The compliance audit flagged the email immediately. No physical address. No unsubscribe link. The company had been sending marketing emails for two years without meeting basic CAN-SPAM requirements. The potential fines were significant, but the real cost was the remediation—updating templates, retraining teams, and rebuilding processes.
Email footers seem like an afterthought, the fine print nobody reads. But they serve critical functions: legal compliance, brand consistency, trust building, and providing recipients with ways to manage their relationship with you.
Here's what belongs in your footer and why.
Required elements
Physical mailing address. CAN-SPAM requires a valid physical postal address in commercial emails. This can be a street address, a PO Box, or a private mailbox registered with a commercial mail receiving agency. It doesn't have to be your headquarters—a registered agent address works.
Unsubscribe mechanism. Every commercial email must include a clear way to opt out of future emails. The unsubscribe must be honored within 10 business days (CAN-SPAM) or immediately (best practice). The mechanism must work for at least 30 days after sending.
Sender identification. Recipients must be able to identify who sent the email. This is typically handled by the From address and company name, but the footer should reinforce it.
These requirements apply to commercial email under US law. Other jurisdictions (GDPR, CASL, etc.) have additional or different requirements. Know which regulations apply to your recipients.
Recommended elements
Company name and logo. Reinforce brand recognition. The footer is often the last thing recipients see—make sure they remember who sent the email.
Contact information. Beyond the required address, consider including email, phone, or links to contact forms. Make it easy for recipients to reach you through their preferred channel.
Social media links. If you're active on social platforms, footer links provide an alternative way for recipients to engage with your brand. Keep the list short—your most active 2-3 platforms, not every platform you've ever created an account on.
Website link. A link to your main website or a relevant landing page. Some recipients will want to learn more; make it easy.
Privacy policy link. Increasingly expected, sometimes required. Link to your privacy policy so recipients can understand how you handle their data.
Preference center link. Beyond simple unsubscribe, a preference center lets recipients choose what types of email they receive, how often, and through what channels. This reduces unsubscribes by giving recipients control.
Technical elements
List-Unsubscribe header. This isn't visible in the footer but should be included in your email headers. It enables one-click unsubscribe in email clients that support it (Gmail, Apple Mail, etc.). Include both mailto and https versions for maximum compatibility.
View in browser link. Some email clients render HTML poorly. A "view in browser" link lets recipients see the email as intended. Place it in the header or footer—footer is more common.
Plain text note. If you're sending HTML email, mention that a plain text version is available. Some recipients prefer it, and it signals that you've thought about accessibility.
Design considerations
Readable but not prominent. Footer content should be legible but shouldn't compete with your main message. Smaller font size (12-14px), muted colors, and clear hierarchy help.
Consistent across emails. Your footer should be recognizable across all your emails. Consistency builds trust and makes required elements easy to find.
Mobile-friendly. Footers often become single-column on mobile. Ensure links are tappable (44px minimum touch target) and text remains readable.
Accessible. Sufficient color contrast, readable font sizes, and proper link text (not "click here") make footers usable for everyone.
What not to include
Excessive legal disclaimers. Those multi-paragraph confidentiality notices that appear on corporate emails? They're legally meaningless and visually cluttering. If you need confidentiality, use encryption, not disclaimers.
Too many links. A footer with 20 links is overwhelming. Prioritize the most important destinations. If you need extensive navigation, link to a page that provides it.
Promotional content. The footer isn't the place for sales pitches. It's for utility and compliance. Promotional content in the footer feels desperate and clutters the space.
Outdated information. Review footers periodically. Addresses change, social accounts get abandoned, links break. Outdated footer information undermines trust.
Footer patterns by email type
Marketing emails need full compliance elements: address, unsubscribe, sender identification. Add preference center links, social media, and brand reinforcement.
Transactional emails have different requirements—they're not commercial email under CAN-SPAM, so unsubscribe isn't required (though often still appropriate). Focus on contact information and support resources.
Internal emails don't need CAN-SPAM compliance but benefit from consistent branding and contact information.
Sales emails (one-to-one outreach) technically need compliance elements if they're commercial, though enforcement is rare for genuine personal correspondence. When in doubt, include the basics.
Testing your footer
Verify links work. Click every link in your footer. Broken links in the footer are embarrassing and potentially compliance-violating (broken unsubscribe).
Test on mobile. View your footer on actual mobile devices. Ensure it's readable and links are tappable.
Check rendering across clients. Footer styling can break in certain email clients. Test in Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail at minimum.
Validate compliance. Periodically review your footer against current regulations. Requirements evolve, and what was compliant two years ago might not be today.
Frequently asked questions
Do transactional emails need an unsubscribe link?
Legally, no—transactional emails aren't commercial email under CAN-SPAM. Practically, consider including one anyway. Recipients who can't unsubscribe from unwanted transactional emails may mark them as spam, hurting your deliverability.
Can I use a PO Box instead of a street address?
Yes, CAN-SPAM allows PO Boxes and private mailboxes registered with commercial mail receiving agencies. You don't have to expose your physical office location.
How small can footer text be?
There's no legal minimum, but accessibility guidelines suggest 12px minimum for body text. Smaller than that becomes difficult to read, especially on mobile. Aim for readable, not microscopic.
Should I include the unsubscribe link at the top of the email?
Some senders do this to make unsubscribing easy and reduce spam complaints. It's not required, but if recipients are having trouble finding your unsubscribe link, making it more prominent can help.