Email marketing remains one of the most effective channels for retaining customers and generating sales. In Belgium, where GDPR is strictly enforced by the Data Protection Authority (APD), launching your email newsletter in a compliant way is essential. Mailchimp is one of the most popular email marketing platforms and offers a generous free plan, ideal for entrepreneurs just starting out. This tutorial guides you step by step through creating your account, setting up your lists, complying with GDPR and sending your first professional email newsletter.

Why launch an email newsletter for your Belgian business

Email marketing statistics

  • The average return on investment (ROI) of email marketing is EUR 36 for every euro spent (DMA, 2025)
  • Belgians check their email an average of three times a day
  • The average open rate for newsletters in Belgium is around 22-25% (varies by sector)
  • Email marketing is 40 times more effective than Facebook and Twitter combined at acquiring new customers

Specific benefits for Belgian entrepreneurs

  • Direct channel: you communicate directly in your customers' inbox, without depending on a social media algorithm
  • Measurable: open rate, click rate, conversions — everything can be measured
  • Automatable: welcome sequences, automatic follow-ups, birthday emails
  • Cost-effective: Mailchimp's free plan lets you email up to 500 contacts
  • Multilingual: you can create your email newsletter in French, Dutch, or both

GDPR in Belgium: what you need to know before you start

The Data Protection Authority (APD)

In Belgium, GDPR (the General Data Protection Regulation) is overseen by the Data Protection Authority (APD, formerly the Privacy Commission). The APD can impose substantial fines for GDPR non-compliance.

Website: https://www.autoriteprotectiondonnees.be/

Key GDPR rules for email marketing

Rule Description Practical consequence
Explicit consent The recipient must have actively agreed to receive your emails No pre-ticked boxes, no automatic sign-up
Double opt-in Sign-up must be confirmed via a validation email Mailchimp sends a confirmation email with a link to click
Right to unsubscribe Every email must contain a visible unsubscribe link Mailchimp adds this link automatically
Transparency You must clearly state who is sending the email and why Identify yourself clearly in every email
Right of access and erasure Contacts can request access to their data or its deletion Keep proof of consent
Purpose limitation Data collected can only be used for the stated purpose If you collect an email address for a newsletter, do not use it for anything else without consent

What is GDPR-compliant:

  • A sign-up form with an unticked checkbox: "I agree to receive the monthly newsletter from [your business]"
  • A pop-up on your website with an email field and a "Sign up" button, alongside clear text on the frequency and content of the emails

What is NOT GDPR-compliant:

  • Adding contacts without their consent (scraping emails from LinkedIn, buying email lists, etc.)
  • A pre-ticked checkbox by default
  • Ambiguous consent ("By submitting this form, you accept our terms" with no specific mention of the newsletter)
  • Automatically signing up a customer at the point of purchase without specifically asking whether they want to receive marketing emails

Mailchimp: overview and pricing

Mailchimp plans (2026)

Plan Price Contacts Sends/month Key features
Free Free 500 1,000 1 audience, basic templates, basic reporting
Essentials From USD 13/month 500+ 5,000+ Advanced templates, A/B testing, email support
Standard From USD 20/month 500+ 6,000+ Advanced automations, segmentation, dynamic content
Premium From USD 350/month 10,000+ 150,000+ Advanced segmentation, advanced reporting, phone support

Tip for Belgian starters: the Free plan is ideal to get going. You can send an email newsletter to 500 contacts with 1,000 emails a month. That is plenty for the first few months. Upgrade to the Essentials plan once your list passes 500 contacts.

If Mailchimp is not the right fit, here are some alternatives:

Platform Strengths Free plan
Brevo (formerly Sendinblue) French company, French-language interface, EU servers 300 emails/day
Mailerlite Simple, affordable, good for beginners 1,000 contacts, 12,000 emails/month
ConvertKit Ideal for content creators 300 contacts
ActiveCampaign Very advanced automations No free plan

GDPR note: Mailchimp stores its data in the United States. Since the adoption of the EU-US Data Privacy Framework, this transfer is considered lawful. That said, if you prefer a European solution, Brevo is an excellent alternative with servers in France.

Step-by-step tutorial: create your first email newsletter with Mailchimp

Step 1: Create your Mailchimp account

  1. Go to https://mailchimp.com/
  2. Click "Sign Up Free"
  3. Enter your business email, a username and a password
  4. Confirm your email address by clicking the link you receive
  5. Complete your profile details:
    • Business name (as registered with the CBE – Crossroads Bank for Enterprises)
    • Postal address: compulsory for CAN-SPAM and GDPR compliance. Use your registered office address in Belgium.
    • Industry
    • Company size
  6. Select the Free plan to get started

Step 2: Configure the GDPR settings

This step is crucial for GDPR compliance in Belgium.

