Why do we hesitate to hit “send” on a sales email?
Because we’re immediately worried we’ve annoyed half our list.
There’s two things going on here:
Today, I’m focusing on the latter.
You’ve likely just imported your subscribers without thinking. Or you copy an old segment because it “kind of worked last time”.
After a few rounds of this, you have no clear answer to three simple questions:
Who said yes? To what? And when?
Ignoring this does not make it go away.
UK rules say you must not send marketing emails to individuals without valid consent or a narrow “soft opt-in” for existing customers.
At the same time, email lists naturally decay by around 25–28 percent each year, as people change jobs, abandon inboxes, or mark emails as spam.
So a “set and forget” list is not just messy. It is risky and quietly shrinking.
You do not need an enterprise CRM (Customer Relationship Management system) to fix this.
You need a simple, consent-first structure that connects each email back to how someone joined and what you promised.
With a handful of tags, a few well-designed automations, and clear microcopy, you can move from “winging it” to well-run, and send sales campaigns with a clear conscience.
In this blog I cover…
Photo by Bench Accounting on Unsplash
Most small businesses do not start with an email marketing strategy. They start with whatever their current email platform makes easy.
You add a newsletter form.
Later, a lead magnet.
Then you set up a waitlist for a programme.
Each one creates another list, or a mystery tag, or both.
Meanwhile, you import a CSV from that Zoom webinar you ran last year.
Twice.
Now you have the same person three times with different statuses.
In the middle of all this, you’re trying to honour people’s boundaries.
You do not want to spam anyone.
You do not want to break the law.
You just want to tell the right people, at the right time, about the thing you built.
In the UK, email marketing to individuals sits mainly under two pieces of law.
The ICO’s guidance says you must not send marketing emails to individuals without consent, unless a limited “soft opt-in” applies for your own similar products and services. This soft opt-in only works if you collected their details during a sale (or serious enquiry), offered an opt-out at that point, and continue to offer a clear opt-out in every message.
Consent itself has a high bar.
It has to be specific, freely given, informed, and signalled by a clear affirmative action, such as ticking an unticked box.
Pre-ticked boxes, vague wording, or “by giving us your card, you agree to receive all marketing” do not meet that standard.
This applies whether you email 50 people or 50,000. There is no “too small to matter” exemption.
Even if you got consent right on day one, your list does not stay stable. ZeroBounce’s 2025 Email List Decay Report found that at least 25.74–28 percent of an average email list decays each year.
People change roles.
Mailboxes get switched off.
Old inboxes become spam traps.
Deliverability specialists recommend removing or re-engaging subscribers who have not opened or clicked anything for 6–12 months, because these addresses drag down your sender reputation.
A messy system hides all of this.
You cannot see who is genuinely engaged.
You cannot see whose consent is still valid.
That is why it feels stressful: your instincts are correct.
The good news is that you can fix most of this with a pencil, a blank page, and a few small changes to how you tag and automate.
Photo by Glenn Diaz on Unsplash
It is very tempting to treat consent as a legal formality.
Find the right sentence.
Paste it under every form.
Call it “done”.
The Maven of Momentum approach is different. You're not just trying to be compliant. You're trying to run “ethical and consent-aware” email journeys that feel good for both sides.
Think of consent as a promise. “I will use your email address in the ways described here, and you can change your mind whenever you like.”
Clear consent language tells people three things.
The ICO expects you to make withdrawal of consent as easy as giving it. That's not only a box to tick. It's a way of respecting your readers’ energy and attention.
For example, during a launch, a simple line such as:
“Over the next 7 days I will send several emails about [Course Name]. If you would rather not hear about this launch but still want my regular newsletter, click here to opt out of these launch emails.”
This honours their time, even if they say “not this”.
You keep the relationship, even if this particular offer is not right.
When you prune, segment, and respect preferences, you are not losing potential.
You are shaping a list of people who actually want to be there.
That is the foundation for any sustainable sales cycle.
Before you change anything in your email platform, map where people come from.
