrics like open rates and conversions to refine your drip email campaigns and maximize results over time.   Maximize Engagement With MoEngage’s Drip Email Marketing Software To sum it up, drip email marketing can be quite powerful for engaging customers at different stages of their journey. Having the right drip email software in your tech stack ensures smooth, efficient workflows. Your team can focus on higher-value tasks while automating routine processes. It also ensures that your drip emails always reach the right person with the right message at the perfect time. MoEngage’s powerful email automation platform allows you to automate personalized campaigns that drive higher engagement and conversions. With advanced segmentation, behavior-triggered messaging, and seamless integration with your ecosystem, you can nurture relationships more effectively than ever. Curious to see how MoEngage can elevate your campaigns? Schedule a discovery call today. The post Drip Email Software: The Ultimate Pricing and Buying Guide appeared first on MoEngage.
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  • When is the Best Time to Send an Email?

    Reading Time: 9 minutes
    Email provides a direct, two-way communication line to your target audience, which makes it, in a sense, more social than marketing channels like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. However, this doesn’t automatically lead to high open rates or email engagement. You need to know when the best time to send an email is and how often you should send them. Without a well-thought-out schedule, you’ll likely overwhelm your customers’ inboxes.
    In this post, we’ll discuss email scheduling and cadence best practices, along with the best day and time to send email marketing messages.
    Let’s jump in.

     
    What is Email Cadence?
    Email cadence is the ideal frequency and most impactful time for your business to send marketing emails to your subscribers. It’s a process that involves experimentation, testing, and adjustments, as you’ll need to understand your subscribers’ preferences and modify your email schedule accordingly.
    It matters because it will greatly impact the success of email marketing campaigns, specifically engagement and your relationship with your subscriber list. Send too many emails, and they’ll likely unsubscribe. Get the timing wrong, and you’ll see an impact in your open rates.
     
    The Best Time to Send an Email: By Industry and Day
    There isn’t a universal email cadence to replicate, as it varies by industry. That said, the best time to send an email is typically at the start of the workday between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. on weekdays, with Tuesdays and Thursdays being the most effective days.
    This is why it’s crucial that you dig into the averages for your industry, conveniently set out for you in this table based on the data collected. It’s a good place to start, especially if you’re new to email marketing and don’t have your own data yet.

    Industry
    Best Day To Send Emails
    Best Time To Send Emails

    Retail and Ecommerce
    Mondayand Sunday10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. and again 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

    Financial 
    Fridayand Sunday8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. and again 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

    Media and entertainment
    Thursday12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. and again 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

     
    An Ideal Sales Cadence Email TemplateOnce you’ve identified the best time to send emails for your industry, you can plan your email marketing campaign around these times.
    We’ve created this sales cadence email template for a hypothetical brand, StrideGo, a subscription-based fitness app, to help you see how this will look in practice. It shows how to plot out your emails so you can balance frequency with the best times to send an email.

     
    From sales to subscriber re-engagement, there are various ways you can tweak this template to match your campaign goal, as the following examples from well-known B2C brands illustrate.
     
    Email Cadence Examples From Top Brands
    Some of the best email cadence examples come from brands that have turned email into one of their most effective channels. From limited-time flash sales to regular content updates that help build your brand as a thought leader, here are some ways you can approach email cadence, timing, and content.
    1. Grammarly | Flash Sale

    Campaign goal: Promote a flash sale
    Grammarly’s email campaign serves as a good example of how to strike the right balance between staying top of mind without becoming an annoyance. The first email succinctly links the offer with their subscribers’ pain point, which increases their chance of opening it.
    They then wait two days before sending a follow-up email to remind subscribers that the offer will soon end. To capitalize on the powerful effect of urgency, they wait until the day the offer ends to send their final reminder.
    What this email campaign does well: Grammarly doesn’t solely rely on the massive discount to drive subscriptions. They take it one step further by linking their software with their potential new subscribers’ pain points. It’s a great example of a customer relationship email.
    2. Airbnb | Announcing New Updates

    Source:

     
    Campaign goal: Highlight new blog content and product updates
    Airbnb sends monthly email newsletters that share industry news, product updates, and learning resources. On the surface, it functions as an email newsletter, but it’s also an effective tool for establishing thought leadership. Industry news isn’t as exciting or time-sensitive as sales, so it makes sense for this type of email to be scheduled on a monthly basis only.
    What this email campaign does well: The newsletter helps to build brand awareness and encourages product discovery. The strategic placement of several calls to actionper email also helps to generate website traffic.
    3. McDonald’s | Personalized Updates

    Source:
    Campaign goal: Update customers about their loyalty points
    See how they’re proudly announcing their email marketing cadence?
    Each month, McDonald’s sends a statement that summarizes loyalty program members’ activity for the past month and current status. It’s an effective tool for engaging their most loyal customers to grow their customer loyalty even further.
    What this email campaign does well: The personalized content makes regular diners feel special. Plus, the fact that it visualizes how many points they’re away from a reward, along with the only-once-a-month email cadence, serves as good encouragement to visit McDonald’s more often. How? Well, when customers receive the email once a month stating the reward, it serves as a slight nudge to pay a visit in the hope of winning more rewards!
     
    5 Best Practices for Email Marketing Cadence
    Here are five email cadence best practices that will help you drive noteworthy results for you to replicate.
    1. Create a Customer Journey
    Each email marketing campaign should have a specific goal, whether that’s to create brand awareness or drive webinar registrations. Creating and mapping the customer journey will ensure that you know where your target audience typically starts and what type of message they’ll need at which point to move them toward your goal.
    If you have clarity on the typical steps your target audience takes and their behavior, your email communication will improve the customer experience. Each message will be relevant and valuable.
    2. Segment Your List
    Email preferences differ from one segment to the next. For example, your frequent shoppers generally like to receive regular promotional emails with exclusive deals. On the other hand, occasional buyers would rather receive fewer emails and resonate better with educational emails.
    Segmenting your email list allows you to send daily emails to those in your most engaged group, while weekly emails are reserved for another group.
    3. Personalize Content
    One of the most crucial email cadence best practices is content personalization.
    In addition to adjusting your email frequency to your segment’s preferences, you should also tailor the actual content so that it’s relevant to specific recipients. Generic content quickly gets ignored, while location-based product recommendations feel useful.
    For your email cadence to click, you need recipients to click on the CTAs, and personalized content will encourage engagement. The added benefit of using email personalization is that once your open and click-through rates improve, you can also increase your email frequency.
    4. Test and Tweak
    Like with virtually anything in life, it takes time before you find your rhythm. The same applies to email cadence. A/B testing will allow you to see if your frequency and timing work and give you the data you need to improve your campaigns.
    You can, for example, send specials to half of your frequent shoppers daily, while the other half receive specials only weekly. Alternatively, you can send the whole segment the same email on the same days at the same time, and then experiment with the best time to send an email.
    5. Let Subscribers Select Email Preferences
    While you still need to do your own rigorous testing, give your email subscribers the option to choose how often they want to receive emails from your brand. It’s as easy as adding a link in your email signature that takes them to a page where they can select which emails they choose to receive.
    You can even take it one step further and let them choose the frequency by type of message. For example, they might want to hear about deals weekly, while company news is best served only once a month. This also allows them to change the frequency at a later stage, should their needs change.
    Aside from making your job easier, it also gives your subscribers an alternative to unsubscribing from your emails altogether.
     
    Top 3 Email Cadence Software and Tools
    There are several great email cadence tools that can automate much of the labor involved in identifying the best time to send an email campaign. Here’s a quick look that highlights the core and unique features of three such software solutions.
    1. Best for Cross-Channel Customer Engagement: MoEngage
     

    MoEngage’s enterprise-ready, cross-channel customer engagement platform gives your team the data and insight they need to personalize customer experiences. For help specifically with email cadence, you can use it to design relevant emails that match your customers’ preferences and meet them where they’re at in their journey.
    What makes it such a unique email cadence tool is its deep focus on customer engagement.
    It doesn’t just send emails but also helps you understand the why and when behind engagement. For example, it has a “Best Time to Send” feature that uses advanced data analysis to make sense of historical customer interactions.
    How pricing works: MoEngage keeps pricing simple and flexible by offering only two plansand dozens of features available to be purchased as add-ons.
    What makes it stand out: MoEngage’s impressive predictive capabilities let you tailor your emails to your customers’ next best action, ensuring they receive timely, relevant content time and again.
    2. Best for Email Scheduling for Small Businesses: Klaviyo

    Klaviyo’s marketing automation platform offers tools for email and SMS marketing. With its built-in data platform and drag-and-drop editor, you can easily create customizable templates and send personalized emails.
    You can, for example, use data like browsing history, past purchases, and subscription status to send relevant and timely updates. It also has a Smart Send Time feature to help specifically with the best time to send an email.
    How pricing works: Plans start at per month based on features and the number of monthly emails you want to send.
    What makes it stand out: As it integrates with platforms like Shopify, you can use real-time customer data to personalize your communication.
    3. Best for Inbound Marketing: HubSpot

    HubSpot is an all-in-one solution that businesses can use to attract and engage their target audience across the entire journey. It offers various hubsbuilt to work together and integrations with more than 1,000 third-party apps that expand its capabilities even further.
    To help with email cadence, you can check out Cadence, a multi-channel sales prospecting tool available in its app marketplace. It will tell you who to email and allow you to automate sequence steps.
    How pricing works: Depending on the platform solutions you need, pricing ranges from per month per seat to per month per seat for seven seats.
    What makes it stand out: HubSpot is built around inbound marketing and combines everything you’ll need for lead nurturing to customer support into one interface.

