Whether you run a café in Nelson, a trades business in Hamilton or an online store shipping nationwide, the process of putting a newsletter together is the same. What changes in New Zealand is who you are allowed to email, how you speak to readers, and when they will actually read it. This guide follows the order we recommend to Mailpro users who are creating a newsletter for the first time.
1. Start with a list you are allowed to email
Under the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Act 2007, a commercial email needs the recipient’s consent. The Act recognises express consent (someone ticked a box or asked to join), inferred consent (from an existing business relationship, where the message relates to that relationship) and deemed consent (an address conspicuously published in a business capacity, for messages relevant to that role). The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) warns that a single purchase does not, on its own, justify ongoing marketing, so express consent is the safest foundation.
The simplest route is a sign-up form on your website or at the counter. See how to create a subscription form. If you receive contacts from a partner or event organiser, the Privacy Act 2020’s new IPP 3A (in force since 1 May 2026) expects you to tell those people you have their details. And never buy an email list: it fails the consent test and damages your sender reputation.
2. Decide what the newsletter is for
Pick one main job per issue: announce a product, share a seasonal guide, invite people to an event, or keep regulars in touch. Then sketch a year around the New Zealand calendar: summer trading and the Christmas to New Year shutdown, Waitangi Day in February, Easter and ANZAC Day in autumn, Matariki and winter specials mid-year, and spring and Labour Day weekend in October. Regional anniversary days also differ, so a Canterbury audience and an Auckland one will not share every long weekend.
3. Choose how you will build it
- Drag-and-drop editor: place text, images and buttons without touching code. The fastest option for most small teams.
- HTML editor: write or paste code, or import an existing HTML file from your agency.
- Templates: start from one of more than 600 newsletter templates and restyle it with your brand colours and local photography.
4. Write for New Zealand readers
Use NZ English spelling, keep sentences short, and put the most useful information first. Show prices in NZ dollars, including GST if you sell to consumers. If you include te reo Māori, such as “Kia ora” as a greeting or “Mānawatia a Matariki” in a Matariki issue, use macrons correctly and make sure the phrase suits the message; a fluent speaker can check anything beyond a simple greeting.
5. Make the footer do its legal job
Every commercial newsletter must identify who authorised it and include a functional unsubscribe facility that is free, easy to find and still working for at least 30 days after you send. Once someone unsubscribes, their consent is treated as withdrawn from 5 working days later, so act on it promptly. Our page on New Zealand email marketing law explains the rest.
6. Test on phones and check authentication
Send a test to yourself and a colleague and read it on a mobile. Mailpro’s responsive newsletters adapt to small screens, but long images and tiny text still need a human eye. Before your first campaign, set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC on your domain; our email authentication guide explains why major mailbox providers now expect it.
7. Schedule for New Zealand time
New Zealand Standard Time is UTC+12, moving to daylight time (UTC+13) from the last Sunday in September to the first Sunday in April, and the Chatham Islands run 45 minutes ahead. Australia’s east coast is typically two to three hours behind, which matters if you mail both markets. Use scheduled sending so an issue prepared on Friday afternoon arrives on Tuesday morning, and see our notes on the best time to send a newsletter as a starting point for your own tests.
8. Measure and adjust
After each send, compare opens, clicks and unsubscribes with previous issues rather than with overseas averages. Holiday weeks, school terms and seasons shift results more than you might expect, so compare like with like. In Mailpro’s own customer survey, users rate email deliverability 9.6/10 and ease of use 9.3/10; your own list hygiene and relevance will decide how your results compare.