Email Marketing Checklist for Australian Businesses

How to use this email marketing checklist

This email marketing checklist is designed for Australian organisations that want reliable results without risking deliverability or breaching the Spam Act 2003 (Cth). Skim the headings before a send, then work through each section. Treat it as a pre‑send QA and a post‑send review guide.

1) Pre‑send foundations

• Objective is clear (revenue, bookings, demo requests, downloads, event registrations).
• Primary segment is defined (customers, leads, subscribers, VIPs) and exclusion lists are set.
• Offer is strong and obvious (incentive, value, urgency, relevance).
• Success metrics chosen: delivery rate, complaint rate, clicks, click‑to‑open rate, conversions, revenue.
• UTM plan set for every link (source=email, medium=newsletter/campaign, campaign=name, content=variant).
• Landing page aligns with subject, headline and offer; analytics and conversion tracking verified.

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2) Consent, compliance and list quality (Australia)

Follow the Spam Act 2003 (Cth) and ACMA guidance:

• Consent is present and provable: express (opt‑in forms, checkboxes) or inferred (existing commercial relationship where expectations are reasonable).
• Sender identification is clear: business name, contact details and ABN/ACN in the footer.
• Functional unsubscribe link in every message; requests honoured within 5 business days.
• No address harvesting or purchased lists. Suppression list is respected on every send.
• List hygiene: remove hard bounces, manage soft bounces, suppress long‑term inactives with a sunset policy.

Check my consent and unsubscribe setup

3) Template, content and accessibility

• Mobile‑first responsive template; readable body copy (16px+), strong hierarchy and sufficient contrast.
• Personalisation and dynamic content have safe fallbacks (e.g., first name fallback).
• Subject line and preview text align with the offer; avoid spammy phrases and ALL CAPS.
• Primary CTA is prominent above the fold; secondary CTAs support, not distract.
• Images include alt text; content communicates without images enabled.
• Include a plain‑text version; links are descriptive and easy to tap.
• Footer includes business details, unsubscribe, and relevant links (preferences, privacy policy).

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4) Deliverability and technical setup

• SPF: domain includes your ESP’s senders and passes validation.
• DKIM: enabled and aligned with your sending domain.
• DMARC: policy at least p=none to start, with reporting; move to p=quarantine/reject as maturity increases.
• Custom tracking domain configured (links show your brand domain, not a generic ESP domain).
• Sending domain warmed (gradual volume increases) and reputation monitored.
• Complaint rate kept under 0.1% and bounce handling configured.

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5) Testing and QA

• Test across clients and devices (Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail; iOS/Android; dark mode).
• All links checked (including logos, images, social icons and unsubscribe).
• Spelling and grammar reviewed; merge tags validated for all variants.
• Tracking confirmed: UTMs present, analytics receiving data, conversion events firing.
• Spam tests run; code is lean; image‑to‑text ratio balanced.

Run a pre‑send QA audit

6) Send settings and cadence

• From name and address are recognisable and consistent.
• Send time aligned to the recipient’s local time zone (AEST/AEDT where relevant).
• Throttling or batch sends used for very large lists or warming.
• Frequency caps configured to prevent fatigue; exclude recent converters where sensible.
• A/B test configured (subject, preview, CTA or content) with a clear success metric.

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7) Post‑send analysis and optimisation

• Delivery and bounce breakdown reviewed (hard vs soft and reasons).
• Opens used directionally due to Apple Mail Privacy Protection; clicks and conversions prioritised.
• Click‑to‑open rate (CTOR) assessed to measure content relevance.
• Unsubscribes and complaints monitored; segment and cadence updated if thresholds are high.
• Revenue attribution verified with UTM parameters and CRM data; learnings documented for next send.

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8) Automation essentials

• Welcome/onboarding series for new subscribers or leads.
• Re‑engagement and sunset flows to protect list health.
• Post‑purchase or onboarding journeys to reduce churn and drive repeat value.
• Event‑triggered messages (downloads, webinar signups, content interactions).
• Cart and browse abandonment for ecommerce; lead nurture for B2B.

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9) B2B vs ecommerce: what changes?

• B2B: longer cycles, intent and role‑based segmentation, value content (guides, ROI, case studies), lead scoring and CRM integration.
• Ecommerce: SKU and category behaviour, dynamic product blocks, predictive segments (high intent, lapsing), and tighter send cadence around promotions.

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Recommended tools and resources

• Email platforms used widely in Australia: Campaign Monitor, Mailchimp, Klaviyo, ActiveCampaign, HubSpot.
• Testing: Litmus or Email on Acid for rendering checks; Google Analytics and Looker Studio for reporting.
• Compliance: ACMA guidance on the Spam Act 2003 and consent best practice.

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Related pillars

Common email marketing mistakes

• Sending without consent or proof of consent.
• Weak offer and unclear CTA; landing page mismatch.
• No authentication (SPF/DKIM/DMARC) and poor list hygiene.
• Relying on opens instead of clicks and conversions.
• Infrequent testing and no learning loop between sends.

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What a sensible next step looks like

Clarify objective, confirm consent, authenticate your domain and run a small, high‑quality send to an engaged segment. Review results, document learnings, then scale cadence and automation with confidence.