# How to send your first email campaign in Stacks — Stacks Features

> Send your first email campaign in Stacks: build a template, pick your audience, check deliverability, and send. Stacks only emails contacts who've opted in and adds an unsubscribe link automatically.

Markdown version of https://stackscrm.com/features/send-email-campaign — append `.md` to any page URL on this site (homepage: https://stackscrm.com/index.md). Index: https://stackscrm.com/llms.txt · Full site in one file: https://stackscrm.com/llms-full.txt

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#### Getting started

- [Create your account](https://stackscrm.com/features/create-account-set-up-workspace)
- [Invite your team](https://stackscrm.com/features/invite-team-set-roles)
- [Your dashboard, explained](https://stackscrm.com/features/dashboard-tour)

#### CRM

- [Import your contacts](https://stackscrm.com/features/import-contacts)
- [Add a contact](https://stackscrm.com/features/add-contact)
- [Organize with tags](https://stackscrm.com/features/organize-contacts-with-tags)
- [Manage your pipeline](https://stackscrm.com/features/manage-sales-pipeline)
- [Add custom fields](https://stackscrm.com/features/add-custom-fields-to-contacts)
- [Capture leads with a form](https://stackscrm.com/features/capture-leads-web-form)
- [Export your contacts](https://stackscrm.com/features/export-contacts)

#### Email marketing

- [Send a campaign](https://stackscrm.com/features/send-email-campaign)
- [Set up a drip sequence](https://stackscrm.com/features/email-drip-sequence)
- [Grow your list](https://stackscrm.com/features/grow-email-list-opt-in-forms)

#### Reviews

- [Request a review](https://stackscrm.com/features/request-customer-reviews)
- [Reply to reviews](https://stackscrm.com/features/reply-to-reviews-with-ai)
- [Add the reviews widget](https://stackscrm.com/features/add-reviews-widget)

#### Invoicing

- [Create an invoice](https://stackscrm.com/features/create-and-send-invoice)
- [Send an estimate](https://stackscrm.com/features/send-estimate-quote)
- [Get paid online](https://stackscrm.com/features/payment-links)
- [Recurring invoices](https://stackscrm.com/features/set-up-recurring-invoices)
- [Expenses & profit](https://stackscrm.com/features/track-expenses-and-profit)
- [Projects & billable time](https://stackscrm.com/features/bill-project-time)
- [Ask AI about your numbers](https://stackscrm.com/features/ask-ai-financial-questions)

#### Scheduling

- [Set your availability](https://stackscrm.com/features/set-availability-take-bookings)
- [Create an appointment type](https://stackscrm.com/features/create-appointment-type)
- [Share your booking link](https://stackscrm.com/features/share-embed-booking-link)

#### Support

- [Manage support tickets](https://stackscrm.com/features/manage-support-tickets)

#### Tasks & time

- [Create & manage tasks](https://stackscrm.com/features/create-manage-tasks)
- [Track & bill time](https://stackscrm.com/features/track-and-bill-time)

#### AI & automation

- [Turn on AI](https://stackscrm.com/features/turn-on-ai)
- [Build an automation](https://stackscrm.com/features/build-an-automation)

#### Connecting your tools

- [Connect Stripe](https://stackscrm.com/features/connect-stripe-payments)
- [Connect email provider](https://stackscrm.com/features/connect-email-provider)
- [Connect Twilio (SMS)](https://stackscrm.com/features/connect-twilio-sms)
- [Google Business Profile](https://stackscrm.com/features/connect-google-business-profile)
- [Email deliverability](https://stackscrm.com/features/email-deliverability-spf-dkim-dmarc)

#### Workspace and additional guides

- [Review agent approvals](https://stackscrm.com/features/review-agent-approvals)
- [Manage companies](https://stackscrm.com/features/manage-companies)
- [Import from another CRM](https://stackscrm.com/features/import-crm-records)
- [Manage email templates](https://stackscrm.com/features/manage-email-templates)
- [Manage appointments](https://stackscrm.com/features/manage-appointments)
- [Set up standing appointments](https://stackscrm.com/features/recurring-appointments)
- [Review feedback reports](https://stackscrm.com/features/review-feedback-reports)
- [Create review story images](https://stackscrm.com/features/manage-review-stories)
- [Configure customer reviews](https://stackscrm.com/features/configure-reviews)
- [Manage workspace settings](https://stackscrm.com/features/workspace-settings)
- [Manage the product catalog](https://stackscrm.com/features/manage-products)
- [Configure email alerts](https://stackscrm.com/features/configure-email-alerts)
- [Use API keys and MCP](https://stackscrm.com/features/api-and-mcp-access)
- [Read API activity](https://stackscrm.com/features/api-activity)
- [Connect incoming lead webhooks](https://stackscrm.com/features/connect-lead-webhooks)
- [Manage billing and AI credits](https://stackscrm.com/features/manage-billing-and-credits)
- [Read workspace activity](https://stackscrm.com/features/workspace-activity)
- [Request help from Stacks](https://stackscrm.com/features/request-platform-help)
- [Triage platform requests](https://stackscrm.com/features/platform-request-triage)

[Features](https://stackscrm.com/features) › [Email marketing](https://stackscrm.com/features#email-marketing) › **Send your first campaign**

# How to send your first email campaign in Stacks

Email marketing · about 4 min · updated Aug 2026

A Stacks email campaign is a message you send to a segment of your contacts — a newsletter, an announcement, an offer. You write the body once as a reusable template, pick who it goes to, and send. Stacks only emails people who've actually opted in, adds an unsubscribe link to every message for you, and paces delivery so your sender reputation stays healthy.

