Email marketing software planning template: stop and restart

What to take away

Write the stop-and-restart record before the first send, not after the first incident.
Name observable stop events. Each needs a first check and evidence that survives the pause.
The person who halts a send and the person who permits restart are named in advance.
Restart needs a corrected cause, a retest and dated approvals.
A completed record documents a decision. It does not promise compliance or performance.

Why the stop rules come first

A send that goes wrong is judged on how quickly it stopped and what evidence was kept. Settle both in advance. This email marketing software planning template covers only that part of an email marketing software plan: halting, evidence, correction and restart.

It assumes the campaign already has a purpose, a recipient population and an owner, as set out in the campaign governance guide. It is written for an organisation operating in England. Blank fields mean the campaign stays on hold, and no example here is an observed campaign.

Tie the record to its campaign

A stop record is useless if nobody can tell which campaign it pauses. Copy four things from the campaign record: its ID and version, its purpose, its message classification and its recipient population. Then add the two owners.

Identification block fields

Record ID and version
Purposeone recipient action
Message classification
Recipient population and acquisition route
Channel and campaign owner
Operating owner

The campaign owner is the person authorised to approve, pause and restart. The operating owner is responsible for the query, the send and evidence capture, so is usually first to see a fault. Record both names and a deputy for each.

Copyable stop-and-restart record

Copy this block for each incident. Complete every field; write “unknown” where the cause is not established and keep the send on hold while required fields or approvals are missing.

Record ID:
Campaign ID and version:
Purpose:
Message classification:
Recipient population:
Channel:
Campaign owner and deputy:
Operating owner and deputy:
Stop event and observed fault:
Pause time and person who paused:
Evidence preserved, including where it is kept and its timestamp:
Cause:
Correction made, including what changed, by whom and when:
Retest, including control, test addresses, result, evidence and date:
Campaign owner’s restart decision, rationale and date:
Required reviewer approvals, with role, name, decision and date:
Restart authorised by, with name, role and date/time:
Actual restart time:

Six stop events to write down

A stop event is something a named person can observe, not a feeling that something is off. Six are listed here. Each has a first check and the evidence that must survive the pause.

Stop event	First check	Evidence to preserve
Failed suppression sync	Compare the platform list with the master suppression source	Both lists with timestamps, plus the sync log
Incorrect audience	Re-run the eligibility query against the send list	Query version, send list and the difference
Broken opt-out	Use the unsubscribe route in a live test message	The test message, the result page and the time
Unauthorised claim	Compare the sent wording with the approved wording	Sent copy, approved copy and the evidence record
Material data discrepancy	Compare reported events with the source system	Event source, query version and the mismatch
Authentication failure	Read the sender authentication results for the domain	Header results, domain settings and change history

A seventh case needs a human reading: a message that drifts from its class. The ICO's electronic and telephone marketing guidance says genuine market research is outside direct marketing unless promotional material or later marketing collection changes its purpose. A survey that gains an offer should halt until it is reclassified.

Halt, preserve, correct, retest

Follow the same order every time, whatever the event. Preserving evidence before fixing anything lets a later reviewer see what the send actually did.

Pause the send or automation and note the time and who paused it.
Preserve the evidence listed for that event before changing anything.
State the cause in one sentence, or write "unknown" if it is not yet established.
Correct the cause and record exactly what changed.
Retest the control that failed on test addresses, not live recipients.
Pass the record to the campaign owner for restart approval.

Reading the evidence for each cause

Suppression and audience faults point back to the data path. Drawing the email data path before configuration makes it quicker to see where a list diverged from its source.

Claim faults point back to the evidence record: publisher, page, date checked, geography and owner. If a claim changes during editing, approval expires until the evidence owner confirms the new wording. The guide to checking an email advert covers claims and endorsements.

Data discrepancies need care. Tracking availability and provider processing can alter reported events, so a mismatch is a reason to pause, not proof of an error in either system.

Authentication is not permission

The NCSC's email security and anti-spoofing guidance describes SPF as a way to publish the IP addresses that should be trusted for your domain, with DKIM and DMARC alongside it.

These are anti-spoofing controls. They do not create marketing permission or guarantee delivery. A clean authentication result therefore never clears an audience fault or a broken opt-out. Fix the failed control itself, and keep the lawful basis and PECR assessment separate from any platform setting.

Approve the restart

Finish with dated approvals from the campaign owner and the relevant reviewers: UK data-protection, electronic-marketing, advertising, accessibility, cybersecurity and commercial. Which reviewers matter depends on the stop event. An authentication fault needs the cybersecurity reviewer, and a claim fault needs the advertising reviewer.

Before the send resumes, run the controls in the pre-release quality checks for suppression, claims and rollback. A restart on an unknown cause stays on hold until the owner accepts the risk in writing.

Before you restart

The pause time and who paused are recorded.
The evidence for this stop event is preserved.
The cause is stated, or marked unknown.
The correction is recorded and the failed control retested.
Dated approvals from the right reviewers are attached.
The campaign owner has named the restart time.

Common questions

Who may restart a paused send?

The campaign owner, after the cause is corrected, the failed control is retested and the relevant reviewers have approved with dates. The person who paused the send may be a different person.

What if the cause cannot be found?

Record it as unknown and keep the campaign on hold. Blank fields in this template mean the campaign stays on hold, and an unknown cause is a blank.

Does a clean authentication result clear the send?

No. SPF, DKIM and DMARC are anti-spoofing controls. They do not create marketing permission or guarantee delivery, so audience, opt-out and claim faults still need their own fix.