The Email Builder in CampusESP allows you to send content directly to the inboxes of your students' parents and families to keep them informed. Learn to navigate the Emails area, identify a targeted group of recipients, and use our design tools to craft a personalized message.
Visit your Emails page
Navigate to the Emails page by clicking into the Content area. The Emails page will open by default. If you're coming from another page in the Content area, you can click Emails in the left sub-menu. You can also navigate directly to the Emails page by visiting https://[your-portal-url].campusesp.com/admin/emails.
Creating and sending a new email
From the Emails page, click the Add New Email button in the upper-right corner to create a new email.
If this is your first email in the portal, you can find the Add New Email button in the main area of the page.
Enter your email details
The first page you’ll see when creating an email is the Email Details page. Before you can design your email, you’ll use this page to specify some information about the email you’re creating, such as its subject line, the type of email, and its delivery schedule.
See a breakdown of the information you’ll need to choose on this page.
See a breakdown of the information you’ll need to choose on this page.
Email Name
Use the Email Name field to give your email a name that will help you and your team recognize it later. This name is internal only; no parent/family users will see it.
Email Subject
Use the Email Subject to enter a subject line your recipients will see in their inboxes. Use the prefix dropdown to add an optional label to the start of the subject. This helps you set the tone of your message.
By default, your email will have the
CUSTOMoption selected, which doesn't add any prefix to your subject line.Our additional prefix options include
ANNOUNCEMENT,UPDATE,ALERT, andREMINDER.
You can also insert merge fields using the Merge Field button. See our article on Mail Merge to learn more about this feature.
💡 Pro Tip: You can see exactly how the subject line will appear by reading the preview under the Email Subject box!
Email Type
Use the Email Type area to choose whether you want your email to be sent once, at a recurring frequency, or delivered to users on a drip schedule.
Email Type | Description |
📧 One-time | One-time emails are sent once, on a specific date, at a specific time. |
🔄 Recurring | Recurring emails will be sent on a recurring schedule until a certain date or number of sends. |
💧 Drip | Drip emails will be sent to users a certain number of days after joining a community. |
If you're just getting started with sending emails in CampusESP, we recommend sticking with a one-time email to get the hang of our email builder before moving on to recurring or drip emails.
Schedule
Based on the email type you selected, you’ll then choose when your email will be delivered.
For one-time emails, you’ll use the Schedule One-Time Email area to schedule the date and time you want the email delivered.
For recurring emails, you’ll use the Schedule Recurring Email area to choose a date and time the initial email will be delivered, as well as the schedule and duration you want the delivery to recur.
For drip emails, you’ll use the Set Up Drip Email area to select how many days after a user joins a community you want the email to be delivered.
NOTE: Drip emails will only send to users who join the community after the email is created. If a user is already a member of that respective community, they will not receive the drip email.
Once you've entered your email details, click the Next, Select Audience button to choose who will receive it.
Selecting your audience
Once you’ve entered the details of your email, you’ll be taken to the Select Audience page, where you can specify the criteria (such as community, activity date, or profile field value) for who you would like to receive the email. Your email will only be delivered to users who match your chosen criteria.
By default, you'll see the option to select a community. If you're just getting started, we recommend targeting by community first. It's the most straightforward way to send to a defined group.
For one-time and recurring emails, you’ll see an Estimated recipients count in the right column as you select targeting criteria. This number updates in real time as you change the targeting criteria. Drip emails won't show an estimated number of recipients because they are only sent as users join a community.
Once you’ve selected your audience, click the Next, Design Email button to begin designing your email.
Advanced user targeting options
Sometimes you’ll want to send an email to all users; sometimes you’ll only want to communicate with a special segment of users. CampusESP’s Email tool allows you to do both! Visit our Guide to Dynamic User Targeting to see every option for user targeting and learn how you can segment and personalize your emails further.
NOTE: Dynamic User Targeting is only available for one-time and recurring emails; drip emails can only use community as a targeting criteria.
Design your Email
You’ll build the content of your email on the Design Email page. The center of the page shows a live preview of your email. The right side is where you'll enter and format your content.
Across the top of the preview area you'll see a few different buttons and links:
Button/Link | Description |
✏️ Design | Switches into design mode |
🖥️ Desktop | Previews your email in a desktop browser |
📱 Mobile | Previews your email in a mobile browser |
✉️ Send Preview | Email yourself a test version |
✨ Turn into Text Message | Converts your email into a Text Message using AI (only visible if your institution has CampusESP's Text Messaging module) |
In the right-hand column is the design area, where you’ll actually write your email. Use the Basic Designer to create a simple email message that includes a Heading and Content. In the Content section you can use the WYSIWYG editor to format the body of your email. This editor also gives you access to tools such as Mail Merge, Emoji, and AI-Powered Content!
Add an optional Email preview message (this text will be shown as a preview in the recipient’s inbox after the subject line) or Image to give your email some flair!
As you design your email, be sure to click the Save Changes button to see the updates to your email reflected in the preview area.
💡 Pro Tip: Spacing and formatting in the Email Designer may differ slightly from how the email appears in recipients’ inboxes. By sending yourself a sample email with the Send Preview link, you'll be able to see what your email will actually look like in someone's inbox!
If everything looks good, click the Next, Review Email button to review and schedule your email.
Get even more creative with advanced design options
Get even more creative with advanced design options
Looking to enhance the look and feel of your email? Click Advanced to switch to the Advanced Designer for access to additional content blocks for your email, including Videos, Call to Action buttons, and Advertisements. Simply drag and drop a content block into the preview area where you would like it to appear, and enter the details as prompted. Remember to click the Create Block button to save the content block.
Looking for even more customization than the Advanced Designer offers? CampusESP can do that too! Check out our Guide to Custom HTML in Emails to learn more about using custom HTML in the Full Email Editor.
Review and schedule your email
You’re almost done! While you've already sent yourself a test email during the design process, you'll also get a final preview of your email on the Review Email page. In the preview area, you can once again use the Desktop and Mobile buttons to see what your email will look like on different devices. You’ll also still have access to the Send Preview link so you can get one last test email in your inbox.
In the right-hand column, you’ll see a Summary of your email. This summary includes the following information:
Email Name
Subject
Type
Schedule
Audience
Estimated recipients
If any of this information looks incorrect, you can click the Back button to go back to the Email Details or Select Audience pages to adjust as needed.
Once you’re ready to go, press the Schedule! button, and you're all set! Your email is now scheduled to be sent.
Editing and sending a drafted email
If you aren’t ready to send your email yet, no worries! CampusESP will automatically save your email as a draft throughout the design process.
Find a previously drafted email
From the Emails page, you can choose the Drafts tab to find a previously drafted email.
Edit and send a drafted email
Click the email name, then choose the pencil icon in the top right corner to open your drafted email to the last step you completed during the initial creation process.
You can use the steps outlined in this article to finishing building the email and schedule it to send.
NOTE: If the original scheduled send date and time you selected when you first began drafting your email has since passed, your email will begin sending immediately when you press the Schedule! button. To avoid this, you'll want to update that information on the Email Details page.