In this post we’ll talk about a topic that’s often overlooked but incredibly important for bloggers. I will share my best marketing tips to make sure your emails and newsletters are lawful and compliant with the law.
Email marketing is how I make most of my money as a blogger and online entrepreneur, and how most bloggers do too because as they say, the money is in the list.
But before we get started, let me clarify a couple of things.
Although I have worked as a lawyer specializing in International and EU Law (LLB, LLM, PhD) for over 15 years and helped more than 30,000 bloggers and online entrepreneurs create their blog legal pages and policies with my plug-and-play legal templates, free legal templates, online courses, an affordable legal bundle for bloggers, and an affordable legal bundle for online business owners, this article is meant for informational and educational purposes only.
It does not constitute legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. I will not be held liable for any damages or losses caused by acting or failing to act on the grounds of the content of this article. Should your circumstances require, I encourage you to seek legal advice through other avenues. Please read my full disclaimer for further information.
This post may contain affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission, at no extra cost to you, if you make a purchase through a link. Please see our full disclosure for further information. If not otherwise stated, all prices are intended in US$.
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So, you want to make sure that your email marketing is legal. There are several different laws that regulate the use of email marketing. It’s the CAN-SPAM act in the US, CASL in Canada, the Spam Act in Australia, the GDPR in the European Union and if the audience that you target is in the European Union, and the list goes on.
The purpose of these laws and regulations is to protect the privacy rights of individuals and make sure they don’t receive fraudulent or deceptive emails from illegitimate sources.
Sending emails that don’t comply with legal requirements can lead to hefty fines, damage to your reputation, and even the risk of being banned from email marketing platforms.
So, let’s see what you need to include in your emails to be lawful.
Tip #1 Don’t Mislead
First of all, you need to have correct information in your “from” name, subject line, and reply-to address.
You cannot have incorrect or misleading information in these fields to try to trick people into opening your emails.
Make sure that your emails clearly identify you as the sender. Use your real name or your business name, so recipients know who the email is from. Remember, transparency builds trust. I use both my name and the name of my business as the sender, so my emails will be from Lucrezia Blogging for New Bloggers.
I want to use my own name because is more personable and relatable but I also want to include my business name so that it’s clear who is emailing and it’s not misleading.
New Gmail and Yahoo email requirements
Now, I also want to walk you through the new Gmail and Yahoo email requirements that went into effect in February 2024. Even though these are not legal requirements per se, they’re still very important and they can make or break your email marketing game considering that the majority of your email subscribers will have a Gmail email address or a Yahoo email address.
So Gmail and Yahoo have set new requirements for bulk senders to reduce phishing and spam. If you don’t comply with these new requirements, your emails will not be delivered to any of your subscribers who have a Gmail or Yahoo email address. This means the vast majority of your subscribers, so these new rules may kill the deliverability of your emails or newsletters and have the potential to really affect your email marketing.
These requirements are not totally new, they have always been best practice, and at Blogging For New Bloggers we had already been implementing these best practices for a while. The difference though is that from February 2024 if you don’t meet these requirements Gmail and Yahoo won’t deliver your emails and you will end up in the dreaded spam folder.
The first requirement is that Gmail and Yahoo want you to authenticate your email and verify your domain through SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
These are all technical terms, for example DMARC stands for Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance. But basically, in layman terms, to make sure that your Gmail and Yahoo subscribers receive your emails you need to send them from a verified domain.
This means two things. The first thing is that unfortunately you can’t send your email marketing emails or newsletters from a generic email address like a Gmail address – for example [email protected].
No. You need to have your email address on your own domain. Such as [email protected]. It also means that your domain needs to appear in the metadata of the emails you’re sending. So the sender domain needs to be your own domain, it can’t be the domain of your email sender provider.
Now, don’t worry if you’re not a tech person, if you have ConvertKit as your service provider they can help you set all this up, and your web host can help you with DNS records and verifying your domain.
I won’t spend too much time on these requirements but if you want to learn more and would like more help about this, please let me know in the comments and I will make a post all about the Gmail and Yahoo email requirements.
But until then, the next requirement for Gmail and Yahoo is that you have a one-click unsubscribe process. So if people want to opt out from your email, they need to be able to do this just by clicking on one single link within your email. Don’t get them to jump through hoops to unsubscribe. Again ConvertKit can help you with this.
The next requirement is that you keep the spam complaints you receive under a certain threshold which according to Google should be no more than 0.3 %.
To be able to keep an eye on your spam rate. I recommend setting up Google Postmaster Tools. I have done it for my domain. I recommend you set it up as well to keep track of any complaints and the quality of your domain.
Now this recent update in email marketing is a bit tricky I know, but I also have some great news. There is another recent update in the email marketing trends that is so good and has the potential to really skyrocket your income through email marketing so keep reading as later in the post I will also discuss this other big change in email marketing!
Tip #2 Don’t Make It Hard
The next thing you must include in your emails or newsletter is a way to opt-out of receiving future emails from you at any time, as required by law. Basically, you need to have an unsubscribe link and it needs to be clearly visible, easy to locate and understand.
Also, once people click on the unsubscribe link, the CAN-SPAM laws stipulate that you must honor this request within 10 business days, and other spam laws require pretty much the same. But even if the law allows for 10 business days, I’d say to make sure the process of unsubscribing is simple, immediate, and hassle-free.
