Email marketing
The automated flows a store sends, getting email into the inbox, writing and timing campaigns, and reading email results.
Email flows
The automated emails a store sends, what starts each one, and how to set them up.
9 pagesWhich email flows should an online store set up first?
Start with welcome, checkout recovery and post-purchase emails. Use your audience, customer gaps and working event data to decide which flow to build first.
How do you stop browse, cart and checkout emails overlapping?
Set stage-specific stop rules, recheck eligibility before sending, and trace event delays or duplicate senders. Includes a handoff table and an acceptance-test record.
Why is my email flow not sending?
Trace an absent flow email through entry, waiting, manual review, skips and delivery. Fix future sends and decide what happens to missed messages separately.
What is a replenishment email?
A replenishment email reminds a customer to reorder a product shortly before it runs out. Setting one up is easy. The hard parts are picking the delay and telling whether the email adds reorders or just takes credit for ones already on the way.
What is a browse abandonment email?
One platform sends it when a shopper views a product. Another sends it only to people who never reached a product, and sells the first version under a different name. The delays run from one hour to twenty-four.
What is a win-back email?
A win-back email is an automated message or sequence sent to people who previously bought or engaged and then went quiet. The hard part is not the phrase. It is the inactive threshold: published defaults run from 45 days to 360 days, while several guides say the right clock depends on the buying cycle.
What is a post-purchase email flow?
A post-purchase email flow is the automated sequence a store sends after someone buys. The published guides disagree about which emails are in it, how many it holds, and whether the clock starts at the order or at delivery — and three of them disagree with themselves. What each version means, and what to write down beside your own number.
What is a welcome email flow?
A welcome email flow is the automated sequence a store sends after someone joins its list. The published guides disagree about how many emails it holds, how fast the first one goes out, whether a first purchase belongs in it, and what the open rates everyone quotes are counting. What each version means, and what to write down beside your own number.
What is an abandoned cart email?
One platform sends it when a shopper adds to their cart. Another sends it only after checkout starts. A third starts a ten-minute clock once an email address is typed. The 70% figure everyone quotes counts a fourth group again.
Deliverability
Getting email into the inbox: authentication, consent, bounces and list hygiene.
11 pagesTransactional vs marketing email: what is the difference?
Classify receipts, abandoned-checkout reminders and stock alerts by what they say. Compare US and UK mixed-content rules, permission checks and unsubscribe duties.
How do AI spam filters decide what reaches the inbox?
See which spam-filter signals Gmail and Microsoft disclose, why authentication is not an inbox pass, and how to diagnose a real placement problem.
Is Gmail's Promotions tab spam?
Separate Gmail Promotions from Spam, understand why authentication does not guarantee Primary, and record placement before trying to change it.
Hard bounce vs soft bounce: should you resend the email?
Learn the difference between hard and soft email bounces, read the full failure reason, and decide when to retry, suppress an address or investigate your sending setup.
SPF vs DKIM vs DMARC: what does each one do?
Understand SPF, DKIM and DMARC, why passing checks can still fail alignment, and how to audit authentication on an actual marketing email.
Should you use a subdomain for email marketing?
Separate marketing, transactional and staff email with a practical sending-domain plan. Check authentication, actual routing and the limits of reputation isolation.
What is one-click unsubscribe, and does a footer link count?
Understand Gmail and Yahoo's one-click unsubscribe rules, then audit message headers, request handling and the contacts your marketing sends exclude.
Single vs double opt-in: which should you use for email?
Choose an email opt-in method, audit confirmation and welcome-message failures, and compare usable subscribers without mistaking a higher rate for more customers.
Can you email people who never opted in?
Compare US, UK and Canadian email consent rules, then check whether customer records, bought lists or abandoned checkouts belong in a marketing send.
How do you improve email deliverability? A guide to finding and fixing the problem
Diagnose rejected messages, spam placement and weaker engagement, then fix authentication, audience quality and sending patterns using current mailbox-provider guidance.
Is email list cleaning worth it? When to suppress contacts or pay for validation
Separate routine list cleaning from paid email validation. Decide which contacts to exclude, suppress or keep, and check whether cleaning actually lowers your bill.
Campaigns and content
Writing, timing and sending campaigns, and how emails render.
7 pagesHow do you write marketing email subject lines that get opened?
Write subject lines from the offer and content, keep important conditions, and check the inbox preview. Includes original examples and a practical review record.
Why does Gmail clip your emails, and how do you fix it?
Find why Gmail hides part of your marketing email, reduce the right code, and check the delivered message before calling the clipping problem fixed.
Why does dark mode change your email colours?
Find out why dark mode changes email colours, which rendering problems need fixing, and how to test logos, buttons and text in an actual delivered message.
How often should you send marketing emails?
Choose an email frequency by counting campaigns and flows per customer, resolving overlaps, and testing whether another send adds value without unacceptable opt-outs.
When is the best time to send marketing emails?
Choose an email send time for your audience. Compare fixed schedules with AI optimization, test the outcome you need, and keep time zones and offer deadlines clear.
Is email marketing still worth it in 2026?
Decide whether email marketing earns its budget. Count the full cost, calculate the extra orders needed to break even, and separate credited revenue from profit.
What is email list segmentation?
Email list segmentation splits one list into groups that each get a different email. Building segments is easy. Knowing which ones change what people do is harder, and field experiments show the obvious picks are not always the ones that respond.
Email metrics
What open rates, clicks and email-attributed sales can and cannot tell you.
3 pagesWhat are bot clicks in email, and should you filter them?
Understand email bot clicks, check suspicious engagement, and audit filtering across reports, attribution, segments and click-triggered automations.
Can you trust email open rates?
Understand how privacy loads, blocked images and bots affect email open rates. Check report settings before judging a campaign or resending to non-openers.
How do you track which emails make sales?
Track email sales with consistent campaign tags, verified purchase data and documented attribution rules. Use an order example and checklist to reconcile reports.