Email marketing is the channel you own: your list does not depend on a platform's algorithm. For a business newsletter to work, you need contacts who have given their consent, a steady rhythm and content worth opening. Automations, such as welcome emails, do the rest.
How to build a list with consent
Don't buy a list, and don't add people to your newsletter who gave you their email for another reason, for example for a quote or an invoice. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) requires consent to be freely given, specific, informed and unambiguous: the person chooses to sign up of their own accord, knowing what they will receive. In practice you need:
- A sign-up checkbox that is not pre-ticked, with a sentence that says what you will send and how often.
- A link to your privacy policy next to the form.
- A record of when and how each sign-up took place. Many email tools keep this automatically.
- Good practice: confirmation by email (double opt-in), where the new subscriber clicks a link to complete their sign-up, so the list stays free of incorrect addresses.
- An unsubscribe link in every email, which works easily and without logging in to an account.
- Prompt removal of anyone who asks to unsubscribe.
There are limited exceptions for existing customers, but don't take them for granted. The rules on electronic communications and personal data have their fine print, so check the guidance of the Hellenic Data Protection Authority and ask your legal adviser. This article is a practical guide, not legal advice.
You can find subscribers through the form on your website, at your e-shop checkout with a separate opt-in, and in your store with a card or a QR code. An activation can help too: in Take a Hike, which THPAUL designed for Columbia, the “Join in” card presented the next hike and a prize draw, with a newsletter form that visitors dropped into the HIKE BOX in the stores. In every case, the form states clearly what anyone who signs up will receive.
The welcome series
New subscribers are most willing to listen to you in their first few days. A welcome series is a few emails sent automatically after sign-up. An example with three emails:
- Straight away: a thank-you, what they will receive and how often, and whatever you promised on the form, such as a discount code or a guide.
- A few days later: your business's story, what you do differently, and the products or services your customers ask for most often.
- One week later: something useful, such as instructions for use, answers to frequently asked questions or customer reviews, and one suggestion for the next step.
You write them once, check the links and let them run. Reread them every few months, because prices, products and photos change.
What to write and how often
A newsletter that contains nothing but offers soon becomes tiresome. Spread your content across a few regular themes:
- New products, collections or services, with a good photo and a link.
- Guides and tips: how to use, choose and care for the product.
- Behind the scenes: the team, production, a project from start to finish.
- Customer stories, with their permission.
- Seasonal offers and events, with a clear end date.
- An article from your blog, in a short version with a link to read the rest.
There is no right number when it comes to frequency. There is the rhythm you can keep up while still having something useful to say. For many small businesses, one email a month is a good start, with more during key sales periods. State on the sign-up form how often you will send, and keep that promise.
Every email needs a subject line that says what is inside, one key message and one main action. Write the preheader too: the short line that appears next to the subject line in the inbox. Check how it looks on a phone before you send it.
What to measure in email marketing
Opens are no longer a reliable metric. Some email apps load content automatically for privacy reasons, so an email can be counted as opened without anyone having seen it. Use opens only to compare subject lines with each other. These are more useful:
- Clicks: how many people clicked a link, and which one.
- Results: sales, bookings or enquiries from the email, using links with UTM parameters so you can see them in Analytics.
- Unsubscribes after each send. A sudden rise shows that something in the content or the frequency isn't right.
- Spam complaints and emails that weren't delivered (bounces).
- How much the list grows each month, and from which source.
Before your first send, ask whoever manages your domain to set up the SPF, DKIM and DMARC records, which confirm that your emails really are sent by you. The major email providers require them from anyone who sends bulk messages. Check the current guidance of the email tool you use.
THPAUL defines the brand voice, which carries through into captions, newsletters and ads, and sets up marketing automations with rules, exceptions and checks. Before switching on an automation, THPAUL reviews the contacts' consent and how the tools are connected.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need consent to send a newsletter?+
As a rule, yes: you need freely given, specific and unambiguous consent, for example a checkbox that is not pre-ticked. Every email must have an unsubscribe link that works. There are limited exceptions for existing customers, so check the guidance of the Hellenic Data Protection Authority and ask your legal adviser.
How often should I send a newsletter?+
Send a newsletter as often as you have something useful to say and can keep it up consistently. For many small businesses, one email a month is a good start, with more during key sales periods. State on the sign-up form how often you will send, and keep that promise.
What is a welcome series in a newsletter?+
A welcome series is a few emails sent automatically to each new subscriber in the first days after they sign up. Usually the first says thank you and delivers whatever you promised, the second introduces the business and the third suggests a next step. You write it once and it runs on its own.
What should I measure in a newsletter?+
Measure clicks, the sales or enquiries that came from the email, unsubscribes and spam complaints per send, and how fast the list is growing. Opens are not reliable, because some email apps load messages automatically. Use them only to compare subject lines.