An Australian email campaign, ready for its final check.

Start with one clear release decision

Write down the campaign purpose, the intended recipients and the action the reader should take. A newsletter for existing subscribers and a promotion sent to a newly acquired audience need different preparation. Give the release a version name and an owner; a later change to the audience, offer or sending domain should trigger another review.

Choose a named time zone for scheduling and record it beside the send time. Australia has multiple time zones, and daylight saving arrangements vary. Check the time shown in your campaign settings against the intended audience location rather than relying on your own laptop clock. For a mixed audience, separate schedules may be more appropriate than one national send.

Check the audience before the artwork

ACMA describes consent, sender identification and a functional unsubscribe facility as central requirements for commercial electronic messages. Its guidance distinguishes express and inferred consent. Keep evidence of the basis you rely on; an address in a spreadsheet is not that evidence.

Export and reconcile exclusions before preparing an import. Do not assume a contact import recreates your previous platform's permission history or suppression behaviour. Keep the original evidence in an appropriately controlled system, and verify the supported import fields and resulting audience with a small test.

Inspect the email as a recipient would

ACMA says an unsubscribe method must be clear, free, require no account login or extra personal information, remain functional for at least 30 days after sending, and be acted on within five working days. Treat that as an Australian requirement described by ACMA, not a global deadline. Do not send a marketing message merely to ask for consent.

• Check the visible sender name, sending domain and working contact details. They should make the responsible sender clear.
• Make the offer, price, eligibility and deadline agree with the landing page. Check mobile line breaks, image alternatives and the text that appears before the email is opened.
• Follow every main link from the actual test message. Confirm that a recipient reaches the intended page without a staff-only login.
• Test the unsubscribe journey using a designated test contact. Record what the person sees and confirm that later marketing excludes that contact.

Separate delivery preparation from audience approval

1. Preview a fixed version

   Save the subject, preview text, content version, audience definition and planned time together. Send a test and have another person check the main call to action, contact details and unsubscribe link.

2. Confirm the actual sending route

   For hosted delivery, count one send for each recipient of each email and compare planned use with the remaining allowance. For your connected server, confirm its domain configuration, network access and operational readiness.

3. Approve a controlled release

   Choose a batch and pacing appropriate to your established sending history. A new domain, IP or substantially different audience needs its own assessment; this guide does not prescribe a universal warm-up volume.

4. Watch and respond

   Name the person monitoring delivery problems, complaints, replies and withdrawal requests. Write down how to pause subsequent campaigns and who can make that decision.

Keep the decision useful after sending

Record the actual send time, approved recipient count and any change made after the test. Review delivery results alongside complaints, unsubscribe requests and meaningful clicks or responses. An open count alone is a weak reason to resend to everyone.

Carry corrections into the reusable template and the next audience review. The checklist below prepares a local release note; it does not inspect your account, test links or make a compliance determination. Use campaign-level notes and record references rather than personal contact data.