     
    Manage Your Email Cadence With MoEngage
    When you’re creating your email marketing strategy, you should also plan for the best time to send an email. If you send your email at 4 a.m. on a Saturday, it will only be buried with dozens of other emails when your recipients finally make time to check their inbox.
    You want to find out at what time your subscribers are most likely going to open their inbox and ensure your email reaches them at this time. In addition to the day and time, you also need to consider the email cadence.
    Here’s an idea: why not remove the guesswork altogether? With MoEngage’s Best Time to Sendfeature, you can reach out to your customers at just the right moment. What’s more, MoEngage’s AI engine, Sherpa AI, keeps updating the best time to send an email based on changing customer behavior.
    Want to see this super-cool feature in action? Schedule a 1:1 demo today.
    The post When is the Best Time to Send an Email? appeared first on MoEngage.
    #when #best #time #send #email
    When is the Best Time to Send an Email?
    Reading Time: 9 minutes Email provides a direct, two-way communication line to your target audience, which makes it, in a sense, more social than marketing channels like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. However, this doesn’t automatically lead to high open rates or email engagement. You need to know when the best time to send an email is and how often you should send them. Without a well-thought-out schedule, you’ll likely overwhelm your customers’ inboxes. In this post, we’ll discuss email scheduling and cadence best practices, along with the best day and time to send email marketing messages. Let’s jump in.   What is Email Cadence? Email cadence is the ideal frequency and most impactful time for your business to send marketing emails to your subscribers. It’s a process that involves experimentation, testing, and adjustments, as you’ll need to understand your subscribers’ preferences and modify your email schedule accordingly. It matters because it will greatly impact the success of email marketing campaigns, specifically engagement and your relationship with your subscriber list. Send too many emails, and they’ll likely unsubscribe. Get the timing wrong, and you’ll see an impact in your open rates.   The Best Time to Send an Email: By Industry and Day There isn’t a universal email cadence to replicate, as it varies by industry. That said, the best time to send an email is typically at the start of the workday between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. on weekdays, with Tuesdays and Thursdays being the most effective days. This is why it’s crucial that you dig into the averages for your industry, conveniently set out for you in this table based on the data collected. It’s a good place to start, especially if you’re new to email marketing and don’t have your own data yet. Industry Best Day To Send Emails Best Time To Send Emails Retail and Ecommerce Mondayand Sunday10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. and again 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Financial  Fridayand Sunday8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. and again 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Media and entertainment Thursday12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. and again 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.   An Ideal Sales Cadence Email TemplateOnce you’ve identified the best time to send emails for your industry, you can plan your email marketing campaign around these times. We’ve created this sales cadence email template for a hypothetical brand, StrideGo, a subscription-based fitness app, to help you see how this will look in practice. It shows how to plot out your emails so you can balance frequency with the best times to send an email.   From sales to subscriber re-engagement, there are various ways you can tweak this template to match your campaign goal, as the following examples from well-known B2C brands illustrate.   Email Cadence Examples From Top Brands Some of the best email cadence examples come from brands that have turned email into one of their most effective channels. From limited-time flash sales to regular content updates that help build your brand as a thought leader, here are some ways you can approach email cadence, timing, and content. 1. Grammarly | Flash Sale Campaign goal: Promote a flash sale Grammarly’s email campaign serves as a good example of how to strike the right balance between staying top of mind without becoming an annoyance. The first email succinctly links the offer with their subscribers’ pain point, which increases their chance of opening it. They then wait two days before sending a follow-up email to remind subscribers that the offer will soon end. To capitalize on the powerful effect of urgency, they wait until the day the offer ends to send their final reminder. What this email campaign does well: Grammarly doesn’t solely rely on the massive discount to drive subscriptions. They take it one step further by linking their software with their potential new subscribers’ pain points. It’s a great example of a customer relationship email. 2. Airbnb | Announcing New Updates Source:   Campaign goal: Highlight new blog content and product updates Airbnb sends monthly email newsletters that share industry news, product updates, and learning resources. On the surface, it functions as an email newsletter, but it’s also an effective tool for establishing thought leadership. Industry news isn’t as exciting or time-sensitive as sales, so it makes sense for this type of email to be scheduled on a monthly basis only. What this email campaign does well: The newsletter helps to build brand awareness and encourages product discovery. The strategic placement of several calls to actionper email also helps to generate website traffic. 3. McDonald’s | Personalized Updates Source: Campaign goal: Update customers about their loyalty points See how they’re proudly announcing their email marketing cadence? Each month, McDonald’s sends a statement that summarizes loyalty program members’ activity for the past month and current status. It’s an effective tool for engaging their most loyal customers to grow their customer loyalty even further. What this email campaign does well: The personalized content makes regular diners feel special. Plus, the fact that it visualizes how many points they’re away from a reward, along with the only-once-a-month email cadence, serves as good encouragement to visit McDonald’s more often. How? Well, when customers receive the email once a month stating the reward, it serves as a slight nudge to pay a visit in the hope of winning more rewards!   5 Best Practices for Email Marketing Cadence Here are five email cadence best practices that will help you drive noteworthy results for you to replicate. 1. Create a Customer Journey Each email marketing campaign should have a specific goal, whether that’s to create brand awareness or drive webinar registrations. Creating and mapping the customer journey will ensure that you know where your target audience typically starts and what type of message they’ll need at which point to move them toward your goal. If you have clarity on the typical steps your target audience takes and their behavior, your email communication will improve the customer experience. Each message will be relevant and valuable. 2. Segment Your List Email preferences differ from one segment to the next. For example, your frequent shoppers generally like to receive regular promotional emails with exclusive deals. On the other hand, occasional buyers would rather receive fewer emails and resonate better with educational emails. Segmenting your email list allows you to send daily emails to those in your most engaged group, while weekly emails are reserved for another group. 3. Personalize Content One of the most crucial email cadence best practices is content personalization. In addition to adjusting your email frequency to your segment’s preferences, you should also tailor the actual content so that it’s relevant to specific recipients. Generic content quickly gets ignored, while location-based product recommendations feel useful. For your email cadence to click, you need recipients to click on the CTAs, and personalized content will encourage engagement. The added benefit of using email personalization is that once your open and click-through rates improve, you can also increase your email frequency. 4. Test and Tweak Like with virtually anything in life, it takes time before you find your rhythm. The same applies to email cadence. A/B testing will allow you to see if your frequency and timing work and give you the data you need to improve your campaigns. You can, for example, send specials to half of your frequent shoppers daily, while the other half receive specials only weekly. Alternatively, you can send the whole segment the same email on the same days at the same time, and then experiment with the best time to send an email. 5. Let Subscribers Select Email Preferences While you still need to do your own rigorous testing, give your email subscribers the option to choose how often they want to receive emails from your brand. It’s as easy as adding a link in your email signature that takes them to a page where they can select which emails they choose to receive. You can even take it one step further and let them choose the frequency by type of message. For example, they might want to hear about deals weekly, while company news is best served only once a month. This also allows them to change the frequency at a later stage, should their needs change. Aside from making your job easier, it also gives your subscribers an alternative to unsubscribing from your emails altogether.   Top 3 Email Cadence Software and Tools There are several great email cadence tools that can automate much of the labor involved in identifying the best time to send an email campaign. Here’s a quick look that highlights the core and unique features of three such software solutions. 1. Best for Cross-Channel Customer Engagement: MoEngage   MoEngage’s enterprise-ready, cross-channel customer engagement platform gives your team the data and insight they need to personalize customer experiences. For help specifically with email cadence, you can use it to design relevant emails that match your customers’ preferences and meet them where they’re at in their journey. What makes it such a unique email cadence tool is its deep focus on customer engagement. It doesn’t just send emails but also helps you understand the why and when behind engagement. For example, it has a “Best Time to Send” feature that uses advanced data analysis to make sense of historical customer interactions. How pricing works: MoEngage keeps pricing simple and flexible by offering only two plansand dozens of features available to be purchased as add-ons. What makes it stand out: MoEngage’s impressive predictive capabilities let you tailor your emails to your customers’ next best action, ensuring they receive timely, relevant content time and again. 2. Best for Email Scheduling for Small Businesses: Klaviyo Klaviyo’s marketing automation platform offers tools for email and SMS marketing. With its built-in data platform and drag-and-drop editor, you can easily create customizable templates and send personalized emails. You can, for example, use data like browsing history, past purchases, and subscription status to send relevant and timely updates. It also has a Smart Send Time feature to help specifically with the best time to send an email. How pricing works: Plans start at per month based on features and the number of monthly emails you want to send. What makes it stand out: As it integrates with platforms like Shopify, you can use real-time customer data to personalize your communication. 3. Best for Inbound Marketing: HubSpot HubSpot is an all-in-one solution that businesses can use to attract and engage their target audience across the entire journey. It offers various hubsbuilt to work together and integrations with more than 1,000 third-party apps that expand its capabilities even further. To help with email cadence, you can check out Cadence, a multi-channel sales prospecting tool available in its app marketplace. It will tell you who to email and allow you to automate sequence steps. How pricing works: Depending on the platform solutions you need, pricing ranges from per month per seat to per month per seat for seven seats. What makes it stand out: HubSpot is built around inbound marketing and combines everything you’ll need for lead nurturing to customer support into one interface.   Manage Your Email Cadence With MoEngage When you’re creating your email marketing strategy, you should also plan for the best time to send an email. If you send your email at 4 a.m. on a Saturday, it will only be buried with dozens of other emails when your recipients finally make time to check their inbox. You want to find out at what time your subscribers are most likely going to open their inbox and ensure your email reaches them at this time. In addition to the day and time, you also need to consider the email cadence. Here’s an idea: why not remove the guesswork altogether? With MoEngage’s Best Time to Sendfeature, you can reach out to your customers at just the right moment. What’s more, MoEngage’s AI engine, Sherpa AI, keeps updating the best time to send an email based on changing customer behavior. Want to see this super-cool feature in action? Schedule a 1:1 demo today. The post When is the Best Time to Send an Email? appeared first on MoEngage. #when #best #time #send #email
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    When is the Best Time to Send an Email?
    Reading Time: 9 minutes Email provides a direct, two-way communication line to your target audience, which makes it, in a sense, more social than marketing channels like Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok. However, this doesn’t automatically lead to high open rates or email engagement. You need to know when the best time to send an email is and how often you should send them. Without a well-thought-out schedule, you’ll likely overwhelm your customers’ inboxes. In this post, we’ll discuss email scheduling and cadence best practices, along with the best day and time to send email marketing messages. Let’s jump in.   What is Email Cadence? Email cadence is the ideal frequency and most impactful time for your business to send marketing emails to your subscribers. It’s a process that involves experimentation, testing, and adjustments, as you’ll need to understand your subscribers’ preferences and modify your email schedule accordingly. It matters because it will greatly impact the success of email marketing campaigns, specifically engagement and your relationship with your subscriber list. Send too many emails, and they’ll likely unsubscribe. Get the timing wrong, and you’ll see an impact in your open rates.   The Best Time to Send an Email: By Industry and Day There isn’t a universal email cadence to replicate, as it varies by industry. That said, the best time to send an email is typically at the start of the workday between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. on weekdays, with Tuesdays and Thursdays being the most effective days. This is why it’s crucial that you dig into the averages for your industry, conveniently set out for you in this table based on the data collected. It’s a good place to start, especially if you’re new to email marketing and don’t have your own data yet. Industry Best Day To Send Emails Best Time To Send Emails Retail and Ecommerce Monday (for conversions) and Sunday (for opens) 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. and again 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Financial  Friday (for conversions) and Sunday (for opens) 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. and again 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. Media and entertainment Thursday (for conversions and opens) 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. and again 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.   An Ideal Sales Cadence Email Template (by MoEngage) Once you’ve identified the best time to send emails for your industry, you can plan your email marketing campaign around these times. We’ve created this sales cadence email template for a hypothetical brand, StrideGo, a subscription-based fitness app, to help you see how this will look in practice. It shows how to plot out your emails so you can balance frequency with the best times to send an email.   From sales to subscriber re-engagement, there are various ways you can tweak this template to match your campaign goal, as the following examples from well-known B2C brands illustrate.   Email Cadence Examples From Top Brands Some of the best email cadence examples come from brands that have turned email into one of their most effective channels. From limited-time flash sales to regular content updates that help build your brand as a thought leader, here are some ways you can approach email cadence, timing, and content. 1. Grammarly | Flash Sale Campaign goal: Promote a flash sale Grammarly’s email campaign serves as a good example of how to strike the right balance between staying top of mind without becoming an annoyance. The first email succinctly links the offer with their subscribers’ pain point, which increases their chance of opening it. They then wait two days before sending a follow-up email to remind subscribers that the offer will soon end. To capitalize on the powerful effect of urgency, they wait until the day the offer ends to send their final reminder. What this email campaign does well: Grammarly doesn’t solely rely on the massive discount to drive subscriptions. They take it one step further by linking their software with their potential new subscribers’ pain points. It’s a great example of a customer relationship email. 2. Airbnb | Announcing New Updates Source: https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/host-news-updates-to-our-review-policy-new-sustainability-resources-and-more   Campaign goal: Highlight new blog content and product updates Airbnb sends monthly email newsletters that share industry news, product updates, and learning resources. On the surface, it functions as an email newsletter, but it’s also an effective tool for establishing thought leadership. Industry news isn’t as exciting or time-sensitive as sales, so it makes sense for this type of email to be scheduled on a monthly basis only. What this email campaign does well: The newsletter helps to build brand awareness and encourages product discovery. The strategic placement of several calls to action (CTAs) per email also helps to generate website traffic. 3. McDonald’s | Personalized Updates Source: https://reallygoodemails.com/emails/smiles-davis-your-january-account-in-review Campaign goal: Update customers about their loyalty points See how they’re proudly announcing their email marketing cadence? Each month, McDonald’s sends a statement that summarizes loyalty program members’ activity for the past month and current status. It’s an effective tool for engaging their most loyal customers to grow their customer loyalty even further. What this email campaign does well: The personalized content makes regular diners feel special. Plus, the fact that it visualizes how many points they’re away from a reward, along with the only-once-a-month email cadence, serves as good encouragement to visit McDonald’s more often. How? Well, when customers receive the email once a month stating the reward, it serves as a slight nudge to pay a visit in the hope of winning more rewards!   5 Best Practices for Email Marketing Cadence Here are five email cadence best practices that will help you drive noteworthy results for you to replicate (and let you get the best use out of your email cadence tool). 1. Create a Customer Journey Each email marketing campaign should have a specific goal, whether that’s to create brand awareness or drive webinar registrations. Creating and mapping the customer journey will ensure that you know where your target audience typically starts and what type of message they’ll need at which point to move them toward your goal. If you have clarity on the typical steps your target audience takes and their behavior, your email communication will improve the customer experience. Each message will be relevant and valuable. 2. Segment Your List Email preferences differ from one segment to the next. For example, your frequent shoppers generally like to receive regular promotional emails with exclusive deals. On the other hand, occasional buyers would rather receive fewer emails and resonate better with educational emails. Segmenting your email list allows you to send daily emails to those in your most engaged group, while weekly emails are reserved for another group. 3. Personalize Content One of the most crucial email cadence best practices is content personalization. In addition to adjusting your email frequency to your segment’s preferences, you should also tailor the actual content so that it’s relevant to specific recipients. Generic content quickly gets ignored, while location-based product recommendations feel useful. For your email cadence to click, you need recipients to click on the CTAs, and personalized content will encourage engagement. The added benefit of using email personalization is that once your open and click-through rates improve, you can also increase your email frequency. 4. Test and Tweak Like with virtually anything in life, it takes time before you find your rhythm. The same applies to email cadence. A/B testing will allow you to see if your frequency and timing work and give you the data you need to improve your campaigns. You can, for example, send specials to half of your frequent shoppers daily, while the other half receive specials only weekly. Alternatively, you can send the whole segment the same email on the same days at the same time, and then experiment with the best time to send an email. 5. Let Subscribers Select Email Preferences While you still need to do your own rigorous testing, give your email subscribers the option to choose how often they want to receive emails from your brand. It’s as easy as adding a link in your email signature that takes them to a page where they can select which emails they choose to receive. You can even take it one step further and let them choose the frequency by type of message. For example, they might want to hear about deals weekly, while company news is best served only once a month. This also allows them to change the frequency at a later stage, should their needs change. Aside from making your job easier, it also gives your subscribers an alternative to unsubscribing from your emails altogether.   Top 3 Email Cadence Software and Tools There are several great email cadence tools that can automate much of the labor involved in identifying the best time to send an email campaign. Here’s a quick look that highlights the core and unique features of three such software solutions. 1. Best for Cross-Channel Customer Engagement: MoEngage   MoEngage’s enterprise-ready, cross-channel customer engagement platform gives your team the data and insight they need to personalize customer experiences. For help specifically with email cadence, you can use it to design relevant emails that match your customers’ preferences and meet them where they’re at in their journey. What makes it such a unique email cadence tool is its deep focus on customer engagement. It doesn’t just send emails but also helps you understand the why and when behind engagement. For example, it has a “Best Time to Send” feature that uses advanced data analysis to make sense of historical customer interactions. How pricing works: MoEngage keeps pricing simple and flexible by offering only two plans (Growth and Enterprise) and dozens of features available to be purchased as add-ons. What makes it stand out: MoEngage’s impressive predictive capabilities let you tailor your emails to your customers’ next best action, ensuring they receive timely, relevant content time and again. 2. Best for Email Scheduling for Small Businesses: Klaviyo Klaviyo’s marketing automation platform offers tools for email and SMS marketing. With its built-in data platform and drag-and-drop editor, you can easily create customizable templates and send personalized emails. You can, for example, use data like browsing history, past purchases, and subscription status to send relevant and timely updates. It also has a Smart Send Time feature to help specifically with the best time to send an email. How pricing works: Plans start at $45 per month based on features and the number of monthly emails you want to send. What makes it stand out: As it integrates with platforms like Shopify, you can use real-time customer data to personalize your communication. 3. Best for Inbound Marketing: HubSpot HubSpot is an all-in-one solution that businesses can use to attract and engage their target audience across the entire journey. It offers various hubs (like sales, marketing, and operations) built to work together and integrations with more than 1,000 third-party apps that expand its capabilities even further. To help with email cadence, you can check out Cadence, a multi-channel sales prospecting tool available in its app marketplace. It will tell you who to email and allow you to automate sequence steps. How pricing works: Depending on the platform solutions you need, pricing ranges from $15 per month per seat to $4,700 per month per seat for seven seats. What makes it stand out: HubSpot is built around inbound marketing and combines everything you’ll need for lead nurturing to customer support into one interface.   Manage Your Email Cadence With MoEngage When you’re creating your email marketing strategy, you should also plan for the best time to send an email. If you send your email at 4 a.m. on a Saturday, it will only be buried with dozens of other emails when your recipients finally make time to check their inbox. You want to find out at what time your subscribers are most likely going to open their inbox and ensure your email reaches them at this time. In addition to the day and time, you also need to consider the email cadence. Here’s an idea: why not remove the guesswork altogether? With MoEngage’s Best Time to Send (BTS) feature, you can reach out to your customers at just the right moment. What’s more, MoEngage’s AI engine, Sherpa AI, keeps updating the best time to send an email based on changing customer behavior. Want to see this super-cool feature in action? Schedule a 1:1 demo today. The post When is the Best Time to Send an Email? appeared first on MoEngage.
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  • Automated Text Messages for Business: A Marketer’s Guide

