Start an email
In Email Marketing app, emails are managed in the Bulk Emails section. Use this section to prepare marketing emails, set up email audiences, and analyze delivery statistics and responses. The section analytics provides detailed statistics for marketing emails.
The following marketing email functions are available:
- Bulk emails are sent to a large number of recipients manually.
- Trigger emails are sent automatically when new participants are added.
We recommend sending test emails before you start your email. This allows marketers to preview how their email will appear in recipients’ inboxes. This helps identify any formatting issues or rendering problems that could arise in different email clients or devices.
Sending emails from unverified domains is limited to 500 daily. Verify your domain to increase the sending limit. Learn more: Email domain verification.
Send a test email
You can send test emails only when your bulk email has "Draft," "Planned," or "Paused" status.
To send test email:
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Access the Bulk Emails section. Open the Bulk Emails section, for example within Email Marketing workplace.
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Open the bulk email you created.
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Click Send test email. This opens a mini-page.
Fig. 1 Send test email 
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Enter the email addresses to send the test email. Separate multiple addresses using a comma.
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Change contact, if needed. This data is used for applying macros, which allow you to personalize the email content based on contact-specific information. The current user contact is set as the default.
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Click Send.
Fig. 2 Test email parameters 
As a result, the test email will be sent to the specified addresses.
Start a bulk email
You have the flexibility to start an email manually at any time. Open the needed email and click Start sending. Confirm the action in the new window.
Creatio will start sending emails in a few seconds after you click the Start sending button. During this time, you can stop the email, if necessary. You can specify the delay time in the "Delay time before sending bulk email, seconds" ("MandrillMailingDelayInSeconds" code) system setting. The delay is 10 seconds out of the box.
Start a trigger email
Trigger emails are sent automatically, upon a specific event. For instance, whenever a new participant enters a campaign, Creatio sends a trigger email to that participant. The sending method of a trigger email is determined by the campaign in which the trigger email is included. There are three sending methods:
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Daily at a specified time with the option to specify a delay up to several days. Trigger email will be sent to the contacts who moved to the corresponding step in the campaign. For example, you can send educational content on your software product three days after the trial version order.
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After a defined time. Sent some time after an event. For example, you can send a trigger email 15 minutes after a customer that did not place an order but added products to the cart leaves your website. Such emails are sent throughout the day.
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Event-based. Sent after a certain event. For example, this can be a welcome letter after filling out the landing form.
To start sending trigger emails open the needed email and click Publish. Once published, the email status changes to "Planned," making it available for use in marketing campaigns.
Bulk email check-up
Creatio employs robust validation to ensure successful bulk email delivery and minimize issues such as hard bounces, soft bounces, and spam complaints. This validation involves multiple key checks:
- Audience validation.
- Subscription status. Contacts must be subscribed to the specific email type to receive it.
- Email address validity. Creatio verifies that the email address adheres to standard email format guidelines, including the presence of an "@" symbol, a domain name, and correct character usage.
- Email address availability. Contacts must have a valid email address associated with their profile.
- Opt-out status. Contacts who have opted out of email communications will be excluded.
- Email frequency limits. The system checks if the contact has reached the maximum number of emails allowed within a specific timeframe.
- Email and sender validation.
- Email template. The email template is validated for content and size.
- Sender information. The sender's email address and domain are verified.
- License validation. Ensures sufficient marketing licenses are available.
- Email status. The email's status must allow sending.
- Connection to email service provider. A stable connection is necessary for successful delivery.
- User permissions. The user sending the email must have the required permissions.
- Post-send analysis. After the email is sent, Creatio monitors delivery and engagement metrics:
- Delivery errors. The system analyzes hard bounces, soft bounces, and other delivery failures.
- Email opens. Track the number of recipients who opened the email.
- Click-through rates. Measure the percentage of recipients who clicked on links within the email.
By conducting these validations and analyzing post-send data, Creatio helps optimize email campaigns, improve deliverability rates, and enhance overall marketing effectiveness.