Write it. Build it. Send it.
Six practices. Most engagements use three or four of them, and the ones clients underestimate are always the last three.
Lifecycle and programme design
Which message goes to whom, when, and on which channel — mapped as a programme rather than a calendar of one-off sends.
- Journey and trigger design
- Audience and segmentation model
- Channel mix and cadence
- Test plan with a defined read-out
When the send calendar has replaced the plan, and nobody can say why a given message goes out on a given day.
Copy and art direction
Writers and designers who work in the inbox, not around it. Subject lines, body copy, offers and the design system that keeps them consistent.
- Subject line and preheader craft
- Long- and short-form body copy
- Template and component design
- Landing pages that match the send
When the programme is technically sound and the copy is not earning the open, or when the look has drifted across channels.
Build and deployment
Hand-coded, responsive, dark-mode-safe templates built for the platform they will send from, then loaded, scheduled and QA'd by people who have done it before.
- Responsive HTML email builds
- Platform template and module setup
- Deployment, scheduling and QA
- API and CPaaS integration
When templates break in Outlook or dark mode, when deployments need a second pair of hands, or when nobody in-house owns the platform.
Reaching the inbox
Authentication, reputation, list hygiene and the unglamorous work that decides whether any of the above is seen at all.
- SPF, DKIM and DMARC posture
- IP and domain warm-up
- List hygiene and suppression
- Complaint and bounce handling
When inbox placement drops, a new IP or domain needs warming, or complaint rates start moving the wrong way.
Measurement and reporting
Tracking that survives a template change, and reporting built around the decision someone actually has to make.
- Tracking and UTM standards
- Engagement and revenue reporting
- Deliverability monitoring
- Reporting your team can run itself
When two reports disagree, or when a template change silently took the tracking with it.
Consent and policy
Permission, preference and unsubscribe handling built to the rules of the platform and the jurisdiction you are sending into.
- Consent capture and records
- CAN-SPAM and CASL alignment
- Platform acceptable-use review
- Preference centre design
Before a platform review, when entering a new jurisdiction, or when consent records cannot be produced on request.
Not sure which of these it is?
Describe the symptom. Working out which layer it lives in is the first part of the job, and it is usually not the layer people expect.