    Reading Time: 9 minutes
    Did you know SMS open rates are as high as 98%, with 45% replying to branded SMS marketing? As texting continues to witness a steady rise, your brand could be missing out if you’re not leveraging automated text messaging for business!
    Text messaging is when your brand communicates with customers via SMS. These messages may be automated, that is, scheduled to be sent at opportune times.
    Interested in sending an automated text message for business? Keep reading.

     
    What is SMS Marketing Automation?
    SMS marketing automation is the process of automatically sending text messages to recipients. It enables brands to send messages when certain trigger conditions are met. For instance, sending messages to a customer to confirm a purchase or remind them to complete a purchase when they have left items in the cart.
    What are the main benefits of automated SMS marketing?
    An automated text message for business can unlock many benefits, some of which are listed below:

    Saving time: Automated text message marketing saves time for core tasks rather than dedicating time for manual text responses for order confirmations, abandoned cart reminders, etc.
    Scalability: Using SMS marketing automation, brands can look to scale their SMS campaigns to a large customer base.
    Strategic communication: With SMS marketing automation, brands can deliver larger automated SMS drip campaigns tailored to specific target groups.
    Greater engagement: 90% of SMS messages are read within 3 minutes of delivery. With automated SMS marketing, brands can send timely responses and elevate customer experience.
    Higher open rates: Automated text messages typically have higher open rates than emails, making them a more favorable medium for reaching customers.

    Is sending automated text messages legal for businesses?
    Businesses can send automated text messages to customers as long as they follow the rules and regulations of the state where they are being sent.
    In the United States, automated text marketing requires following the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which requires brands to get written consent before sending messages to customers. The new TCPA rules also state that brands need to honor SMS opt-out requests within 10 business days.
    Additionally, the CAN-SPAM Act sets rules for commercial communications. Brands need to ensure that recipients have opted for an automated text message service, as spam messages can result in fines.
    Moving on, how can your brand implement SMS messaging? Here are some use cases for automated text messaging for business to help you get started.
     
    5 Common Use Cases for Automated Text Messaging for Business
    From the many ways in which brands can tap SMS marketing automation, below are a few use cases:
    1. Reminders and Confirmations
    You could send personalized reminders and notifications to customers in the form of an informative automated text message, be it for bill payments, restaurant bookings, or any other appointments.
    Example: “Hi, here’s a reminder of your appointment with Dr. XYZ at 2 PM tomorrow. Reply 1 to confirm, 2 to reschedule, and 3 to cancel.”
    2. Order Confirmations
    SMS marketing automation can be used to send tailored order confirmations and update customers on shipping and delivery. Manually doing this may be cumbersome and lead to errors, making it impossible for brands to operate at scale.
    Text messaging automation software can solve this problem by automatically sending shipping and delivery updates to customers to keep them informed of the latest activity. Triggers can be scheduled depending on the movement of the shipment.
    3. Abandoned Cart Reminders
    An often underrated use of automated text messages for business is nudging customers about items they left in their cart. Brands can incentivize customers to complete their purchase by sending them text messages with specific deals on items left in the cart. The result? Higher potential conversions!
    4. Promotional Offers
    Sending customized offers to customers via SMS marketing automation can be another way to boost conversions. Brands must ensure a crisp message followed by a clear CTA to relevant product pages. In this case, automation can do what is not manually possible. With the use of customer behavioral data, the right customers can be targeted with their preferred products.
    5. Customer Support and Feedback
    While your customer support may not be available 24/7, some customer queries can be handled automatically using automated text messages for business.
    For instance, your brand could answer frequently asked questions. SMS marketing automation can also be used for gathering quick feedback from customers who have recently interacted with your brand by simply including a link in the message.
     
    How to Set Up Automated Text Messages for Business

    Setting up SMS marketing automation is easy and can be accomplished in just 5 steps, as listed below.
    1. Sign up for an automated text messaging service
    To begin your automated text messaging campaign, you would first need to select a platform that meets your requirements. It would be wise to pick a service that allows you to automate end-to-end workflows and empower your team.
    2. Upload recipients’ contact details
    Next, upload the contact details of those who have opted to receive your texts. You can either drag your contact file onto the page or browse for it to upload it. Remember, just having the recipients’ phone numbers doesn’t mean you can start sending them SMS messages right away. They need to explicitly give you their consent first.
    3. Create segmented lists
    Create segmented groups of recipients based on criteria such as demographics, customer type, and so on. This can help your brand send automated text messages to relevant audiences and raise the chances of engagement.
    4. Compose messages
    This step can be highly crucial as the content of your SMS can make or break your connection with your customer. Leveraging data can help with hyper-personalizing your communication. Typically, a crisp message with a relevant CTA could boost your click-through rates.
    5. Schedule, test, and deploy
    Once your text messages are ready, it’s time to set up a schedule to send them. Some messages may be on specific recurring dates like birthdays, while some may be triggered by certain customer actions like cart abandonment. Finally, don’t forget to test your SMS marketing automation before you deploy it!
     
    5 Automated Text Message Examples and Templates for Campaign Inspiration
    Now that you know how to set up automated text messages for business, let’s get some much-needed inspiration for creating your own successful SMS marketing campaigns.
    1. Lulus | Promoting Offers and Deals

    Source: /
    Notice how women’s wear brand Lulus strategically uses automated SMS marketing to remind customers of their ongoing holiday sale, with a link to finish the purchase.
    In this case, automation helps deliver personalized deals to customers who may have earlier browsed through the brand’s website. For those who dropped off the website due to the absence of offers, this SMS can work as a smart nudge to complete that purchase.
    2. Old Navy | Wishing Customers on Special Days

    Source: /
    In the example above, Old Navy not only wishes its customers Happy Mother’s Day, but also goes a step further in offering deals on women’s wear.
    In this case, an automated text message could be used to narrow the target audience to women who are or could be mothers. This also includes wishing them on their special days.
    3. Gaspar | Appointment Confirmation and Reminders

    Source:
    A practical use of automated text messages for business is to confirm appointment reservations and get a response from the customer if they are willing to make changes. To elevate the experience further, the brand could add options to reschedule or cancel the reservation on the SMS itself, using automated text messaging.
    4. Amazon | Shipping and Tracking

    Source:
    This template ticks all the boxes for a well-crafted automated text message for business. Amazon informs the customer of the product name, expected date, and order status, along with the tracking link. These kinds of informative messages tend to be super useful to customers.
    5. The Perfect Jean | Retargeting via Cart Abandonment Messages

    Source
    This automated text message example can serve as a model template for cart abandonment notifications. The brand reminds the customer of the items left in the cart and encourages the purchase by offering a custom discount code and a link to complete the purchase.
     
