How to create an email campaign?

Creating an email campaign

In this article, we will see how to create, design, and schedule your email campaign with the Brevo's new campaign creation flow.

📝 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.

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

From: choose a sender

1. Click Add from or Edit from.
   
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. 
   
   👉 Good to know: To permanently change the [DEFAULT_FROM_NAME], go to Campaigns > Settings > Default Settings > Default campaign Settings.
   
   
4. Optional: Click Advanced options to modify the Reply-To Email address and the 'To' field.
5. Click Save.
   

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   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.
   
2. From the Send to option you can either click: Lists or Segments
   1. You can stay on the Lists tab and choose the folder that contains the lists of contacts you need and select them, or type the name of your list in the Search bar. 
      
      
      
   2. Or you can click the Segment tab and choose the folder that contains the segments of contacts you need and select them, or type the name of your segment in the Search bar. 
      
3. 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. 
4. Optional: Click Advanced options to filter the contacts from your selected lists and segments. 
5. Click Save. 

Advanced options

Don't send to 

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

Add a condition

This option works exactly like segmentation. To filter very precisely which contacts you want to send your campaign to based on their attributes, you can:

Select a saved segment, or Click + Add a filter. You can set as many conditions as you want.

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. 
   
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.
   
    

   👉 Good to know: Use artifical intelligence (AI) to generate a catchy subject line for you in a few seconds with our integrated AI, the Brevo AI assistant. 

    
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.
   
   
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.
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.

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.

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

🕹️ 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. 

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 only if you need to insert your images as attachments rather than directly within the email content. 

❗️ Important: We do not recommend checking this box if you have several images in your campaign design as this may not be supported by some email clients and may increase the size of your email beyond the 5MB limit. If your email exceeds the limit of 5MB it cannot be scheduled.

• 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.

🚀 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

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

1 - 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.

2 - Schedule

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

- Send now:

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 for later:

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. 

- Send at best time:

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.

- Send in batches:

This option is only available from the BrevoPlus plan. The send in batches option cannot be used for A/B Test email campaigns and to warm up your dedicated IP.  

The Send in batches option allows you to send your email campaign in multiple batches and at a specific interval of time. By pacing the delivery of your email campaigns, you can strategically control traffic spikes and prevent potential overload on your website.

❗️ Important: Once your campaign is scheduled with the Send in batches option, its settings are frozen. A campaign sent in batches can only be suspended or requeued, but its settings cannot be edited. Only contacts who enter the recipient lists or segments selected before the first batch is sent will receive it. Contacts, who enter these lists or segments after the first batch has been sent, will not be able to receive it, even if the campaign has been scheduled a week in advance.

To send your campaign in batches:

1. Select the Send in batches option and select a date from the drop-down list.
2. Choose a Time at which you want to send the first batch of email campaigns. 
3. From the Send in drop-down list, choose in how many batches you want to send your email campaign. You can send a maximum of 10 batches. 
4. From the Time between two batches drop-down list, choose the time interval to be respected between the sending of each of your email campaign batches. You can set a maximum of 2 hours of interval between each batch. Your campaign will be paused during this interval. 
   
   
   ➡️  For example: If you schedule your email campaign tomorrow at 2 p.m. and choose to send in 3 batches every 2 hours, the last batch will be sent tomorrow at 6 p.m. All your selected segments and lists of recipients will have received your campaign.