Writing and Sending a Campaign

A campaign is one email you write and send to your list: a monthly update, an event invitation, a special offer. You build it by stacking simple pieces (a heading, some text, a photo, a button), check how it looks, and then send it or pick a time. Nothing goes out until you press the button.

Start a new campaign

1. Go to Newsletter → Campaigns and click New campaign.
2. Under Name it, type a name for your own reference. Your subscribers never see it; they see the subject line.
3. Under Start from, pick one of these:
   • A blank email
   • One of your saved templates
   • A starter, such as Starter: Announcement, Starter: Event invitation or Starter: Special offer
4. Click Start writing.

Whatever you start from is copied into the campaign, so changing the campaign never changes the template it came from.

Build the email

The editor has three parts: things to add on the left, your email in the middle, and settings on the right.

• Add pieces. Click or drag a piece from Add to your email: Heading, Text, Image, Button, Divider and Space, plus extras like Image & text, Two columns, Offer code and Social links. Under Ready-made sections you will find whole blocks such as Event invitation and Signature & socials.
• Edit a piece. Click it in the email. Small buttons above it let you move it up or down, copy it, or delete it.
• Reuse a piece. With a piece selected, type a name under Save for another email and click Save section. It appears under Saved sections next time.
• Change the look. Open the Design tab on the right. Pick a style under Start with a style (Simple letter, Editorial or Bold announcement); your words and images stay where they are. You can also change colors, the typeface, button shape and spacing. Save as brand defaults makes these the starting look for your list.
• Add someone's name. On the Content tab, click the box you are typing in, then Personalize, and choose First name. If you do not have someone's first name, the email says "there" instead. The preview fills in an example person so you can see how it reads.

Undo and redo buttons sit at the top, and your work saves as you go.

Pictures

Click an image piece, then Choose image to upload one or pick from your Media library. You can upload JPG, PNG or WebP files up to 10 MB each.

Every picture needs a short description for people who cannot see the image, typed into Describe the picture. That covers people using a screen reader and anyone whose email app hides pictures, which is a lot of people. The email will not send until each picture has one. If you add a description to a photo in the media library under Image description, it comes along automatically each time you use that photo.

Subject line and preview text

Open the Settings tab on the right (on a phone, tap Email settings).

• Subject line is what people see first in their inbox.
• Preview text is the grey second line underneath it. It is optional, but it is free polish.

Choose who gets it

Still on the Settings tab, open Audience. By default a campaign goes to everyone on the list who can be emailed. You can narrow it:

• Only people tagged: type a tag to send only to people who have it.
• What kind of email this is: if you use topics, pick one. Anyone who turned that topic off is left out.
• Send to a saved audience: pick a group you saved under Newsletter → Audiences, such as people who joined recently.

The box underneath shows how many people will get this, and why anyone is left out. The count is taken now, and anyone who leaves or changes their choices before it goes out is left out at that moment.

Check how it looks

Use the menu at the top of the editor to switch between Desktop, Phone and Dark mode. Preview email shows the finished email exactly as it will be sent.

Send yourself a test

1. Click Review & send.
2. Under Send yourself a test first, enter up to five email addresses, separated by commas.
3. Click Send a test and check your inbox.

The very first campaign on a list has to be tested before it can be sent or scheduled. That is the one send where a mistake would reach everyone at once, so we ask you to see it in your own inbox first.

Send it or schedule it

The Review your email window shows the subject, who it is from, where replies go, the list, how many people it goes to, and the time zone.

• Click Send now to send it straight away.
• Or pick a date and time under Or schedule it and click Schedule. The time is in your list's time zone, which you can change under Newsletter → Settings, on the General tab.

To change the time of a scheduled campaign, go to Newsletter → Campaigns, click Cancel next to it (it goes back to being a draft and nothing is sent), then open it and schedule it again. A campaign that has already started going out cannot be stopped.

If it will not let you send

When something needs fixing, the review window lists it under Fix these first and the send buttons stay greyed out. Here is what each message means:

Message	What to do
This campaign has no subject line.	Add one on the Settings tab.
One of your images has no description.	Click the picture and fill in Describe the picture.
Your list has no postal address.	The law asks for one in every marketing email. Add it under Newsletter → Settings, on the General tab. See Sender Details, Postal Address and Brand.
A button has no link on it.	Click the button and give it a web address, or delete it.
No sending address is set.	Choose one under Newsletter → Settings, on the General tab.
We cannot send from (address) yet.	That address is not one of your verified newsletter addresses. See Your Newsletter Address.
Your newsletter address is still being set up.	We are finishing the checks. It usually takes a few minutes.
That address is for your everyday mail, not newsletters.	Choose your newsletter address instead, so a big send never affects your receipts and other everyday mail.
Nobody on this list can be emailed right now.	Add subscribers, or check the tag or audience you picked matches someone.
This email is empty.	Add something from the left.

Under Worth a look you may also see suggestions that will not stop the send: no preview text, an email that is almost all picture, a subject line in capitals or with "!!", or a link starting with http instead of https. Each one comes with the fix.

If you see a message that is not listed here, open a ticket and a real person will sort it out with you.

After it goes out

Sent campaigns move to the Sent tab. Click Report to see how it did (see Reading Your Newsletter Reports), or Duplicate to start a new one from it.

Templates

If you send the same kind of email often, save it as a template: click Save as template in the editor, and find it under Newsletter → Templates. A template never goes out on its own. Click Use template to start a campaign from it, then choose who gets it and when. The Starters on that page are ready-made layouts with example words in them; click Start from this to make one your own.

Deleting a draft

Click Delete next to a draft in Campaigns. If the email is used in a follow-up sequence or as your welcome email, you will need to replace it there first. See Automatic Follow-up Emails.