    Top 3 Automated Text Message Services for Businesses
    SMS marketing automation can be simple to set up with the right tools. Here are some leading services that can help you send automated text messages to your customer base.
    1. MoEngage

    MoEngage’s SMS automation software can make targeted SMS campaigns seem like a breeze with ready-to-use campaign ideas, hyper-personalized messaging, and 360-degree customer views.
    Standout SMS Automation Feature: MoEngage’s automated text message marketing service stands out for its ability to integrate SMS into the overall customer journey and deliver insight-led, revenue-driven campaigns.
    How Pricing Works: Schedule a demo to know which of the two pricing plans works best for your business.
    2. Textedly

    Textedly offers an easy-to-use automated text message software for real-time conversations with your customers. However, it lags behind in providing an omnichannel brand experience.
    Standout SMS Automation Feature: The service has an intuitive platform and also a shared team inbox to ensure timely automated responses for instant customer support.
    How Pricing Works: While the service offers a free plan with limited features, the basic plan starts at a month and varies for other advanced plans.
    3. Sender

    Sender enables SMS automation campaigns for bulk, personalized messages to customers.
    Standout SMS Automation Feature: Sender is an automated SMS software that offers affordable, easy-to-use templates for automating text messaging campaigns. However, it is limited to email and text message services, and does not offer integrated engagement solutions as part of the overall customer experience.
    How Pricing Works: Sender offers a free plan, with paid plans starting at a month.
     
    SMS Marketing Automation Strategies That Improve Campaign Performance
    Sure, you may be excited to launch your own automated SMS campaign. But hold on! There’s so much more you can get from automated text messaging, with some practical SMS marketing automation strategies listed below.
    1. Make your automated text message conversational and interactive
    Customers love it when their brands are responsive to their needs! Using automated SMS services, you can make your text messages conversational. For instance, you can ask a series of questions to help customers reach informed decisions regarding your product or service.
    2. Always ask for consent
    Before blasting automated text messages to your customers, it’s best to get their consent. Clear opt-in and opt-out options are necessary not only from a legal standpoint but also from the transparency angle.
    3. Segment and personalize for your customer
    Nobody likes a random brand message that could be sent to just about anyone. You can use customer demographic and behavioral data to segment your customers into different groups. Armed with better insights, you can send more targeted and personalized text messages to your customers.
    4. Grow your subscriber list with incentives
    Customers would be happy to consent to receiving your brand’s messages if they are offered something in return. Weaving smart opt-in messages with exclusive promotional deals and other perks can grow your subscriber base.
    5. Review the little things
    A text message is one of the quickest ways to reach a customer. When done right, it can work wonders for your brand! But before you hurry to send out texts, remember to include crucial elements like a crisp main message, a valuable offer, a strong CTA, and a link to access the relevant offers or information. Finally, don’t forget to do automated SMS testing before sending the SMS.

