Communicating Email Security in 2023

If you’ve ever fallen prey to phishing emails , online viruses, or plain old spam, you know first-hand the significance of email security.?

While most of us recognize the potential risks of communicating online, malicious actors are always getting more sophisticated. And because we’ve been bombarded with email security tips for years, the latest warnings often fall on deaf ears.?

That being said, for the very same reasons, it’s more important than ever to promote email security best practices and keep your workforce vigilant for threats. To capture your employees’ attention, you’ll need to communicate email security in engaging and creative ways.

Here’s how you can make sure email security stays top-of-mind for everyone in your organization:

Develop a comprehensive email security policy

Before you begin communicating email security best practices to employees, it’s important to have clear rules and guidelines in place. Start by developing an email security policy that outlines best practices for protecting company information.?

Include a list of recommendations like creating strong passwords and details on handling sensitive information and identifying phishing scams or reporting security incidents. The policy should be housed as an internal document that can be shared via smart links across employee newsletters and intranet communications .?

Offer training and awareness programs

When it comes to promoting email security, simply sharing a set of rules with employees isn’t enough. Employee training events are essential for filling knowledge gaps and allowing employees to practice email security first-hand. But before you go around sending an online module with a boring old quiz, think about how to make employee training fun.

At ContactMonkey , we often make employee training a team-building event . Employees are invited into the office for food and snacks, and organizers host presentations about a given training topic. You can follow up with an email-embedded pulse survey to see what employees learned from the event. This is an effective way to spread awareness and educate employees on email security best practices.?

Use clear and concise language

When explaining email security tips in writing, you want clarity and concision to be your best friends. No one wants to read through endless streams of text. Instead, we recommend using an HTML newsletter template to organize your text in short tidbits and bite-sized bullet points. Avoid corporate jargon and use clear and simple language to explain the importance of email security and the consequences of failing to comply with company policy.?

Provide examples

To drive the importance of email security home, it’s imperative to draw on compelling examples. We recommend using real-life examples to demonstrate the potential risks of email breaches and how they can be avoided.?

Provide concrete situations of email security breaches that have occurred in the past and how these might have been prevented. Share these as images in your employee newsletter next to tips detailing how to avoid the scenario. This will help employees understand the real-life implications of email security and the importance of taking it seriously.

Use multiple communication channels

In the hustle and bustle of a busy workday, it’s easy for things to slip through the cracks. Use a variety of internal communication channels , such as internal email , intranets, and employee SMS to share email security communications.?

That said, don’t bombard all channels at once. Instead, use internal communications tracking software to understand when employees are most engaged on each platform. Then send your communications at peak engagement times. This will help reinforce the importance of email security and keep it top of mind for employees.

Use visuals

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: people love visuals. Images and graphics help us understand complex information and retain it better than written or spoken information alone. Not to mention, visuals are better at grabbing our attention quickly, which can help employees stay focused and interested in the message being conveyed.?

With HTML email templates , you can embed images, videos, GIFs, and infographics alongside your email security communications to highlight key points and concepts. You can also use multicoloured text boxes, buttons, and frames to structure your text in reader-friendly ways.?

These types of visuals can help to clarify messages and reduce the risk of miscommunication. This is particularly important when communicating about complex or technical topics like email security.?

Promote Email Security Quickly and Consistently?

Effective email security not only keeps your organization's confidential information safe but helps maintain the trust and confidence of your employees, customers, and other stakeholders, so it’s worth the investment.?

Check out our complete guide to email security in the workplace for more tips and tricks for protecting your workforce online.