Email is the only channel you own. Followers on social are rented — an algorithm decides who sees what. Your list reaches everyone, whenever you choose.
Which is why, for a business with repeat sales, a list of 500 real customers is worth more than 5,000 followers.
Want a ready plan to start with?
Tell us what you sell and we will send your first four emails in sending order.
How to build a list (lawfully, and without tricks)
The rule is simple: the customer gives you their address willingly and knows what they will receive.
| Source | How well it performs |
|---|---|
| After a purchase, with an explicit opt-in | Very well |
| A useful download in exchange | Well |
| A waiting or back-in-stock list | Well |
| A “subscribe to our newsletter” form | Moderate |
| A prize draw | Many addresses, few buyers |
Never buy lists. They are unlawful, they wreck your domain’s reputation, and they push even the emails your real customers would have opened into spam.
What matters is not size. It is how many people on the list remember you when the message lands.
The four sequences that work
You do not need a weekly newsletter to start. You need four automations.
| Sequence | When it sends | What it contains |
|---|---|---|
| Welcome | Immediately after sign-up | Who you are, what to expect, something useful |
| Post-purchase | 2–7 days after | How to use it, what to watch for |
| Win-back | 60–90 days with no purchase | A reminder with a reason, not a discount |
| Abandoned basket | 1, 24 and 72 hours | What they left, without pressure |
The fourth is the most profitable for an e-shop and takes a day to set up — covered fully in cart abandonment.
The second is the most neglected: an email helping the customer use what they bought properly reduces returns and generates reviews.
What to send when you are not selling anything
The mistake that burns lists: making every email an offer.
The ratio that works: three useful, one selling.
Ideas that take no time:
- An answer to a question you get constantly.
- Behind the scenes: how it is made, how you choose, what went wrong.
- One real customer case, with numbers.
- A seasonal reminder that is genuinely useful.
- One of your articles, with two lines on why it is worth reading — the reservoir is your content marketing.
The check before you press send: would you open it? If not, do not send it.
How often
The cadence you can sustain beats the cadence that sounds right.
| Type of business | Realistic frequency |
|---|---|
| Services with infrequent purchases | Once a month |
| E-shop | 2–4 times a month |
| Hospitality / local | 1–2 times a month |
| Seasonal business | Dense in season, sparse outside |
Better one good email a month for a year than four in one week followed by six months of silence.
What to measure
Four numbers, and only the last one pays bills.
| Metric | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Delivery | Whether messages arrive at all |
| Opens | Whether the subject line and sender name work |
| Clicks | Whether the content interests anyone |
| Revenue per send | Whether it is worth the effort |
A caution on opens: modern mail clients distort the measurement, so treat it as directional rather than exact. Clicks and revenue are more reliable.
And one metric nobody watches: unsubscribes. A sudden rise means you are sending too much, or the wrong thing.
Want a review of your flow?
Send us one of your emails and we will tell you what would change the clicks.
What consent rules require
The core principles, with three things that must always hold:
- Explicit consent, via a separate box that is not pre-ticked.
- An unsubscribe option in every message, working in one click.
- Sender identity: who is sending and how someone reaches you.
There is scope to send relevant messages to existing customers under certain conditions, but the specifics need checking for your case. The general framework is in GDPR and your website; for your particular setup, ask a lawyer before building the flow.
Frequently asked questions
Which tool should I choose?
Any with a free tier up to 500–1,000 contacts. Check two things: whether it connects to your e-shop and whether it exports the list easily.
What does it cost?
Free at the start. Above 500 contacts, typically €10–€40 a month.
How big does the list need to be to be worth it?
From 100 real customers it already makes sense, especially for repeat sales — see the other levers in increasing sales without advertising.
Why do my emails go to spam?
Usually: bought contacts, missing domain authentication settings, or a subject line in capitals with exclamation marks.
How long should an email be?
As long as one message and one button require. Short ones get read more.
The first step
Export the last year’s customers from your order system and count them.
Then send one email: thank you, what is new, and one useful piece of information. No offer. The replies will surprise you.
Next step
Book a free 30-minute call with the team at The Dev Alley. We will set up your first two automated sequences together.