     
    Enhance Your Outreach with Automated SMS Marketing from MoEngage
    Brands can use the small but mighty SMS in many ways to deepen customer engagement. However, it is important to get subscriber consent and use other best practices to make the most of automated SMS marketing.
    MoEngage’s SMS marketing platform can help you have smoother interactions with your customers guided by detailed analytics, as part of a seamless omnichannel journey.
    Get a personalized demo to know how MoEngage can help you tap the massive potential of automated text messaging.
    The post Automated Text Messages for Business: A Marketer’s Guide appeared first on MoEngage.
    #automated #text #messages #business #marketers
    Automated Text Messages for Business: A Marketer’s Guide
    Reading Time: 9 minutes Did you know SMS open rates are as high as 98%, with 45% replying to branded SMS marketing? As texting continues to witness a steady rise, your brand could be missing out if you’re not leveraging automated text messaging for business! Text messaging is when your brand communicates with customers via SMS. These messages may be automated, that is, scheduled to be sent at opportune times. Interested in sending an automated text message for business? Keep reading.   What is SMS Marketing Automation? SMS marketing automation is the process of automatically sending text messages to recipients. It enables brands to send messages when certain trigger conditions are met. For instance, sending messages to a customer to confirm a purchase or remind them to complete a purchase when they have left items in the cart. What are the main benefits of automated SMS marketing? An automated text message for business can unlock many benefits, some of which are listed below: Saving time: Automated text message marketing saves time for core tasks rather than dedicating time for manual text responses for order confirmations, abandoned cart reminders, etc. Scalability: Using SMS marketing automation, brands can look to scale their SMS campaigns to a large customer base. Strategic communication: With SMS marketing automation, brands can deliver larger automated SMS drip campaigns tailored to specific target groups. Greater engagement: 90% of SMS messages are read within 3 minutes of delivery. With automated SMS marketing, brands can send timely responses and elevate customer experience. Higher open rates: Automated text messages typically have higher open rates than emails, making them a more favorable medium for reaching customers. Is sending automated text messages legal for businesses? Businesses can send automated text messages to customers as long as they follow the rules and regulations of the state where they are being sent. In the United States, automated text marketing requires following the Telephone Consumer Protection Act, which requires brands to get written consent before sending messages to customers. The new TCPA rules also state that brands need to honor SMS opt-out requests within 10 business days. Additionally, the CAN-SPAM Act sets rules for commercial communications. Brands need to ensure that recipients have opted for an automated text message service, as spam messages can result in fines. Moving on, how can your brand implement SMS messaging? Here are some use cases for automated text messaging for business to help you get started.   5 Common Use Cases for Automated Text Messaging for Business From the many ways in which brands can tap SMS marketing automation, below are a few use cases: 1. Reminders and Confirmations You could send personalized reminders and notifications to customers in the form of an informative automated text message, be it for bill payments, restaurant bookings, or any other appointments. Example: “Hi, here’s a reminder of your appointment with Dr. XYZ at 2 PM tomorrow. Reply 1 to confirm, 2 to reschedule, and 3 to cancel.” 2. Order Confirmations SMS marketing automation can be used to send tailored order confirmations and update customers on shipping and delivery. Manually doing this may be cumbersome and lead to errors, making it impossible for brands to operate at scale. Text messaging automation software can solve this problem by automatically sending shipping and delivery updates to customers to keep them informed of the latest activity. Triggers can be scheduled depending on the movement of the shipment. 3. Abandoned Cart Reminders An often underrated use of automated text messages for business is nudging customers about items they left in their cart. Brands can incentivize customers to complete their purchase by sending them text messages with specific deals on items left in the cart. The result? Higher potential conversions! 4. Promotional Offers Sending customized offers to customers via SMS marketing automation can be another way to boost conversions. Brands must ensure a crisp message followed by a clear CTA to relevant product pages. In this case, automation can do what is not manually possible. With the use of customer behavioral data, the right customers can be targeted with their preferred products. 5. Customer Support and Feedback While your customer support may not be available 24/7, some customer queries can be handled automatically using automated text messages for business. For instance, your brand could answer frequently asked questions. SMS marketing automation can also be used for gathering quick feedback from customers who have recently interacted with your brand by simply including a link in the message.   How to Set Up Automated Text Messages for Business Setting up SMS marketing automation is easy and can be accomplished in just 5 steps, as listed below. 1. Sign up for an automated text messaging service To begin your automated text messaging campaign, you would first need to select a platform that meets your requirements. It would be wise to pick a service that allows you to automate end-to-end workflows and empower your team. 2. Upload recipients’ contact details Next, upload the contact details of those who have opted to receive your texts. You can either drag your contact file onto the page or browse for it to upload it. Remember, just having the recipients’ phone numbers doesn’t mean you can start sending them SMS messages right away. They need to explicitly give you their consent first. 3. Create segmented lists Create segmented groups of recipients based on criteria such as demographics, customer type, and so on. This can help your brand send automated text messages to relevant audiences and raise the chances of engagement. 4. Compose messages This step can be highly crucial as the content of your SMS can make or break your connection with your customer. Leveraging data can help with hyper-personalizing your communication. Typically, a crisp message with a relevant CTA could boost your click-through rates. 5. Schedule, test, and deploy Once your text messages are ready, it’s time to set up a schedule to send them. Some messages may be on specific recurring dates like birthdays, while some may be triggered by certain customer actions like cart abandonment. Finally, don’t forget to test your SMS marketing automation before you deploy it!   5 Automated Text Message Examples and Templates for Campaign Inspiration Now that you know how to set up automated text messages for business, let’s get some much-needed inspiration for creating your own successful SMS marketing campaigns. 1. Lulus | Promoting Offers and Deals Source: / Notice how women’s wear brand Lulus strategically uses automated SMS marketing to remind customers of their ongoing holiday sale, with a link to finish the purchase. In this case, automation helps deliver personalized deals to customers who may have earlier browsed through the brand’s website. For those who dropped off the website due to the absence of offers, this SMS can work as a smart nudge to complete that purchase. 2. Old Navy | Wishing Customers on Special Days Source: / In the example above, Old Navy not only wishes its customers Happy Mother’s Day, but also goes a step further in offering deals on women’s wear. In this case, an automated text message could be used to narrow the target audience to women who are or could be mothers. This also includes wishing them on their special days. 3. Gaspar | Appointment Confirmation and Reminders Source: A practical use of automated text messages for business is to confirm appointment reservations and get a response from the customer if they are willing to make changes. To elevate the experience further, the brand could add options to reschedule or cancel the reservation on the SMS itself, using automated text messaging. 4. Amazon | Shipping and Tracking Source: This template ticks all the boxes for a well-crafted automated text message for business. Amazon informs the customer of the product name, expected date, and order status, along with the tracking link. These kinds of informative messages tend to be super useful to customers. 5. The Perfect Jean | Retargeting via Cart Abandonment Messages Source This automated text message example can serve as a model template for cart abandonment notifications. The brand reminds the customer of the items left in the cart and encourages the purchase by offering a custom discount code and a link to complete the purchase.   Top 3 Automated Text Message Services for Businesses SMS marketing automation can be simple to set up with the right tools. Here are some leading services that can help you send automated text messages to your customer base. 1. MoEngage MoEngage’s SMS automation software can make targeted SMS campaigns seem like a breeze with ready-to-use campaign ideas, hyper-personalized messaging, and 360-degree customer views. Standout SMS Automation Feature: MoEngage’s automated text message marketing service stands out for its ability to integrate SMS into the overall customer journey and deliver insight-led, revenue-driven campaigns. How Pricing Works: Schedule a demo to know which of the two pricing plans works best for your business. 2. Textedly Textedly offers an easy-to-use automated text message software for real-time conversations with your customers. However, it lags behind in providing an omnichannel brand experience. Standout SMS Automation Feature: The service has an intuitive platform and also a shared team inbox to ensure timely automated responses for instant customer support. How Pricing Works: While the service offers a free plan with limited features, the basic plan starts at a month and varies for other advanced plans. 3. Sender Sender enables SMS automation campaigns for bulk, personalized messages to customers. Standout SMS Automation Feature: Sender is an automated SMS software that offers affordable, easy-to-use templates for automating text messaging campaigns. However, it is limited to email and text message services, and does not offer integrated engagement solutions as part of the overall customer experience. How Pricing Works: Sender offers a free plan, with paid plans starting at a month.   SMS Marketing Automation Strategies That Improve Campaign Performance Sure, you may be excited to launch your own automated SMS campaign. But hold on! There’s so much more you can get from automated text messaging, with some practical SMS marketing automation strategies listed below. 1. Make your automated text message conversational and interactive Customers love it when their brands are responsive to their needs! Using automated SMS services, you can make your text messages conversational. For instance, you can ask a series of questions to help customers reach informed decisions regarding your product or service. 2. Always ask for consent Before blasting automated text messages to your customers, it’s best to get their consent. Clear opt-in and opt-out options are necessary not only from a legal standpoint but also from the transparency angle. 3. Segment and personalize for your customer Nobody likes a random brand message that could be sent to just about anyone. You can use customer demographic and behavioral data to segment your customers into different groups. Armed with better insights, you can send more targeted and personalized text messages to your customers. 4. Grow your subscriber list with incentives Customers would be happy to consent to receiving your brand’s messages if they are offered something in return. Weaving smart opt-in messages with exclusive promotional deals and other perks can grow your subscriber base. 5. Review the little things A text message is one of the quickest ways to reach a customer. When done right, it can work wonders for your brand! But before you hurry to send out texts, remember to include crucial elements like a crisp main message, a valuable offer, a strong CTA, and a link to access the relevant offers or information. Finally, don’t forget to do automated SMS testing before sending the SMS.   Enhance Your Outreach with Automated SMS Marketing from MoEngage Brands can use the small but mighty SMS in many ways to deepen customer engagement. However, it is important to get subscriber consent and use other best practices to make the most of automated SMS marketing. MoEngage’s SMS marketing platform can help you have smoother interactions with your customers guided by detailed analytics, as part of a seamless omnichannel journey. Get a personalized demo to know how MoEngage can help you tap the massive potential of automated text messaging. The post Automated Text Messages for Business: A Marketer’s Guide appeared first on MoEngage. #automated #text #messages #business #marketers
    WWW.MOENGAGE.COM
    Automated Text Messages for Business: A Marketer’s Guide
    Reading Time: 9 minutes Did you know SMS open rates are as high as 98%, with 45% replying to branded SMS marketing? As texting continues to witness a steady rise, your brand could be missing out if you’re not leveraging automated text messaging for business! Text messaging is when your brand communicates with customers via SMS. These messages may be automated, that is, scheduled to be sent at opportune times. Interested in sending an automated text message for business? Keep reading.   What is SMS Marketing Automation? SMS marketing automation is the process of automatically sending text messages to recipients. It enables brands to send messages when certain trigger conditions are met. For instance, sending messages to a customer to confirm a purchase or remind them to complete a purchase when they have left items in the cart. What are the main benefits of automated SMS marketing? An automated text message for business can unlock many benefits, some of which are listed below: Saving time: Automated text message marketing saves time for core tasks rather than dedicating time for manual text responses for order confirmations, abandoned cart reminders, etc. Scalability: Using SMS marketing automation, brands can look to scale their SMS campaigns to a large customer base. Strategic communication: With SMS marketing automation, brands can deliver larger automated SMS drip campaigns tailored to specific target groups. Greater engagement: 90% of SMS messages are read within 3 minutes of delivery. With automated SMS marketing, brands can send timely responses and elevate customer experience. Higher open rates: Automated text messages typically have higher open rates than emails, making them a more favorable medium for reaching customers. Is sending automated text messages legal for businesses? Businesses can send automated text messages to customers as long as they follow the rules and regulations of the state where they are being sent. In the United States, automated text marketing requires following the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), which requires brands to get written consent before sending messages to customers. The new TCPA rules also state that brands need to honor SMS opt-out requests within 10 business days. Additionally, the CAN-SPAM Act sets rules for commercial communications. Brands need to ensure that recipients have opted for an automated text message service, as spam messages can result in fines. Moving on, how can your brand implement SMS messaging? Here are some use cases for automated text messaging for business to help you get started.   5 Common Use Cases for Automated Text Messaging for Business From the many ways in which brands can tap SMS marketing automation, below are a few use cases: 1. Reminders and Confirmations You could send personalized reminders and notifications to customers in the form of an informative automated text message, be it for bill payments, restaurant bookings, or any other appointments. Example: “Hi [Customer Name], here’s a reminder of your appointment with Dr. XYZ at 2 PM tomorrow. Reply 1 to confirm, 2 to reschedule, and 3 to cancel.” 2. Order Confirmations SMS marketing automation can be used to send tailored order confirmations and update customers on shipping and delivery. Manually doing this may be cumbersome and lead to errors, making it impossible for brands to operate at scale. Text messaging automation software can solve this problem by automatically sending shipping and delivery updates to customers to keep them informed of the latest activity. Triggers can be scheduled depending on the movement of the shipment. 3. Abandoned Cart Reminders An often underrated use of automated text messages for business is nudging customers about items they left in their cart. Brands can incentivize customers to complete their purchase by sending them text messages with specific deals on items left in the cart. The result? Higher potential conversions! 4. Promotional Offers Sending customized offers to customers via SMS marketing automation can be another way to boost conversions. Brands must ensure a crisp message followed by a clear CTA to relevant product pages. In this case, automation can do what is not manually possible. With the use of customer behavioral data, the right customers can be targeted with their preferred products. 5. Customer Support and Feedback While your customer support may not be available 24/7, some customer queries can be handled automatically using automated text messages for business. For instance, your brand could answer frequently asked questions (FAQs). SMS marketing automation can also be used for gathering quick feedback from customers who have recently interacted with your brand by simply including a link in the message.   How to Set Up Automated Text Messages for Business Setting up SMS marketing automation is easy and can be accomplished in just 5 steps, as listed below. 1. Sign up for an automated text messaging service To begin your automated text messaging campaign, you would first need to select a platform that meets your requirements. It would be wise to pick a service that allows you to automate end-to-end workflows and empower your team. 2. Upload recipients’ contact details Next, upload the contact details of those who have opted to receive your texts. You can either drag your contact file onto the page or browse for it to upload it. Remember, just having the recipients’ phone numbers doesn’t mean you can start sending them SMS messages right away. They need to explicitly give you their consent first. 3. Create segmented lists Create segmented groups of recipients based on criteria such as demographics, customer type, and so on. This can help your brand send automated text messages to relevant audiences and raise the chances of engagement. 4. Compose messages This step can be highly crucial as the content of your SMS can make or break your connection with your customer. Leveraging data can help with hyper-personalizing your communication. Typically, a crisp message with a relevant CTA could boost your click-through rates. 5. Schedule, test, and deploy Once your text messages are ready, it’s time to set up a schedule to send them. Some messages may be on specific recurring dates like birthdays, while some may be triggered by certain customer actions like cart abandonment. Finally, don’t forget to test your SMS marketing automation before you deploy it!   5 Automated Text Message Examples and Templates for Campaign Inspiration Now that you know how to set up automated text messages for business, let’s get some much-needed inspiration for creating your own successful SMS marketing campaigns. 1. Lulus | Promoting Offers and Deals Source: https://smsarchives.com/messages/lulus-text-message-marketing-example-12-31-2021/ Notice how women’s wear brand Lulus strategically uses automated SMS marketing to remind customers of their ongoing holiday sale, with a link to finish the purchase. In this case, automation helps deliver personalized deals to customers who may have earlier browsed through the brand’s website. For those who dropped off the website due to the absence of offers, this SMS can work as a smart nudge to complete that purchase. 2. Old Navy | Wishing Customers on Special Days Source: https://smsarchives.com/messages/old-navy-text-message-marketing-example-05-09-2021/ In the example above, Old Navy not only wishes its customers Happy Mother’s Day, but also goes a step further in offering deals on women’s wear. In this case, an automated text message could be used to narrow the target audience to women who are or could be mothers. This also includes wishing them on their special days. 3. Gaspar | Appointment Confirmation and Reminders Source: https://support.opentable.com/servlet/rtaImage?eid=ka0UQ0000003ogD&feoid=00N0c00000Ay3y5&refid=0EMDn000001hK7V A practical use of automated text messages for business is to confirm appointment reservations and get a response from the customer if they are willing to make changes. To elevate the experience further, the brand could add options to reschedule or cancel the reservation on the SMS itself, using automated text messaging. 4. Amazon | Shipping and Tracking Source: https://www.wonderment.com/hubfs/Wonderment_September2021/image/amazon_sms_shipping_alerts_w720.jpg This template ticks all the boxes for a well-crafted automated text message for business. Amazon informs the customer of the product name, expected date, and order status, along with the tracking link. These kinds of informative messages tend to be super useful to customers. 5. The Perfect Jean | Retargeting via Cart Abandonment Messages Source This automated text message example can serve as a model template for cart abandonment notifications. The brand reminds the customer of the items left in the cart and encourages the purchase by offering a custom discount code and a link to complete the purchase.   Top 3 Automated Text Message Services for Businesses SMS marketing automation can be simple to set up with the right tools. Here are some leading services that can help you send automated text messages to your customer base. 1. MoEngage MoEngage’s SMS automation software can make targeted SMS campaigns seem like a breeze with ready-to-use campaign ideas, hyper-personalized messaging, and 360-degree customer views. Standout SMS Automation Feature: MoEngage’s automated text message marketing service stands out for its ability to integrate SMS into the overall customer journey and deliver insight-led, revenue-driven campaigns. How Pricing Works: Schedule a demo to know which of the two pricing plans works best for your business. 2. Textedly Textedly offers an easy-to-use automated text message software for real-time conversations with your customers. However, it lags behind in providing an omnichannel brand experience. Standout SMS Automation Feature: The service has an intuitive platform and also a shared team inbox to ensure timely automated responses for instant customer support. How Pricing Works: While the service offers a free plan with limited features, the basic plan starts at $26 a month and varies for other advanced plans. 3. Sender Sender enables SMS automation campaigns for bulk, personalized messages to customers. Standout SMS Automation Feature: Sender is an automated SMS software that offers affordable, easy-to-use templates for automating text messaging campaigns. However, it is limited to email and text message services, and does not offer integrated engagement solutions as part of the overall customer experience. How Pricing Works: Sender offers a free plan, with paid plans starting at $10 a month.   SMS Marketing Automation Strategies That Improve Campaign Performance Sure, you may be excited to launch your own automated SMS campaign. But hold on! There’s so much more you can get from automated text messaging, with some practical SMS marketing automation strategies listed below. 1. Make your automated text message conversational and interactive Customers love it when their brands are responsive to their needs! Using automated SMS services, you can make your text messages conversational. For instance, you can ask a series of questions to help customers reach informed decisions regarding your product or service. 2. Always ask for consent Before blasting automated text messages to your customers, it’s best to get their consent. Clear opt-in and opt-out options are necessary not only from a legal standpoint but also from the transparency angle. 3. Segment and personalize for your customer Nobody likes a random brand message that could be sent to just about anyone. You can use customer demographic and behavioral data to segment your customers into different groups. Armed with better insights, you can send more targeted and personalized text messages to your customers. 4. Grow your subscriber list with incentives Customers would be happy to consent to receiving your brand’s messages if they are offered something in return. Weaving smart opt-in messages with exclusive promotional deals and other perks can grow your subscriber base. 5. Review the little things A text message is one of the quickest ways to reach a customer. When done right, it can work wonders for your brand! But before you hurry to send out texts, remember to include crucial elements like a crisp main message, a valuable offer, a strong CTA, and a link to access the relevant offers or information. Finally, don’t forget to do automated SMS testing before sending the SMS.   Enhance Your Outreach with Automated SMS Marketing from MoEngage Brands can use the small but mighty SMS in many ways to deepen customer engagement. However, it is important to get subscriber consent and use other best practices to make the most of automated SMS marketing. MoEngage’s SMS marketing platform can help you have smoother interactions with your customers guided by detailed analytics, as part of a seamless omnichannel journey. Get a personalized demo to know how MoEngage can help you tap the massive potential of automated text messaging. The post Automated Text Messages for Business: A Marketer’s Guide appeared first on MoEngage.
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  • A Coding Guide to Building a Scalable Multi-Agent Communication Systems Using Agent Communication Protocol (ACP)

    In this tutorial, we implement the Agent Communication Protocolthrough building a flexible, ACP-compliant messaging system in Python, leveraging Google’s Gemini API for natural language processing. Beginning with the installation and configuration of the google-generativeai library, the tutorial introduces core abstractions, message types, performatives, and the ACPMessage data class, which standardizes inter-agent communication. By defining ACPAgent and ACPMessageBroker classes, the guide demonstrates how to create, send, route, and process structured messages among multiple autonomous agents. Through clear code examples, users learn to implement querying, requesting actions, and broadcasting information, while maintaining conversation threads, acknowledgments, and error handling.
    import google.generativeai as genai
    import json
    import time
    import uuid
    from enum import Enum
    from typing import Dict, List, Any, Optional
    from dataclasses import dataclass, asdict

    GEMINI_API_KEY = "Use Your Gemini API Key"
    genai.configureWe import essential Python modules, ranging from JSON handling and timing to unique identifier generation and type annotations, to support a structured ACP implementation. It then retrieves the user’s Gemini API key placeholder and configures the google-generativeai client for subsequent calls to the Gemini language model.
    class ACPMessageType:
    """Standard ACP message types"""
    REQUEST = "request"
    RESPONSE = "response"
    INFORM = "inform"
    QUERY = "query"
    SUBSCRIBE = "subscribe"
    UNSUBSCRIBE = "unsubscribe"
    ERROR = "error"
    ACK = "acknowledge"
    The ACPMessageType enumeration defines the core message categories used in the Agent Communication Protocol, including requests, responses, informational broadcasts, queries, and control actions like subscription management, error signaling, and acknowledgments. By centralizing these message types, the protocol ensures consistent handling and routing of inter-agent communications throughout the system.
    class ACPPerformative:
    """ACP speech acts"""
    TELL = "tell"
    ASK = "ask"
    REPLY = "reply"
    REQUEST_ACTION = "request-action"
    AGREE = "agree"
    REFUSE = "refuse"
    PROPOSE = "propose"
    ACCEPT = "accept"
    REJECT = "reject"
    The ACPPerformative enumeration captures the variety of speech acts agents can use when interacting under the ACP framework, mapping high-level intentions, such as making requests, posing questions, giving commands, or negotiating agreements, onto standardized labels. This clear taxonomy enables agents to interpret and respond to messages in contextually appropriate ways, ensuring robust and semantically rich communication.