Most small businesses have at least six entry points.
Typical examples.
For each entry point, write one sentence that answers two questions.
Examples.
Now sketch a simple table or whiteboard map.
|
Entry point |
Promise |
Default tag(s) |
Default segment |
|
Newsletter form |
Fortnightly newsletter |
newsletter, email-newsletter |
Main newsletter |
|
Waitlist page |
Updates about [Programme] |
waitlist-programme, email-newsletter (if consented) |
Programme waitlist |
This map becomes your source of truth.
Every email you send should be traceable back to one or more of these promises.
With your entry points clear, you can design a lean tagging system.
The goal is simplicity, not cleverness.
You can think in four tag types (you don't need all of these, just choose what makes most sense for what you're trying to do).
The ICO guidance makes two points that your tags can help you honour.
Preference tags make this practical.
Examples.
You avoid complicated logic.
You rely on a few clear tags that align with what you promised and what the law requires.
Automations are where these decisions come to life.
Instead of funnel diagrams with 27 arrows, think in four stages, based on the Soulful Systems Setup process: Clarify → Build → QA → Handover.
Example 1: Newsletter sign-up
Example 2: Waitlist sign-up for a programme
These automations are not about pressure.
They are about keeping your promises to the right people, at the right time, in a way your future self can understand.
Microcopy is where values and compliance meet.
A few well-chosen lines can reduce spam complaints and unsubscribe rates, because people remember saying “yes” and know how to say “not this”.
Each form needs three elements.
Examples you can adapt.
The ICO expects a clear opt-out in every marketing email.
Most platforms add this automatically, but you can strengthen it with a one-line reminder near the top.
Examples.
These small sentences matter.
They make your values visible.
They also evidence that you are meeting the ICO’s expectations around informed consent and easy withdrawal.
A clean database is not a one-off project.
It is a habit.
Because around 25–28 percent of a typical list decays each year, you need regular maintenance to keep it accurate and safe.
Deliverability specialists recommend pruning hard bounces and long-term inactive subscribers to protect your sender reputation and inbox placement.
Once a quarter, block out 30–60 minutes for list hygiene.
Make a cuppa.
Put your phone on ‘Do not disturb’.
Get comfy.
Here’s your checklist.
This keeps your list smaller, cleaner, and more aligned with your actual audience.
And before you say “but a small list is BAD!” - it’s not. A disengaged list is bad.
A smaller engaged list makes metrics such as open rate and click-through rate more meaningful, because they are based on people who are still there, actually reading your emails.
Photo by Unseen Studio on Unsplash
Rightio, that all sounds like a lot of work.
It is, but it is worth it.
And if you have a tech person or VA, they may be able to do this for you.
But let’s bring these pieces into a practical example.
You’re planning a 7-day launch for a new course.
You feel a familiar knot of worry.
From your tags and segments, you decide.
This is already a calmer starting point.
You know who is in and who is out.
In email 1, you include a short explanation.
“Over the next 7 days I will send a small run of emails about [Course Name]. If you would rather not receive these launch emails, but still want my regular newsletter, click here to opt out of this launch.”
The link adds sales-email-opt-out.
Your automation uses that tag to suppress further launch emails, while keeping these people in the main newsletter.
This aligns with ICO expectations on easy withdrawal of consent, and with the soft opt-in rules if you are emailing existing customers.
Because you cleaned your list last quarter, you know you are not sending launch emails to a large pool of inactive accounts.
Your deliverability is healthier.
Your numbers are more honest.
Emotionally, this changes the experience of “selling by email”.
You are no longer guessing.
You are working from a clear map of consent, tags, and preferences.
You can do a surprising amount of this yourself.
Especially the mapping, microcopy, and basic tags.
It’s worth bringing in support when you:
When you talk to a consultant or developer, ask for three things:
If you want a partner to think this through with you, you can explore Soulful Systems Setup, where we stitch together forms, bookings, payments, and email journeys in a way that feels aligned with how you actually want to work.