Overview
Once you finish designing your newsletter in Emma, you can follow this guide to preview, test, and schedule or send your newsletter (also referred to in Emma as a campaign).
Example checklist
Here is an example checklist to help you evaluate whether your newsletter is ready to send. Once a newsletter has been sent, you cannot unsend it.
Checklist when reviewing your newsletter
Tasks for previewing or viewing a test email
- Proofread your text one last time
- Check that all links are correct and working
- Add alt text for any images (in case the images do not load or a recipient is using a screen reader)
Tasks when filling out the sending settings
- Verify that the sender address is correct
- Verify that the subject line is correct (especially if you used a different subject for your test email)
- Verify that you selected the correct groups to receive the newsletter
- Verify that the signup form linked in the footer is the correct one
Video guide
The following video provides a walkthrough of the written instructions in this guide:
Previewing a newsletter
To preview a newsletter, click Preview in the upper right. You can switch between desktop, tablet, and mobile modes, or set a custom size. Since you are previewing the newsletter in your browser, its appearance here may differ from how it actually appears within email clients (for instance, in Outlook Client for desktop or the Gmail app for mobile devices).
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Sending a test email
We recommend sending yourself a test, to get a more accurate sense of how the newsletter will appear in an email client. Test emails can be especially useful if you are using personalization tags, which appear as bracketed text in preview mode.
In the steps below, we explain how to send a test newsletter to yourself, but you can also set up a test group (a mailing list just for testing purposes).
Quick guide
- Click Send test in the upper right.
- Fill out the required fields (you may have to scroll down to see all fields):
- To
- From
- Subject
- Signup form
- Click Send test.
- The test is emailed to you.
Detailed guide (with screenshots)
- Click Send test in the upper right.
- Fill out the required fields (you may have to scroll down to see all fields):
- To
- From
- Subject
- Signup form
- Click Send test.
- The test is emailed to you.
Scheduling and sending a newsletter
Once the newsletter has been finalized, you can review it and then schedule or send it. If you select the option to send the newsletter immediately, you will not be able to unsend it, but if you schedule the newsletter for a future date and time, you can still change that date and time if needed.
Quick guide
- Click Review in the upper right.
- Click each section to fill it in:
- Send time: You can send the newsletter immediately, or schedule it for a later date and time.
- Audience: Select one or more groups to receive the newsletter.
- Subject: Automatically populated from your test email settings but can be edited.
- From: The sender name and address for the newsletter. Any replies will go to this address.
- Advanced: If you created a custom signup form, you can select that instead of the default option.
- If you need to revise the newsletter, click Edit email on the left.
- Click Review & send.
- Review your settings, and click Send campaign.
Detailed guide (with screenshots)
- Click Review in the upper right.
- Click each section to fill it in:
- Send time: You can send the newsletter immediately, or schedule it for a later date and time.
- Audience: Select one or more groups to receive the newsletter.
- Subject: Automatically populated from your test email settings but can be edited.
- From: The sender name and address for the newsletter. Any replies will go to this address.
- Advanced: If you created a custom signup form, you can select that instead of the default option.
- If you need to revise the newsletter, click Edit email on the left.
- Click Review & send.
- Review your settings, and click Send campaign.
Next steps: analytics and troubleshooting
Analytics
Once your newsletter sends, we recommend waiting a few days before reviewing the newsletter's analytics. You can use this information to help you refine your subject lines and newsletter content, or simply to get a better understanding of how recipients engaged with the newsletter.
These analytics usually update within a few minutes after a newsletter is opened or clicked, and you can access them for up to 18 months.
Troubleshooting
If a contact reports that they haven't received a newsletter, you can use Emma's analytics feature to check whether the newsletter was sent to them:
If the analytics indicate that the newsletter was not received, you may want to check the individual contact record to make sure that: