The client newsletter: send it lawfully, fill it usefully, keep confidentiality

Why a newsletter for professional firms

The website and Google profile work when someone is searching. The newsletter works between matters. A tax adviser who reminds clients of the advance payments before every quarter, a lawyer who points out limitation periods shortly before the end of the year, an auditor who summarises the disclosure deadlines: messages like these are useful, get forwarded and bring follow-up work. Many tax firms know this as the client circular on paper; the newsletter is its digital version.

Legally, however, the content makes hardly any difference. Even a factual newsletter serves to keep the firm in mind and to win work, and therefore as a rule counts as advertising. This means the rules for email advertising apply, and from the very first recipient.

Consent and double opt-in

In Germany, email advertising without prior express consent is an unreasonable nuisance (§ 7 (2) UWG). In Austria it is impermissible without prior consent (§ 174 (3) TKG 2021), and expressly also towards businesses, so also for the newsletter to the managing director of a limited company. In both countries the GDPR applies as well: consent must be given freely, for the specific purpose and on an informed basis, and you must be able to prove it (Art. 7 (1) GDPR).

The exception for existing clients

Both countries have an exception for existing customers. It is narrower than many believe and does not cover a general newsletter to all contacts.

For professional firms this means: anyone who gave you their address in the course of a matter may be informed about similar services if they were already told about the right to object when the matter was accepted. Contacts from business cards, events, enquiries without a matter or opponents in proceedings are not covered. For them you need consent. For mediation the exception rarely fits, because you maintain your neutrality towards both parties.

Sender, unsubscribing and imprint

Every issue must be recognisably from your firm. In Germany, neither the sender nor the advertising nature may be concealed in the header or subject line (§ 6 (2) DDG); in Austria, email advertising with a concealed sender or without a valid address for unsubscribing is always impermissible (§ 174 (5) TKG 2021). Unsubscribing must be as easy as signing up: one click, no logging into a customer account, no reason required.

You can create the imprint text for the website and footer with the imprint generator. Which additional details your profession requires is set out in the guides to mandatory information, for example for tax advisers in Austria or lawyers in Germany.

The mailing tool: EU hosting and DPA

A newsletter with more than a handful of recipients does not belong in your normal email program. A mailing tool manages sign-ups, double opt-in and unsubscriptions and sends every email individually. To do so, it processes personal data on your behalf. Look out for these points when choosing one:

• Data processing agreement under Art. 28 GDPR, provided by the provider as standard
• Servers and ideally also headquarters in the EU; for providers from third countries, check the legal basis for the transfer
• Double opt-in with a log and automatic unsubscription without any action on your part
• Open and click tracking that can be switched off per list
• Your own sender domain with correctly configured SPF, DKIM and DMARC records, so that the emails do not end up in spam

Content that gets read

A good firm newsletter is short, regular and useful. Three to five topics per issue, each with two or three sentences and a link to the detailed expert article on your website. What suits which profession:

Professional law applies in the newsletter too: no stories about matters without consent, no promises of success, no titles that have not been awarded. News from the firm, such as a new colleague or changed opening hours over the holidays, is welcome but should not make up the main part. Licensed client information from specialist publishers saves time; add a paragraph of your own so that the newsletter sounds like your firm.

Rhythm and measuring without excessive tracking

Monthly or quarterly is realistic for most firms. Tax and bookkeeping firms align sending with the deadlines, law firms more with occasions. More important than the frequency is reliability: anyone who announces a monthly newsletter in January should still be sending it in June.

Mailing tools measure by default who opened which email and clicked which link. This per-person analysis is delicate under data protection law; many data protection authorities require separate consent for it. For a professional firm, less is almost always enough: the number of unsubscriptions, aggregated click figures without personal reference and the visits to the linked articles in your website statistics. Open rates are inaccurate anyway, because many email programs preload or block images.

Confidentiality: the BCC error

The most common and most serious error happens without a newsletter tool: someone sends information to all clients from the normal mailbox and puts the addresses in “To” or “CC”. Every recipient can now see who else is a client of the firm. This is a personal data breach that you may have to report to the supervisory authority within 72 hours (Art. 33 GDPR), and at the same time a breach of professional confidentiality, because even the fact that a matter exists is protected.

The newsletter works best together with a website that holds the detailed answers, and a clean presentation in every single email. You can create the matching signature with the email signature generator; which content belongs on the website is described in the guide Content for a firm website.