How to Create an Email Campaign

Learn how to create and send email campaigns to your contact lists or individual customers. Email campaigns help you communicate with customers, promote events, share updates, and drive engagement. You can track opens, clicks, and engagement metrics.

Before You Begin

• You must be logged in to your account at https://app.joinzipper.com
• You need permission to manage emails (typically organization owners and admins have this permission)
• Verified sender email set up (for reliable delivery)
• At least one contact list with recipients (or individual customers to send to)

Steps

Step 1: Navigate to Emails

1. Log in to your account at https://app.joinzipper.com/auth/login
2. From the dashboard, click Emails in the left sidebar
3. You'll see the Emails page with your email campaigns

Step 2: Open Create Campaign

1. On the Emails page, look for the Create campaign button
2. Click the button
3. You'll be taken to the campaign creation page

What happens next: The campaign creation form will open.

Step 3: Enter Campaign Details

1. Subject line: Enter what recipients will see in their email inbox (required)

   • Make it clear and compelling
   • Example: "New Class Schedule Available" or "Special Offer This Week"
   • This is the first thing recipients see

2. Email content: Create your email content in HTML format

   • Use the HTML editor to format your email
   • Include text, images, links, and formatting
   • Make it visually appealing and easy to read
   • Include a clear call-to-action

Note: You can use HTML to create professional-looking emails with formatting, images, and links.

Step 4: Select Recipients

1. In the Recipients section, choose who to send to:

   Option 1 - Send to Contact List:

   • Select Contact list option
   • Choose the list you want to send to from the dropdown
   • Optionally filter by subscription status (active, unsubscribed, etc.)
   • All active subscribers in the list will receive your email

   Option 2 - Send to Individual Customers:

   • Select Individual customers option
   • Choose customers from your roster
   • Select multiple customers if needed

Note: You can send to multiple contact lists or combine lists and individual customers.

Step 5: (Optional) Test Your Email

1. Before sending to your full list, test your email:
   • Click Send test email button
   • Enter your email address
   • Click Send test
2. Check your inbox to see how the email looks
3. Review formatting, links, and content
4. Make adjustments if needed

Recommendation: Always test emails before sending to ensure they look correct and links work properly.

Step 6: Review and Send

1. Review all your campaign details:
   • Subject line is clear and compelling
   • Email content is complete and formatted correctly
   • Recipients are selected correctly
   • Test email looks good
2. Choose when to send:
   • Send now: Emails will be queued for immediate sending
   • Schedule: Set a specific date and time to send later
3. Click Send (or Schedule if scheduling for later)
   • The button will show a loading state while processing
   • You'll see a confirmation when complete

What happens next: Your email campaign will be:

• Queued for processing and sending
• Sent to all selected recipients
• Tracked for opens, clicks, and engagement
• Available in your campaign list for analytics

Tracking Campaign Performance

After sending, you can track performance:

1. Go to Emails → select your campaign
2. View Campaign stats:
   • Opens: How many recipients opened your email
   • Clicks: How many clicked links in your email
   • Delivery: Delivery status and bounces
   • Unsubscribes: Who unsubscribed
3. View Recipient details to see individual engagement
4. Export analytics data if needed

Tips

• Write compelling subject lines to improve open rates
• Test emails before sending to catch errors
• Use clear calls-to-action in your emails
• Segment your audience for targeted sends
• Track performance to improve future campaigns
• Respect unsubscribe requests to maintain compliance
• Keep emails concise and focused

Troubleshooting

Problem: I don't see the "Create campaign" button Solution: Make sure you have permission to manage emails. Only organization owners and admins can create campaigns. Contact your organization owner if you need access.

Problem: I can't send emails Solution: Check that:

• Verified sender email is set up (required for reliable delivery)
• Contact list has recipients (or you've selected individual customers)
• Email content is valid HTML
• You have permission to manage emails

Solution: Set up verified sender emails by going to Organization Management → Integrations → Email Settings.

Problem: Emails aren't being delivered Solution: Check that:

• Verified sender email is verified and active
• Recipient email addresses are valid
• Emails aren't bouncing (check bounce tracking)
• Recipients haven't unsubscribed

Solution: Review bounce tracking, verify sender setup, and ensure recipients have valid email addresses.

Problem: I don't see open or click tracking Solution: Note that:

• Open tracking requires images to load (some email clients block images)
• Click tracking is more reliable than open tracking
• Some email clients block tracking pixels
• Check that links in your email are working

Solution: Click tracking is more reliable. Make sure links in your email are properly formatted and working.

Problem: I can't create a contact list Solution: Check that:

• You have permission to manage contact lists
• You're logged into the correct organization

Solution: Contact your organization admin to verify permissions.