Tips for Sending Email Campaigns

It can be hard to know when you're really ready to send your email campaign, and how to determine the success of that campaign after you send. This all depends on your business, your content, and your audience, so it's not an exact science. But there are some things to pay attention to before and after you send that can help your campaign performance.

In this article, you'll find recommendations that can help you get the most out of your email marketing.

Before you send

We know pressing that Send button can be intimidating, no matter how many times you've sent to your audience. It can help calm your nerves if you know you've done everything you can to ensure a successful campaign.

Here are some things to check before you send an email campaign.

Review your audience

Go to the To section of the Campaign Builder to confirm that you're sending to the right people. Make sure you've selected the correct audience and that you have permission to send to those contacts. If you're sending to a segment, review the conditions and subscriber count to make sure you've set up your segment correctly.

Getting Started with Segments
The Importance of Permission

Review your campaign setup

Make sure you’ve set up your email campaign properly. Review your subject line, campaign information, tracking options, and social share settings in the Campaign Builder. Turn on Conversations in the Settings & Tracking section if you want to track replies, or make sure you have access to the From email address to receive direct replies to your campaign.

Best Practices for Email Subject Lines
Additional Tracking Options for Campaigns

Proof Your Content

In the Content section of the Campaign Builder, click Edit Design to proofread your campaign content one more time before you send. Review the text for typos, make sure images are the correct size and include alt text, and check for any spammy words or phrases that might affect your campaign delivery. If you're using merge tags in your campaign, review the default values in your audience.

After you've checked all of this yourself, we recommend you ask a friend or colleague to look over your campaign, as well.

Set Default Merge Values
About Spam Filters
Upload, Add, and Edit Images in Campaigns
Collaborate on Campaigns

Check for broken links

Double-check that all the links in your campaign are valid and point to the correct URLs. Use our built in Link Checker to scan for broken links, and click each link yourself to make sure they point to the URL you want. Make sure you've included the required unsubscribe link in your campaign.

Why We Require an Unsubscribe Link

Preview and test

After you've thoroughly checked your audience, setup, and content, use our preview and testing tools to make sure your campaign displays as expected. If you're a paid user, try our Inbox Preview tool to see what your campaign will look like in different email clients.

Preview and Test Your Email Campaign
Email Campaign Testing Tips
Test with Inbox Preview

Send your campaign

Crossed all your t's and dotted all your i's? Great! After you've completed this checklist, you're ready to hit that Send button. To learn how, checkout Create a Campaign.

After you send

It's important to evaluate your campaign statistics after every campaign you send, so you can determine how the performance of a campaign compares to what's normal for your organization. Use your campaign reports, stats overview, and audience dashboard to track trends and return on investment (ROI) over time. Although this won't help you improve your sent campaign, it'll give you the data you need to make informed email marketing decisions in the future.

About Email Campaign Reports
All About Audience Stats

Here are some things to consider as you evaluate your sent campaigns.

Monitor deliveries

After you've given your subscribers a few hours to respond to your campaign, it's a good idea to monitor delivery in your campaign report. If you notice a large number of emails aren't being delivered, your campaigns may be getting blocked by firewalls or spam filters.

About Spam Filters
My subscribers aren't receiving my campaigns.

Track engagement

Monitor your engagement for each campaign, as well as engagement over time, to get a sense of how your content resonates with your subscribers. Consider statistics like opens, clicks, forwards, and social performance. Connect your store to track additional statistics like total orders and revenue.

About Open and Click Rates

Determine top locations and send time

Pay attention to the top locations in your campaign reports and audience dashboard to see which regions respond best to your content. If you've sent your campaigns at different times, determine if there's a particular time of day that seems to get the most opens, clicks, and purchases.

About Email Campaign Reports
About the Audience Dashboard

Assess your revenue

If you have a connected store and track your e-commerce activity, or include products in your campaigns, we'll show you your sales in your campaign reports. Use this information to assess your ROI and inform future campaign decisions.

View Revenue from Email Campaigns

Monitor unsubscribes and bounces

Monitor your bounces and unsubscribes over time so you can intervene if there are issues with your audience, campaign content, or delivery. If you notice a lot of unsubscribes, your permission may have gone stale, or something in your campaign content could have caused more people to unsubscribe.

If you notice high a high bounce rate on a campaign, we'll store bounce reasons in your campaign report for 30 days after you've sent. Each bounced email typically includes an "SMTP Reply" that explains why the message bounced.

When Email Addresses Go Stale
View Bounce Reasons
Soft vs. Hard Bounces