Terms of service updates email examples

No one likes long-winded emails, but sometimes you have to send one to cover all the changes made to the terms of service. While normally, the goal is to drive traffic back to the website, in a policy update instance, it’s okay if it doesn’t! Here’s a great example from Athleta who takes this simple, yet detailed approach covering all the changes made to their terms of service.

If there’s several changes to the privacy policy or terms of service, add clear CTAs should recipients want to view the more detailed policy. Petco includes simple CTAs pointing directly to the terms of service and privacy policy pages on their website.

If there have been several changes and the updates are confusing, consider using bullets or a list format to highlight key changes made. Candy company, Sugarfina, does this well in their terms of service update due to new government regulation.

Typically, these emails are structured as a personalized letter to existing subscribers due to their informational nature. BeanBox uses this approach and includes first name personalization and a signature of the company owners and team.

While first name personalization can be included in both the body and subject line, this helps make the note seem more personal, especially if writing in a letter format. Trunk Club does this within their terms of service email in the body of the message (we’ll share an example of how this can be used in subject lines in a future tip!).

This one goes for many notification-related emails: keep the focus on the update and not products. While these emails can contain some branding, it’s good to shy away from using any marketing-heavy templates. Our team loves this simple design from Rent the Runway that does have a subtle nod to their branding without heavy imagery.

Tod’s answers the ‘why’ they’re notifying subscribers of the policy change and expresses concern and understanding when it comes to how their customer’s data is handled. This approach is more personal and transparent than a quick ‘our privacy policy has changed’ copy.

While in the marketing world GDPR and CCPA are frequently discussed, these acronyms are gibberish to most consumers. Take this into consideration when crafting terms of service emails and provide any new government regulation on data to keep customers informed. Learn from the home marketplace, Chairish, that details why their privacy policy has been updated.

Milani takes an interesting approach by including text near the bottom of their terms of service update email explaining that they may receive this as it’s a transactional email and they’ll continue to be suppressed from marketing emails if they’ve opted out previously. This could potentially negate some spam complaint concerns if sending to a larger list size.

Fox Racing does an excellent job of this within their privacy policy email by including a separate paragraph highlighting their customer service contact information.

Typically, terms of service and privacy policy notification emails don’t require any action items from the recipient. Although this may be widely understood by brands, clearly iterate that there’s no action needed. Clothing brand, Pact, includes this language after notifying customers that their privacy policy and terms of service have been updated.

You want your terms of service email to say exactly what it’s about using detailed subject lines. No clever marketing subject lines for this one! A few of our favorite privacy policy subject lines include:

• We’re updating our privacy policy.
• Updates to [BRAND] Privacy Policy & Terms of Service
• CCPA Privacy Policy Update
• [NAME], we’ve updated our Privacy Policy (example from men’s clothing company, Yd AU, on the right)