How to Send a Mailchimp Newsletter

Mailchimp is an ever-changing animal, however the basics largely remain the same. Let’s do a simple-to-follow walk through of how to send an email out to an already established list in Mailchimp.

Note: You should already have your Mailchimp account setup (ie, confirming your email address, things like that) and your list imported (if I built your website for you, this connection already exists.)

1. Go to Campaigns

Once you’re logged into Mailchimp, look for this navigation bar near the top left and click on Campaigns

mailchimp's navigation bar, including the campaigns link

2. Choose or Create a Campaign

If you’ve created a campaign in the past, you’ll see it here, in the list to the right side of the page.

mailchimp's list of campaigns

Otherwise, look toward the top right of the page for this blue Create button.

mailchimp create campaign button and top right navigation

We’re creating a new one here, so click Create.

3. Choose Your Campaign Type

Since we want to send an email, we’ll choose that option.

list of the types of campaigns you can choose with mailchimp

4. Give Your Campaign a Name

Your recipients won’t see this unless they end up on the unsubscribe page, so make it pertinent but something you don’t mind folks seeing.

field where you can enter a name for your campaign

Next, we’ll set up the campaign’s details.

screenshot of the campaign details listed below

5. Add Recipients

Click that button, you’ll be presented with a dropdown from which you can choose your audience. An “audience” is the Mailchimp term for your mailing list. They call it this because you can use them for other types of campaigns, such as social blasts, but we aren’t covering that here today.

dropdown in mailchimp where you choose your audience

Click Save

6. Skip the From

Unless you want to change who the email will appear to come from, skip this step.

7. Add a Subject

Click Add Subject

Fill out the two fields. The first is your actual subject line, the second will show up as a preview in some email clients, such as Gmail.

two fields to add a subject and message preview

8. Design Your Email

Click Design Email and choose one of the existing templates. You’ll be able to customize it to a degree, but it’s always good to start with one that’s close to what you want to see in the long run.

To choose one, click on it and then click Next

You’ll then see an interface like so:

the interface for designing emails, where you can drag n' drop, add text, images and more

Let’s review what we’re looking at here.

At the top, there’s the Logo box. Hover over it and you’ll see some additional options:

hovering over a box in mailchimp's editor

The grid of squares allows you to grab this part of the template and move it around.

The pencil allows you to edit it. In this case, you’ll get options on the right to upload your image.

right side of the editor

Click Replace, then either choose an existing logo file you’ve uploaded, or click Upload to add a new one from your computer.

Once you’ve chosen it, click Insert near the top right.

the insert button described

You can also click the Link button to make the image a link, back to your website perhaps, or the alt to give the image alternative text, which not only helps those who require a screen reader to understand what the image is, but also will show as text for those users who have images turned off.

You can also click the Style and Settings tabs for more customization.

screenshots of the style and settings tabs

screenshots of the style and settings tabs

Under Settings, the Constraing image dimensions by 50% for high-resolution displays is particularly useful, especially if you upload your image larger than the space available. This will keep it looking great on high definition / retina screens, which are the used on most phones, tablets and many desktops and laptops these days.

Continue through the various sections, where you can again click the pencil icon to edit, the + in a square button to duplicate or the trash can to delete items, and will have similar options on the right. The options available will depend on whether you are editing text, an image or some other type of item.

9. Additional Options While Designing

Look for this black navigation bar at the top right of the screen:
mailchimp designer navigation

Here you can get Help, mainly in the form of searching articles. You can also Preview and Test your email, a highly useful feature, or Save as Template, where if you like your email, you can save it as a template and choose it in the beginning of creating your next Campaign Design next time.

Or, you can Save and Exit if you need to wait until later to finish the email.

When you’re all done, click Save and Close at the bottom right of the screen.

You’ll then be taken back to the screen where you customize the subject line, audience, etc. From there, you can schedule or send your email now via the buttons at the top right of the screen.

That’s it!

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