1. Visit your Emails page
Visit the Emails page by navigating to Content → Emails from the admin area of your portal. You can also get there at: https://[yourportalname].campusesp.com/admin/announcements.
2. Add a new email
Click the Add New Email button at the top right corner of your screen.
If you’ve never created an email in your portal, the Add New Email button can be located in the main area of the page.
3. Enter your Email Details
The first page you’ll see when creating an email is the Email Details page. Before you can design your email, you’ll use this page to specify some information about the email you’re creating, such as its subject line, the type of email, and its delivery schedule. You can set up an email to be sent either once, at a recurring frequency, or you can create a drip email, which will be delivered to users a certain number of days after they have been added to a community.
Here’s a breakdown of the information you’ll need to enter on this page:
- Email Name: This is used for internal tracking purposes only.
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Email Subject: This is what users will receive in their inbox.
- The Email Subject box includes a drop-down menu that lets you select a prefix to appear at the beginning of the email subject line. This helps you set the tone of your message. Our prefix options include ANNOUNCEMENT, UPDATE, ALERT, and REMINDER.
- There is also a CUSTOM option, which does not add any prefix to your subject line. By default, your email will have the CUSTOM option selected.
- You can also use the Mail Field button to add a mail merge value to your subject line.
- NOTE: You can see exactly how the subject line will appear by reading the preview under the Email Subject box!
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Email Type: Choose whether you want a One-time email, a Recurring email, or a Drip email.
- One-time emails are sent once, on a specific date at a specific time.
- Recurring emails will be sent on a recurring schedule until a certain date or number of sends.
- Drip emails will be sent to users a certain number of days after joining a community.
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Schedule: Based on your email type, you’ll then choose when the email will be delivered.
- For one-time emails, you’ll use the Schedule One-Time Email area to schedule the date and time you want the email delivered.
- For recurring emails, you’ll use the Schedule Recurring Email area to choose a date and time the initial email will be delivered, as well as the schedule and duration you want the delivery to recur. For more details on Recurring Emails, please see our Guide to Recurring Emails.
- For drip emails, you’ll use the Set Up Drip Email area to select how many days after a user joins a community you want the email to be delivered. NOTE: Drip emails will only go to users who join the community AFTER the email is created. If a user is already in that respective community, they will not receive the drip email.
Continue creating your email by clicking the Next, Select Audience button.
4. Selecting your Audience
Once you’ve entered the details of your email, you’ll be taken to the Select Audience page, where you can specify the criteria (such as community, activity date, or profile field value) for who you would like to receive the email. Your email will only be delivered to users who match your chosen criteria.
Sometimes you’ll want to send an email to all users. Sometimes you’ll only want to communicate with a special segment of users. CampusESP’s Email tool allows you to do both! Please visit our Guide to Dynamic User Targeting to see every option for User Targeting and learn how you can segment and personalize your emails further. NOTE: Dynamic Targeting is only available for One-time and Recurring emails; Drip emails can only use communities as a targeting criteria.
For One-time and Recurring emails, you’ll see the number of Estimated recipients in the right-hand column as you select targeting criteria. This number will update as you add, remove, or change the targeting criteria. Drip emails don’t have an estimated number of recipients because they are only sent as users join communities.
Once you’ve selected your audience, click the Next, Design Email button to begin designing your email.
5. Design your Email
You’ll begin designing your email on the Design Email page. In the center of this page, you’ll see the preview area. At the top-left of this area, you’ll see buttons that say Design, Desktop, and Mobile, which will allow you to see a preview of what your email will look like on different devices. At the top-right of this area, you’ll see a Send Preview link, which will send a preview of your email right to your inbox. If your institution has our SMS module, you’ll also see the Turn into Text Message link, which can turn your email into a Text Message using AI!
In the right-hand column is the design area. Here is where you’ll actually create your email! Use the Basic Designer to create a simple email message that includes a Heading and Content. You can use the WYSIWYG editor to format the content of your email. You also have access to tools such as Mail Merge, Emoji, and AI-Powered Content! Add an optional Email preview message (this text will be shown as a preview in the recipient’s inbox after the subject line) or Image to give your email some flair! As you design your email, be sure to click the Save Changes button to see the updates to your email reflected in the preview area.
Looking to enhance the look and feel of your email? Click Advanced to switch to the Advanced Designer for access to additional content blocks for your email, including Videos, Call to Action buttons, and Advertisements. Simply drag and drop a content block into the preview area where you would like it to appear, and enter the details as prompted. Remember to click the Create Block button to save the content block.
Looking for even more customization than the Advanced Designer offers? CampusESP can do that too! Check out our Guide to Custom HTML in Emails to learn more about using custom HTML in the Full Email Editor.
NOTE: Email spacing and format can look a bit different while you're designing and reviewing it on this page compared to what it will look like in someone's inbox. By sending yourself a sample email with the Send Preview link, you'll be able to view what your email will actually look like in someone's inbox!
You’re so close! Click on the Next, Review Email button to review and schedule your email.
6. Review and schedule your email
You’re almost done! While you've likely already sent yourself a test email during the design process, you'll also get a final preview of your email on the Review Email page. In the preview area, you can once again use the Desktop and Mobile buttons to see what your email will look like on different devices. You’ll also still have access to the Send Preview link so you can get one last test email in your inbox.
In the right-hand column, you’ll see a Summary of your email. This summary includes the following information:
- Email Name
- Subject
- Type
- Schedule
- Audience
- Estimated recipients
If any of this information looks incorrect, you can click the Back button to go back to the Email Details or Select Audience pages to adjust as needed.
If you aren’t ready to send your email yet, no worries! CampusESP will automatically save your email as a draft throughout the design process. From the Emails page, you can choose the Drafts tab to find your drafted email.
Click the email name, then choose the pencil icon in the top right corner to open your drafted email to the last step you completed during the creation process. Follow the steps in this guide until you’re ready to schedule the email to be sent.
Once you’re ready to go, press the Schedule! button, and you're all set! Your email is now scheduled to be sent.
7. See your results
Remember to revisit your Emails page to view email performance metrics, including sends, opens, and clicks!
Click on the email name to get more detailed performance metrics about that specific email, including:
- Total Sends
- Total Opens
- Unique Opens
- Total Clicks
- Unique Clicks
- Open Rate
- Click Rate
- Opens over time
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