Before an email campaign goes out, along with the email content, you have to configure who receives it, who it appears to be from, where replies should go, subjectline and other email details. This document walks you through every setting on the campaign configuration screen.

Prerequisites 

Here are a few things that need to be ready before you can configure a campaign:

• Verified sender address: You can send email campaigns only from an email address that has been verified. Once you add a sender address, you can verify it using the verification link sent to that address's inbox.

• Recipients: You need at least one mailing list or segment to send an email campaign. This is your list of recipients. You can either import contacts or set up sync to bring them into your Zoho Campaigns account.

• Topic: Zoho Campaigns asks you to assign a topic to every campaign. Topics let your contacts choose which kinds of emails they want from you, which helps keep your list healthy and your unsubscribe rate low. A topic is mandatory, so pick the one that best matches the email’s purpose (for example, “Newsletters” or “Product Updates”).

Add recipients 

Recipients are the people who will receive your campaign. You can select them from the mailing lists and segments you have created. You can select upto 10 lists and segments. 

A mailing list is a group of contacts you've saved together, such as "Customers" or "Newsletter Subscribers." A segment is a smaller, filtered group within a list, such as "Customers who made a purchase in the last 30 days" or "Newsletter Subscribers from New York." Segments are useful when you want to target a specific audience instead of everyone on a list.

To add recipients to your email campaign:

1. Under the Recipients section, select the mailing lists and segments you want to send the campaign to.

2. After adding recipients, review the recipient count in the Recipients section..

Once you add the recipients, you can review the recipient count in the Recipients section.

Understanding the recipient count 

The recipient count is the number of contacts who will actually receive the email campaign. This is not always the same as the total number of contacts present on the lists and segments you have selected, because Zoho Campaigns automatically removes:

• Duplicate contacts (if the same person appears in more than one list or segment you selected, they’re counted once).

• Unsubscribed contacts

• Contacts marked as bounced or spam complainers.

• Contacts excluded by your email sending policy

• Always glance at the recipient count before sending. If it looks far lower than expected, one of the filters above is probably the reason.

Exclude contacts 

The recipient count may be lower than the size of the lists and segments you selected while configuring the email campaign. This is normal because duplicates, unsubscribes, bounced contacts, and sending-policy exclusions are removed automatically. The following are some of the reasons for the exclusion:

• Email frequency limits: The contact has reached the sending limits defined by your organization's Email frequency policy, such as frequency restrictions or daily, weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly email limits.

• Non-marketing contacts: The contact is marked as a non-marketing contact and is not eligible to receive marketing emails.

• Exclude recipients criteria: The contact matches the conditions (based on email campaign received, if they are part of a specific list or segment) configured in the Exclude recipients segment and is therefore excluded from the campaign.

• Associated with other topics: The contact is associated with one or more topics other than the topic selected for this campaign and is not associated with the campaign topic with valid consent.

• Not associated with the campaign topic: The contact is not associated with the topic selected for the campaign or does not meet the topic-related consent requirements.

• Unengaged contacts: By enabling the Exclude unengaged contacts option, you can exclude contacts who have not opened or clicked any of your last 10 emails.

• Recently emailed contacts: The contact falls into the campaign's engaged contacts category and is excluded when the Exclude engaged contacts option is enabled.

From email and name

This section displays the name and email address from which the email is sent. Since this is one of the most important factors influencing whether recipients open your email, choose these details carefully.

To add sender details:

1. To select a sender address, click the dropdown menu. You can either choose from existing sender email addresses or add a new sender address.

2. To add a new sender address, click Add New Sender Address.

3. Enter the sender name and email address.

4. After adding the sender address, verify it using the verification email sent to the sender address inbox.

5. If your domain has a DMARC record published, or if SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication have not been verified, you must authenticate your domain before sending emails.

6. Click Add.

You can also personalize the sender email address. For example, if you have integrated your Zoho Campaigns and Zoho CRM accounts, you can choose the CRM Lead Owner's email address as the sender email. You can also use custom fields created under Settings > Contacts and Customization > Manage Fields > Add Contact Field, where the field type is set to Email.

When you select one of these personalization options, you will be prompted to provide an alternate email address. If the selected field does not contain a value for a contact, the alternate email address will be displayed to that recipient.

Similarly, you can personalize the sender name using values such as CRM Lead Owner Name, First Name, Last Name, or Company Name. If the selected field is empty for a contact, you can specify an alternate name. The alternate name will be displayed whenever the selected field does not contain a value.

Notes

Each user can add up to six sender addresses. Your own email address is added as a sender by default, so you can add up to five additional sender addresses.

You must verify a sender address before you can send email campaigns from it.

Reply-to 

The reply-to address is the email address that receives replies when a recipient clicks Reply. It can be different from your sender address. You can choose a reply-to address from the list of email addresses you've already added, or personalize it by selecting options such as the CRM Lead Owner Email or Secondary Email. 

Subject line 

The subject line is the first thing people read, and it largely decides whether your email gets opened. You can add the subject line and also personalize it using merge tags and emojis.

Learn more

Preheader 

The preheader is the short preview text that appears after the subject line in recipients' inboxes. Think of it as a second subject line. Use it to provide additional context or details that the subject line couldn't accommodate. If you leave it blank, most inboxes automatically display the first line of your email instead.

For example, if your subject line is "Your June picks are inside," your preheader could be "Plus a 15% discount code that expires Sunday." Together, they give recipients a clearer reason to open the email.

Track replies 

Turn on Track Replies to keep a record of recipients who reply to your email campaign and read those replies directly within Zoho Campaigns.

When you enable reply tracking, Zoho Campaigns generates a dedicated reply-tracking email address to help you capture and manage recipient responses efficiently. Any replies received are automatically forwarded to your configured reply-to address. The sender email address used for the campaign remains unchanged.

Reply tracking is turned off by default for all campaigns and must be enabled individually for each campaign during setup. This feature is not available for automated email campaigns.

You can view tracked replies in the campaign reports after the campaign is sent.

Use case:

Zylker runs a re-engagement campaign asking inactive users, "Still interested? Just reply and let us know." With reply tracking enabled, the marketing team can view all recipient replies directly from the campaign report, identify interested contacts, and share those warm leads with the sales team for follow-up.

Attachments 

You can attach files to your campaign email so recipients receive them directly. Supported file types: JPG, PDF, CSV, and TXT. Maximum file size: 2 MB per attachment.

For example, an events team sends a “You’re registered!” email and attaches the event schedule as a PDF so attendees have it handy in their inbox.

Note:

You will be able to access this option if you are in the Professional plan of Zoho Campaigns.

Response Action  

A response action automatically triggers a follow-up action when a recipient interacts with your email campaign. Instead of manually identifying and organizing recipients based on their engagement, you can define a rule once and let Zoho Campaigns handle the action automatically.

You can create response actions based on the following recipient activities:

• Email opens: Trigger an action when recipients open your email.

• Any link clicked: Trigger an action when recipients click any link in your email.

For each response activity, you can configure one of the following actions:

• Modify score: Increase or decrease a contact's score based on their engagement.

• Assign tag: Add a tag to contacts who meet the selected criteria.

• Remove tag: Remove an existing tag from qualifying contacts.

• Add to list: Add contacts to a mailing list.

• Remove from list: Remove contacts from a mailing list.

• Update fields: Update contact field values automatically.

• Add to journey: Add contacts to a workflow for further engagement.

Use case