Email Marketing Audit Template

Check Consent and List Handling

Start with the way each group of contacts joined your list. A newsletter form and a referral spreadsheet can have different consent records. For each source, write where you would find the record and how it covers the kind of marketing you send. The Australian Communications and Media Authority’s spam guidance explains express and inferred consent and the records to keep.

Use the suppression check to follow an unsubscribe from the request to the next import. A suppression list keeps those contacts out of future sends. Check whether a new import can put one of them back in the send audience. An unanswered check stays unresolved. If an older list has no clear source, choose “Uncertain”, cite its import record and assign someone to check its provenance before using the list.

Review Sending and Access Controls

Check a draft for the identity of the brokerage that authorised it and for working contact details. The ACMA guidance says marketing emails must have a working unsubscribe option for at least 30 days after sending and businesses must act on requests within five working days. Record what you tested and cite the result. Add the name or role of the person who signs off on both the draft and the intended audience.

Open the platform’s permissions list and record who can view, download or change contacts. Include any supplier that receives the list and why it needs access. For businesses covered by the Australian Privacy Principles, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner explains when businesses can use or disclose personal information and the requirement to take reasonable steps to protect it.

Choosing “Control in place” records your assessment. The finding stays open until you add an evidence reference, such as the permissions export or a campaign checklist. The audit reflects the entries you make by hand. It cannot certify your brokerage’s compliance.

Assign Actions and Export the Audit

The audit opens on a fictional review for Example Harbour Brokerage. In the example, a suppressed contact reappears after an import. The export keeps the failed check open with evidence reference Fictional import replay IR-04. It assigns Priya, the list administrator, to apply the suppression list before importing and verify the send audience. The urgency is “Before next send”. The older referral list also stays open because its source is uncertain.

Use one action owner per finding and give that person a specific correction. Download the audit as an editable text file, or copy it into your review document. You can edit the displayed audit before exporting. Edits stay in place when form entries change. Use “Discard edits and rebuild” to replace your edits with a fresh audit from the current form.

Repeat the Review After Changes

Repeat the checks affected by a platform move, a new import or a staff handover. After a move, review the sender details and repeat the unsubscribe test. After an import, compare the candidate audience with the suppression list. When someone leaves, check their access in the platform and with suppliers that hold a copy.

Keep the previous export in your audit folder. Once you verify a correction or resolve an uncertainty, add the retest reference to “Resolution evidence, if closed”. The export keeps the original review status and action with that reference. The example retains the original access finding and records its closure against access review A-06. To test suppression, use a fictional contact in a test audience or preview the final audience without sending a campaign to real recipients.