Creating and Sending an Email Campaign
How to design email templates, build campaigns, choose your audience, and send or schedule — your complete guide to email marketing.
Creating and Sending an Email Campaign
Whether you're announcing a new retreat, sending a monthly newsletter, or promoting a coaching package — email campaigns are one of the most effective ways to reach your clients. This guide walks you through everything from designing your email to hitting send.
Understanding templates vs campaigns
Before we dive in, here's the key concept: templates are reusable designs (like a blueprint), and campaigns are the actual emails you send using those templates.
You design a template once — with your logo, colours, layout — and then reuse it every time you send a campaign. This saves you from designing from scratch each time.
Step 1: Check your email statistics
Before creating a new campaign, it's worth seeing how your previous emails performed. Go to Marketing → Emails → Statistics. Watch this step (0:18)
Key metrics to know:
- Open rate — percentage of people who opened your email. Above 40% is great for a wellness business
- Bounce rate — emails that couldn't be delivered (keep this below 2%)
- Unsubscribes — people who opted out. A few per campaign is normal
Step 2: Create an email template
Templates live under Marketing → Emails → Templates. This is where all your email designs are stored and managed. Watch this step (0:46)
Click New to create a template. You have several options: Watch this step (1:33)
- Built with AI — let the AI generate a template based on your description
- From an existing campaign — reuse a design from a campaign you've already sent
- Email marketing templates — pick from pre-built designs
- Blank template — start from scratch
- Import from another platform — bring templates from MailChimp, ActiveCampaign, etc.
Starting from a pre-built template is usually the fastest option. Pick one close to what you want, then customise it with your own content, colours, and images.
Step 3: Design your email
Once you're in the editor, you'll use the Design Editor — a visual drag-and-drop builder. If you've used MailChimp before, this will feel familiar. Watch this step (2:21)
Adding content blocks
Click Add Elements in the top left to drag in content blocks: images, text, buttons, logos, dividers, and more. Watch this step (3:10)
Choosing a layout
Start by adding a layout — this controls how many columns your section has. Then drag content blocks into those columns. Watch this step (3:40)
When you click on any element, the right panel shows all its settings: image source, link, alt text, padding (the space around it), and visibility (show on mobile only, desktop only, or both).
Rearranging and editing elements
Hover over any block and you'll see a toolbar. You can:
- Drag it to move it up or down
- Duplicate it to create a copy
- Delete it
- Save it as a reusable section for future emails
Saving sections for reuse
If you create a section you love (like a header or footer), save it so you can reuse it in future emails. Click the save icon on the section's toolbar. Watch this step (7:13)
Find your saved sections anytime in the Saved Items tab (top left of the editor). Just drag them into any future email.
Adjusting the overall look
The Appearance tab (top left) controls global settings for the entire email: background colour, content width, default button style, link colours, and typography. Watch this step (8:15)
Set up your brand colours and fonts once in Brand Boards, and they'll be available every time you create an email. No more guessing your exact shade of blue.
Personalising with dynamic fields
Want your email to say "Hey Sarah" instead of "Hey there"? Use dynamic fields. Watch this step (16:25)
Click the Custom Values button (top right of the text editor) and select the field you want — like the contact's first name. When the email is sent, each person sees their own name automatically.
Step 4: Test your email
Before sending to anyone, always send yourself a test email. Watch this step (10:12)
Save your template
Click Save Template to make sure your latest changes are saved.
Send a test email
Click the three dots menu → Test Email → enter your email address → Send Test Email.
Check it on your phone
Open the test email on both your computer and your phone. What looks perfect on a big screen can sometimes look off on mobile.
Never skip the test email. What looks perfect in the editor can sometimes look different in an actual inbox — especially on mobile.
Step 5: Create a campaign
Now that your template is ready, turn it into a campaign. Go to Marketing → Emails → Campaigns and click New. Watch this step (11:42)
Select the template you just designed. You can still make final tweaks before sending.
Step 6: Configure sending options
Click Send or Schedule to choose how your campaign goes out. Watch this step (12:33)
Step 7: Choose your recipients
This is where you decide who receives the email. Watch this step (14:10)
You can send to:
- A smart list — like "Newsletter Subscribers" or "Past Retreat Guests" (most common). Learn about smart lists
- Specific tags — send to everyone with a certain label
- Individual contacts — manually pick specific people
- A custom segment — build a filter on the spot
Smart lists are the best option. If you've set up a "Newsletter" smart list, just select it — new subscribers are automatically included, and people who unsubscribe are automatically excluded.
Bonus options
- Auto-resend — automatically resend to people who didn't open the first time, with a delay you choose (e.g., 24 hours later)
- Auto-tagging — add a tag to anyone who interacts with this campaign (useful for tracking engagement)
- Link tracking — see which links people click
Step 8: Check your spam score and send
Before hitting send, check the spam score on the right side of the screen. Keep it in the green zone. Watch this step (15:42)
Tips to keep your spam score low:
- Avoid ALL CAPS in your subject line
- Don't overuse exclamation marks
- Avoid spammy words like "FREE", "ACT NOW", "LIMITED TIME"
- Keep a good balance of text and images (don't send an email that's just one big image)
- The unsubscribe link is added automatically — never remove it
When everything looks good, click Review and Send (or Schedule). Watch this step (17:30)
Quick reference
| What you want to do | Where to find it |
|---|---|
| View email performance | Marketing → Emails → Statistics |
| Design a reusable template | Marketing → Emails → Templates → New |
| Send a campaign | Marketing → Emails → Campaigns → New |
| Test an email before sending | Template editor → ⋮ → Test Email |
| Send to a specific group | Campaign → Recipients → select a Smart List |
| Schedule for later | Campaign → Send/Schedule → Schedule |
| Personalise with names | Text editor → Custom Values (top right) |
| Add urgency | Use a Countdown Timer |
What to read next
Managing Your Email List
View, segment, and clean your email contacts.
Brand Boards
Set up your brand colours and voice for consistent emails.
Countdown Timers
Add urgency to your emails with ticking countdown clocks.
This feature is part of our Growth Tools package. Interested in adding it to your setup? Send Korneel a message on Slack and we'll walk through whether it's a good fit for your business.
Need help? If you get stuck, send Korneel a message on Slack and we'll sort it out together.
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