Campaigns

Campaigns

What is a Campaign?

A campaign is a batch of email messages sent to your subscribers. Common examples include product launch announcements, weekly newsletters, promotional offers, or transactional notifications. Each campaign uses a template and targeting rules to deliver consistent, personalized messages at scale.

Before You Start

You'll need three things set up before creating your first campaign:

  1. An email service — Configure at least one email provider (e.g., SendGrid, Mailgun) in your email services settings. This is where your emails will actually be sent from.
  2. A subscriber list — Add the people you want to email to your subscribers database.
  3. An email template (recommended) — Create a reusable template with your branding, layout, and content structure. While optional, templates make campaigns much faster and more consistent.

Tip: Start with a simple template if you're new to campaigns. You can always create more sophisticated templates later.

Creating a Campaign

Step 1: Navigate to Campaigns

Click Campaigns in the sidebar to view your campaign list, then click the New Campaign button.

Step 2: Fill Out Campaign Details

Campaign Name

A descriptive name for your internal reference only (not seen by subscribers). Examples: "Newsletter - December 2024" or "Holiday Sale Announcement". Choose something that makes it easy to find and identify the campaign later.

Subject Line

The subject line recipients see in their inbox. Keep it clear, compelling, and concise — this often determines whether emails get opened.

You can personalize the subject line using placeholders:

  • {{first_name}} — recipient's first name
  • {{last_name}} — recipient's last name
  • {{email}} — recipient's email address

Example: "Hi {{first_name}}, check out our new products!" becomes "Hi Sarah, check out our new products!"

For more advanced placeholder options, see the Templates documentation.

From Name

The sender name that appears in recipients' inboxes (e.g., "Sarah from Acme Co." or "The Acme Team"). This builds trust and recognition.

From Email

The sender email address. This address must:

  • Be one you own or control
  • Match the email service configuration for the account you've selected
  • Be verified by your email service provider

Email Service

Select which email provider will send this campaign. Make sure you've already configured the service in your email settings.

Template (Optional but Recommended)

Choose a pre-built template to use for this campaign's body content. Using templates ensures consistency and saves time, especially for recurring campaigns.

Tracking Options

Track Opens — Record whether each recipient opened the email. Requires webhooks to be configured for your email service.

Track Clicks — Record which links each recipient clicked. Also requires webhooks. Useful for understanding engagement and click-through rates.

Note: Enable tracking only if you've set up webhooks; otherwise, tracking won't work.

Content (Email Body)

Write the main email message that subscribers will receive. This can be plain text or HTML.

The content supports the same placeholders as the subject line (first_name, last_name, email) plus any custom subscriber attributes you've defined.

Pro tip: Keep your message scannable with short paragraphs, headers, and a clear call-to-action.

Reviewing Your Campaign

Once you've completed the form, click Save and Continue. Your campaign status becomes Draft, and you can review it on the preview page before sending.

Send a Test Email

Before sending to your full subscriber list, always test your campaign:

  1. Enter an email address in the Recipient field (use your own email)
  2. Click Send Test Email
  3. Review how the email renders, check for typos, verify links work, and confirm placeholders are populated correctly

This catches mistakes and ensures your campaign looks professional to recipients.

Sending Your Campaign

Choose Your Recipients

Select who receives this campaign:

  • All subscribers — Send to your entire subscriber database
  • By tags — Send only to subscribers with specific tags (e.g., "Premium Members", "Inactive Users")

Using tags lets you segment your audience and send targeted campaigns.

Schedule Delivery

Choose when the campaign sends:

  • Send immediately — Emails go out right away
  • Schedule for later — Pick a specific date and time for delivery

Scheduling is useful for coordinating campaigns or sending when your audience is most active.

Choose Your Sending Behavior

Select how messages are generated and dispatched:

Queue Draft

  • Generates each email as a draft (one per subscriber)
  • Requires you to manually dispatch each email from the Messages section
  • Best for: Small subscriber lists, complex templates, or campaigns where you want to review each personalized message before sending
  • Not recommended for: Large subscriber lists (too time-consuming)

Send Automatically

  • Generates and sends all emails automatically in the background
  • Best for: Most campaigns, especially large subscriber lists or time-sensitive announcements
  • Requires: Scheduled tasks and queue workers to be configured (see Configuration documentation)

Troubleshooting: If campaigns don't send, verify that scheduled tasks and queue workers are running on your server. See the Configuration documentation for setup details.

After Your Campaign Sends

View Campaign Analytics

Once a campaign has been sent, view performance metrics on the campaign analytics page:

Campaign Analytics Dashboard

Track metrics like:

  • Open rate — Percentage of recipients who opened the email (if tracking enabled)
  • Click rate — Percentage of recipients who clicked links (if tracking enabled)
  • Sent count — Total emails successfully delivered
  • Bounce rate — Emails that failed to deliver

Use these insights to improve future campaigns.

Quick Reference: Campaign Checklist

  • [ ] Email service is configured and verified
  • [ ] Subscribers are added to your database
  • [ ] Template is created (optional but recommended)
  • [ ] Campaign name is descriptive
  • [ ] Subject line is clear and compelling
  • [ ] From name and email are correct
  • [ ] Content is proofread and links are tested
  • [ ] Recipients are correctly targeted (all or by tags)
  • [ ] Schedule is set correctly
  • [ ] Test email sent and reviewed
  • [ ] Sending behavior selected (Queue Draft or Send Automatically)

Next Steps