Handbook / Marketing a small business

Email marketing for a small business: lists, messages and the rules

Email remains one of the most direct ways for a small business to stay in touch with past clients and interested prospects. Unlike social media, you own your list, and your messages arrive in people's inboxes rather than competing in a feed. This guide covers how to build a list properly, what to send, and the federal rules that apply to commercial email.

Build a permission-based list

The best list is made of people who asked to hear from you:

• past and current clients who opt in
• website visitors who sign up
• people who attend a talk or workshop you give
• enquiries who say yes when you ask

Make the sign-up honest. Say what people will receive and how often: "A short monthly email with seasonal garden tips. Unsubscribe any time."

Use a proper email service

Email services designed for marketing handle sign-ups, unsubscribes, templates and basic reporting. They also help you meet legal requirements by adding unsubscribe links and processing opt-outs automatically. Sending bulk email from a personal account makes compliance and deliverability harder.

What to send

Aim for messages people would miss if they stopped:

• Practical tips related to your work.
• Seasonal reminders, such as booking a service before a busy period.
• Answers to common questions.
• Short case studies showing results, with permission.
• Updates about new services or availability.
• Occasional offers, clearly explained.

Keep each email focused on one main idea with one clear action.

How often

Choose a rhythm you can keep. Monthly suits many small businesses; quarterly works for others. Consistency builds recognition. Sending too often, or only when you want something, trains people to ignore you.

The CAN-SPAM rules

The CAN-SPAM Act applies to commercial electronic mail messages, those whose primary purpose is advertising or promoting a product or service. Its definitions say transactional or relationship messages are not commercial messages. Most marketing emails are commercial, and 15 U.S.C. 7704 sets requirements, including:

• No false or misleading header information, including the "from" name and routing.
• No deceptive subject lines.
• A clear and conspicuous opt-out that works for a period after sending, and that you honour within the time the law allows.
• Clear identification that the message is an advertisement or solicitation, unless the recipient has given affirmative consent.
• A valid physical postal address for the sender.

The FTC's CAN-SPAM rule at 16 CFR Part 316 adds detail, including on determining a message's primary purpose. If you use someone else to send email for you, you remain responsible for compliance.

If your business is home-based and you prefer not to publish your home address, consider a post office box or mailbox service that meets the postal address requirement.

Measure what matters

Email services report opens and clicks, but these are imperfect. For a small business, the useful measures are:

• replies and enquiries
• bookings or sales that follow a send
• unsubscribes and complaints, as a sign of relevance

If an email brings conversations or bookings, it worked.

Keep the list healthy

• remove addresses that repeatedly bounce
• honour unsubscribes immediately
• occasionally ask inactive subscribers whether they still want your emails
• never add people without their agreement

A smaller list of interested people is worth more than a large list of strangers.

How it fits with other outreach

Email marketing nurtures people who already know you. Finding new clients through individual outreach is different; the guide on cold email covers that. Day-to-day client communication is covered in following up with a client.

Writing emails people read

• Subject lines: clear and specific, matching what is inside. Misleading subject lines are prohibited under CAN-SPAM.
• One main idea per email, with a single clear call to action.
• Short paragraphs that read well on a phone.
• A recognisable sender name, usually you or your business.
• Useful content first, promotion second.

Test your emails on a phone before sending, and send a copy to yourself. Keep a simple calendar of planned topics so you are not writing from scratch each time. Over a few months, compare which topics and formats bring replies, clicks or bookings, and do more of what works.

Build a list with permission, send useful messages on a steady rhythm, follow CAN-SPAM on every promotional email, and measure by replies and bookings.