In this guide · 7 sections
Short answer
Collect topics from real customer questions, give the AI your notes, facts and a style guide, and have a person check every price, date and claim before sending. Send only to people who opted in, include a working unsubscribe, and authenticate your sending domain with SPF, DKIM and DMARC.
The monthly workflow at a glance
Week 1: collect topics
Keep a running list of customer questions from WhatsApp, email, calls and reviews. Add new products, seasonal reminders and anything you changed.
Week 2: write notes, then draft with AI
Write rough bullet points for each item: the facts, your opinion, one example. Ask the AI to turn the notes into a draft using your style guide.
Week 3: edit and fact-check
One person checks every price, date, link and claim, and cuts anything that sounds generic.
Week 4: test and send
Send a test to two or three people on different email apps, check links and the unsubscribe, then schedule.
This takes a few hours a month once the style guide exists. The AI saves time on structure and wording, not on knowing what to say.
Getting drafts that sound like you
Generic AI copy is easy to spot: 'in today's fast-paced world', three adjectives per sentence, and no specific detail. Give the AI material to work from.
What to give the AI each month
Do not paste customer names, emails or order details into a chatbot to personalise content. Write the newsletter once, and let your email platform insert merge fields such as first name at send time.
What to fact-check before sending
| Item | Why AI gets it wrong | Check against |
|---|---|---|
| Prices and offers | May reuse an old price or invent a discount | Your current price list and promo terms |
| Dates and opening hours | Guesses public holiday dates and hours | Your calendar and MOM's public holiday list |
| Product details | Invents features, sizes or stock | Product spec sheets and stock levels |
| Regulatory or health claims | States things as fact that need evidence | Your evidence, or remove the claim |
| Links | Makes up plausible-looking URLs | Click every link in the test send |
| Customer stories | May embellish quotes | The customer's actual words, with their permission |
Spam Control Act and consent
How the email was written does not change the rules. Singapore's Spam Control Act 2007 applies to unsolicited commercial messages sent in bulk, which it defines as more than 100 similar messages in 24 hours, 1,000 in 30 days or 10,000 in a year. Our Spam Control Act guide explains each test.
Subscribers who opted in
- They requested your messages, so the unsolicited rules do not apply
- Still give an easy unsubscribe and honour it
- PDPA consent records still needed
- Gmail and Microsoft bulk sender rules still apply
Unsolicited bulk email
- Subject must carry the <ADV> label
- Must include an unsubscribe email address, kept working at least 30 days
- Unsubscribes take effect within 10 business days
- Bought or harvested lists: harvesting software breaches section 9 regardless
The simplest path is to email only people who signed up, keep a record of how and when they consented, and never import bought lists. This is general information, not legal advice.
Sending domain and inbox placement
A well-written newsletter that lands in spam is wasted. Google's email sender guidelines require bulk senders to Gmail to authenticate with SPF, DKIM and DMARC, and say senders of more than 5,000 messages a day must support one-click unsubscribe for marketing messages.
- Send from your own domain through your newsletter platform, not a free Gmail address.
- Set up SPF and DKIM records your platform provides, and a DMARC record for your domain.
- Watch your spam rate. Google says to keep spam rates in Postmaster Tools below 0.10% and avoid ever reaching 0.30%.
- Clean the list. Remove addresses that bounce and people who have not opened in a long time.
- Keep a consistent sender name so readers recognise you.
Our newsletter setup checklist covers the first send, and Mailchimp vs Brevo vs Klaviyo helps you pick a platform; most now include their own AI writing assistant you can use instead of a separate chatbot.
Do it yourself or get help?
The writing workflow is something the team can own. The technical side, domain authentication and making sure newsletters do not damage delivery of your everyday email, is where mistakes are costly.
Our email deliverability fix (S$249) lists every service sending as your domain, including your newsletter platform, sets SPF, DKIM and DMARC correctly, monitors DMARC for 14 days and then moves to enforcement safely. It does not cover writing newsletter content. IT Sorted is a Singapore-based team of developers with over 10 years of experience; you pay upfront, send the brief in writing and follow progress on your order page.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. It works well for turning notes into a readable draft. Give it your own facts and a style guide, and have someone check every price, date, link and claim before sending. Do not paste customer personal data into the chatbot; use your email platform's merge fields for personalisation.
There is no Singapore requirement to label a newsletter as AI-written. What matters legally is that the content is accurate and, for unsolicited bulk email, that it meets the Spam Control Act's labelling and unsubscribe rules. Many businesses simply edit AI drafts until they are their own words.
Only to unsolicited commercial messages sent in bulk: more than 100 similar messages in 24 hours, 1,000 in 30 days or 10,000 in a year. If your subscribers opted in, the messages are not unsolicited. Bulk unsolicited email needs an <ADV> label, an unsubscribe email address and accurate headers.
Common causes are a sending domain without SPF, DKIM and DMARC, sending to old or bought lists, high spam complaints, and sending from a free email address. Google asks bulk senders to authenticate fully and keep spam rates below 0.10%. Fix authentication first, then clean the list.
Short enough to read on a phone in a couple of minutes. One main story, two or three short items and one clear call to action works for most small businesses. Consistency matters more than length: a short monthly email beats a long one that comes out twice a year.