Email marketing in Colombia: what works and what is illegal
How to build a legal list under Law 1581, which sequences actually produce sales, how to stay out of the spam folder, and what to measure.
Digital Marketing, Medical Marketing & AI Consultant · btodigital
Email remains the channel with the best return per peso invested, and the one most people ruin on day one by buying a database. In Colombia that is not merely bad practice: it is illegal, and it destroys your ability to reach the inbox.
I have seen it up close. An account suspended for mailing a purchased list does not recover easily, and the domain stays marked.
How do you build a legal list in Colombia?
Law 1581 of 2012 and Decree 1377 require prior, express and informed authorisation. In practice:
- Prior: before the first send, not after.
- Express: an affirmative act. A pre-ticked box does not count.
- Informed: the person knows who is collecting the data, what for, and how to have it removed.
You also have to be able to prove it: store the date, time, source and the exact wording accepted. That record is what protects you if someone complains.
What is not valid: purchased databases, addresses scraped from websites, cards collected at an event without saying you would write to them, and lists inherited from another company.
How do you get people to subscribe?
Nobody hands over their address for “subscribe to our newsletter”. They need a concrete reason:
| Hook | How well it works | For which business |
|---|---|---|
| A useful downloadable document | Very well | Services and B2B |
| Discount on the first purchase | Very well | Shops |
| Availability or price alert | Well | Shops |
| A tool or calculator | Very well | Almost all |
| A newsletter with genuine judgement | Well, if it really is good | Personal brand |
| ”Receive our news” | Badly | None |
And a warning: the hook determines the list you build. If you capture with a discount, you will have a price-sensitive list. If you capture with technical content, you will have a list interested in judgement. Neither is better; just decide what you will be able to sell them later.
Which sequences actually produce sales?
Three, in this order of return:
- The welcome sequence. The first days are when people are most likely to open. Three or four emails: deliver what you promised, say who you are, show a case, and only then offer something.
- Abandoned cart or quote. The highest-return sequence in e-commerce, without argument.
- Re-engagement. For people who have not opened in months. One honest email asking whether they want to continue. Remove the ones who do not reply: everyone else’s deliverability improves.
What almost never works: the monthly newsletter with “company news”. Nobody cares about your news.
Why do my emails go to spam?
For these reasons, in order of frequency:
- Authentication not configured. SPF, DKIM and DMARC. Without them, the major providers send you straight to spam. It is the first thing to check and almost nobody does.
- A list full of dead addresses. Every bounce penalises you. Clean the list.
- People who never open. If 80% of your list never opens, providers conclude they do not want you.
- Blasting a new list at once. The domain has to be warmed up gradually.
- Aggressive promotional wording and formatting. All caps, many exclamation marks, one giant image and no text.
The first is fixable in an afternoon and has the biggest impact.
What do you measure?
| Metric | What it tells you | Watch out |
|---|---|---|
| Deliverability | Whether you reach the inbox | The foundation of everything |
| Open rate | Whether the subject line works | Increasingly unreliable due to provider privacy |
| Clicks | Whether the content interests people | The most honest |
| Conversion | Whether it sells | The one that matters |
| Unsubscribes | Whether you are tiring people | A spike warns before the damage |
| Spam complaints | Real risk | Above a low threshold, serious problem |
Open rate stopped being reliable once providers began preloading images. If your report leans on it, you are measuring smoke. Look at clicks and conversions.
Frequently asked questions
Is email marketing legal in Colombia? Yes, with prior, express and informed authorisation from the person, stored proof of that authorisation, a published data policy, and an easy way out in every email.
Can I buy a list of email addresses? No. It breaches Law 1581, and it also performs badly: it spikes bounces and spam complaints and can cost you your account and your domain reputation.
What is a good open rate? It depends on the sector, and today the figure is unreliable because providers preload images and inflate opens. Better to steer by clicks and conversions.
How often should I send? As often as you can sustain with content worth reading. Once a month done well beats once a week of filler.
Why do my emails go to spam? Most commonly, not having SPF, DKIM and DMARC configured. After that: lists with dead addresses, subscribers who never open, and mass sending from a new domain.
Should I delete people who never open? Yes, after trying to re-engage them once. Keeping inactive subscribers harms deliverability for your whole list.
Which sequence gives the most return? The welcome sequence and, in e-commerce, the abandoned cart. Both far outperform a general newsletter.