Especially considering that a one click unsubscribe is one of the requirements introduced by Google and Yahoo in February 2024. So if you want to make sure your emails are delivered and don’t end up in the spam folder of your subscribers with Gmail and Yahoo email addresses, then they need to be able to unsubscribe with just one click.
Before I move on to the next thing you must include in your emails, if you want to protect your blog posts, digital products and any content you create from thieves and copycats, then make sure you click the image below because I have a copyright notice template that you can grab for free today.
Tip #3 The Tricky One
On to the next thing you must include in your emails. I will spend a bit more time on this one because while most email service providers will take care of an unsubscribe link and unsubscribe process for you and you won’t need to worry about it as it’s mostly automated, this next requirement is a bit more tricky. Especially for those who are just starting out or have privacy concerns.
Under the CAN-Spam Act and other spam regulations, you need to clearly include a valid postal address for your business in your emails.
If you send emails to US residents, this requirement will apply to you. The purpose is to protect individuals from receiving emails from illegitimate sources.
So, how do you prove you’re a valid business?
You must include a physical postal address and an unsubscribe link in every email you send. Doing this will let your subscribers know you are in fact a real person, running a trustworthy business.
And I know it’s not uncommon for bloggers and other online entrepreneurs to feel hesitant to provide their subscribers with their addresses. Since most bloggers work from home and don’t have an office address, it can make them feel uncomfortable offering up their exact location.
But not providing a physical address can result in fines up to $46,517 for every email sent without one!
Yikes.
Plus, all legitimate email service providers (ConvertKit, MailerLite, MailChimp, Active Campaign, just to name a few) require you to provide an actual location where you can be reached.
But if you really don’t want to give your home address, don’t despair just yet. There are a few ways around this.
The law states that you need to provide a valid, physical address where you can be reached by mail. But it does not necessarily need to be your home address.
If you don’t feel comfortable sharing your personal location, you can always use a PO Box. This is usually an easy and affordable alternative. So, you can contact your local postal service for pricing.
Another affordable alternative is a mail forwarding service. You can purchase a virtual address for $9.99 a month. Optional services include mail scanning, physical mail forwarding, phone call forwarding and more.
Next, this is my favorite option and is also one of the many reasons I recommend ConvertKit. If you choose ConvertKit as your email service provider, you can actually use THEIR address!
I use ConvertKit for my email marketing but I don’t take advantage of this feature as I have a business address. However, this is a fantastic solution if you only have your home address.
Here is how it works:
ConvertKit allows its users to use their physical addresses for free in your emails! Doing this will meet the legal requirement of having an address in each email. How great is that?
And even if it doesn’t happen very often, IF someone actually reaches out with written correspondence or legal notice, ConvertKit will open it, scan it, identify which of their customers it was addressed to, and email you a PDF of the scan.
Best part is, they offer a free plan if you’re just getting started. You can check out ConvertKit’s available plans here.
Tip #4 If You Use Affiliate Links
Moving on to the next thing to include in your emails or newsletter, it may happen sometimes that within your emails, you may recommend a product, a service or a tool, and that’s totally fine.
BUT, if you have a financial relationship with the brand, merchants you mention or endorse, then you will have to disclose this relationship.
You will have to include a disclosure within your email. So for example, if you’re using an affiliate link and if they click and buy from your link you get an affiliate commission, you must disclose that.
If you’re based in the US, this is a legal requirement as per the Federal Trade Commission guidelines and if you don’t comply you can get fined.
But even if you’re not based in the US, if you target an international audience, I would still have all the required disclosures to be transparent with your subcribers. I’d do this to build trust and to meet the same legal standard as they don’t necessarily know what laws and regulations apply or don’t apply to you, so they may think you’re not compliant.
So, always disclose.
And now speaking of affiliate links within emails, it’s time for some great news!
As you may know, under the Amazon Associates operating agreement you were not allowed to put affiliate links to Amazon products directly within the email. It was against their terms of service and they could kick you out of the program if you did that.
However, the Amazon Associates Operating Agreement was updated in March 2024. And as a result, as long as your subscribers have opted in your emails or newsletters, you are indeed allowed to include Amazon affiliate links within your emails!
Yay! That’s a game changer! And considering emails convert exponentially better than blog posts or social media posts, this update really has the potential to skyrocket your affiliate marketing income. Just make sure to always include an affiliate disclosure compliant with the Amazon Associates Operating Agreement and Terms of Service.
Tip #5 To Protect Yourself Legally
On to the next thing to include in your emails, you will also want to make sure you have disclaimers in place if you share tips and provide educational content within your emails or newsletters.
A disclaimer is a statement that allows you to deny or disclaim any liability for the information and advice you provide.
Depending on the business you operate, you may need different types of disclaimers.
So, for example, if your product is related to health and well being, you will want to have a disclaimer stating that the information you provide is not medical advice and shouldn’t substitute seeing a clinician. Like the disclaimers I had at the beginning of this post stating that this is not legal advice.
Some disclaimers are for your own protection, to shield yourself from any liability and claims.
Some others are required by law or the Federal Trade Commission guidelines, such as for example, earning disclaimers, or testimonial disclaimers and their purpose is more to protect your prospective clients or students.
Tip #6 Recommended
The next thing I always recommend having in your emails is a link to your privacy policy so that your subscribers can always learn more about how you handle their personal information and email address.
And if you need help with your legal pages you can check out my best selling Legal Bundle Value Pack or you can read this post next where I break down the four legal pages you need for your blog or business.
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