Start with the people who already bought from you, send from an email address on your own domain, and send one useful email a month you can keep up with. That's most of it. The parts that trip up small businesses are the ones most guides skip: whose emails you're allowed to use, what address goes in the footer when you work from home, and how to tell if it's working when open rates can't be trusted.
Here's how we walk Fort Worth clients through it.
Is email marketing worth it for a small local business?
Yes, if your customers come back or refer people. Email reaches people who already know you, and the list is yours. A social account can lose reach or get locked overnight. Your email list moves with you from one platform to the next, the same way your website should (more on that in do you own your website).
It's less useful if people buy from you once a decade. Even then, a note after the job and a yearly check-in can bring referrals.
Who can you add to your email list?
People who gave you their email and had a reason to expect to hear from you. The federal CAN-SPAM Act doesn't require opt-in, but email platforms do, and their rules are stricter than the law. Mailchimp's acceptable use policy bans purchased, rented, third-party and publicly available lists, and its help center walks through real examples:
- Past customers: purchase history counts as permission under Mailchimp's terms. Still, add a signup link to your receipts or send a "still want to hear from us?" email first.
- The fishbowl by the register: business cards dropped in to win a free lunch aren't permission to email. If the sign said "join our newsletter," it may be okay. Keep the cards as proof.
- Chamber, networking group or association member lists: that's a third-party list. Swapping cards at a chamber mixer isn't an opt-in either. Send a personal follow-up and invite them to sign up.
- Attendee lists from an event or trade show host: also third-party.
B2B owners, note: CAN-SPAM makes no exception for business-to-business email. The same rules apply.
If you take payments on Square, its email marketing add-on can show a sign-up screen at checkout, which gives you a clear record of who said yes.
What address goes in the footer if you work from home?
Every marketing email needs a valid physical postal address, but it doesn't have to be your house. Under the FTC's rule it can be your current street address, a PO box registered with the U.S. Postal Service, or a private mailbox registered with a commercial mail receiving agency, which many shipping stores are.
Every email also needs a clear way to unsubscribe, and you have to honor opt-outs within 10 business days. Your email platform handles the link. You handle not re-adding people later.
Why shouldn't you send from a Gmail address?
Because you don't control gmail.com, so you can't prove the email is really from you. Mailchimp's fix is to rewrite a free Gmail or Yahoo From address so it ends in mailchimpapp.com. Replies still reach you, but your brand is gone from the From line.
Send from something like hello@yourbusiness.com and authenticate it:
- Gmail's rules for all senders: set up SPF or DKIM for your sending domain and keep your spam rate in Google's Postmaster Tools under 0.3%. Senders of 5,000+ emails a day to Gmail also need DMARC and one-click unsubscribe.
- Squarespace Email Campaigns: if your domain is managed somewhere else, Squarespace asks you to verify it with a CNAME record and a DMARC TXT record, which can take up to 48 hours. If your domain's DMARC policy is set to reject, you can't send until it's verified.
What should a Fort Worth small business actually send?
One useful email a month beats a weekly email you abandon by spring. Start with an automatic welcome email so new subscribers hear from you while they still remember signing up. Then plan around dates your customers already care about:
- January: the Fort Worth Stock Show & Rodeo runs Jan. 15 to Feb. 6, 2027. Restaurants, boutiques and hotels can plan around it.
- Late April and Memorial Day weekend: Texas sales tax holidays for emergency preparation supplies, then ENERGY STAR and water-efficient products. Good timing for hardware, HVAC and home service businesses.
- Spring: storm and hail season reminders for roofers, auto shops and insurance agents.
- August: the back-to-school sales tax holiday weekend for retailers, salons and kids' services.
- Late fall: freeze-prep reminders before the first hard cold snap.
For customers you haven't seen in six months or more, skip the designed template. A short note that reads like you wrote it, with one specific thing that's new, sounds like a person instead of a promo.
How do you know if your emails are working?
Look at clicks, replies and what happens in real life, not open rates. Apple Mail Privacy Protection loads emails in the background, which can count an open before anyone reads a word.
- Walk-in businesses: put one thing in each email that only exists there, like a code word at the register or an email-only menu item. Count how many come in that week.
- Service businesses: use a booking link with UTM tags so Google Analytics shows email as its own source. Our Google Analytics guide covers the numbers worth checking.
- Unsubscribes: a few after each send is normal. A jump means the email missed.
Do the same rules apply to text messages in Texas?
Not exactly. Texas SB 140 took effect Sept. 1, 2025, and pulled marketing texts into the state's telephone solicitation law. After a lawsuit, the Texas Secretary of State now says businesses that text with the customer's prior consent don't need to file the telephone solicitation registration. No court has ruled on that reading, and texts to people who never opted in may still fall under the registration and bond rules. Get clear consent, keep a record of it, and talk to a lawyer before any cold texting. This is general information, not legal advice.
Want help setting up email marketing?
Email marketing and automation is part of our digital marketing work: setup, domain authentication, welcome emails and campaigns that sound like you. If your site needs a better signup form, that's part of website development. Questions? Check our FAQ or contact us.
FAQs
Can I add my customers to my email list without asking? Past customers are usually fine under platform rules like Mailchimp's, but every email still needs an unsubscribe link. Never upload purchased lists, chamber member lists or business cards from a giveaway.
Do I need a business address in my marketing emails? Yes. CAN-SPAM requires a valid physical postal address. It can be your street address, a registered PO box or a registered private mailbox, so it doesn't have to be your home.
Can I send email marketing from a Gmail address? You can, but you shouldn't. You can't authenticate gmail.com, and Mailchimp rewrites free addresses to end in mailchimpapp.com. Use an address on your own domain and authenticate it.
How often should a small business send marketing emails? Start with once a month and an automatic welcome email. Send more only when you have something worth sending, and watch clicks and unsubscribes.
Are email open rates accurate? Not very. Apple Mail Privacy Protection can count emails as opened before anyone reads them. Track clicks, replies, bookings and in-store redemptions instead.
