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Creating an email campaign

At Brevo we decided to update the campaign creation flow to create your email campaign in an easy and visual way. In this article, we will see how to create, design, and schedule your email campaign with the new campaign creation flow

Before you start

📝 Create your campaign

  1. Go to Campaigns > Email.
  2. Click Create an email campaign.
  3. The Create an email campaign page opens.
    Stay on the Regular tab and fill in the relevant information: 
    1. Write a Campaign name that will help you find it easily in the list of your campaigns.
      This name will only be visible to you.
    2. Click Create campaign.
      create-campaign_EN-US.png
💡 Good to know
If you want to create an A/B test campaign, see Create A/B test email campaigns.

⚙️ Configure your campaign

You can now add sending details just like if you were sending a simple email using the From, To and Subject sections.

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From: choose a sender

To allow your recipients to quickly identify your company, choose which email address and name will appear in their mailbox when they receive your campaign:

  1. Click Add from.
    add-from_EN-US.png
  2. Leave the Email address field as-is or select from the drop-down list the email address from which you want your recipients to receive your email. By default, the email address will be the one used for your Brevo account.
    If you want to create a new sender for your campaign, click + Add a new sender.
  3. Leave the Name field as is or type in the name you want to display in your recipients' email client. By default, the name of the sender is your company name.
    Make sure to write a name that will help your recipients identify your company and that builds trust to generate more openings. To learn more, check our dedicated article to learn how to personalize your From name with contact attributes
  4. Optional: Click Advanced options to modify the Reply-To Email address and the 'To' field.
    For more information, go to Advanced options below. 
  5. Click Save.
    from-configure_EN-US.png

 

Advanced options

By clicking Advanced options you can customize the information your recipients will see regarding your reply-to email address and addressee field:

  • Customize the Reply-To Email address
    The default value is [DEFAULT_REPLY_TO] which is your Brevo email address but you can override it by putting another email address where you want to receive your contacts' replies.
    If you want to permanently change your default Reply-To Email address, go to Campaigns > Settings > Default Settings > Default campaign Settings.
  • Customize the 'To' Field
    The default value is [DEFAULT_TO] which is your recipient's email address but you can override it with your contact attributes.
    For example, type {{ contact.FIRSTNAME }} {{ contact.LASTNAME }} to populate the 'To' field with your recipient's first and last name so that instead of receiving an email addressed to 'john.smith@myisp.com', your contact will receive an email addressed to 'John Smith'.

To: choose recipients

Start by choosing who you want to send your email campaign to:

  1. Click Add recipients.
    add-recipients_EN-US.png
  2. From the Send to option you can either click:
    Lists Segments
    Stay on the Lists tab and from the Select a list drop-down list, select the lists that contain the contacts you want to send your email to. To filter your lists, you can click All folders and choose the folder that contains the lists of contacts you need or type the name of your list in the Search a list bar. You can also choose to Don't send to unengaged contacts who are segmented based on criteria that you can customize in your Contacts settings
    to-lists_EN-US.gif

    Optional: Click Advanced options to filter the contacts from your selected lists. 
    For more information, go to Advanced options below. 
  3. Click Save
💡 Good to know
At the bottom of the To section, you have an overview of how many recipients will receive this email campaign and the number of remaining emails you have. Make sure you have enough remaining email credits to send your campaign according to your Pricing plan.
Otherwise you will have to requeue your email campaign when your credits are available again. 

Advanced options

💡 Good to know
The Advanced options are only available in the Lists tab.

Don't send to 

Click Advanced options to show the Don't send to option. You will be able to select contact lists you don't want to send your campaign to. The campaign will be sent to all selected contacts except those in the lists marked with the ❌ symbol.

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❗️ Important
If a contact in your recipient list is also in your exclusion list, they will not receive the campaign.

