Last reviewed:
Translated from German; if the versions differ, the German version applies.
Not legal advice: Legal content on this page appears only as verbatim quotations from statutes, court rulings or authority papers, with their source; quotations from German texts are our working translations. We do not assess them ourselves, and no lawyer has reviewed this page. It is no substitute for legal advice in your individual case.
The newsletter template
A good template saves work with every issue and ensures that the fixed details in the footer are never missing. It does not have to be elaborate: most newsletters manage with a few well-made building blocks. This page describes the structure from top to bottom and the points at which templates fail in practice.
The structure from top to bottom
| Area | Content | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Preview text | one line that complements the subject line | sits at the very top of the text, often styled to be invisible; see Subject line |
| Header | name or logo, name of the series, issue | logo with alt text; no important message only in the image |
| Main topic | heading, two to four sentences, one link or button | what matters most to most readers |
| Further topics | blocks of subheading, short text, link | better a few topics done well than many done briefly |
| Labelling | note “Advertisement” for paid content | wording of Section 6(1) DDG and Section 5a(4) UWG: Mandatory information |
| Footer | sender with postal address, unsubscribe link, space for fixed notices, link to the settings and to the privacy policy | fixed building blocks; legal and authority texts on this in the next section |
The footer: what the law and the authorities say
The footer is the part you build once and then leave alone. Many templates include the sender and postal address, an unsubscribe link, often a note on withdrawal or objection, and links to the settings and to the privacy policy. The passages from the law and from authority papers to which these building blocks relate, word for word. Quotations from German laws and authority papers are our working translations; only the German wording is authoritative (see the German version of this page).
- Sender. For commercial communications that are digital services or components of them, Section 6(1) of the Digitale-Dienste-Gesetz (DDG, the German act on digital services) requires, among other things, that “the natural or legal person on whose behalf commercial communications are made must be clearly identifiable” (Section 6(1) no. 2 DDG, our translation).
- Unsubscribe. “An unacceptable nuisance is always to be assumed […] in the case of advertising with a message […] in which there is no valid address to which the recipient can send a request to stop such messages without incurring any costs other than the transmission costs at the basic rates.” (Section 7(2) no. 3(c) of the German Act against Unfair Competition, UWG, our translation). More under Unsubscribing.
- Right to object. “At the latest at the time of the first communication with the data subject, the right referred to in paragraphs 1 and 2 shall be explicitly brought to the attention of the data subject and shall be presented clearly and separately from any other information.” (Art. 21(4) of the EU General Data Protection Regulation, GDPR). The German Data Protection Conference (Datenschutzkonferenz, DSK) writes: “For reasons of verifiability, it is advisable to include the notice of the right to object in every advertising mailing.” (guidance on direct marketing, section 5.2, p. 18, our translation). For advertising to existing customers without consent, Section 7(3) no. 4 UWG names as a condition that “the customer is clearly and distinctly informed, when the address is collected and each time it is used, that they may object to the use at any time without incurring any costs other than the transmission costs at the basic rates” (our translation).
- Withdrawal of consent. “The data subject shall have the right to withdraw his or her consent at any time. […] It shall be as easy to withdraw as to give consent.” (Art. 7(3) GDPR)
Whether the footer of a newsletter based on consent should refer to withdrawal, to objection or to both is not expressly answered by the law or the guidance. Whether a full legal notice (Impressum) belongs in the newsletter is not expressly answered by them either; the wording on sender and labelling is on Mandatory information.
A text version belongs with it
Technically, a newsletter email usually consists of two parts: an HTML version and a plain-text version. RFC 2046 describes the type multipart/alternative for this: each part is a different version of the same information, and the receiving program generally chooses the last version it can display. The text version should therefore have the same content – not just “Your program cannot display this email”. Many sending platforms generate it automatically; check the result, especially links and lists.
Accessibility
Newsletters are also read with screen readers, with magnification and with images switched off. The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.2) apply to web content; their principles transfer well to emails:
- Alt text: all non-text content needs a text alternative that serves the equivalent purpose (success criterion 1.1.1). Purely decorative images are included so that assistive technology can skip them.
- Contrast: normal text should have a contrast ratio of at least 4.5 : 1 to the background, large text at least 3 : 1 (success criterion 1.4.3).
- No message only in the image: date, place, price and call to action belong in the text.
- Meaningful links: “To the November programme” instead of “click here”.
- Real headings and lists instead of bold lines and hyphens – screen readers can then jump.
Dark mode
Many people read emails with a dark colour scheme. Web pages can use the feature prefers-color-scheme to detect whether someone prefers a light or dark colour scheme (W3C Media Queries Level 5). Mail programs implement this differently: some adopt your settings, others recolour the email themselves. For the template, this means:
- Logos with a transparent background need an outline or a background area so that dark lettering does not disappear on a dark background.
- Do not use colours only in the image, but specify them as text and background colours.
- Test every new template in at least one program with dark mode.
Readable on a phone
Expect your newsletter to be read on a phone too. A single-column layout, sufficiently large text, buttons that can be hit with a finger and enough space between links have proved their worth. Multi-column layouts should stack on narrow screens.
Common mistakes in templates
- Unsubscribe link in pale, tiny type – it should be found, otherwise readers click “Report spam”.
- The entire email as a single image.
- Empty placeholders (“Hello ,”) because fallback values are missing; see Segmentation and personalisation.
- Out-of-date details in the footer after a move or a change of name.
Building blocks for your template
- Preview text field
- Header with name and alt text for the logo
- “Main topic” block with heading, text and button
- “Further topic” block, as often as needed
- “Advertisement” block for paid content
- Footer with sender, postal address, unsubscribe link, settings, data protection and space for fixed notes
- Text version with full content
- Checked: phone, computer, dark mode, images off