  1. In Mailchimp, go to "Account" > "Settings" > "Account defaults"

  2. In the "Country" section, select "Belgium"

  3. Turn on the GDPR options:

    • Go to "Audience" > "Manage Audience" > "Settings" > "GDPR fields and settings"
    • Enable "Enable GDPR fields"
    • Customise the GDPR wording that will appear on your sign-up forms:
      • Marketing permissions: "I agree to receive marketing emails from [Your business]"
      • About your data: "We use Mailchimp to send our newsletters. By signing up, you agree that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy policy."

  4. Double opt-in: check that double opt-in is enabled:

    • Go to "Audience" > "Manage Audience" > "Settings" > "Audience name and defaults"
    • Make sure "Enable double opt-in" is ticked
    • Customise the confirmation email in French (and/or Dutch):
      • Subject: "Confirm your sign-up to the [Your business] newsletter"
      • Body: "Thank you for your interest! Click the button below to confirm your subscription."

Step 3: Create your contact list (Audience)

In Mailchimp, an "Audience" is your contact list.

  1. Go to "Audience" > "All contacts"
  2. Your default audience was created when you signed up
  3. To add contacts manually (contacts who have given consent):
    • Click "Add contacts" > "Add a subscriber"
    • Enter the email address, first name and surname
    • Tick "This person gave me permission to email them"
    • Click "Subscribe"

GDPR warning: Never add contacts without their explicit consent. If you have contacts from your CRM or contact forms, make sure they have specifically consented to receive marketing emails.

Step 4: Create a sign-up form

To collect new subscribers in a GDPR-compliant way:

  1. Go to "Audience" > "Signup forms"
  2. Choose the form type:
    • Embedded forms: a form to embed in your website (HTML)
    • Subscriber pop-up: a pop-up window on your website
    • Landing page: a sign-up page hosted by Mailchimp

Create an embedded form

  1. Click "Embedded forms"
  2. Customise the form fields:
    • Email (required)
    • First name (optional but recommended)
    • Surname (optional)
    • GDPR fields (checkboxes for marketing consent)
  3. Customise the design (colours, font)
  4. Copy the generated HTML code
  5. Paste it into your website (in the footer, a sidebar or a dedicated page)

Create a sign-up landing page

  1. Go to "Campaigns" > "Landing pages"
  2. Click "Create landing page"
  3. Select a template
  4. Customise:
    • Title: "Get our tips for entrepreneurs every week"
    • Description: "Sign up to our free email newsletter and get practical tips every week to grow your business in Belgium."
    • A form with GDPR fields
    • Your logo and brand colours
  5. Publish the page and share the link on your social media

Step 5: Create your first email campaign

  1. Go to "Campaigns" > "Create Campaign"
  2. Select "Email" > "Regular"
  3. Give your campaign an internal name (e.g. "Newsletter March 2026")

Configure the recipients

  1. To: select your audience (or a specific segment)
  2. From: your name and sending email address
  3. Subject: write a catchy subject line for your email newsletter (see the tips below)
  4. Preview text: the text that appears after the subject line in the inbox

Choose a template

  1. Click "Design Email"
  2. Select a template from the gallery, or start from scratch with "Start from scratch"
  3. Recommended templates for a first email newsletter:
    • "Simple": clean and professional, ideal to start with
    • "1 column": a simple single-column structure
    • "Basic": a minimalist, elegant template

Customise the content

Use Mailchimp's drag-and-drop editor to build your email:

  1. Header:

    • Add your logo (drag in an "Image" block)
    • Add a link to your website

  2. Email body:

    • Text block: write your main message
    • Image block: add appealing visuals
    • Button block: add a call to action ("Discover our offer", "Read the article", "Book an appointment")
    • Divider block: to visually structure your content

  3. Recommended structure for a newsletter:

    • Logo + newsletter title
    • Short introduction (2-3 sentences)
    • Main article/content with an image
    • 2-3 short items or useful links
    • Call to action
    • Footer with contact details and legal notice

  4. Footer:
    Mailchimp automatically adds:

    • The unsubscribe link (a GDPR requirement)
    • Your postal address (a CAN-SPAM requirement)
    • The reason the recipient is receiving this email

    Also add:

    • Your social media links
    • Your enterprise number and VAT number
    • A link to your privacy policy

