Skip to content

How to Send Your First Email Campaign

Updated

On this page10

This guide takes you from nothing to your first email campaign in the inbox: choosing how your campaigns are sent, setting it up, building your list, writing the email and sending it. Allow about 15 minutes, plus the time it takes for a new domain to verify (usually under an hour).

Before You Start: How Campaigns Are Sent#

Email campaigns do not go out through a personal mailbox such as Gmail or Outlook, even when one is connected to the CRM. Google and Microsoft cap how many emails a mailbox can send each day and treat bulk sends from one as spam, which would hurt your everyday email. Your connected mailbox keeps working for one-to-one emails and workflow emails.

Campaigns go out one of two ways. Pick one:

  • Managed sending (no other account needed): you verify your own domain once, then add sending credit. Follow Steps 1 and 2.
  • Your own email service: if you already use SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark or Resend, connect it and skip the sending credit. Follow Step 3 instead of Steps 1 and 2.

Step 1: Verify Your Sending Domain (Managed Sending)#

  1. Go to Marketing → Marketing Campaigns, open the Settings tab and find Sending domains.
  2. Click Add domain and type your domain, such as yourbusiness.com (without www or https).
  3. The page lists DNS records to add. Open the DNS settings at the company that runs your domain (your registrar, Cloudflare, GoDaddy and so on) and add each record exactly as shown, using the copy buttons for the name and the value. With Cloudflare, set each record to DNS only.
  4. Come back and wait for the domain to show Verified. It usually takes under an hour and can take up to three days; click Check now to look again sooner.

Once it is verified, you can send campaigns from any address at that domain.

Step 2: Add Sending Credit (Managed Sending)#

  1. Go to Plans & billing and find the hosted email sending card.
  2. Choose how many packs of sends you need each month and complete checkout. The credit shows on the card within a minute or so.

The card shows how many sends are left this month. When the credit runs out, managed campaigns pause until the next month or until you add a pack.

Step 3: Or Connect Your Own Email Service#

  1. On the Settings tab, under Marketing sending, click Connect provider.
  2. Choose SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark or Resend, then enter the from email and name, an optional reply-to, and the API key from that service (the server token for Postmark; for Mailgun also the region and sending domain).
  3. Make sure your domain is authenticated (SPF, DKIM and DMARC) in that service's own dashboard.
  4. Click Send test on the provider row. The first successful test marks it Verified. Click Set as default if you want new campaigns to use it.

Step 4: Set Your Sending Defaults#

Under Settings → Sending defaults, enter the from name (your business name), the from email (an address at your verified domain) and an optional reply-to. Every new campaign starts with these, and you can still change them per campaign.

Step 5: Build Your List#

  1. Open the Audience tab. On Subscribers, add people with Add subscriber, or bring many in at once with Import CSV.
  2. On Lists, click Create list. Choose Static to pick the people yourself, or Dynamic to include everyone who matches rules (for example a tag or a lifecycle stage).

Only subscribed people receive campaigns, and anyone on the Suppressed list (unsubscribes, bounces and complaints) is always left out.

Step 6: Create the Campaign#

  1. On the Campaigns tab, click New campaign and give it a name.
  2. Under Details, write the subject line and, if you like, the preview text.
  3. Under Sender, choose Managed sending or your connected provider in Send with, and check the from name and from email.
  4. Under Audience, tick the lists to send to. The number of recipients updates as you go.
  5. Design the email in the editor: add blocks such as a heading, text, an image and a button, or start from a template. Click Brand to apply your logo and colors.

Step 7: Test, Then Send#

  1. Click Preview to check the email at desktop and phone sizes.
  2. Click Send test and enter your own address. Open it and check the links and images.
  3. In Schedule, choose Send now, or Schedule with a date and time, and click the button. If something is missing, such as an unverified domain or no sending credit, the editor tells you what before anything is sent.

An unsubscribe link and your organization's postal address are added to the footer automatically.

Step 8: See How It Did#

The Campaigns tab shows delivered, opens and clicks for each campaign, and the Analytics tab compares your recent campaigns. Opens and clicks can also start workflows, for example a follow-up for everyone who clicked.

If Something Goes Wrong#

  • "Managed sending needs sending credit": add a pack under Plans & billing, or choose your own provider under Sender.
  • "… is not verified for sending": finish Step 1 (click Check now once the DNS records are in), or send from an address at a domain that shows Verified.
  • You want to use Gmail or Outlook: campaigns cannot go out through a personal mailbox; use Managed sending or one of the four providers.
  • Nobody on your list can receive it: check that the list has subscribed people who are not suppressed.

For every setting in detail, see Email Marketing & Campaigns.

Was this page helpful?