The 9× channel hiding in your inbox

A quick confession. Last month I wrote about borrowing trust through partnerships, and it's true, that's how we built Naked Wines. But there's a second engine I leaned on just as hard, and I've never given it enough credit: email itself.

Here's what most drinks brands underrate. Email consistently returns many times more for every pound spent than paid social or search, comfortably the highest return of any channel. Not because it's clever, but because it talks to people who already chose you. Your list is the one audience you own outright. No algorithm sits between you and them. No bidding war. Just you, a glass of something good, and a reason to open.

So here's my news: alongside the partnership work, I now specialise in email marketing for food and drink brands. I'm a Mailchimp Pro Partner and a Klaviyo partner, which means I build, run and optimise the campaigns and automations that turn a quiet subscriber list into a reliable revenue line.

Your list is worth twice what you think, and it's working at half capacity.

Most drinks brands I meet are sending one newsletter a month to everyone, with no welcome sequence, no abandoned-basket nudge, and no win-back for lapsed buyers. That's not an email programme; that's a megaphone. The brands earning the best returns aren't sending more emails. They're sending the right email to the right person at the right moment. That's the whole game.

Got a list gathering dust? Reply to any issue of The Pour with its rough size and how often you email it and I'll tell you honestly if money's being left on the table, or book a 20-minute chat in my diary.