When you send commercial or bulk emails, it’s important to follow best practices that respect your recipient's inbox and follow local regulations and Gmail policies.
To run an effective email campaign, messages you send should connect you and your recipients in a meaningful way. Check below for recommendations to help improve the effectiveness of your bulk emails.
Get your recipients' consent
Many countries and regions have requirements to get consent before you send commercial emails to customers. Before you send them an email, it’s best to get clear consent by giving customers the option to opt-in or subscribe to your email list.
Many countries and regions also have requirements to provide a way for recipients to unsubscribe. You can use mail merge to send commercial or bulk emails that have an unsubscribe option built in. Learn more about mail merge.
Tip: Keep in mind that customers can’t unsubscribe from certain kinds of messages, such as order confirmations and receipt messages.
Follow applicable SPAM laws
In many countries and regions, commercial or bulk emails must include information to identify the sender.
If you are a Google Workspace Individual Subscriber that uses Gmail layouts, you can customize the footer content to include:
- Business name
- Business address
- Phone number
Learn more about Gmail layouts.
Avoid deceptive content
Deception is directly against Gmail’s policy and we strongly advise against any attempts to practice it. Commercial or bulk emails should avoid deceptive:
- Subject lines and content
- Message headers
- Sender names
- Reply-to addresses
Let participants unsubscribe from unwanted emails
Many countries and regions also require senders to provide a way for recipients to unsubscribe. In Gmail, mail merge has built in unsubscribe support to assist you. Learn more about managing unsubscribe requests with mail merge.
Compose a clear message
Use clear subjects and headlines to clearly communicate your goals. If you want engagement from your audience, include a clear call-to-action or a button.
We also recommend you:
- Convey a message that aligns with your brand or website.
- Create content that isn’t deceptive.
- Use links and buttons that accurately describe their destination.
Set expectations for email frequency
If you regularly send messages your subscribers don’t find useful, they’re more likely to unsubscribe or mark it as spam.
To help prevent this, we recommend:
- You make sure you send messages at a frequency that your audience would find reasonable.
- You set clear expectations about how often your customers will receive messages from you and what those messages will contain.