Guide

Email marketing: a UK guide

Newsletters, automated journeys and offers sent to people who asked to hear from you — still the best-returning channel for many.

Email reaches people who have already chosen to hear from you, costs very little per message and can be automated around each customer's behaviour. For many businesses it is the channel with the best return — provided the list is built properly and the emails are worth opening.

The UK rules

Marketing emails to individuals are covered by PECR as well as UK GDPR. In short: you need consent, unless the person is an existing customer who bought (or negotiated to buy) something similar from you and was given a clear chance to opt out when you collected their address and in every email since — the "soft opt-in". Emails to corporate addresses are treated differently, but you must still identify yourself and offer an opt-out. Every message needs a working unsubscribe, and the ICO can fine organisations that ignore the rules.

Building a list

Grow the list from your own audience: website sign-up forms, checkout, events, in-store. Say what people will get and how often, and offer something worth having — useful content, early access, a discount. Never buy lists; they wreck deliverability as well as breaking the law.

Automated emails

Automated journeys usually earn more than one-off campaigns: a welcome series for new subscribers, abandoned-basket reminders, post-purchase follow-ups and review requests, re-engagement for lapsed customers. Set them up once and they work every day.

Writing emails people open

The sender name and subject line decide whether an email gets opened. Be specific and honest about what is inside. Keep one main message and one clear call to action, write for a phone screen and make sure the email makes sense with images turned off.

Deliverability

Authenticate your sending domain with SPF, DKIM and DMARC — the major mailbox providers now require it for bulk senders. Remove addresses that bounce, stop mailing people who never open, and make unsubscribing easy: a complaint costs you more than an unsubscribe.

Metrics that matter

Open rates are unreliable now that some mail apps load images automatically, so focus on clicks, conversions, revenue per email sent, unsubscribes and spam complaints. Test subject lines and send times, but test the offer first — it makes the biggest difference.