Instruction: How to Send an Email Campaign in Mailchimp
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In this article, we are going to learn how to send single campaigns via Mailchimp. We'll be talking about regular one-time emails that are sent manually: e.g., promo emails, emails with some useful information, notifications, and so on. They are designated as Regular Campaign in the system.
It's easy to find campaigns in Mailchimp — they are the fourth point on the left menu.
Thus, you will open a list of all sent campaigns. They are sorted by type.
Emails of all types will be kept in this section: emails, automations, landing pages, a/b tests. Click the Create Campaign button in the upper right corner to create a new campaign. Select Create an Email.
Next, choose the email type and the campaign name. Email types are
Now we are sending a regular email, so, choose the Regular option. We'll touch upon other types next time. You type the campaign name for yourself, to find the email in the general list. The subscribers won't see this information.
It's better to create a system for campaign name building right away. The email on the screenshot is called "promo_10.07.2021", i.e. we've designated its type and date sent. A systematic approach will help us easily find our way around the folder when there will be a great deal of campaigns.
In January 2018, Mailchimp updated the campaign setup interface. Now, we have something resembling a desktop with the email setup process on it.
Let's examine each point.
At this point, you'll be suggested to import contacts to create an audience, if you don't have any, or to choose from your audiences. You can import a CSV file or enter contacts manually. Check out our Mailchimp first steps guide to learn how to import your audience in every little detail.
At this point, we choose the audience or the segment to which we are sending the campaign. There are three options here:
On the screenshot, we've selected the whole audience. There is also an option "Personalize the 'To' field" at this step. With its help, we will be able to substitute a name into the "To" field. It will look this way in the email client:
There are several personalization options:
In fact, Mailchimp substitutes these tags with the data from the contact profile. Use this option if you are sure the subscribers' names are in the ESP. After everything is filled out, click the Save button. If everything is alright, you'll see a checkmark.
If there is some error, a red cross will appear instead of a checkmark. There can be no critical errors on these stages. You've probably just missed filling out some fields.
At this stage, we fill out the information for the "From" field. There are only two fields here: the sender's name and their address.
It's important to verify your sender address: this is how you can prove to Mailchimp that your address is really yours.
At this stage, we set up the subject and the preheader of the email.
Preheader is the text, which is displayed in the inbox right after the subject. It complements and strengthens (if used properly) the subject line and gives the user additional info on the content of the email.
You don't have to fill out the preheader. If you still want to do it, you'd better not completely rely on this function in Mailchimp: it might not work if you have your own HTML layout. In such cases, it's easier and safer to write the preheader in the code itself. Paste it right after the <body> tag, as it is shown on the screenshot. Keep in mind that if you don't type any preheader at all, the first words from the email will go right after the subject (including the images' alt texts).
You can run some tests to check how the preheader works.
Before working with content you will be suggested to choose between Classic Builder and New Builder. For this article, we used Classic Builder.
The most important part of setting up an email is its content. This is the step where we create the email itself. There are four main ways of doing it:
a) via drag & drop editor;
b) via themes;
c) with the help of a ready-made HTML layout;
d) with the help of ready-made templates.
Newbies often create their first emails with the help of a drag & drop pattern. It's convenient as you don't need comprehensive knowledge of HTML layout. To create an email in a drag & drop editor, select the Layouts section in the Templates point.
You'll be offered to choose from an arrangement of email elements:
Choose the template and click Next in the lower right corner. Two windows will show up: the right one will have block types (Text, Image, Code, and so on), the left one will have something resembling a desktop where we can move the blocks, building our email. To edit a block click on it in the left window. The editing interface will show up in the right one. We will have different editing options depending on the block type. For example, if it is a button, we will be able to change its size, color, text, link. And if it's just text, you'll see a simple text editor.
It's a convenient way of creating emails in Mailchimp if you don't have an opportunity to work with an HTML layout. You can also edit the background color and style of the footer in the drag & drop editor. To do so, go to the Style tab in the right window and choose the part of the email you want to change. For example, if it's the footer, you need to choose the Footer block. You can edit its borders and background color and set up every part of the email this way.
Themes are another variant of creating an email in the Templates tab. Basically, it is a set of pre-built templates. We can choose a design and edit it as we wish.
It's possible to set up and edit not only blocks but also the entire email design. For example, the background, header, and body color. It is done in the same Design tab. Theme editing goes the same way as template setting up in the drag & drop editor. The only difference is that we already have a ready-made theme that can be slightly changed. And we still get a similar, but beautiful email without spending much time and effort.
If you already have an HTML layout of an email, then it won't be much of a challenge to upload it into Mailchimp. Choose the option 'Code your own'. Now we can choose the code uploading method. In most cases, you'll need to choose Paste in code. There is an option to upload the code from a zip archive, but it's a pretty rare thing. Then go to the code uploading screen. Paste it into the right part of the window and preview in the left one. Note: this option is available for the paid accounts only (starting with Standard).
The preview mode will show you what the email will generally look like, but it won't tell you anything about its adaptivity. If there are some mistakes in the code, they may not be displayed here. This is why we have to test the email. Choose Preview and Test → Send a test mail in the upper right corner. Enter the email address for the test. There is an Enter the preview mode function in the same menu. It will allow viewing the email on desktop and mobile devices within the Mailchimp interface. But don't fully rely on it and always test your messages on real email addresses.
We can create templates with the methods examined before — via a drag & drop editor or a layout. After that, we just save the template and are able to use it for future campaigns.
Templates can be saved in the Templates tab in the main menu and found in the Saved Templates tab.
When you will be setting up the email design before sending it, you'll probably notice that Mailchimp adds its footer to it.
Even if you don't see it in the preview mode, subscribers will still get an email with this additional footer. It consists of two parts:
There are Sending & Tracking settings at the very bottom.
Here we can choose what actions to track. For standard sending, the default settings will be enough. If you need the open and click rate from Mailchimp, you can just skip this menu, all the needed checkboxes are already set on.
Let's examine every point in a bit more detail:
After we've uploaded, set up, and tested the email, the only thing left is to send it. There are two buttons in the upper right corner: Schedule and Send. If you click Send, the email will be sent immediately. With Schedule, the email is sent at the stated date and time that you choose or you can send the email to every subscriber when they're active. Keep in mind that scheduled sending is available for paid accounts only. There is also a Send with Time Warp option that sends emails, taking subscribers' time zones into account. But this function is also for paid accounts only.
To set the time zone, click Edit near the time settings. When setting a time zone, you can also set the Date/time format. These points are only applied to reports.
If everything is set right, a jolly monkey will tell you that everything's great.
If you are sending an email right now, just confirm the sending.
That's it, your email has been sent. Congratulations!