Small business email marketing: how to get started

Email marketing simply means sending messages to people who have said they are happy to hear from you. For a Glasgow plumber, a dental practice, a café or a local charity, it is one of the few ways to reach customers without paying a platform each time or depending on an algorithm to show your post. This guide covers the four things to get right first: permission, list quality, newsletter basics and measuring results.

Start with permission

In the UK, marketing emails are covered by data protection law and by the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations (PECR), which the Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) enforces. In practice, that means you should only send marketing to people who have agreed to receive it, or who fit a narrow exception for existing customers.

That exception is often called the soft opt-in. It can apply where someone has bought from you, or asked for a quote, and you are promoting similar products or services. They must have been offered a simple way to opt out when you collected their details, and every email must include one. Rules differ slightly for sole traders and for limited companies, so check the ICO's guidance before you rely on this.

Good practice is simple:

• Use a sign-up form with a clear sentence saying what people will receive and roughly how often.
• Never pre-tick the consent box.
• Keep a record of when and how each person signed up.
• Put an unsubscribe link in every email and honour requests promptly.
• Say who you are in each message, with your business name and a way to contact you.

Do not buy email lists. The people on them have not agreed to hear from you, so you risk breaking the rules and damaging your reputation with email providers.

Build a list worth having

A small list of people who want your emails beats a large list of people who do not. Start with the people you already deal with: customers who have agreed to hear from you, enquirers and regular visitors.

Then give people a reason to sign up. A joiner might offer a seasonal checklist for looking after windows. A restaurant could send news of new menus and private-dining dates. A physiotherapy practice could offer a short guide to desk exercises. A charity might share updates on how donations are used. Put the sign-up form on your website, at the till or reception desk, and on any quote or booking confirmation.

Keep the list tidy. Remove addresses that bounce (messages that cannot be delivered) and people who have not opened anything for a long time. Ask them once if they would like to stay, and then let them go. A clean list helps your emails reach inboxes rather than junk folders.

Newsletter basics

Pick a rhythm you can keep up. Monthly is plenty for many small businesses. One reliable email is better than three in a burst followed by months of silence.

Each email should do one main job. Aim for a clear subject line that says what is inside, a short opening, two or three useful items, and a single obvious next step such as booking, replying or reading more on your website. Write the way you would speak to a customer across the counter.

Useful content is usually practical. Seasonal reminders, answers to questions customers keep asking, a recent job explained simply, opening-hour changes or a straightforward offer all work well. Only describe real work and real customers, and only with their agreement.

Check the basics before sending: send a test to yourself, read it on your phone, click every link, and make sure your name and contact details appear.

Measuring whether it works

Most email tools show a few simple measures. Click rate is the share of recipients who clicked a link. Unsubscribes show how many people opted out. Open rate is the share who opened the email, but treat it with caution because some email programmes load messages automatically, which can inflate it.

The most useful measure is what happens next: enquiries, bookings, orders or donations that can be traced to the email. Ask new customers how they heard about you, and use a different link in each campaign so you can see where visits come from.

Common mistakes

• Adding everyone in your contacts to the list without checking they agreed.
• Sending only sales messages, so people stop reading.
• Packing too many topics into one email.
• Forgetting that most people read on their phones.
• Judging success on open rate alone.

Once the basics are working, email marketing tools can send a welcome message automatically to new subscribers, and a CRM (a customer relationship management system, which keeps customer details and past conversations in one place) can help you keep contact records accurate. Both are worth adding only after you have a simple routine in place. On The Spot can help with email marketing and CRM set-up if you would like support.

In short

Good email marketing starts with permission, grows through a small list of people who actually want to hear from you, and works best when each message is useful, regular and easy to act on. Measure the enquiries and bookings it leads to, not just opens, and improve one thing at a time.

Next steps

1. Read the ICO's guidance on direct marketing and check that your current contacts have agreed to receive emails from you.
2. Add a clear sign-up form to your website and your counter, reception or booking confirmations.
3. Plan one simple monthly email with a single clear action, and send a test to yourself first.
4. Record your starting figures, such as list size and monthly enquiries, and review them after three sends.
5. If you would like a second opinion, ask On The Spot for a free digital strategy review.