Email strategy, flows & design
Email marketing that earns its place in the inbox.®
Flows that run themselves
Welcome, abandoned basket, post-purchase and win-back emails triggered by what people do, written once and sending every day.
Designed to land
Branded templates that read well on phones, sent from a domain set up so inbox providers trust it.
Flows first, then campaigns.®
We set up email automation that works in the background every day, then plan the newsletters and campaigns that keep your list warm.
Consent built in.®
Revenue and enquiries tracked.®
The detail
What to expect from an email marketing agency
Who an email marketing agency is for
An email marketing agency is worth bringing in when you have a list, or the traffic to build one, but emails go out irregularly or not at all. Online stores usually feel it first, in abandoned baskets with no follow-up and customers who buy once and never hear from you again.
Service businesses gain too: an enquiry followed by a useful sequence stays warm, where silence lets it go cold. If you're just getting started, our email marketing plan for small businesses covers the basics.
Automated flows before newsletters
Flows are emails triggered by something a person does: joining your list, leaving a basket, buying, or going quiet. They reach people when interest is highest and keep working long after they're built, which is why we start there.
A typical first build is a welcome series and an abandoned basket flow, then post-purchase and win-back once those are earning. Newsletters and campaigns follow, planned as a monthly calendar around launches, seasons and content you already produce.
Email templates and copy that get read
We design a modular template system rather than one-off emails: headers, product blocks, text sections and calls to action that combine into newsletters, offers and announcements. It's the approach behind the template suite we designed in Figma for Citipost eCommerce.
Copy is short, specific and written for phones first. Every email has one main job, a subject line that says what's inside and a clear way to unsubscribe.
UK rules: PECR, UK GDPR and the soft opt-in
In the UK, marketing email is governed by PECR, which sits alongside UK GDPR and uses its standard of consent. You need specific consent to email individuals, such as an unticked box they actively tick, and that includes sole traders and some partnerships.
The soft opt-in is the exception: you can email people who bought, or negotiated to buy, a similar product or service from you, as long as you gave them a simple opt-out when you collected their details and in every message since. It doesn't cover prospects or bought-in lists. Emails to limited companies and LLPs don't need PECR consent, but you must still identify yourself and give recipients a way to opt out.
This is our summary of current ICO guidance, not legal advice. The ICO is reviewing its guidance following the Data (Use and Access) Act, so we check ico.org.uk at each set-up and point you to it for your own situation.
Email deliverability and sender requirements
Gmail requires every sender to authenticate their domain with SPF or DKIM. Anyone sending more than 5,000 messages a day to personal Gmail accounts also needs SPF, DKIM and DMARC, one-click unsubscribe on marketing emails and a spam rate below 0.3% in Postmaster Tools, and Google recommends staying under 0.1%.
We check that set-up before your first send, increase volume gradually on new sending domains and keep lists clean by suppressing contacts who never engage.
How we report, and what to have ready
We send regular reports on a schedule we agree with you, focused on clicks, conversions and revenue or enquiries per flow and campaign, alongside list growth, unsubscribes and complaints. On ecommerce sites we connect your email platform to the store so revenue can be tracked by email; our Shopify web design and content marketing services can supply the pages your emails point to.
To start, we need access to your email platform and website, a list export showing how each contact signed up, your brand assets and any emails you've sent before. If you also run social, our social media management service can turn the same stories into posts.
01 — Discover
We audit your list, sign-up forms, platform and past emails, and check how each contact gave permission.
02 — Define
We map the flows and campaign calendar, define segments and check your sending domain authentication before anything goes out.
03 — Deliver
We design the templates, write the emails and build the flows, testing each on phones and common email apps before launch.
04 — Develop
We review results regularly, test subject lines and content, and add new flows once the first ones are earning.
“The team at The Think helped us clearly position our eCommerce offering and delivered a website that feels modern, credible and easy to use.”
Citipost eCommerce, part of the UK’s largest independent logistics provider
Pricing & FAQ
Email marketing pricing.®
Our email marketing services are quoted as a fixed project fee for set-up, flows and templates, or a fixed monthly fee for ongoing campaigns, after a short call.
Which email platforms do you work with?
Klaviyo, Mailchimp, HubSpot and other common platforms. Starting out? We'll recommend one based on your website, list size and automation needs.
How much does an email marketing agency cost?
Set-up such as flows and templates is a fixed project fee, and ongoing campaigns a fixed monthly fee. Both depend on volume, design and copy, quoted after a short call.
Which automated emails should we build first?
For online stores, a welcome series and abandoned basket flow, then post-purchase. For service businesses, an enquiry follow-up sequence.
Do you write and design the emails?
Yes. We write the copy, design reusable templates, build them in your platform and test them on phones and common email apps before anything sends.
Can you help us grow our list within the rules?
Yes. We design sign-up forms with clear consent wording and unticked boxes, and record how each contact joined. Bought-in lists are a poor fit: ICO guidance says the soft opt-in doesn't apply to them.
How do you measure results?
We report clicks, conversions and revenue or enquiries for each email and flow, plus list growth, unsubscribes and spam complaints. Open rates are treated as a rough guide only.
What's the difference between consent and the soft opt-in?
Consent means the person actively agreed, for example by ticking an unticked box. The soft opt-in covers people who bought, or negotiated to buy, a similar product or service from you, if you offered an opt-out when you collected their details and in every email since.
Can you help if our emails are landing in spam?
Yes. We check SPF, DKIM and DMARC, one-click unsubscribe, list hygiene and complaint rates, fix what's causing the problem, then build sending volume back up gradually.
Ready when you are.®
Tell us what you need and we’ll come back with a clear plan and a fixed quote.