## Before you start

- A **sending email set up**. Campaigns go out from your own connected email — you configure this once under **Settings → Email**.
- A few **subscribed contacts**. Stacks only emails contacts whose marketing consent is **Subscribed** (and who aren't suppressed). You can set a contact's consent on their record, and web-form sign-ups can opt people in for you.
- A **message body**. In Stacks the body lives in a reusable **Template** — you'll make one in step 1 (or reuse an existing template).
- Permission to **manage email** — only **admins and managers** can create and send campaigns. Team members and view-only users can see campaigns but not send them.

## Step by step

1. **Create a template for your message.** Go to **Email → Templates** and click **New template**. Write your email body using placeholders like *{{first_name}}*, *{{last_name}}* and *{{business_name}}* — Stacks fills these in per recipient at send time. You can start from a built-in **starter**, write it yourself, or (using workspace AI credits) have AI draft it for you. Save the template.
2. **Start a new campaign.** Go to **Email** and click **New Campaign**. Give it a **name** (for your own reference), pick the **template** you just made for the body, and write a **subject** line — you can personalize it with *{{first_name}}* too.
3. **Check deliverability (optional).** Click **Check deliverability** to run a free spam pre-flight — it scores your subject and body from 0–100 and flags issues like ALL-CAPS subjects, spammy phrases or a missing personalization. **Subject ideas** next to it suggests alternative subject lines and uses workspace AI credits.
4. **Choose your audience.** Under **Send to**, pick **All contacts**, **Contacts with a tag**, or a **Saved view**. You can optionally **exclude** a tag or view. Unsubscribed and suppressed contacts are always removed automatically — you don't have to filter them out yourself.
5. **Choose when to send.** Pick **Send now** (goes out on the next send cycle), **Schedule for later** (choose a date and time), or **Throttle** (cap how many emails go out per hour to protect deliverability). Click **Save draft**.
6. **Review and send.** On the campaign page, Stacks shows exactly how many **subscribed contacts** will receive it — and how many were excluded for not being subscribed or being suppressed. When it looks right, click **Send** and confirm. Stacks queues the emails and delivery begins on the next send cycle.

💡

**Free to send.** Building templates, segmenting your audience, scheduling, throttling and the deliverability check are all free on every plan. Only the **AI helpers** — AI subject ideas and AI-written email bodies — use workspace AI credits, including Free’s initial allowance; starters and your own writing work for everyone.

## Good to know

- **Only opted-in contacts get emailed.** Even if your tag or view includes everyone, Stacks sends only to contacts whose consent is **Subscribed** and who aren't on your suppression list. This keeps you compliant and protects your sender reputation.
- **Every email has an unsubscribe link.** Stacks adds a one-click unsubscribe link (and a List-Unsubscribe header) to every marketing email automatically. Opt-outs are honored right away — an unsubscribed contact is skipped even if they were already queued.
- **Sending is paced, not instant.** Emails leave on a rolling send cycle rather than all at once. Throttling lets you cap the hourly rate; scheduling holds the campaign until your chosen time.
- **The body is locked in at send.** When you hit Send, Stacks freezes a copy of the template's body onto the campaign — editing that template afterward won't change what already went out.
- **Track results on the campaign page.** Once it's sending, the campaign shows **Recipients**, **Sent**, **Opened**, **Clicked**, **Bounced** and **Unsubscribed**.
- **Drafts are editable, sent campaigns aren't.** You can edit or delete a campaign while it's a draft; once it's sending or sent, it's locked.

## Frequently asked

Why do fewer people receive my campaign than are on my list?

Because Stacks only emails contacts who've **opted in** (consent = Subscribed) and aren't suppressed. The review screen before you send shows how many were excluded and why, so there are no surprises.

Where do I actually write the email body?

In a **Template**. The body lives in a reusable template so you can use it across campaigns and drip sequences — the **subject** is set on each campaign itself. Create templates under **Email → Templates**.

Can I schedule a campaign or slow it down?

Yes. Under **When to send**, choose **Schedule for later** to pick a date and time, or **Throttle** to cap how many emails go out per hour.

Was this helpful?

## Related articles

[Import your contacts →](https://stackscrm.com/features/import-contacts) [Create an email template →](https://stackscrm.com/features/manage-email-templates) [Manage marketing consent & opt-ins →](https://stackscrm.com/features/grow-email-list-opt-in-forms) [Build a drip sequence →](https://stackscrm.com/features/email-drip-sequence)

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