Stop Wasting Your Email List

Most brands are sitting on an underperforming asset: their email list. What should be a high-intent, high-conversion channel often ends up poorly optimised, outdated, or neglected altogether.

Building the best email engine isn’t always about clever copy or flashy design (although within reason, it helps) – it’s about treating email as a performance channel. That means:

1. Solid foundations

2. Clear segmentation

3. Smart automation and…

4. A commitment to ongoing refinement (yep, it isn’t a “one and done” channel I’m afraid).

If you’re serious about driving retention, improving revenue predictability, and building a brand your customers stick with - start here.

Email remains one of the highest-performing marketing channels for D2C brands, yet many still treat it as an afterthought. 

1. Ensure your tone and messaging reflect your current brand

As your brand evolves, it's common for automations and campaigns to fall behind. A welcome flow written in year one may no longer reflect your brand tone, product range, or customer priorities.

Use this checklist to review your existing flows:

• Tone – Does it align with your current brand voice across website, ads, and social?

• CTAs – Are they clear, timely, and appropriate for the customer journey?

• Timings – Are delays between emails still relevant to your sales cycle?

• Segmentation – Are you targeting based on real behaviour, or blasting everyone?

Make sure these core flows are live and regularly reviewed:

• Welcome

• Abandoned checkout

• Browse abandonment

• Post-purchase

• Win-back

• Sunset flow (often missed, but super important for deliverability as it protects your sender reputation, improves your list quality & engagement rates, and of course keeps your email costs in check).

These drive a significant portion of email revenue. Review them quarterly to ensure alignment and performance.

2. Revisit your triggers – they’re often the hidden issue

One of the most overlooked areas in CRM strategy is trigger logic. Many flows still rely on old conditions that no longer match current customer behaviour.

Think of this as part of your competitive review. If buying habits or product mix have changed - or if you’ve updated your website or CX - your triggers may no longer be firing at the right time (or to the right people).

Review regularly:

• Are flows sending too soon or too late?

• Are suppression/exclusion rules working as intended?

• Are new behaviours being captured correctly (e.g. quiz completions, bundle browsing, landing page views)?

It's unglamorous but critical. The wrong trigger can undermine even the best content.

3. Use email to improve your SEO performance

Email doesn’t just drive revenue - it can also support long-term organic visibility.

Every time you link to a blog or landing page, you’re driving qualified traffic. If those visitors stay, scroll, and engage, you’re sending strong signals to Google.

To make this work:

• Share high-quality, keyword-rich content with your list

• Track performance - bounce rate, scroll depth, time on page

• Use customer data to tailor the content you push

It’s one of the few ways to guarantee initial distribution to your best audience while supporting long-term SEO performance.

4. Include social proof as it builds trust and improves conversion

One of the simplest improvements you can make is to include validation within your emails.

• Customer testimonials increase trust for first-time buyers

• Clinical or expert recommendations can help legitimise wellness, skincare or health brands

• Influencer quotes or PR snippets reinforce credibility and relevance

Whether it’s in a campaign, a welcome flow, or abandoned checkout—social proof increases engagement and conversion. Pull from what’s already performing on-site and weave it into your emails.

5. If you’re stuck for inspiration, use this tool

Milled.com is a searchable archive of thousands of real marketing emails from D2C, retail, wellness, fashion and more.

Use it to:

• Review how similar brands structure their campaigns

• Explore subject lines, offers and design trends

• Understand how others are framing new launches or seasonal promos

The aim isn’t to replicate - it’s to observe what’s landing and apply the thinking through the lens of your own brand.

6. Optimise for mobile readability and engagement

Despite rising mobile usage, many brand emails are still difficult to read on small screens.

Common issues:

• Font size that’s too small

• Long paragraphs with no breaks

• Visuals with no context

• Multiple CTAs in the same message

• Cluttered layouts with no clear hierarchy

Best practice:

• Use bold headers, bullets, and short paragraphs

• Combine concise copy with relevant visuals

• Make CTAs obvious and scannable

• Always preview on mobile

If your email doesn’t make sense in the first five seconds, it’s already lost.

7. Build your list with quality, not just quantity

Offering 10% off might grow your list - but it doesn’t guarantee retention.

Stronger, higher-quality methods:

• Lead magnets – Educational guides, checklists, or quizzes that solve a specific customer need or problem.

• Post-purchase capture – Prompt newsletter opt-ins after checkout

• Referral schemes – Reward your best customers for bringing in more like them

• Newsletter swaps – Partner with complementary brands to cross-promote content

• Value-led pop-ups – Focus on early access, exclusive content, or launches—not just discounting

Growing your list matters. But doing it intentionally matters more.

8. Be aware: unsubscribing is easier than ever

Gmail now prompts users to unsubscribe from emails they haven’t opened in a while. And batch unsubscribe tools are increasingly popular.

This means every email you send must deliver value:

• Is the content useful, interesting, or helpful?

• Are you sending too frequently, or too little?

• Are you segmenting based on actual engagement?

You're not just competing with other brands, you're competing with unsubscribe fatigue. Relevance is your defence.

Final thought

Email is still one of the most effective growth channels available to D2C brands - when it's respected, optimised and maintained.

Done well, it builds trust, drives revenue, and increases LTV. Done poorly, it undermines your brand and costs you the attention of your most valuable audience.

Want my email audit checklist?

Reply with “email audit” and I’ll send you the framework I use to review and rebuild email strategy for growth-stage brands.

Stay Bold, Stay Brilliant

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Need help making bold moves? Let’s chat. Forward this to someone who needs a little inspiration, or drop me a line - I’m here to help.

Let’s make moves,
Beth

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Disclaimer: I share advice from my own experience. Every business is unique, so tailor these ideas to fit your needs.