Email marketing

Email marketing reaches people through a list you own. Unlike social followers or search rankings, that list is not controlled by a platform's changing rules, which is a large part of its value. It covers newsletters, automated welcome series, reminders, abandoned-basket messages and announcements.

It is different from transactional email, such as receipts, password resets and booking confirmations, which people need in order to use a service. Marketing emails are optional for the recipient and usually need their consent, while transactional ones are expected and sent as part of the service.

How it works

People join the list through a sign-up form, a lead magnet, a checkbox at checkout or a booking. An email platform stores their address, their consent and any details they shared, and lets you send campaigns to everyone or to segments, such as customers who booked last spring. Automations send messages triggered by actions, for example a welcome email right after sign-up or a reminder a year after a service.

Getting into the inbox depends on more than writing well. Mailbox providers check that your sending domain is authenticated with SPF, DKIM and DMARC records in your DNS, and Google and Yahoo require bulk senders to have these in place, offer easy one-click unsubscribing and keep spam complaints low. Sending to old, unengaged or bought addresses raises complaints and bounces, which pushes later emails into spam folders.

Measuring results needs care. Open rates are unreliable because some email apps, notably Apple Mail with privacy protection turned on, load images automatically and register opens that did not happen. Clicks, replies and actions on your site are better signals. Tag links with UTM parameters so your analytics can show what each campaign led to.

Example

A hair salon collects email addresses at booking, with a clear tick box for occasional news and offers. It sends a short monthly email with one seasonal tip, one new service and a booking link, and an automated reminder to clients who have not booked for ten weeks.

The salon tracks bookings from email links rather than open rates. The reminder email produces more bookings than the newsletter, so the owner keeps the newsletter short and refines the reminder's timing for different services. When a few addresses keep bouncing, the platform removes them automatically, which helps keep the rest of the list landing in inboxes.

Why it matters for your business

Email is one of the cheapest ways to keep customers coming back, because each extra message costs little once the list exists. It suits businesses with repeat purchases, seasonal services or long decisions. The trade-offs are the effort of writing regularly, the need to follow consent and anti-spam rules, and the risk of tiring your audience by sending too often. A small list of people who asked to hear from you is worth more than a large one that does not want your messages. Your list also survives changes elsewhere, such as a fall in search rankings or a social platform cutting the reach of business posts.

Common mistakes

• Adding people to a marketing list without clear consent, or buying lists, which breaks rules and damages deliverability.
• Judging campaigns mainly by open rate, which privacy features have made unreliable.
• Sending from a domain without SPF, DKIM and DMARC set up, so messages land in spam.
• Making it hard to unsubscribe, which drives people to mark emails as spam instead.

Questions people ask

Do I need permission to send marketing emails?

In most cases, yes. In the EU and UK you generally need consent, with a limited exception, often called soft opt-in, for existing customers about similar products, provided they can opt out easily. Rules differ by country, so check the ones that apply to you and keep a record of how each person signed up.

How often should I send marketing emails?

Send as often as you have something genuinely useful to say and can keep up. For many small businesses that is monthly or around key seasons, plus automated messages triggered by actions. Watch unsubscribes and complaints; if they rise after you send more often, slow down.

Why are my emails going to spam?

Common causes are missing SPF, DKIM or DMARC records, sending to old or bought addresses, high complaint rates and content that looks like spam. Check your domain authentication first, clean out addresses that bounce or never engage, and make unsubscribing easy so people do not report you instead.