Add a condition

This option works exactly like segmentation. Click + Add a condition to filter very precisely which contacts you want to send your campaign to based on their attributes. You can set as many conditions as you want. There are two types of conditions you can use to filter your contacts:

  • In the Properties tab, you can set a condition based on your contacts' attributes such as their birth date or subscription status.
  • In the Events tab, you can set a condition based on events tracked from the previous emails you sent to your contacts such as if they have opened them or unsubscribed from them. 
➡️ For example
If you want to send your email only to customers who have opened at least one of your emails, select from the Events tab the They have opened an email condition. Then choose Any type of email at least 1 time over all time

Subject

Add a subject to your campaign email to allow your recipients to quickly know what your email campaign is about and attract their attention:

  1. Click Add subject
    add-subject_EN-US.png
  2. In the Subject Line field, clearly describe your email content in a few words. 
    The subject line is the first content that your recipients will see in their inbox.
  3. In the Preview text field, type a short and attractive text (about 35 characters) that gives an overview of the content of your email. 
    This text will be displayed in your recipients' inbox, just below the subject line. This feature is supported by most email clients. 
    subject-configure_EN-US.png
  4. Optional: Click 👤 to personalize your campaign email and insert one of your recipients' attributes in the Subject Line or Preview text field.
    In the pop-up window, choose from the drop-down list the attribute you would like to use, and in the text field type a default value to insert if your contact's attribute is empty. Click Insert and drag and drop the attribute anywhere in the text fields.
    insert-personalization_EN-US.gif
  5. Click Save.

🖌 Design your campaign

This step requires the most work and creativity but has the biggest payoff: this is where you design your email's content. Your email is rendered using responsive design, so the display can automatically adapt to any platform: smartphone, tablet, or computer. 
In the Design section of the new campaign creation flow, click Design email to be redirected to the Drag & Drop Editor where you can design your campaign.

💡 Good to know
Set up your Brand Library so that every new template you select will inherit your brand properties, such as logo, colors, fonts, and social media links. In addition to saving you time, Brand Library allows you to maintain consistent email branding. To learn more, check our dedicated article Automatically design your emails with your brand's assets using the Brand Library.

Search for the template you need in the different tabs: Layouts, Template Gallery, My templates, Campaigns or Code your own .

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You can either choose an existing template, import one that aligns with your branding, or create a new one from scratch.
Hover your mouse over each template and click Preview to see what they look like and click Use template once you have chosen the one you want to use.

❗️ Important
We highly recommend non-HTML experts to use templates and the Drag & Drop Editor to produce an email with a professional finish. 
See the series of tutorials on the Drag & Drop Editor for more information.

Refer to the table below to understand the different tabs available:

Tab Description

Layouts

This tab contains layouts that offer various email campaign designs: you can choose any template and fill in the content boxes or create a new layout from scratch by choosing Start from scratch

Template Gallery 

This tab contains already designed templates organized in different categories that you can choose according to your campaign goal or subject: Anniversary, Special Offer, Reminder...

My Templates

This tab contains your previous templates created from past email campaigns.

Campaigns 

This tab contains the previous campaigns you designed.

Code your own

This tab allows you to create your own template. According to your needs and knowledge, choose one of the following options: 

  • Rich text editor 
    Use this option to create a text-only email with plain text or text styled with WYSIWYG tools. This tool does not require HTML knowledge but the design result is very basic.
  • Pasting your code 
    If your HTML code is already available, you can simply paste it into this editor. We only recommend this option if your code was created by a design professional. To learn more, check our dedicated article Upload an HTML file to design your campaign.

🕹️ Advanced Settings

Advanced Settings allow you to bring your email campaign design to another level. For example, you can add an attachment to your campaign, embed images, or customize the mirror link. 