Step 6: Test and send

  1. Send a test email:

    • Click "Preview and Test" > "Send a test email"
    • Enter your own email address
    • Check how it renders in your inbox (both computer AND mobile)
    • Check every link
    • Check the spelling

  2. Preview mode:

    • Click "Preview" to see how it renders on desktop and mobile
    • Make sure the images display correctly
    • Check that the text is readable on a smartphone screen

  3. Send:

    • Click "Send"
    • Choose to send immediately or schedule the send
    • Best times to send an email newsletter in Belgium:
      • Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday
      • Between 10am and 11am, or between 2pm and 3pm
      • Avoid Monday morning (overloaded inboxes) and Friday afternoon
    • Confirm the send

Writing effective email subject lines

The subject line determines whether your email gets opened or ignored. Here are a few techniques:

Formulas that work

Technique Example
Question "Do you know about this common tax mistake in Belgium?"
Number "5 tips to reduce your costs as a self-employed professional"
Benefit "How to double your turnover this year"
Curiosity "What your accountant isn't telling you…"
Urgency "Last day for your advance tax payments"
Personalisation "*

Rules to follow

  • Maximum 50 characters for good readability on mobile
  • Avoid spam words: "FREE", "URGENT", "Limited offer!!!" (in capitals with multiple exclamation marks)
  • Test: use Mailchimp's A/B testing feature to test two different subject lines and see which gets the better open rate

Useful automations for a Belgian entrepreneur

Welcome sequence

Set up a series of automatic emails for new subscribers:

  1. Email 1 (immediate): "Welcome! Here's what you'll be receiving"
  2. Email 2 (day 3): "Our most popular article: [link to a popular post from your blog]"
  3. Email 3 (day 7): "Discover our services" + a call to action

Birthday email

If you collect your contacts' date of birth, send an automatic email with a personalised message or a special offer.

Abandoned cart follow-up

If you have an e-commerce website, connect Mailchimp to your shop to automatically send a follow-up email to customers who abandoned their cart.

Analysing your email newsletter's results

After every send, check the statistics in Mailchimp:

Metric Belgian benchmark Interpretation
Open rate 22-25% Percentage of recipients who opened your email
Click rate 2-5% Percentage of recipients who clicked a link
Unsubscribe rate < 0.5% If above 1%, review your content or frequency
Bounce rate < 2% Emails not delivered (invalid addresses)
Spam complaint rate < 0.1% If high, your sender reputation is at risk

Actions to take based on results

  • Low open rate: improve your subject lines, test different sending times
  • Low click rate: improve your calls to action, make your buttons more visible, improve content relevance
  • High unsubscribe rate: reduce your sending frequency, segment your audience, improve content quality

To comply with GDPR and Belgian legislation, every email must contain:

  1. A visible, working unsubscribe link
  2. Your business's physical address (registered office in Belgium)
  3. Business name and enterprise number (CBE)
  4. Reason for receipt: "You are receiving this email because you signed up to our newsletter on [website]"
  5. A link to your privacy policy
  6. Contact details for exercising GDPR rights (access, rectification, erasure)

Common mistakes to avoid

  1. Buying email lists: this is a GDPR violation and will destroy your sender reputation. Build your list organically.

  2. Sending without double opt-in: in Belgium, double opt-in is the practice recommended by the APD. Without it, you cannot prove consent.

  3. Forgetting the unsubscribe link: this is a legal requirement. Mailchimp adds it automatically, but do not hide it or make it unreadable.

  4. Sending too often: one email newsletter a week is generally the acceptable maximum. Beyond that, the unsubscribe rate rises.

  5. Not testing on mobile: more than 60% of emails are opened on mobile in Belgium. Always test how it renders on mobile.

  6. Ignoring the statistics: analyse the results of every campaign and adjust your strategy accordingly.

  7. Not segmenting: sending the same content to everyone is less effective than tailoring the message to specific segments (French-speakers/Dutch-speakers, customers/prospects, industry).

Useful resources

Conclusion

Launching an email newsletter is one of the most cost-effective marketing investments a Belgian entrepreneur can make. With Mailchimp, you have a powerful, accessible tool to communicate professionally with your customers and prospects, even on a limited budget.

The key to success lies in three things: GDPR compliance (which protects your contacts and your reputation), content quality (which keeps subscribers engaged) and consistency (which keeps your brand present in your customers' minds). Start small, with a monthly newsletter to 50-100 contacts, and grow your list and frequency gradually as you gain experience.

This article was written by the Espero-Soft team for the blog dedicated to entrepreneurs in Belgium. To have a newsletter sign-up form integrated into your website, contact Espero-Soft.