Why is there an automatic unsubscribe link in broadcast emails?

When you send emails via our broadcast route, we automatically add an unsubscribe link at the bottom of every email. As a European provider, we take privacy and recipient protection seriously. This unsubscribe link is also mandatory under GDPR.

The unsubscribe link protects your sending reputation. Without this link, recipients can mark your emails as spam, which affects all your future emails and even your transactional emails. In this article, you'll learn why the link is required and when you can potentially disable it.

Why is an unsubscribe link required for broadcast emails?

An unsubscribe link in broadcast emails isn't a luxury but a requirement. Recipients must be able to unsubscribe from marketing emails at any time without too much effort. Without this option, they'll mark your emails as spam more quickly, which directly damages your sending reputation.

Mail providers like Gmail and Outlook monitor how many recipients mark your emails as spam. A high percentage of spam complaints causes all your emails to end up in the spam folder. This applies not only to your broadcast emails, but also to important transactional emails like order confirmations and password resets.

Additionally, an unsubscribe link is legally required for marketing emails and newsletters under GDPR (source). Recipients have the right to unsubscribe from marketing communications. Companies that don't provide this option risk high fines from the supervisory authority.

How does Lettermint handle the unsubscribe link?

We automatically add an unsubscribe link to all emails you send via our broadcast route. This link is placed at the bottom of your email by default and cannot be removed via the dashboard.

Additionally, we send the unsubscribe link in the email headers via the List-Unsubscribe header. Mail clients like Gmail can read this header and display an unsubscribe button directly to the recipient. This allows recipients to unsubscribe even more easily, without having to scroll to the bottom of your email first.

When someone unsubscribes via the unsubscribe link, this is automatically processed. The email address is immediately added to the suppressions list, preventing you from sending new emails to this address via the broadcast route. This prevents you from accidentally ignoring the recipient's unsubscribe request.

Want to process unsubscribes in your own system? You can. Via our API and webhooks, you can retrieve suppressions and synchronize them with your own database.

Can I disable the automatic unsubscribe link?

In exceptional cases, we can disable the automatic unsubscribe link. This is only possible when you have your own fully functional unsubscribe system. Contact our support team for this.

We do have several requirements. You must have a working unsubscribe link in your own emails and correctly send the List-Unsubscribe header. This ensures you remain GDPR compliant and protect your sending reputation.