The Advanced settings are at the very bottom of the new campaign creation flow and are optional. You can choose to add them to your email campaign by clicking on Edit settings.  
There are three Advanced settings categories available: Newsletter settings, Subscription settings, and Design settings

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Newsletter settings

  • Activate Google Analytics Tracking
    Check this box to activate Google Analytics tracking for your campaign. The UTM Campaign value is by default the campaign name that you defined earlier but you can override it to Customize UTM Campaign Value if needed.
    For more information, see Integrating Google Analytics with your Brevo account
  • Embed images in the email
    Check this box to insert images directly into your email. It is not required to display images in your emails, it only determines the method used for displaying images.
    ❗️ Important
    It is not recommended to check this box: The embedded images will display in the email as attachments which could make the email larger and not supported by all email clients. Remember that the total size of your newsletter must be less than 4MB (email and attachments included).
  • Add an attachment
    Check this box and click Select a file to add an attachment to your email.
    Please note that you can add only one attachment and that it must be less than 4 MB.
    💡 Good to know
    Accepted file types: ics, xlsx, xls, ods, docx, doc, csv, pdf, txt, gif, jpg, jpeg, png, tif, tiff, rtf, msg, pub, mobi, ppt, pptx, eps.
  • Add a Tag
    Add a descriptive Tag to your campaign to enable quick searches on your email campaigns list. 

Subscription settings

  • Use a custom unsubscribe page
    Recipients can unsubscribe to your newsletter by clicking on the unsubscribe link from your email campaign. The Brevo unsubscribe page is available by default to your recipients but you can check this box to select a customized one from the list. You can also create one by clicking on + Create a new unsubscribe page from the list. 
    For more information, see Customize an unsubscribe page to integrate into your email campaigns.
  • Use an update profile form
    Recipients can update their profile information by clicking on the update profile form from your email campaign. The Brevo update profile form is available by default to your recipients but you can check this box to select a customized one from the list. You can also create one by clicking on + Create a new update profile form from the list. 
    For more information, see Update your subscribers' details and preferences (Update Profile form).

Design settings

  • Edit default header and edit default footer
    The pages header and footer contain by default the mirror link (to display the email in a web browser) and the unsubscribe link, respectively.
    Update this field to override your default header/footer with a custom one. 
  • Enable Mirror Links
    This setting is recommended if you don't have mirror link in your message content. A mirror link allows visitors to view the campaign in their web browser.

For more information on how to customize these items, see Insert a View in browser (mirror) link in your campaigns and Insert an unsubscribe link in your campaigns.

🚀 Finalize your campaign

Once you've completed all the previous steps, you are ready to test and send your campaign. You will find in the top-right corner of your screen three options: Preview & Test, and Schedule.

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❗️ Important
We highly recommend to Preview & Test your campaign before scheduling it. This step will allow you to receive the campaign in your inbox or the ones of your colleagues to have an idea of what it will look like to your recipients and spot possible errors. 
For more information, see Preview and send a test email.

Once your email campaign is sent to all your recipients, you will receive a confirmation email on your account address email. 

Preview & Test

This option allows you to review your entire campaign before planning to send it. You will be able to see how a given customer will see your campaign when receiving it and you can also enter a testing address (such as yours or colleagues') to send a test.
For more information, see Preview and send a test email.

Schedule

Once you have reviewed your campaign details one last time and are ready to send it, you can click Schedule
There are three schedule options:

  • Send now
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If your campaign is ready and you don't want to wait, choose the Send now option and click Send Now
Your campaign will appear under the Sent tab in your Email campaigns list. 

  • Schedule
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Schedule your campaign at a precise date and time. Choose the Schedule option and select from the drop-down lists an appropriate Date and Time to send your campaign. Click Schedule to queue your campaign.
Your campaign will first appear under the Scheduled tab in your Email campaigns list. Once sent, it will appear under the Sent tab. 

  • Best time
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❗️ Important
This option is only available from the Business plan

Choose the Best time option and select a date from the drop-down list. Brevo will use data science to determine when your contacts are most likely to engage and will send your emails at that time. Click Send at the best time to queue your campaign. 
For more information on how to send your campaign at the best time, see Send Time Optimization.
Your campaign will first appear under the Scheduled tab in your Email campaigns list. Once sent, it will appear under the Sent tab.

⏭️ What's next?

🤔 Have a question?

If you have a question, feel free to contact our support team by creating a ticket from your account. If you don't have an account yet, you can contact us here.