Email Deliverability and Compliance
Deliverability and compliance support each other: wanted, well-governed mail is more likely to reach customers and less likely to produce complaints, suppression failures or reputational damage.
Deliverability and compliance support each other: wanted, well-governed mail is more likely to reach customers and less likely to produce complaints, suppression failures or reputational damage.
Start with list provenance
Document how every record entered the list, which business identity was named, what wording was shown and which channel the choice covered. Do not solve a weak list by changing technical settings alone.
Use a controlled sending identity
- Send from a domain the business controls.
- Configure SPF, DKIM and DMARC with the provider.
- Protect administrator accounts with strong authentication.
- Separate transactional and promotional streams where appropriate.
- Keep reply and complaint routes monitored.
- Retain access to DNS and account recovery.
Protect list quality
Process hard bounces, complaints, opt-outs and invalid addresses promptly. Use suppression lists when people object or unsubscribe. Avoid repeated sends to inactive records merely to improve short-term volume.
Design compliant content
| Requirement | Operational check |
|---|---|
| Clear identity | Restaurant or responsible group is recognisable |
| Honest subject | No deceptive urgency or hidden promotion |
| Valid offer | Price, availability and significant terms verified |
| Easy unsubscribe | Visible, working and not dependent on login |
| Preference scope | Channel and campaign choices are honoured |
| Accessible destination | Landing page works on mobile and without tracking failure |
Monitor the right signals
Review delivery, bounce, complaint, unsubscribe, click, successful order and contribution by campaign and acquisition source. Treat sudden changes as an incident. Open data may be incomplete and should not decide whether a customer remains active.
Test supplier and exit controls
Confirm export of contacts, consent evidence, suppression, campaign history and authentication configuration. Know how long the provider retains data and how to remove access when staff or agencies leave.
Compliance review
ICO direct-marketing guidance is being updated following legal changes. Keep a dated review process rather than assuming an old template remains correct. Escalate uncertain campaigns before sending.
Prepare a deliverability incident plan
When complaints or blocks rise, pause the affected stream, review recent audience imports, authentication, content and suppression. Do not keep resending to diagnose the problem. Preserve provider logs and assign corrective actions.
Separate metrics by stream
Transactional order email and promotional email have different purposes and risk. Monitor them separately so marketing complaints do not obscure a failure to deliver essential receipts or order updates.
Document authentication ownership
Record who controls DNS, the sending domain and provider account. Agencies should not be the only party able to change authentication or recover the account. Review SPF, DKIM and DMARC after supplier changes and keep a tested rollback for DNS errors.
Use a sending-volume change process
Large increases in volume or a newly acquired list should not be sent without review. Validate provenance, segment the rollout and monitor complaints and bounces. A technical warm-up does not make an unsupported list compliant.
Preserve suppression during migration
Export and verify unsubscribes before moving providers. Compare counts and test representative records in the new platform. Treat any missing suppression history as a release blocker.
Related guides
- Restaurant Marketing and Customer Retention — the main guide for the wider topic.
- Email Marketing for Takeaways — the broader guide that frames this implementation.
- Email Campaign Types for Restaurants — a closely related operational control to review alongside this page.
- Building an Email List from Orders — a closely related operational control to review alongside this page.
Sources and date checked
Guidance checked: 24 July 2026. Recheck current ICO, supplier and advertising guidance before acting.
Operational, legal and platform requirements can change. Recheck official guidance and supplier documentation before altering a live service.
Related practical guides
Restaurant Marketing and Customer RetentionHow to Measure Repeat Order RateRepeat-order rate is only meaningful when the customer identity, eligible population and observation period are stated. A percentage without thos…Read guide →
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Use the wider guide library to check the menu, kitchen, fulfilment, payment and financial implications of each decision.
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