    @dataclass
    class ACPMessage:
    """Agent Communication Protocol Message Structure"""
    message_id: str
    sender: str
    receiver: str
    performative: str
    content: Dictprotocol: str = "ACP-1.0"
    conversation_id: str = None
    reply_to: str = None
    language: str = "english"
    encoding: str = "json"
    timestamp: float = None

    def __post_init__:
    if self.timestamp is None:
    self.timestamp = time.timeif self.conversation_id is None:
    self.conversation_id = str)

    def to_acp_format-> str:
    """Convert to standard ACP message format"""
    acp_msg = {
    "message-id": self.message_id,
    "sender": self.sender,
    "receiver": self.receiver,
    "performative": self.performative,
    "content": self.content,
    "protocol": self.protocol,
    "conversation-id": self.conversation_id,
    "reply-to": self.reply_to,
    "language": self.language,
    "encoding": self.encoding,
    "timestamp": self.timestamp
    }
    return json.dumps@classmethod
    def from_acp_format-> 'ACPMessage':
    """Parse ACP message from string format"""
    data = json.loadsreturn cls,
    conversation_id=data.get,
    reply_to=data.get,
    language=data.get,
    encoding=data.get,
    timestamp=data.get)
    )

    The ACPMessage data class encapsulates all the fields required for a structured ACP exchange, including identifiers, participants, performative, payload, and metadata such as protocol version, language, and timestamps. Its __post_init__ method auto-populates missing timestamp and conversation_id values, ensuring every message is uniquely tracked. Utility methods to_acp_format and from_acp_format handle serialization to and from the standardized JSON representation for seamless transmission and parsing.
    class ACPAgent:
    """Agent implementing Agent Communication Protocol"""

    def __init__:
    self.agent_id = agent_id
    self.name = name
    self.capabilities = capabilities
    self.model = genai.GenerativeModelself.message_queue: List=self.subscriptions: Dict] = {}
    self.conversations: Dict] = {}

    def create_message-> ACPMessage:
    """Create a new ACP-compliant message"""
    return ACPMessage),
    sender=self.agent_id,
    receiver=receiver,
    performative=performative,
    content=content,
    conversation_id=conversation_id,
    reply_to=reply_to
    )

    def send_inform-> ACPMessage:
    """Send an INFORM message"""
    content = {"fact": fact, "data": data}
    return self.create_messagedef send_query-> ACPMessage:
    """Send a QUERY message"""
    content = {"question": question, "query-type": query_type}
    return self.create_messagedef send_request-> ACPMessage:
    """Send a REQUEST message"""
    content = {"action": action, "parameters": parameters or {}}
    return self.create_messagedef send_reply-> ACPMessage:
    """Send a REPLY message in response to another message"""
    content = {"response": response_data, "original-question": original_msg.content}
    return self.create_messagedef process_message-> Optional:
    """Process incoming ACP message and generate appropriate response"""
    self.message_queue.appendconv_id = message.conversation_id
    if conv_id not in self.conversations:
    self.conversations=self.conversations.appendif message.performative == ACPPerformative.ASK.value:
    return self._handle_queryelif message.performative == ACPPerformative.REQUEST_ACTION.value:
    return self._handle_requestelif message.performative == ACPPerformative.TELL.value:
    return self._handle_informreturn None

    def _handle_query-> ACPMessage:
    """Handle incoming query messages"""
    question = message.content.getprompt = f"As agent {self.name} with capabilities {self.capabilities}, answer: {question}"
    try:
    response = self.model.generate_contentanswer = response.text.stripexcept:
    answer = "Unable to process query at this time"

    return self.send_replydef _handle_request-> ACPMessage:
    """Handle incoming action requests"""
    action = message.content.getparameters = message.content.getif anyfor capability in self.capabilities):
    result = f"Executing {action} with parameters {parameters}"
    status = "agreed"
    else:
    result = f"Cannot perform {action} - not in my capabilities"
    status = "refused"

    return self.send_replydef _handle_inform-> Optional:
    """Handle incoming information messages"""
    fact = message.content.getprintack_content = {"status": "received", "fact": fact}
    return self.create_messageThe ACPAgent class encapsulates an autonomous entity capable of sending, receiving, and processing ACP-compliant messages using Gemini’s language model. It manages its own message queue, conversation history, and subscriptions, and provides helper methodsto construct correctly formatted ACPMessage instances. Incoming messages are routed through process_message, which delegates to specialized handlers for queries, action requests, and informational messages.
    class ACPMessageBroker:
    """Message broker implementing ACP routing and delivery"""

    def __init__:
    self.agents: Dict= {}
    self.message_log: List=self.routing_table: Dict= {}

    def register_agent:
    """Register an agent with the message broker"""
    self.agents= agent
    self.routing_table= "local"
    print")

    def route_message-> bool:
    """Route ACP message to appropriate recipient"""
    if message.receiver not in self.agents:
    printreturn False

    printprintprintprint}")

    receiver_agent = self.agentsresponse = receiver_agent.process_messageself.message_log.appendif response:
    printprintprint}")

    if response.receiver in self.agents:
    self.agents.process_messageself.message_log.appendreturn True

    def broadcast_message:
    """Broadcast message to multiple recipients"""
    for recipient in recipients:
    msg_copy = ACPMessage),
    sender=message.sender,
    receiver=recipient,
    performative=message.performative,
    content=message.content.copy,
    conversation_id=message.conversation_id
    )
    self.route_messageThe ACPMessageBroker serves as the central router for ACP messages, maintaining a registry of agents and a message log. It provides methods to register agents, deliver individual messages via route_message, which handles lookup, logging, and response chaining, and to send the same message to multiple recipients with broadcast_message.
    def demonstrate_acp:
    """Comprehensive demonstration of Agent Communication Protocol"""

    printDEMONSTRATION")
    printbroker = ACPMessageBrokerresearcher = ACPAgentassistant = ACPAgentcalculator = ACPAgentbroker.register_agentbroker.register_agentbroker.register_agentprintfor agent_id, agent in broker.agents.items:
    print: {', '.join}")

    print")
    query_msg = assistant.send_querybroker.route_messageprint")
    calc_request = researcher.send_request+ 10"})
    broker.route_messageprint")
    info_msg = researcher.send_informbroker.route_messageprintprint}")
    print)}")
    print)}")

    printsample_msg = assistant.send_queryprint)
    The demonstrate_acp function orchestrates a hands-on walkthrough of the entire ACP framework: it initializes a broker and three distinct agents, registers them, and illustrates three key interaction scenarios, querying for information, requesting a computation, and sharing an update. After routing each message and handling responses, it prints summary statistics on the message flow. It showcases a formatted ACP message, providing users with a clear, end-to-end example of how agents communicate under the protocol.
    def setup_guide:
    print ACP PROTOCOL FEATURES:

    • Standardized message format with required fields
    • Speech act performatives• Conversation tracking and message threading
    • Error handling and acknowledgments
    • Message routing and delivery confirmation

    EXTEND THE PROTOCOL:
    ```python
    # Create custom agent
    my_agent = ACPAgentbroker.register_agent# Send custom message
    msg = my_agent.send_querybroker.route_message```
    """)

    if __name__ == "__main__":
    setup_guidedemonstrate_acpFinally, the setup_guide function provides a quick-start reference for running the ACP demo in Google Colab, outlining how to obtain and configure your Gemini API key and invoke the demonstrate_acp routine. It also summarizes key protocol features, such as standardized message formats, performatives, and message routing. It provides a concise code snippet illustrating how to register custom agents and send tailored messages.
    In conclusion, this tutorial implements ACP-based multi-agent systems capable of research, computation, and collaboration tasks. The provided sample scenarios illustrate common use cases, information queries, computational requests, and fact sharing, while the broker ensures reliable message delivery and logging. Readers are encouraged to extend the framework by adding new agent capabilities, integrating domain-specific actions, or incorporating more sophisticated subscription and notification mechanisms.

