Clever Elements

Clever Elements is a German-language newsletter software for businesses, creators and agencies that send newsletters and automated emails to their own lists. The homepage headline is "Die Newsletter Software für dein Wachstum" (the newsletter software for your growth), and the company says the product has been "Entwickelt von Newsletter-Experten seit 2003" (developed by newsletter experts since 2003). The footer states "Serverstandort: Deutschland" (server location: Germany), and the site calls the product "100% DSGVO-konform", the German name for the GDPR. The whole site, from the product pages to the blog, is written in German and addresses readers informally with "du".

The pitch rests on four promises printed on the homepage: DSGVO compliance, personal support, simple operation ("Clever Elements kann jeder bedienen", anyone can use Clever Elements) and saving time and nerves. The site shows a 4.9 out of 5 customer rating next to those promises.

Creating a newsletter

The editor is drag and drop. The homepage says a newsletter is built "durch einfaches Hinzufügen und Verschieben von unterschiedlichen Bausteinen" (by simply adding and moving different building blocks), and that no programming knowledge is needed. Clever Elements describes its editing and design tools as serving both newsletters and automations, and claims they are the same class of tools "die auch von den ganz Großen genutzt werden" (that the big players use too).

Design has three routes. Modern templates help a sender find a starting design, and a separate Templates section sits in the site menu. A sender can also build a completely custom design, or have the company's own experts create one. That last option matters for a business that wants its newsletter to match a corporate design exactly but does not have a designer in-house.

The three-step start on the homepage describes the actual workflow: sign up, upload recipients, choose a template and build the first newsletter "in wenigen Minuten" (in a few minutes) with the drag-and-drop editor, then send.

Sending and deliverability

Sending runs on what the company describes as "einer hervorragenden intelligenten Serverinfrastruktur", an intelligent server infrastructure that handles the complex details in the background and makes sure newsletters "auch wirklich ankommen" (actually arrive). Before a send goes out, Clever Elements checks the newsletter automatically and gives tips for improving it, so problems are caught before the list sees them. The company also says it makes sure that all applicable data protection conditions are met during sending, which is the practical meaning of its DSGVO promise: the platform, not the customer, carries the legal groundwork. The homepage puts it as "Wir kümmern uns um die rechtlichen Dinge, damit du das nicht musst" (we take care of the legal things so you don't have to).

Growing the list

List growth rests on signup forms. The site says the forms are customizable and embeddable, so a sender can collect addresses "im ganzen Web" (all over the web), not just on one site. Fields, styles and messages can be adjusted so a form reflects the brand and speaks to its audience. As with the editor, the company offers personal help with setting up forms.

The company's Swiss data protection guide explains why the signup side matters. It calls double opt-in "ein Muss für jeden Newsletter" (a must for every newsletter): a subscriber gives an address and then confirms again that they want the newsletter. It also tells senders to explain in the signup form, and ideally in every newsletter, how subscribers can withdraw consent, and notes that newsletter software can automate this with a simple unsubscribe function. The guide covers the Swiss Federal Act on Data Protection (DSG), which makes it useful reading for senders in Switzerland as well as Germany. It adds that encryption and regular security updates are "kein Luxus, sondern eine Notwendigkeit" (not a luxury but a necessity).

Paid newsletters

Clever Elements has a monetization feature called Paid Subscriptions. A sender offers monthly or yearly plans for a paid newsletter, and the site says "Du behältst 100 % des Umsatzes" (you keep 100% of the revenue), with the software handling the whole process. The company calls it "das flexibelste und umfangreichste Toolkit für bezahlte Newsletter-Abonnements" (the most flexible and comprehensive toolkit for paid newsletter subscriptions). The homepage marks the feature "(Ab Q2/2024)", from the second quarter of 2024.

Automations

Automated emails are part of the design tools, and the company's Shopify newsletter guide describes the kind of automations it recommends to online shops: welcome emails on signup, birthday greetings and reminders for abandoned carts. The same guide sets out what it considers essential in newsletter software for a shop: an intuitive interface, strong segmentation, customizable templates and detailed analysis tools, with open rates, clicks and conversions as the key figures to watch.

Pricing, trial and support

The site has a pricing section (Preise) in its menu. The free trial is spelled out: "Du kannst Clever Elements 30 Tage unverbindlich testen. Garantiert ohne Kosten und ohne Verpflichtungen. Der Testmonat endet automatisch." (You can test Clever Elements for 30 days without obligation, guaranteed free of charge and without commitment. The trial month ends automatically.) Because the trial stops on its own, there is nothing to cancel.

Support is personal. The homepage says customers can reach "die beiden Geschäftsführer und Gründer persönlich" (the two managing directors and founders personally), and one of the two founders welcomes visitors by name on the homepage. The company repeats that it helps personally at every step, from building the first newsletter to creating forms. The menu also lists support, a developer section, product updates, an affiliate program, a shop and a references page.

Agencies and customers

Agencies have their own page, and one customer quote shows how that works in practice: the agency creates a personal account with its own login for each client, the clients maintain their addresses and send their newsletters themselves, and the agency builds the signup and unsubscribe forms and embeds them on the clients' websites. Another customer used Clever Elements to offer newsletter sending across its franchise countries, which it called its main challenge. Other quotes praise the tool as quick, simple and self-explanatory enough that colleagues learn it quickly.

Who it suits

Clever Elements suits a German-speaking small business, creator or association that wants a simple newsletter tool with servers in Germany, a clear DSGVO promise and direct access to the people who run the company. Creators who want to charge for a newsletter get paid subscriptions where they keep all the revenue. Agencies that set up newsletters for clients and then let those clients send on their own fit the account model described in the references. The free 30-day trial lets any of them test with a real list before paying.

It is a weaker fit for a team that wants its software material and support in English, since the site and the blog are written in German.