As social and search channels became less reliable, Metro UK used Sailthru by Marigold to strengthen direct reader connections with automated newsletters personalized to each reader’s behavior.
“When users see their favorite team or show featured, it feels like the newsletter was made for them.”
Metro UK, the country’s highest-circulating weekday newspaper with more than 20 million monthly readers, needed a scalable way to convert its vast reach into direct, data-driven relationships. As social and search traffic declined, the publisher turned to Marigold to build loyalty and engagement through personalized, automated email experiences.
Using Sailthru’s Lifecycle Optimizer and personalization engine, Metro UK automated newsletter journeys that adapt to each reader’s interests and behaviors. Marigold’s technology allowed the team to launch new, data-informed newsletters without adding manual workload or slowing production cycles.
With Sailthru by Marigold, Metro UK achieved impressive open and click-through rates while growing opt-ins to additional newsletters. Newsletters like Horoscopes Daily and Football Daily proved that automated personalization can strengthen reader relationships at scale.
Metro UK’s audience is young, diverse, and increasingly fragmented across channels. While the brand already had massive reach, much of that reach depended on third-party platforms. Email newsletters became a central strategy to build direct relationships, form reader habits, and drive repeat site visits.
“Direct traffic is absolutely the phrase of 2025 so far. It’s all about building relationships in places we can control like email.”
— Sophie Laughton, Newsletter Editor, Metro UK
Using Sailthru, Metro UK launched a new generation of personalized newsletters built around zero- and first-party data. Sailthru’s Lifecycle Optimizer, a journey orchestration tool that automates messaging based on user behavior and profile data, works together with its personalization engine to automate onboarding, tailor content to individual interests, and re-engage lapsed readers.
The result: repeat visits, list growth, long-term engagement, and minimal editorial lift.
Key tactics:
For the full story, watch our webinar with The Rebooting featuring Metro UK’s newsletter team.
Metro’s daily Horoscope email quickly became one of its most impactful launches. When users sign up, they’re prompted to enter their birth date. Sailthru uses that to assign a star sign, store it to the customer profile, and dynamically populate each daily horoscope newsletter with personalized content automatically.
“Our horoscope newsletter stands out because we’ve really thought about the reader experience. It’s personalized, habit-forming, and delivered exactly when people want it.”
— Sophie Laughton, Newsletter Editor, Metro UK
Results:
Metro applied the same approach to its Football and TV newsletters. Preference data from onboarding is saved to each user’s profile, then used to personalize newsletters with relevant headlines and calls to action. Automated flows also remind readers to complete preference forms, increasing personalization over time.
Current performance:
“When users see their favorite team or show featured, it feels like the newsletter was made for them.”
— Emily Shackleton, Product Lead, Metro UK
With Sailthru by Marigold, Metro UK is growing and scaling personalized engagements. Automated flows, data-driven personalization, and a user-friendly platform create flexibility to grow fast and smart.
Looking ahead, Metro is expanding into new verticals like puzzles and testing one-tap onboarding to make personalization even easier.
Turn every newsletter into a personalized reader journey with Sailthru →