    Download the Notebook on GitHub. All credit for this research goes to the researchers of this project. Also, feel free to follow us on Twitter and don’t forget to join our 95k+ ML SubReddit and Subscribe to our Newsletter.
    Asif RazzaqWebsite |  + postsBioAsif Razzaq is the CEO of Marktechpost Media Inc.. As a visionary entrepreneur and engineer, Asif is committed to harnessing the potential of Artificial Intelligence for social good. His most recent endeavor is the launch of an Artificial Intelligence Media Platform, Marktechpost, which stands out for its in-depth coverage of machine learning and deep learning news that is both technically sound and easily understandable by a wide audience. The platform boasts of over 2 million monthly views, illustrating its popularity among audiences.Asif Razzaqhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/6flvq/Yandex Releases Yambda: The World’s Largest Event Dataset to Accelerate Recommender SystemsAsif Razzaqhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/6flvq/Stanford Researchers Introduced Biomni: A Biomedical AI Agent for Automation Across Diverse Tasks and Data TypesAsif Razzaqhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/6flvq/DeepSeek Releases R1-0528: An Open-Source Reasoning AI Model Delivering Enhanced Math and Code Performance with Single-GPU EfficiencyAsif Razzaqhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/6flvq/A Coding Guide for Building a Self-Improving AI Agent Using Google’s Gemini API with Intelligent Adaptation Features
    #coding #guide #building #scalable #multiagent
    A Coding Guide to Building a Scalable Multi-Agent Communication Systems Using Agent Communication Protocol (ACP)
    In this tutorial, we implement the Agent Communication Protocolthrough building a flexible, ACP-compliant messaging system in Python, leveraging Google’s Gemini API for natural language processing. Beginning with the installation and configuration of the google-generativeai library, the tutorial introduces core abstractions, message types, performatives, and the ACPMessage data class, which standardizes inter-agent communication. By defining ACPAgent and ACPMessageBroker classes, the guide demonstrates how to create, send, route, and process structured messages among multiple autonomous agents. Through clear code examples, users learn to implement querying, requesting actions, and broadcasting information, while maintaining conversation threads, acknowledgments, and error handling. import google.generativeai as genai import json import time import uuid from enum import Enum from typing import Dict, List, Any, Optional from dataclasses import dataclass, asdict GEMINI_API_KEY = "Use Your Gemini API Key" genai.configureWe import essential Python modules, ranging from JSON handling and timing to unique identifier generation and type annotations, to support a structured ACP implementation. It then retrieves the user’s Gemini API key placeholder and configures the google-generativeai client for subsequent calls to the Gemini language model. class ACPMessageType: """Standard ACP message types""" REQUEST = "request" RESPONSE = "response" INFORM = "inform" QUERY = "query" SUBSCRIBE = "subscribe" UNSUBSCRIBE = "unsubscribe" ERROR = "error" ACK = "acknowledge" The ACPMessageType enumeration defines the core message categories used in the Agent Communication Protocol, including requests, responses, informational broadcasts, queries, and control actions like subscription management, error signaling, and acknowledgments. By centralizing these message types, the protocol ensures consistent handling and routing of inter-agent communications throughout the system. class ACPPerformative: """ACP speech acts""" TELL = "tell" ASK = "ask" REPLY = "reply" REQUEST_ACTION = "request-action" AGREE = "agree" REFUSE = "refuse" PROPOSE = "propose" ACCEPT = "accept" REJECT = "reject" The ACPPerformative enumeration captures the variety of speech acts agents can use when interacting under the ACP framework, mapping high-level intentions, such as making requests, posing questions, giving commands, or negotiating agreements, onto standardized labels. This clear taxonomy enables agents to interpret and respond to messages in contextually appropriate ways, ensuring robust and semantically rich communication. @dataclass class ACPMessage: """Agent Communication Protocol Message Structure""" message_id: str sender: str receiver: str performative: str content: Dictprotocol: str = "ACP-1.0" conversation_id: str = None reply_to: str = None language: str = "english" encoding: str = "json" timestamp: float = None def __post_init__: if self.timestamp is None: self.timestamp = time.timeif self.conversation_id is None: self.conversation_id = str) def to_acp_format-> str: """Convert to standard ACP message format""" acp_msg = { "message-id": self.message_id, "sender": self.sender, "receiver": self.receiver, "performative": self.performative, "content": self.content, "protocol": self.protocol, "conversation-id": self.conversation_id, "reply-to": self.reply_to, "language": self.language, "encoding": self.encoding, "timestamp": self.timestamp } return json.dumps@classmethod def from_acp_format-> 'ACPMessage': """Parse ACP message from string format""" data = json.loadsreturn cls, conversation_id=data.get, reply_to=data.get, language=data.get, encoding=data.get, timestamp=data.get) ) The ACPMessage data class encapsulates all the fields required for a structured ACP exchange, including identifiers, participants, performative, payload, and metadata such as protocol version, language, and timestamps. Its __post_init__ method auto-populates missing timestamp and conversation_id values, ensuring every message is uniquely tracked. Utility methods to_acp_format and from_acp_format handle serialization to and from the standardized JSON representation for seamless transmission and parsing. class ACPAgent: """Agent implementing Agent Communication Protocol""" def __init__: self.agent_id = agent_id self.name = name self.capabilities = capabilities self.model = genai.GenerativeModelself.message_queue: List=self.subscriptions: Dict] = {} self.conversations: Dict] = {} def create_message-> ACPMessage: """Create a new ACP-compliant message""" return ACPMessage), sender=self.agent_id, receiver=receiver, performative=performative, content=content, conversation_id=conversation_id, reply_to=reply_to ) def send_inform-> ACPMessage: """Send an INFORM message""" content = {"fact": fact, "data": data} return self.create_messagedef send_query-> ACPMessage: """Send a QUERY message""" content = {"question": question, "query-type": query_type} return self.create_messagedef send_request-> ACPMessage: """Send a REQUEST message""" content = {"action": action, "parameters": parameters or {}} return self.create_messagedef send_reply-> ACPMessage: """Send a REPLY message in response to another message""" content = {"response": response_data, "original-question": original_msg.content} return self.create_messagedef process_message-> Optional: """Process incoming ACP message and generate appropriate response""" self.message_queue.appendconv_id = message.conversation_id if conv_id not in self.conversations: self.conversations=self.conversations.appendif message.performative == ACPPerformative.ASK.value: return self._handle_queryelif message.performative == ACPPerformative.REQUEST_ACTION.value: return self._handle_requestelif message.performative == ACPPerformative.TELL.value: return self._handle_informreturn None def _handle_query-> ACPMessage: """Handle incoming query messages""" question = message.content.getprompt = f"As agent {self.name} with capabilities {self.capabilities}, answer: {question}" try: response = self.model.generate_contentanswer = response.text.stripexcept: answer = "Unable to process query at this time" return self.send_replydef _handle_request-> ACPMessage: """Handle incoming action requests""" action = message.content.getparameters = message.content.getif anyfor capability in self.capabilities): result = f"Executing {action} with parameters {parameters}" status = "agreed" else: result = f"Cannot perform {action} - not in my capabilities" status = "refused" return self.send_replydef _handle_inform-> Optional: """Handle incoming information messages""" fact = message.content.getprintack_content = {"status": "received", "fact": fact} return self.create_messageThe ACPAgent class encapsulates an autonomous entity capable of sending, receiving, and processing ACP-compliant messages using Gemini’s language model. It manages its own message queue, conversation history, and subscriptions, and provides helper methodsto construct correctly formatted ACPMessage instances. Incoming messages are routed through process_message, which delegates to specialized handlers for queries, action requests, and informational messages. class ACPMessageBroker: """Message broker implementing ACP routing and delivery""" def __init__: self.agents: Dict= {} self.message_log: List=self.routing_table: Dict= {} def register_agent: """Register an agent with the message broker""" self.agents= agent self.routing_table= "local" print") def route_message-> bool: """Route ACP message to appropriate recipient""" if message.receiver not in self.agents: printreturn False printprintprintprint}") receiver_agent = self.agentsresponse = receiver_agent.process_messageself.message_log.appendif response: printprintprint}") if response.receiver in self.agents: self.agents.process_messageself.message_log.appendreturn True def broadcast_message: """Broadcast message to multiple recipients""" for recipient in recipients: msg_copy = ACPMessage), sender=message.sender, receiver=recipient, performative=message.performative, content=message.content.copy, conversation_id=message.conversation_id ) self.route_messageThe ACPMessageBroker serves as the central router for ACP messages, maintaining a registry of agents and a message log. It provides methods to register agents, deliver individual messages via route_message, which handles lookup, logging, and response chaining, and to send the same message to multiple recipients with broadcast_message. def demonstrate_acp: """Comprehensive demonstration of Agent Communication Protocol""" printDEMONSTRATION") printbroker = ACPMessageBrokerresearcher = ACPAgentassistant = ACPAgentcalculator = ACPAgentbroker.register_agentbroker.register_agentbroker.register_agentprintfor agent_id, agent in broker.agents.items: print: {', '.join}") print") query_msg = assistant.send_querybroker.route_messageprint") calc_request = researcher.send_request+ 10"}) broker.route_messageprint") info_msg = researcher.send_informbroker.route_messageprintprint}") print)}") print)}") printsample_msg = assistant.send_queryprint) The demonstrate_acp function orchestrates a hands-on walkthrough of the entire ACP framework: it initializes a broker and three distinct agents, registers them, and illustrates three key interaction scenarios, querying for information, requesting a computation, and sharing an update. After routing each message and handling responses, it prints summary statistics on the message flow. It showcases a formatted ACP message, providing users with a clear, end-to-end example of how agents communicate under the protocol. def setup_guide: print🔧 ACP PROTOCOL FEATURES: • Standardized message format with required fields • Speech act performatives• Conversation tracking and message threading • Error handling and acknowledgments • Message routing and delivery confirmation 📝 EXTEND THE PROTOCOL: ```python # Create custom agent my_agent = ACPAgentbroker.register_agent# Send custom message msg = my_agent.send_querybroker.route_message``` """) if __name__ == "__main__": setup_guidedemonstrate_acpFinally, the setup_guide function provides a quick-start reference for running the ACP demo in Google Colab, outlining how to obtain and configure your Gemini API key and invoke the demonstrate_acp routine. It also summarizes key protocol features, such as standardized message formats, performatives, and message routing. It provides a concise code snippet illustrating how to register custom agents and send tailored messages. In conclusion, this tutorial implements ACP-based multi-agent systems capable of research, computation, and collaboration tasks. The provided sample scenarios illustrate common use cases, information queries, computational requests, and fact sharing, while the broker ensures reliable message delivery and logging. Readers are encouraged to extend the framework by adding new agent capabilities, integrating domain-specific actions, or incorporating more sophisticated subscription and notification mechanisms. Download the Notebook on GitHub. All credit for this research goes to the researchers of this project. Also, feel free to follow us on Twitter and don’t forget to join our 95k+ ML SubReddit and Subscribe to our Newsletter. Asif RazzaqWebsite |  + postsBioAsif Razzaq is the CEO of Marktechpost Media Inc.. As a visionary entrepreneur and engineer, Asif is committed to harnessing the potential of Artificial Intelligence for social good. His most recent endeavor is the launch of an Artificial Intelligence Media Platform, Marktechpost, which stands out for its in-depth coverage of machine learning and deep learning news that is both technically sound and easily understandable by a wide audience. The platform boasts of over 2 million monthly views, illustrating its popularity among audiences.Asif Razzaqhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/6flvq/Yandex Releases Yambda: The World’s Largest Event Dataset to Accelerate Recommender SystemsAsif Razzaqhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/6flvq/Stanford Researchers Introduced Biomni: A Biomedical AI Agent for Automation Across Diverse Tasks and Data TypesAsif Razzaqhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/6flvq/DeepSeek Releases R1-0528: An Open-Source Reasoning AI Model Delivering Enhanced Math and Code Performance with Single-GPU EfficiencyAsif Razzaqhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/6flvq/A Coding Guide for Building a Self-Improving AI Agent Using Google’s Gemini API with Intelligent Adaptation Features #coding #guide #building #scalable #multiagent
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    A Coding Guide to Building a Scalable Multi-Agent Communication Systems Using Agent Communication Protocol (ACP)
