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Growing an email list is a slog, moving at a pace slower than the molasses that once spilled in my pantry. (Yes, that actually happened.) So when an opportunity comes along to add a bunch of people at once – say, everyone who attended your event, downloaded your freebie, or handed you their business card at a networking event – the temptation to just upload that list and start emailing makes complete sense.
But just because you technically can do that doesn’t mean you should.
This came up in my own kitchen not long ago. My husband had just hosted a sold-out event and wanted to follow up with attendees:
“So I can just upload them into my Kit account and email them, right?”
“Did you expressly ask for their permission to be added to your newsletter?”
“Well, no… but is it okay to do this?”
“Do you want the technical answer, or my approach to that question?”
From a purely technical standpoint – yes, you can upload and tag those people in your email marketing software and send them a follow-up email. But that’s not how I do it with my clients who hire me for email marketing strategy support.
Instead, I recommended he send a separate email thanking attendees for coming and inviting them to join his newsletter, positioning it as the best way to hear about the next event before tickets go on sale.
Will he get fewer newsletter subscribers that way? Absolutely.
But just because people attended his event doesn’t mean they want to hear about future events.
Maybe they went that one time to support a friend who was speaking. Maybe they were visiting Boston for a few days and looking for something interesting to do. Maybe they loved it but they’re already drowning in emails and can’t take on one more newsletter.
The people who do sign up? Those are the ones who are more likely to actually read his emails when they show up, tell their friends, and buy tickets before they sell out.
You only want people who have expressly given you permission to be there.
How adding people without their permission can break trust and damage your reputation
Every recommendation I make for my clients is through the lens of trust and reputation – both how people view your business, and your technical reputation, meaning your domain’s sender reputation, which determines whether your emails actually land in people’s inboxes in the first place. (Also know as email deliverability.)
In either case, once trust and reputation breaks, it’s a heck of a lot harder to rebuild. And in the midst of what many are calling a trust recession, that matters more than ever.
This is why consent sits at the core of how I approach email marketing. Before we touch anything inside a client’s Kit account, we make sure the foundation is built on permission.
Like my client Jenn, a financial coach who cares deeply about taking a consent-based approach to her marketing.
When we worked together, one of the first things we tackled was her event sign-up process. Instead of automatically adding everyone who registers for her virtual events to her newsletter, we added a checkbox where people can actively opt in to receive it. Some people just want event info – and that’s totally fine. I set up her automations so those people get event updates but are automatically excluded from the newsletter. After the event ends, they’re unsubscribed with one gentle invitation to join if they’d like.
We respect the choice they made.
Are your subscribers telling you that they want to receive your newsletter?
This principle applies beyond events. Anytime you’re tempted to add someone to your list – because they downloaded your freebie, attended your webinar, bought your product, or met you at a networking event – ask yourself: did they specifically say they wanted to receive my newsletter?
If not, give them the choice.
If your email marketing software allows for it, ask right on the sign-up form whether they’d also like to receive your newsletter. (Kit makes this straightforward.) If you didn’t ask at sign-up, send a follow-up email thanking them for attending or purchasing, and invite them to join – sharing the benefit to them of being on your list.
That one extra step – asking for permission, or at the very least making it crystal clear that by signing up for something they’ll also receive your marketing emails – can make a world of difference in a time when most of us are already overrun with emails.
Should subscribers opt-in or opt-out of promotions?
Here’s where it gets nuanced – because consent-based email marketing doesn’t mean asking permission for everything.
Say you’re launching a new service, selling event tickets, or promoting an offer to your existing list. These people already gave you permission to email them. They’re either potential buyers or supporters who want to spread the word. You should tell them about what you’re offering.
In this case, I recommend an opt-out rather than opt-in approach.
Give people the option to skip your promotional emails while staying on your list – but send the emails to everyone by default.
People miss emails. No matter how consistent you are, life happens. And intentions don’t equal action. Someone might mean to click “yes, tell me more” and simply forget. With an opt-out approach, everyone gets the emails and can self-select if they don’t want them.
What makes this approach still feel respectful is in the execution:
- Set crystal-clear expectations – tell people upfront how many promotional emails to expect and for how long.
- Make the opt-out prominent and reassuring, so people know they’re not losing you entirely, just skipping this particular promotion.
- And make your emails worth reading even for people who have zero intention of buying.
The through-line in both approaches is the same: your subscribers are people who made a choice to let you into their inbox. The goal is to honor that choice at every stage – at sign-up, in your regular newsletter, and when you’re ready to sell.
You’ve worked too hard to build your business to have your reputation damaged by sending people emails they didn’t ask for.