Quick Start: Send an Email Campaign

Import Leads and Contacts

To get started, add the leads and contacts you want to market to. If you already have all your leads and contacts in Salesforce, skip this step.

1. From the Leads or Contacts tabs, click Import.
2. Follow the steps to upload a CSV file. If you don’t have a CSV file yet, download the sample file from the import window and add your data.
   

Import Consent Data

Next, import consent data for lead and contact email addresses to update their consent status in Salesforce. You can send promotional messages only to people who opted in to receive emails from you.

1. From the Consent page, select Consent Imports, and then click Import.
2. For the Channel, select Email. For the Communication Subscription, select Marketing.
3. For the consent status, select Opt In, and then click Next.
   
4. Upload your CSV file, and then click Next. If you don’t have a consent CSV file yet, download the sample CSV file and add your data. Follow these guidelines for formatting consent import files:
   • Include an Email column and a Consent Date column.
   • Each email must be a valid and complete email address. For example, lyn@ursalsolar.com. Emails can't include special characters.
   • Each consent date must be in a supported DateTime format, such as MM/DD/YYYY or yyyy-MM-dd. For more on formatting consent import files, see Formatting Marketing Consent Import Files.
5. On the preview step, review the sample fields from your file and then click Import.
6. To import a list of opted out leads and contacts, repeat these steps and select Opt Out in Step 3.

Create an Email Campaign

To send an email in Marketing Cloud Next, start with an email campaign. All you need to do is edit the draft email and make a few other selections.

1. From the Campaigns tab, create a campaign and fill in your campaign details.
2. Select the Single Email campaign option.
   

Add a Segment to a Campaign

To create a recipient list, you use Data 360 segments. The easiest way to create a segment is by working from the campaign record and using quick filters.

1. From the campaign record, click Select Segment, and then select Use Quick Filters.
2. Select one or more filters.
   
3. If you’re using multiple filters, select filtering logic for your segment, and then click Create.
   AND returns results that match all of the filters together. OR returns results that match any of the filters.
4. From the campaign record, click Publish. A segment must be published for people to receive your messages.
5. Allow some time for the segment to publish and then refresh the page.
6. After the segment is published, click Preview to review a sample of the people in your segment.
   

Customize the Default Email

Fill in your sender details and edit the default email.

1. From the campaign record, configure the message details.
   1. Scroll to the email section, and then click Configure.
   2. Select a sender email address.
   3. For the communication subscription, select Marketing.
   4. Save your work.
2. Customize the email content.
   1. From the email section, click Edit.
   2. In the editor canvas, enter a subject line and preheader for recipients.
      
   3. Replace the default text and images with your own content, and add or move components to create the layout that you want.
      
   4. Remove the example text in the footer and verify that it includes these compliance details:
   • The physical address merge field: {!$organization.Address}
   • A way for recipients to unsubscribe. The unsubscribe link and Preference Manager link are included by default.

Preview and Test Your Email

From the editor canvas, preview and test your email content. You can preview the email as a sample recipient and send test emails to different inboxes that you have access to.

1. From the editor canvas for the email, click Preview, and then select a segment and sample recipient. Verify that merge fields and content appear as expected.
   
2. To send a test email, open the Test tab. Enter up to five email addresses that you can access, separated by a comma, and then click Send Test. Check the inboxes that you sent tests to and verify that merge fields and content appear as expected.

Publish Your Email

Before you can activate your campaign flow to send your email, you must publish your email content first.

1. From the editing canvas, click Publish.
   
2. In the confirmation window, click Next and then click Publish Now.

Send or Schedule Your Email

When your email content is ready to go, review your campaign and send or schedule your email.

1. Review your campaign and make sure you're ready to send. Check that your segment and email are both published.
2. To schedule your email, click Schedule.
   
   1. Select the date and time that you want to send your email.
   2. Save your work.
   3. From the campaign record, click Activate.
   4. Review the confirmation message. To make sure your segment data is up to date, leave the default setting in the activation window.
   5. When you’re ready, click Activate.
      
3. To send your email immediately, click the in the Schedule section and select Send Now.
   
   This option activates the campaign flow and queues your email to send.
   1. To make sure your segment data is up to date, leave the default setting in the activation window.
   2. When you’re ready, click Activate.

Review Email Performance

Engagement data, such as opens and clicks, is available for sent emails. You can download statistics or share them with other Salesforce users.

1. From the Analytics tab, click Browse in the Analytics menu.
2. Find the Email Engagement report or Email Engagement dashboard, and open it.
3. Save the data from your dashboard.
   1. In a dashboard, click the and select Download.
   2. In a report, click the , and then select Export.
4. To share the dashboard, click , copy the URL, and share with other Salesforce users.
   People you share the URL with must have access to view the dashboard.
5. Optionally, create a dashboard based on this data set.
   1. Click the , and then select Save As.
   2. In the new dashboard, click Edit to adjust the available widgets.

Next Steps

Check out these features and customizations available for marketing.