# Write a short monthly email to your customers, with a CAN-SPAM footer check Turn this month's news, one tip and one offer into a short customer email with honest subject lines, a required footer and a checklist to run before you hit send. - Category: Marketing basics - Difficulty: Easy - Setup: about 10 minutes - Time saved: about 45 minutes a use (our estimate, not a measurement) - Works with: Any AI chat, Mailchimp, Any email marketing tool - Test status: Run once on made-up data on 21 Oct 2026 with Claude. One run, not proof. - Approval: Draft, not yet approved by the owner - Version: 1 - Last checked: 2026-10-21 - Canonical URL: https://hoursaved.com/guides/monthly-customer-email/ ## What this does Give the AI this month's real news, a tip and an offer with exact dates. It drafts three honest subject lines, a short email, a footer with your postal address and unsubscribe line, and a CAN-SPAM checklist. You check every fact and send it yourself. This is not legal advice. CAN-SPAM is a U.S. law; if you email people in other countries, check their rules too. ## Before you start - Any AI chat, and your usual email tool. - Your news, one tip, your offer (dates, price, limits) and your business postal address. - Setup: about 10 minutes, plus time in your email tool (our estimate). - Privacy: don't paste your customer list. - Consent: send only to people who agreed to get your emails, such as at checkout or on your website. ## Steps 1. **Collect** the facts: news, tip, offer dates and limits, and your postal address. 2. **Paste** the prompt into your AI chat and fill in the brackets. 3. **Fix** every UNCLEAR, and check facts and prices against your price list and calendar. 4. **Paste** the email into your email tool. In Mailchimp, the default footer block fills in your postal address and unsubscribe link from your audience settings; you can reword it, but both must stay. 5. **Test** it: send yourself a copy and click unsubscribe to make sure it works, then send. ## The prompt ``` Help me write this month's short email to my customers. Use only what I give you. Don't send anything. Business: [name, type, town] Who gets it: [for example customers who signed up for our emails at checkout] News: [one or two pieces of real news] Tip: [one useful tip, or "suggest one" and I'll check it] Offer: [exact dates, price or percent, and any limits] Postal address for the footer: [address] My tone: [for example friendly and short] Write: 1. Three subject line options that honestly match the email. 2. The email, under 200 words: news, then tip, then offer, then a short sign-off. 3. A footer with my postal address and a line telling readers how to unsubscribe. 4. A CAN-SPAM CHECKLIST: subject matches content; sender name is my real business; postal address included; unsubscribe works; the email is clearly an offer if it's selling. Rules: Use only my facts, dates and prices. If an offer has no end date or limits, or the address is missing, write UNCLEAR. Mark any tip you suggested as "suggested, please check." Don't invent testimonials, numbers or urgency (like "only 3 left"). ``` ## Try it with made-up data Business: Fernbrook Garden Supply, Alder Bend. Who gets it: customers who signed up at checkout. News: starting November 4, 2030, winter hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., closed Mondays; bare-root fruit trees arrive late November. Tip: suggest one. Offer: 15% off all spring bulbs, November 1 to 15, 2030, in store. "Also free delivery on everything." Postal address: (left blank). Tone: friendly and short. ## What the AI gave us > Subject options: (1) Winter hours, a frost tip, and 15% off spring bulbs (2) 15% off spring bulbs through November 15 (3) November at Fernbrook: new hours and bare-root trees > > (Greeting and news paragraph trimmed here.) > > Tip of the month (suggested, please check): before a frost, cover tender plants overnight with a sheet or frost cloth, and uncover them in the morning. > > Offer: from November 1 to 15, 2030, take 15% off all spring bulbs in store. > > Free delivery: UNCLEAR. "Free delivery on everything" needs limits. Is there a delivery area, a minimum order or an end date? Left out until you decide. > > Thanks for shopping local. The Fernbrook Garden Supply team > > Footer: Fernbrook Garden Supply · [postal address: UNCLEAR, you didn't give one, and it's required] · You're getting this because you signed up at checkout. To stop these emails, click Unsubscribe. It caught the open-ended delivery promise and the missing address. The owner still had to add the postal address, decide the delivery limits, and confirm the frost tip. ## Check before you send - [ ] The subject matches the content, and the "From" name is your real business. - [ ] Your valid postal address is in the footer. - [ ] The unsubscribe link works, and opt-outs are removed right away. - [ ] Every price, percent and date matches your offer, including end date and limits. - [ ] No made-up urgency, reviews or promises you can't keep. ## Don't paste - Your customer list or anyone's email address. - Email tool logins. - Sales records, card numbers or payment details. ## When not to use this - Receipts, order confirmations or account notices. Those follow different rules. - People who never signed up, such as a bought list. - Health, financial or legal offers that need extra review. ## Questions owners ask **What does CAN-SPAM require in a marketing email?** Honest sender and subject lines, a clear sign it's an ad if it's selling, your valid postal address, and a working way to unsubscribe. Opt-outs must be honored within 10 business days, and the FTC says this applies to business-to-business email too. **Can I use a PO box as my address in emails?** Yes, if it's registered with USPS, or it's a private mailbox registered with a commercial mail receiving agency, per the FTC. ## Sources - [FTC - CAN-SPAM Act - A Compliance Guide for Business](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business) - [Mailchimp Help - Customize your footer content](https://mailchimp.com/help/use-footer-content-blocks/) - [FTC - Advertising FAQ's - A Guide for Small Business](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/advertising-faqs-guide-small-business) --- From HourSaved (https://hoursaved.com/), a brand of Momentum Elevation LLC. Web page: https://hoursaved.com/guides/monthly-customer-email/