The short answer
Start with the people who already know you — customers and enquirers who’ve agreed to hear from you. Set up the automated emails that usually earn their keep first: a welcome email and a follow-up for people who enquired or left a basket. Then send something genuinely useful on a regular rhythm. Get consent right for your market before you send anything.
In this guide
Email is one of the few marketing channels where you own the audience. Social platforms change their rules and search rankings move, but a list of people who want to hear from you stays yours. It’s also cheap per message, which is why it tends to pay back well for businesses with repeat customers or long buying decisions.
Build the list properly
- Ask at the natural moments: when someone enquires, books, buys or downloads something useful.
- Say what they’re signing up for and how often you’ll send.
- Keep a record of when and how each person agreed.
- Don’t buy lists. Bought lists perform badly, damage your ability to reach inboxes, and in many countries break the law.
The rules differ by market
What you need before emailing someone depends on where they are, not just where you are. The summary below is orientation only — follow the linked official guidance for your market.
| Market | Main law | What it means in practice | Regulator |
|---|---|---|---|
| UK | PECR and UK GDPR | Generally consent for marketing emails to individuals, with a limited “soft opt-in” for existing customers | ICO (opens in a new tab) |
| Ireland | ePrivacy Regulations 2011 and GDPR | Generally consent, with a limited exception for existing customers | Data Protection Commission (opens in a new tab) |
| US | CAN-SPAM Act | Consent isn’t required up front, but emails must not mislead, must be identifiable as ads, must include a postal address, and opt-outs must be honoured within 10 business days | FTC (opens in a new tab) |
| Canada | CASL | Express or implied consent, clear identification of the sender, and a working unsubscribe | Government of Canada (opens in a new tab) |
| Australia | Spam Act 2003 | Express or inferred consent, sender identification, and unsubscribes honoured within 5 working days | ACMA (opens in a new tab) |
| New Zealand | Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007 | Consent, sender identification and a functional unsubscribe | Department of Internal Affairs (opens in a new tab) |
Text messages usually carry similar or stricter rules. Business-to-business email has its own nuances in several markets, so check the guidance rather than assuming it’s exempt.
The first emails to set up
Automated emails, sent when someone does something, usually earn more per send than one-off newsletters. Start with:
- Welcome. Sent when someone joins your list: what to expect, why you’re worth hearing from, and one useful next step.
- Enquiry follow-up. For service businesses, a short sequence after an enquiry — answering common questions, showing examples, making it easy to book.
- Abandoned basket, for online shops. A reminder when someone leaves items behind.
- Review request. A polite ask after a job or purchase is complete.
- Win-back. A message to customers who haven’t bought for a while.
What to send regularly
Send something useful on a rhythm you can keep — monthly is fine for many businesses. Useful beats frequent: answers to common questions, seasonal advice, new work, and occasional offers. If you can’t think what to say, look at the questions customers ask you before they buy.
What to measure
- Clicks and replies, which show interest more reliably than opens
- Enquiries and sales from email, tracked with tagged links (see what to measure in your marketing)
- Unsubscribes and spam complaints, which warn you when content or frequency is off
Open rates are less reliable than they used to be, because some email apps load images automatically for privacy, which can count as an open whether or not the email was read.
Choosing a platform
Look for simple automation, sign-up forms for your website, segmentation (sending different emails to different groups), and help setting up email authentication for your domain. The large inbox providers now expect bulk senders to authenticate their domain and offer an easy one-click unsubscribe, and good platforms walk you through both.
What to do next
- Check the consent rules for the markets your customers are in.
- Add a sign-up option where people already enquire, book or buy.
- Set up a welcome email, then an enquiry or abandoned-basket follow-up.
- Decide a sending rhythm you can keep, and measure clicks and enquiries rather than opens.
Apply this to your business
Get an email plan for your business
Tell askBizly who your customers are and how they buy. It works out which emails to set up first, what to send regularly and how you’ll know it’s working — as a prioritised plan.
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