How to set up an email campaign
On this page, you will learn how to set up an email campaign.
You will need:
- a systeme.io account
To create a campaign, you must go to the "Campaigns" section in "Emails" (number 1 in the image).
Click on
"Create" then insert the name of the campaign and a description (number 2 in the image).
Click on
"Save Campaign" to complete the new campaign creation (number 3 in the image).
Click on "Add an email" to create the first email of your campaign (number 4 in the image).
You will be presented with a pop-up where you need to insert the following:
- Sender name
- Sender email address
- Subject
- The type of editor you want
You have two possibilities to edit your emails: A classic editor to write a simple email and a new visual editor with new features to improve the look of your emails.
Note: Once you choose the type of editor you want to use, you can switch to the other editor at any time and change it. However, all the content you have added will be deleted from the editor you chose first.
1. You have selected the classic editor
First, it is possible, once in the editor, to change the information you added in the first step.

In the
right part of your email, you can:
- Add an attachment
- Add substitute variables to replace information automatically
Note: It is possible to make these variables clickable by selecting the link anchor (the text), then clicking on
"Create a link" (in the editor toolbar), and finally by pasting the variable in the URL field.

Once your first email is finished and set up, in order to configure the sending delays, you must click on
"Save and Publish".
You will see a popup that contains the following settings:
- Delay before sending email
- Place after this email
- Times when the email should be sent
- Days of the week when this email should be sent

Once you have configured the delays for your email, you can publish it.
Note: In order for an email from a campaign to be sent, all the delays you have configured must be fulfilled.
2. You have selected the visual editor
An editor will appear to add all the elements you want. You have the possibility to add content like images, text, and buttons.
Additionally, you have the possibility to lay out the content using sections and columns.
Note: As with the page editor, you can click on any element to edit it.

You can then go to the
"Settings" part to adjust the font size, and put background colors, content, or links.
You can also increase or decrease the width of your content area.
Finally, you have the option to make your newsletter responsive to the mobile version by clicking on the phone icon.

After you have completed your email content, it is necessary to save the changes, then click on
"Exit" and go to the next step.
When you come back to the email, you must click on
"Save and Publish" to be able to configure the delays for your email.
You can then save and send a test email to see how it looks and finally save it and then prepare to send.

Here is an example of the configuration of a campaign that contains 5 emails and each one has different delays configured before sending.
- Mail 1 is configured to be sent one hour after a contact is registered to the campaign, specifically at 7 pm and on a Sunday only.
- Mail 2 is configured to be sent at 7 am and one hour after the first mail.
- Mail 3 is configured to be sent at 8 am, one day after the second mail, and on a Friday only.
- Mail 4 is configured to be sent at 8 pm and by a Thursday only.
- Mail 5 is configured to be sent at 6 am and 15 hours after the fourth mail.
If a contact signs in on
Saturday, January 01 at
11:00 am, he/she will receive:
- The first email on 02/01 at 7 pm
- The second mail will be sent on 03/01 at 7 am
- The third mail will be sent on Friday 07/01 at 8 am because it is only at this time that all the conditions set up will be fulfilled (the 3 conditions)
- The fourth mail will be sent on Thursday 13/01 at 8 pm
- The fifth mail will be sent on Wednesday 15/01 at 6 am because on 14/01 the condition of 15 hours after the fourth mail will not be fulfilled yet at 6 am
Conclusion: In order for a campaign email to be sent, it is mandatory that all the conditions are satisfied.
(We recommend that you avoid setting up several delays at the same time, in order to avoid confusing yourself)
Remarks
- The order in which emails are sent on a campaign is from top to bottom. This means that the email at the top of the list will be sent first, followed by the ones below it in descending order. However, if you add a new email to the campaign, it will be displayed at the top of the list because it has not yet been configured to be sent. Once the new email has been configured, you can schedule it to be sent along with the other emails in the campaign.
- For a campaign email to be sent, it is imperative that all the delays set up on this one are satisfied.