Sending and Scheduling Email Campaigns

Once you have built an email template, the next step is to send it as a campaign. A campaign is a single send of a template to one or more mailing lists. This article walks through the Send Email screen, the options for who receives the email, and the difference between sending immediately, saving as a draft, and scheduling for a later time.

The same template can be used in multiple campaigns, which is why your monthly newsletter template can be sent as the March Newsletter campaign, the April Newsletter campaign, and so on, each as a separate event with its own performance data.

Before You Start

Three things must be in place before you can send a live campaign:

  • A saved email template. If you have not built one yet, see Building and Designing Email Templates.
  • A mailing list (or contacts in your Database). You can either send to one or more specific mailing lists or to every contact in your Database who is not on the suppression list. If you have not built a mailing list yet, see Creating and Managing Mailing Lists.
  • A configured Mailing Suite Profile with a verified sending address. Without this, you can save a draft and send a test email, but you cannot send a live campaign. See Set Up Your Mailing Suite Profile for setup instructions.

A useful indicator: if your sending profile has not been configured, the From Address field on the Send Email screen will display oomiji-dev@digitalavenues.com instead of your own sending address. This is the default placeholder. If you see it, your Mailing Suite Profile is not yet complete and you cannot send live campaigns from this account.

Opening the Send Email Screen

To open the Send Email screen:

  1. Click Interaction in your toolbar.
  2. In the Send & Manage Emails card, click Send Emails.

Filling Out the Send Email Form

Email Name

This is the name of the campaign itself, distinct from the name of the template. The campaign name is how you will identify this specific send in your performance reports later. Use a descriptive name that includes the date or context (for example, "March 2026 Newsletter" or "April Webinar Reminder Send 1").

Because the same template can be used in multiple campaigns, the campaign name is what lets you distinguish between sends. If you send your monthly newsletter template every month, each send becomes its own campaign with its own name and its own performance metrics.

Select Email

This dropdown lists all of your saved email templates. Choose the template you want to send. If you do not see your template in the list, confirm that it has been saved and that you are looking in the right account.

Recipient Selection

Below the Select Email dropdown, two radio buttons let you choose who receives the campaign:

  • Select mailing lists: Send to one or more mailing lists you have already created. When this option is selected, two dropdowns appear below: a folder dropdown (default "Untagged") and a mailing list dropdown. Choose the folder containing your list, then select one or more lists from the second dropdown. Contacts who appear on multiple selected lists will only receive one copy of the email.
  • Send email to all contacts: Send to every contact in your Database who is not on the suppression list. The total count of eligible contacts appears below this option in green text. Use this when you have a message that genuinely applies to everyone, such as a major announcement or a policy update. Use mailing lists for anything more targeted.

Save, Send or Schedule Email

This dropdown controls what happens when you click the action button at the bottom of the form. The available options are:

  • Save as draft: Saves the campaign configuration without sending. You can return to it later, make changes, and send it then. The action button at the bottom of the form changes to read Save As Draft.
  • Send now: Sends the campaign immediately upon clicking the button.
  • Schedule for later: Opens a date and time picker for selecting when the campaign should send. 

From Name and From Address

These fields display the sender name and email address that will appear in your recipients' inboxes. They are pulled automatically from your Mailing Suite Profile and are not editable on this screen. To change them, update your profile under Set Up Your Mailing Suite Profile.

Sending the Campaign

Once all required fields are filled in, the action button at the bottom of the form becomes active. Click it to take the action you selected in the Save, Send or Schedule Email dropdown. A processing message at the top of the screen warns that the send may take several minutes depending on the size of your mailing list. Larger lists take longer.

Best Practices Before Sending

A few habits will save you from common mistakes:

  • Send a test email first. You can test by going to Interaction> View/Edit Emails > three dots menu > Test Mail
  • Test in the email clients your audience is most likely to use, not just one.
  • Verify the unsubscribe link. Open the template and confirm the link in the footer points to the correct placeholder. See Setting Up Your Unsubscribe Link for the verification process.
  • Confirm the recipient count. If you are sending to all contacts, the total count appears in green next to the radio button. If you are sending to specific lists, mentally check that the count matches what you expect. A surprise number (much higher or lower than expected) usually means the wrong list is selected.
  • Double-check the campaign name and subject line. These are the two pieces of information that appear most prominently in your performance reports later. A clear naming pattern (such as "YYYY-MM Description") makes it easy to find specific sends weeks or months later.

What's Next