    In this tutorial, we implement the Agent Communication Protocol (ACP) through building a flexible, ACP-compliant messaging system in Python, leveraging Google’s Gemini API for natural language processing. Beginning with the installation and configuration of the google-generativeai library, the tutorial introduces core abstractions, message types, performatives, and the ACPMessage data class, which standardizes inter-agent communication. By defining ACPAgent and ACPMessageBroker classes, the guide demonstrates how to create, send, route, and process structured messages among multiple autonomous agents. Through clear code examples, users learn to implement querying, requesting actions, and broadcasting information, while maintaining conversation threads, acknowledgments, and error handling. import google.generativeai as genai import json import time import uuid from enum import Enum from typing import Dict, List, Any, Optional from dataclasses import dataclass, asdict GEMINI_API_KEY = "Use Your Gemini API Key" genai.configure(api_key=GEMINI_API_KEY) We import essential Python modules, ranging from JSON handling and timing to unique identifier generation and type annotations, to support a structured ACP implementation. It then retrieves the user’s Gemini API key placeholder and configures the google-generativeai client for subsequent calls to the Gemini language model. class ACPMessageType(Enum): """Standard ACP message types""" REQUEST = "request" RESPONSE = "response" INFORM = "inform" QUERY = "query" SUBSCRIBE = "subscribe" UNSUBSCRIBE = "unsubscribe" ERROR = "error" ACK = "acknowledge" The ACPMessageType enumeration defines the core message categories used in the Agent Communication Protocol, including requests, responses, informational broadcasts, queries, and control actions like subscription management, error signaling, and acknowledgments. By centralizing these message types, the protocol ensures consistent handling and routing of inter-agent communications throughout the system. class ACPPerformative(Enum): """ACP speech acts (performatives)""" TELL = "tell" ASK = "ask" REPLY = "reply" REQUEST_ACTION = "request-action" AGREE = "agree" REFUSE = "refuse" PROPOSE = "propose" ACCEPT = "accept" REJECT = "reject" The ACPPerformative enumeration captures the variety of speech acts agents can use when interacting under the ACP framework, mapping high-level intentions, such as making requests, posing questions, giving commands, or negotiating agreements, onto standardized labels. This clear taxonomy enables agents to interpret and respond to messages in contextually appropriate ways, ensuring robust and semantically rich communication. @dataclass class ACPMessage: """Agent Communication Protocol Message Structure""" message_id: str sender: str receiver: str performative: str content: Dict[str, Any] protocol: str = "ACP-1.0" conversation_id: str = None reply_to: str = None language: str = "english" encoding: str = "json" timestamp: float = None def __post_init__(self): if self.timestamp is None: self.timestamp = time.time() if self.conversation_id is None: self.conversation_id = str(uuid.uuid4()) def to_acp_format(self) -> str: """Convert to standard ACP message format""" acp_msg = { "message-id": self.message_id, "sender": self.sender, "receiver": self.receiver, "performative": self.performative, "content": self.content, "protocol": self.protocol, "conversation-id": self.conversation_id, "reply-to": self.reply_to, "language": self.language, "encoding": self.encoding, "timestamp": self.timestamp } return json.dumps(acp_msg, indent=2) @classmethod def from_acp_format(cls, acp_string: str) -> 'ACPMessage': """Parse ACP message from string format""" data = json.loads(acp_string) return cls( message_id=data["message-id"], sender=data["sender"], receiver=data["receiver"], performative=data["performative"], content=data["content"], protocol=data.get("protocol", "ACP-1.0"), conversation_id=data.get("conversation-id"), reply_to=data.get("reply-to"), language=data.get("language", "english"), encoding=data.get("encoding", "json"), timestamp=data.get("timestamp", time.time()) ) The ACPMessage data class encapsulates all the fields required for a structured ACP exchange, including identifiers, participants, performative, payload, and metadata such as protocol version, language, and timestamps. Its __post_init__ method auto-populates missing timestamp and conversation_id values, ensuring every message is uniquely tracked. Utility methods to_acp_format and from_acp_format handle serialization to and from the standardized JSON representation for seamless transmission and parsing. class ACPAgent: """Agent implementing Agent Communication Protocol""" def __init__(self, agent_id: str, name: str, capabilities: List[str]): self.agent_id = agent_id self.name = name self.capabilities = capabilities self.model = genai.GenerativeModel("gemini-1.5-flash") self.message_queue: List[ACPMessage] = [] self.subscriptions: Dict[str, List[str]] = {} self.conversations: Dict[str, List[ACPMessage]] = {} def create_message(self, receiver: str, performative: str, content: Dict[str, Any], conversation_id: str = None, reply_to: str = None) -> ACPMessage: """Create a new ACP-compliant message""" return ACPMessage( message_id=str(uuid.uuid4()), sender=self.agent_id, receiver=receiver, performative=performative, content=content, conversation_id=conversation_id, reply_to=reply_to ) def send_inform(self, receiver: str, fact: str, data: Any = None) -> ACPMessage: """Send an INFORM message (telling someone a fact)""" content = {"fact": fact, "data": data} return self.create_message(receiver, ACPPerformative.TELL.value, content) def send_query(self, receiver: str, question: str, query_type: str = "yes-no") -> ACPMessage: """Send a QUERY message (asking for information)""" content = {"question": question, "query-type": query_type} return self.create_message(receiver, ACPPerformative.ASK.value, content) def send_request(self, receiver: str, action: str, parameters: Dict = None) -> ACPMessage: """Send a REQUEST message (asking someone to perform an action)""" content = {"action": action, "parameters": parameters or {}} return self.create_message(receiver, ACPPerformative.REQUEST_ACTION.value, content) def send_reply(self, original_msg: ACPMessage, response_data: Any) -> ACPMessage: """Send a REPLY message in response to another message""" content = {"response": response_data, "original-question": original_msg.content} return self.create_message( original_msg.sender, ACPPerformative.REPLY.value, content, conversation_id=original_msg.conversation_id, reply_to=original_msg.message_id ) def process_message(self, message: ACPMessage) -> Optional[ACPMessage]: """Process incoming ACP message and generate appropriate response""" self.message_queue.append(message) conv_id = message.conversation_id if conv_id not in self.conversations: self.conversations[conv_id] = [] self.conversations[conv_id].append(message) if message.performative == ACPPerformative.ASK.value: return self._handle_query(message) elif message.performative == ACPPerformative.REQUEST_ACTION.value: return self._handle_request(message) elif message.performative == ACPPerformative.TELL.value: return self._handle_inform(message) return None def _handle_query(self, message: ACPMessage) -> ACPMessage: """Handle incoming query messages""" question = message.content.get("question", "") prompt = f"As agent {self.name} with capabilities {self.capabilities}, answer: {question}" try: response = self.model.generate_content(prompt) answer = response.text.strip() except: answer = "Unable to process query at this time" return self.send_reply(message, {"answer": answer, "confidence": 0.8}) def _handle_request(self, message: ACPMessage) -> ACPMessage: """Handle incoming action requests""" action = message.content.get("action", "") parameters = message.content.get("parameters", {}) if any(capability in action.lower() for capability in self.capabilities): result = f"Executing {action} with parameters {parameters}" status = "agreed" else: result = f"Cannot perform {action} - not in my capabilities" status = "refused" return self.send_reply(message, {"status": status, "result": result}) def _handle_inform(self, message: ACPMessage) -> Optional[ACPMessage]: """Handle incoming information messages""" fact = message.content.get("fact", "") print(f"[{self.name}] Received information: {fact}") ack_content = {"status": "received", "fact": fact} return self.create_message(message.sender, "acknowledge", ack_content, conversation_id=message.conversation_id) The ACPAgent class encapsulates an autonomous entity capable of sending, receiving, and processing ACP-compliant messages using Gemini’s language model. It manages its own message queue, conversation history, and subscriptions, and provides helper methods (send_inform, send_query, send_request, send_reply) to construct correctly formatted ACPMessage instances. Incoming messages are routed through process_message, which delegates to specialized handlers for queries, action requests, and informational messages. class ACPMessageBroker: """Message broker implementing ACP routing and delivery""" def __init__(self): self.agents: Dict[str, ACPAgent] = {} self.message_log: List[ACPMessage] = [] self.routing_table: Dict[str, str] = {} def register_agent(self, agent: ACPAgent): """Register an agent with the message broker""" self.agents[agent.agent_id] = agent self.routing_table[agent.agent_id] = "local" print(f"✓ Registered agent: {agent.name} ({agent.agent_id})") def route_message(self, message: ACPMessage) -> bool: """Route ACP message to appropriate recipient""" if message.receiver not in self.agents: print(f"✗ Receiver {message.receiver} not found") return False print(f"\n📨 ACP MESSAGE ROUTING:") print(f"From: {message.sender} → To: {message.receiver}") print(f"Performative: {message.performative}") print(f"Content: {json.dumps(message.content, indent=2)}") receiver_agent = self.agents[message.receiver] response = receiver_agent.process_message(message) self.message_log.append(message) if response: print(f"\n📤 GENERATED RESPONSE:") print(f"From: {response.sender} → To: {response.receiver}") print(f"Content: {json.dumps(response.content, indent=2)}") if response.receiver in self.agents: self.agents[response.receiver].process_message(response) self.message_log.append(response) return True def broadcast_message(self, message: ACPMessage, recipients: List[str]): """Broadcast message to multiple recipients""" for recipient in recipients: msg_copy = ACPMessage( message_id=str(uuid.uuid4()), sender=message.sender, receiver=recipient, performative=message.performative, content=message.content.copy(), conversation_id=message.conversation_id ) self.route_message(msg_copy) The ACPMessageBroker serves as the central router for ACP messages, maintaining a registry of agents and a message log. It provides methods to register agents, deliver individual messages via route_message, which handles lookup, logging, and response chaining, and to send the same message to multiple recipients with broadcast_message. def demonstrate_acp(): """Comprehensive demonstration of Agent Communication Protocol""" print("🤖 AGENT COMMUNICATION PROTOCOL (ACP) DEMONSTRATION") print("=" * 60) broker = ACPMessageBroker() researcher = ACPAgent("agent-001", "Dr. Research", ["analysis", "research", "data-processing"]) assistant = ACPAgent("agent-002", "AI Assistant", ["information", "scheduling", "communication"]) calculator = ACPAgent("agent-003", "MathBot", ["calculation", "mathematics", "computation"]) broker.register_agent(researcher) broker.register_agent(assistant) broker.register_agent(calculator) print(f"\n📋 REGISTERED AGENTS:") for agent_id, agent in broker.agents.items(): print(f" • {agent.name} ({agent_id}): {', '.join(agent.capabilities)}") print(f"\n🔬 SCENARIO 1: Information Query (ASK performative)") query_msg = assistant.send_query("agent-001", "What are the key factors in AI research?") broker.route_message(query_msg) print(f"\n🔢 SCENARIO 2: Action Request (REQUEST-ACTION performative)") calc_request = researcher.send_request("agent-003", "calculate", {"expression": "sqrt(144) + 10"}) broker.route_message(calc_request) print(f"\n📢 SCENARIO 3: Information Sharing (TELL performative)") info_msg = researcher.send_inform("agent-002", "New research paper published on quantum computing") broker.route_message(info_msg) print(f"\n📊 PROTOCOL STATISTICS:") print(f" • Total messages processed: {len(broker.message_log)}") print(f" • Active conversations: {len(set(msg.conversation_id for msg in broker.message_log))}") print(f" • Message types used: {len(set(msg.performative for msg in broker.message_log))}") print(f"\n📋 SAMPLE ACP MESSAGE FORMAT:") sample_msg = assistant.send_query("agent-001", "Sample question for format demonstration") print(sample_msg.to_acp_format()) The demonstrate_acp function orchestrates a hands-on walkthrough of the entire ACP framework: it initializes a broker and three distinct agents (Researcher, AI Assistant, and MathBot), registers them, and illustrates three key interaction scenarios, querying for information, requesting a computation, and sharing an update. After routing each message and handling responses, it prints summary statistics on the message flow. It showcases a formatted ACP message, providing users with a clear, end-to-end example of how agents communicate under the protocol. def setup_guide(): print(""" 🚀 GOOGLE COLAB SETUP GUIDE: 1. Get Gemini API Key: https://makersuite.google.com/app/apikey 2. Replace: GEMINI_API_KEY = "YOUR_ACTUAL_API_KEY" 3. Run: demonstrate_acp() 🔧 ACP PROTOCOL FEATURES: • Standardized message format with required fields • Speech act performatives (TELL, ASK, REQUEST-ACTION, etc.) • Conversation tracking and message threading • Error handling and acknowledgments • Message routing and delivery confirmation 📝 EXTEND THE PROTOCOL: ```python # Create custom agent my_agent = ACPAgent("my-001", "CustomBot", ["custom-capability"]) broker.register_agent(my_agent) # Send custom message msg = my_agent.send_query("agent-001", "Your question here") broker.route_message(msg) ``` """) if __name__ == "__main__": setup_guide() demonstrate_acp() Finally, the setup_guide function provides a quick-start reference for running the ACP demo in Google Colab, outlining how to obtain and configure your Gemini API key and invoke the demonstrate_acp routine. It also summarizes key protocol features, such as standardized message formats, performatives, and message routing. It provides a concise code snippet illustrating how to register custom agents and send tailored messages. In conclusion, this tutorial implements ACP-based multi-agent systems capable of research, computation, and collaboration tasks. The provided sample scenarios illustrate common use cases, information queries, computational requests, and fact sharing, while the broker ensures reliable message delivery and logging. Readers are encouraged to extend the framework by adding new agent capabilities, integrating domain-specific actions, or incorporating more sophisticated subscription and notification mechanisms. Download the Notebook on GitHub. All credit for this research goes to the researchers of this project. Also, feel free to follow us on Twitter and don’t forget to join our 95k+ ML SubReddit and Subscribe to our Newsletter. Asif RazzaqWebsite |  + postsBioAsif Razzaq is the CEO of Marktechpost Media Inc.. As a visionary entrepreneur and engineer, Asif is committed to harnessing the potential of Artificial Intelligence for social good. His most recent endeavor is the launch of an Artificial Intelligence Media Platform, Marktechpost, which stands out for its in-depth coverage of machine learning and deep learning news that is both technically sound and easily understandable by a wide audience. The platform boasts of over 2 million monthly views, illustrating its popularity among audiences.Asif Razzaqhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/6flvq/Yandex Releases Yambda: The World’s Largest Event Dataset to Accelerate Recommender SystemsAsif Razzaqhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/6flvq/Stanford Researchers Introduced Biomni: A Biomedical AI Agent for Automation Across Diverse Tasks and Data TypesAsif Razzaqhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/6flvq/DeepSeek Releases R1-0528: An Open-Source Reasoning AI Model Delivering Enhanced Math and Code Performance with Single-GPU EfficiencyAsif Razzaqhttps://www.marktechpost.com/author/6flvq/A Coding Guide for Building a Self-Improving AI Agent Using Google’s Gemini API with Intelligent Adaptation Features
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