Send a One-Time Email

Overview

This tutorial sends one email to your subscribers, such as an announcement or an offer. You design the email as a template, then send it with a campaign, either now or at a date and time you choose.

Steps 1 and 2 are needed only once.

1. Set up sending

Go to Features → Email Settings.

1. On the Sending tab, turn on Enable custom email server and connect your provider: SMTP, Amazon SES or Mailgun. Click Send Test Mail to check it. See Email provider.
2. Set up bounce and complaint handling, so addresses that bounce are suppressed.
3. On the Deliverability tab, fix any record marked Missing for the domain you send from.

2. Choose the consent field

Campaigns only go to people who said yes to marketing emails.

1. If you don't have one yet, add a yes/no field such as newsletter in Data Management → User Data → Data Schema, and turn on Email subscription status. See Profile Fields.
2. On the Sending tab of Email Settings, under Marketing consent, choose that field for your project.

3. Design the email

1. Go to Email Management → Email Templates and click New Template.
2. Under Start from, choose Announcement, or Offer for a promotion.
3. Enter a Name, set Type to Marketing and choose the Project.
4. Click a block in the preview to edit it on the right: the headline, text, image and button.
5. Select no block to set the Subject line and Preheader. Personalise them with merge fields, e.g. {{profile.first_name | default:"there"}}.
6. Keep the Footer block with its unsubscribe link. Marketing emails can't be saved without one.
7. Open the Checks tab and fix anything listed under Fix.
8. Enter your address next to Send test and click it. Check the email in your inbox, on desktop and on your phone.
9. Click Save.

See Email Templates for every block and setting.

4. Create the campaign

1. Go to Email Management → Campaigns and click New Campaign.
2. Enter a Name, e.g. Autumn sale, and choose the Project.
3. Under Email, choose the template from step 3. It shows on the right with the project's branding.

5. Choose who receives it

Under Audience:

• All subscribers: everyone in the project who said yes to marketing emails.
• A segment: only the people in a segment, e.g. readers in one country or subscribers to one plan.

The line below shows how many people match now.

6. Choose when

Under When:

• Now: sends as soon as you confirm.
• Once: pick a date and a time, and check the timezone. It is set to yours.

7. Send

1. Click Save draft if you want to come back later. Drafts can still be edited.
2. Click Review and send, or Review and schedule for Once.
3. Check the summary: the email, the number of people and the time. Click Yes.

The campaign can't be edited after this. To change it, cancel it and create a new one.

8. Follow the send

Click the campaign in the list. While it sends, the page updates by itself:

• Progress shows how many emails are sent, with any suppressed or failed ones.
• Once emails are delivered, Delivered, Opened, Clicked, Bounced and Complaints show above the sends.

Need to stop? Click Pause, then Resume to continue, or Cancel to stop for good.

If many emails bounce or are marked as spam, the campaign is paused automatically. See Automatic pause.

Compare it with your other emails in Email Analytics.

Next

• Schedule a recurring email, such as a weekly newsletter.
• Personalise further with Email Merge Tags.