Email can look like an old channel, but it has an advantage no new platform offers: your subscriber list belongs to you. When an algorithm changes or an account is blocked, your social media audience can disappear, but an email list stays. Email marketing done properly is one of the cheapest ways to win repeat sales.
How do you build the list?
- A sign-up form on your site — in the footer, at the end of blog posts, after an order;
- A useful offer — not "Subscribe", but concrete value such as "Practical tips and discounts once a month";
- Customers — people who've ordered, with their consent, are your most valuable audience;
- Events and exhibitions — contacts gathered with written consent.
Don't buy ready-made email lists: the owners of those addresses never gave you consent, your emails will land in spam, and your domain's reputation will suffer.
Double opt-in
Send new subscribers a confirmation link and add them to the list only after they click it. This keeps mistyped and fake addresses out and documents the subscriber's consent. Removing addresses not confirmed within a set period keeps the list clean.
What should you send?
- Useful content — blog posts, how-tos, seasonal reminders;
- Offers — discounts, new services, special terms (but not every email should sell);
- News — what's changed at the company, new work, customer stories;
- Reminders — an expiring service, an unfinished order.
A good ratio: several useful emails for every sales email.
The structure of a good email
- The subject line — short, specific, not misleading; phrases like "Last chance!!!" set off spam filters;
- One main message — what the email is about should be clear in the first two sentences;
- One button — a clear call to action showing what to do;
- Mobile layout — most emails are read on phones;
- An unsubscribe link — both a legal and a technical requirement.
How often?
1–2 emails a month is a good start for most small businesses. Consistency is what matters: staying silent for six months and then suddenly sending daily tires subscribers and leads to spam complaints.
The technical side
To keep your emails out of spam, your domain needs correctly set-up SPF, DKIM and DMARC records (explained here), and sending should come from an address on your domain (corporate email). When handling subscribers' data, follow the personal data rules: Why consent matters.
What should you measure?
Open and click rates, the number of unsubscribes and, most importantly, the enquiries and orders that come after an email. See which topics work and shape your next emails around them.
If you'd like a sign-up form, double opt-in and campaign sending set up on your site, see our digital marketing services or write to us.
