The technical connections between the website and an email marketing or marketing automation platform that automatically add subscribers and contacts from web interactions — newsletter sign-ups, form submissions, content downloads, e-commerce purchases — into the appropriate email lists, segments and automation workflows.
Newsletter sign-up (subscribe to list, trigger welcome sequence), content download (add to nurture sequence for that topic), enquiry form submission (trigger follow-up sequence, notify sales), e-commerce purchase (trigger post-purchase sequence, update customer list), cart abandonment (trigger recovery sequence) and account registration (trigger onboarding sequence).
Double opt-in requires the subscriber to confirm their email address by clicking a link in a confirmation email before being added to the list. It produces smaller but higher-quality lists with verified email addresses, lower bounce rates and stronger spam compliance. For marketing lists, double opt-in is strongly recommended best practice.
Mailchimp (native WordPress plugin, WooCommerce integration, widely used), Klaviyo (excellent e-commerce integration, powerful segmentation), ActiveCampaign (strong automation and CRM), Brevo (formerly Sendinblue, cost-effective with good WordPress support) and Mailerlite (user-friendly with solid WordPress integration). All support API or native plugin connection.
Capturing data about how a subscriber came to the list — which form, which page, which content piece, which campaign — and using that data to place them in the correct segment immediately. Segmentation from the point of acquisition enables relevant, targeted messaging from the first email, rather than broadcasting the same message to all subscribers.
Through a WooCommerce email marketing integration plugin (Klaviyo for WooCommerce, Mailchimp for WooCommerce) that syncs order data in real time — enabling post-purchase sequences tailored to what was bought, win-back campaigns for customers who haven’t reordered, and product recommendation emails based on purchase history.
At minimum: email address, sign-up source (which form or page), acquisition date, any relevant interest or preference data collected at sign-up, and UTM campaign data from the visit. The richer the data passed at acquisition, the more precisely the subscriber can be segmented and the more relevant the initial email experience.
A page where subscribers can manage their email preferences — choosing which types of content they want to receive, updating their contact details and setting communication frequency. A preference centre reduces unsubscribes by allowing subscribers to reduce volume rather than opting out entirely, and demonstrates respect for subscriber autonomy.
An unsubscribe from marketing emails should remove the contact from all marketing communication lists immediately and irreversibly. If the contact also exists in the CRM or has an e-commerce account, they remain contactable for transactional communications (order confirmation, service notifications) but must not receive marketing until they re-consent.
Through list growth rate (net new subscribers per period), sign-up conversion rate per form (subscribers divided by form views), email deliverability (low bounce and spam complaint rates indicating list quality), automation workflow completion rates (are triggered sequences completing successfully?) and revenue or pipeline attributed to email-sourced contacts.