Ready to send out an email but not quite sure how to get started? This guide was made just for you! In just a few quick steps you can get your mailing list and email set-up and ready to send out. If you want to watch a demo instead, click here!
 
First things first
Before you can set up an email or upload your mailing list, you're going to need to round up a few things.
 
List - You'll need your email marketing list ready to upload into your account. The easiest way to do this is by saving it in Excel as a .csv, .xls, or .xlsx file type. You can manually type in your contacts if you have a few, but if you have a lot, you’ll want to upload them to save time.
 
Email Content – Think about what kind of email you plan to send: Newsletter, Invitation, or Sale and what your content will be. Gather any images you want to use, links you’ll need in the email and the text. You don't have to write everything in your email ahead of time, but having an idea of what you want to say, and any content you want to include will make the creation process much faster. Plus, knowing what kind of email you want to send will make selecting a predesigned template easier.
 
Social Media – Sharing your email on social media helps spread the word about your business. You’ll want to include links in your email that allow readers to both share your email on social and to follow your business on social media. We provide social media icons to add to your emails. Have your social media page URLS handy.
 
Now that you have your email ingredients ready, let’s get started!
 
 
Add your Contacts
 
The Contacts section keeps track of both your email mailing lists and social media connections. You can upload or drag and drop your email contacts in an Excel file, or manually type them in one by one. You can also connect your Facebook and Twitter accounts in this section.
 
Upload a list
 

• To create a new list, select Contacts on the top left menu
• Click the  green Create new list button to the right and we'll walk you through adding it.
• Give your list a name.that indicates who is on the list or the purpose of the list. Ex: Email Newsletter List or
• Keep in mind that your subscribers can see the name of your list if it's public, so keep it simple.

 
 

 
Once you’ve named the list, you can add contacts to it. If you're uploading a list, your file should be saved in .txt, .csv, .xls, or .xlsx formats. These are the most common types of Excel files and yours is probably already saved in one of these formats.
 

 
You can add contacts to your account a few ways:
 
1) Go the easy route and drag your list from your computer onto the target where it says "Drop files here." We do the rest!
 
2) Click the "Upload File" button on the left and find the file you want to upload from your computer.

3) If you just have a couple of contacts to add, you may want to select "Add Manually" and type them in individually.

4) Import your contacts from other apps like Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, and more.
 
Now that you have your file uploaded, match your data to finish adding the list to your account. Take a look at the drop-down menus above your data, and match what you see in the column to the options in the menu. For example, in the column with email addresses you'll select, "Email Address" in the drop down menu, match first names with "First Names," etc. If you don’t want to include the data in your list, select "Unmapped" and we won’t upload any of that information. Once everything looks good, click Import on the bottom and you're ready to go!
 


You can also create a custom field during your list upload. On the Map Fields page just click on "Add a Custom Field" on the bottom of the drop down list.  

 

A pop up will appear where you can type in the Custom Field name that you want.  Just click Create when you are done. 

 


 This is same section where you’ll connect your social networks, so we’ll do that now as well.
 
Add Social Accounts

To add your social accounts, click "Social Accounts". If you've added every social account your current subscription allows, we'll let you know. If you need to add an extra account, you can always upgrade your subscription.

 

Select "Add new account" to begin the process. You have the option to add a Twitter or Facebook account.



 

You will need to authorize VerticalResponse use of your account in order to post your emails to your social media accounts.  

Create an Email 

Now that you’ve uploaded your lists and linked your social media accounts, it’s time to create an email. Creating a new email only takes a few simple steps! Just select a template, add some images, links, your text, and you should be ready to send.

 
To create a new email, click on the Messages tab of your account, then click the "Create Email Campaign" button in the top left.

 
 
Our system will then walk you through the process of creating your email. The first step is to select a template.
 
Template Gallery
 
The template gallery is where you’ll find pre-made designs for your emails.  All templates are responsive, which means they adjust to the device and screen size your reader is using i.e. smartphone, tablet or desktop. This means your email will always be easy to read!
 
All templates are customizable and you can make them your own. 




