Right now, email personalisation usually consists of inserting the person's name in the "Dear ____" line. In the future, there will be more email personalisation based on user-intent signals. There is a wealth of data being collected right now on user behaviour online, and marketers will soon be able to use that to send the right emails at just the right time.

Information Commissioner Elizabeth Denham said in a statement: "The vast number of people affected by this cyber attack is staggering and demonstrates just how severe the consequences of a security hack can be. The US authorities will be looking to track down the hackers, but it is our job to ask serious questions of Yahoo on behalf of British citizens and I am doing that today."

While sending too many emails is never a good idea, even for the best lists around, high send rates in certain categories are not slowing the click or open rates. That is one key takeaway from the new SendGrid 2016 Global Email Benchmark report.

Hackers that are strongly believed to be state-sponsored swiped account records for 500 million or more Yahoo webmail users. The troubled online giant said on Thursday that the break-in occurred in late 2014, and that names, email addresses, telephone numbers, dates of birth, hashed passwords and security questions and answers were lifted.

While email marketing is still king, when used in combination with marketing automation and behavioural insights, it reigns supreme. Why? Because the triple play of email marketing, marketing automation and behavioural insights helps marketers win customers. Automated behavioural marketing increases sales by delivering targeted and timely messages based on user behaviour.

The massive breach of 500 million Yahoo accounts may have affected you -- even if you don't remember having an email account with the Internet giant. There are a number of other services that Yahoo provides that may also have been targeted in the hacking. The accounts that may have been affected include Yahoo Sports, Flickr or Tumblr.

Smartphone addiction is on the rise, Deloitte research shows, with email, video and social usage surging. In 2014, 48% used email, this year 71% do. The study said: "Email's appeal lies in its universality: every smartphone includes an email app. The email format has changed little over the last few years, yet it remains a simple and useful way to send and receive communication quickly."

Six in ten Internet of Things devices do not properly tell customers how their personal information is being used, an international study has found. Concerns were also raised around medical devices that sent reports back to GPs via unencrypted email. Authorities will now consider action against any devices or services thought to have been breaking data protection laws.

"Adult emails are spam -- and you can't stop spam. Email service providers such as Yahoo, Google and Microsoft filter out billions of spam emails per day. Only a few get through, and five to 20 per day is not an unusual number. However, the ones that get through should arrive in your spam folder."

Once the awareness has been created, your leads will have a lot of questions that need answering. Email marketing is a particularly important tool at this phase. Whether it's MailChimp or AWeber, if you aren't already using email marketing software to manage and market to your list, you'll need to start immediately.