Find the template you like, then click once and then it will be place within the email editor.  Here is where you'll customize the email.  

Email Editor 

Now that you’ve selected the template you want to use, you can add your content. And we've made that a snap! Templates are pre-set with images and text blocks, but you can easily make changes to fit your needs. How? Just drag and drop! Grab one of the content blocks from the left menu with your mouse and drag to the template on the right. You can now drop the block anywhere you like; it will drop where you see the black Drop it here bar appear. If you want to reposition it, just click and drag the block where you want it. You can delete any blocks you don't want by mousing over the content block and clicking Delete in the top right corner. You may still see space on the editing page, but click the Preview button to see how it will really look.




Once your template is set up how you want it, mouse over a block and you'll see a click to edit icon appear. Clicking will now allow you to edit the block using the menus to the left. The blocks will adjust to fit the content you add, or if you're adding an image, we'll resize it to fit the block and your email.

 

• Editing a text block, you'll see the settings menu at the top, where you'll find options to change the font, add bullets, links or images. An additonial menu on the left has border, block, and container options.
• Editing an image block, you'll see the image settings menu to the left and can upload your image.
• Social Share will allow your readers to share your email on their social accounts, bringing you a bigger audience. There is nothing to edit for this one, your readers will use their own social accounts to share your email.
• Follow Us - Select from different button shapes and colors for the social networks you have accounts on. This will let you readers follow you on those networks. Click on the +Add dropdown and select the social networks you want to add in your email, then add the URL for your page in the box. It's really important to add your URL otherwise your buttons won't work. We'll automatically add the correct icons in the content block. You can then change the alignment under the settings style tab on the left.
• Button Builder - Easily add a call to action button in your email. Just drag the button option to your email and then customize what it says, the size and the color
• Image group - Add two images side-by-side to showcase products or services.
• Divider - Add a line between Content Blocks. Select color and thickness of the line and add space above or below it

The content block will adjust to the amount of text you include or the images you add, you won't need to resize anything.  To remove any block, including the ones we've already added, just mouse over the content block and click Delete in the upper right hand corner.

After you've made your edits, the changes will automatically be saved! Click "Next" in the top right corner to set up your campaign and sender details.

Campaign & Sender Details

In this section you can determine the email campaign name, from name, subject line, preview text, from email address and a reply to email address. 




Fill in the information on the left side of the page.  The right side gives you an example of how the different fields will appear to your customers in their inbox.

 
Here's a breakdown of each line:

The Email Name is for your purposes only. This is the name of the email campaign that will appear in your Messages section of your account, and how you'll find your email once it's been sent out, or if you need to edit before you send it. The name is only for your reference; no one will see it in your email, so use anything that works best for you to remember. 

The From Name will typically be your company name; most of your readers will recognize your company name before a person's name.
 
The Subject line is located at the top of your email and should be something interesting and attention grabbing to entice your readers to open the email. It should also have something to do with the content in your email, which is a requirement of the CAN-SPAM law .

The Preview Text line is verbiage that appears right below the subject line in most email programs.  This text should be attention-grabbing!
 
The From Address is the email address your readers will see when your email arrives in their inbox. This doesn’t have to be the same as the reply-to email address, but your recipients will see it, so your personal email address may not be what you want to use.
 
The Reply To Email is an email address where we’ll send any responses to your email. Your recipients won’t see this email address, so be sure to use one that’s monitored.

Once you have filled in all the information, click on the green "Continue" button on the top right of the page. 

 
 Schedule Campaign

Next, you'll need to identify who will receive the campaign and when it should be sent.  First, on the left side of the page select the Contact list(s) that will be sent the email.  You also have the option of typing in the email address manually or importing contacts from a file.

On the right side of the page, select when you want the campaign sent. You can either choose to "Send Now" or "Schedule it" by specifying the date and time.  Click the green "Send Email" button and it's ready to go!



 
And there you go! In just a few quick and easy steps, you now have an email to send. Remember, once you send the email, check your reporting to see how effective your email and social posts are with your readers by clicking on the email within the Messages tab. 
 
Use our handy check list before you send your email to make sure you've covered everything!