Unisender is an advanced platform for creating and launching email campaigns. Its services are used by small and medium-sized businesses since its functions are quite enough for basic tasks.
This service is not overloaded with tools and offers ready-made options for integration with popular CRMs. In addition, you can use the service API to integrate with custom systems. As for other advantages, there is a Russian-language interface and a vast number of templates that are adapted for Eastern European businesses.
Unisender is used in many areas (journalism, telecommunications, e-commerce, gambling, education, etc.). Let's find out more about the platform's capabilities and how to launch the first email workflow.
What Are the Main Features of Unisender
This service offers tools for creating the following types of workflows:
- Emails (letter constructor, analytics tools, creating testing options, an audience segmentation for targeted work, subscription forms, etc.).
- SMS (sending service messages or promotional offers on behalf of the company, adding variables to the text to address the recipient by name).
- Viber (sending messages in various formats with support for many tools, such as pictures, videos, buttons, UTM tags for analytics, emoji, etc.).
Unisender also has social media tools. Therefore, this service offers to save addresses from Facebook contacts, collect a database of subscribers through chatbots, and create subscription pages.
Creating and Launching an Email Workflow
The Unisender service allows you to send bulk emails, analyze their effectiveness, and fix problems with unsubscribing from newsletters. First, let's look at five key steps to launch the workflow.
Registration Process
First, you should enter the registration page and specify your email address to get a confirmation letter. Remember that regular email is not suitable for creating an account, so you should create a mailbox on the corporate domain. You can also use Google, Facebook, VK, and other social media accounts to register.
In addition to the login, you must create a password to enter your account. It must contain at least eight characters (including uppercase and lowercase letters) and include at least 1 number and one special character.
After going to the next screen, the system will offer you to confirm the email. You should enter your mailbox, find the letter from Unisender (it may also be in the Spam folder), and click on the "Confirm" button.
Next, you should fill in the data (name, phone number, business area, number of employees, and your role in the company) and click "Continue." The registration is complete! You will be taken to the main UniSender page.
Adding an Email Database To the System
The next and also vital step is adding an email database. Again, we advise creating it in advance to save time.
If you need to send letters to many people, you should add the list from an Excel spreadsheet. However, it should have a clear structure and not contain excessive data. For example, a column with email addresses should show only them.
Besides, you can add data from a .txt file. In this case, the first line is the field name, and the second line is information about the recipient. The same principle applies to the manual adding of contacts.
After loading the list, you can set up unique fields, such as company name, recipient's birthday, and other valuable data. If they do not play a critical role in mailings, select the "Do not import" option.
The final touch is the name of the list. Again, we advise you to name it according to the type of mailing list or target audience unless otherwise provided. After that, you can proceed to the next step.
Creating a First Email Workflow
So, you have worked on an email database of subscribers. Now let's prepare the first mailing list. And since the Unisender service is excellent for beginners, some hints will be helpful when creating a workflow.
First, you should find the "Create Email" button at the top of the page and select the option you like. In this article, we will show this process using the example of an email campaign.
Next, the system will offer to choose one of three options: a code editor, a unique HTML set, and a constructor. Let's review each of them in more detail.
Working With the HTML Editor
This option is suitable if you have a code that needs to be edited before creating an email campaign.
You can download the template from a .rar, .zip, .html or .7z file (there is also a web page option). In any case, the system will automatically load all the files and settings for future workflow.
After downloading, a preview of the letter from the subscriber opens. If you need to fix some items, click the "Source" button. It will take you to the HTML editor, where you can make the necessary revisions. If you are familiar with HTML, you will do this job in a second.
Uploading a Unique Code
This option is ideal when you have code and will not change it. You should copy your code, paste it into the required field and click the "Continue" button. Then you can work as with a regular mailing by choosing a topic, setting personalization settings, and forming a workflow.
Creating an Email Through the Constructor
However, if you are unsure about your code knowledge, using the constructor is much easier and more convenient. UniSender offers a unique solution where you can add and remove elements, swap them and customize the parameters of each block. You should select the items you need from the menu and drag them to the email field; there is no code.
First, select a ready-made template from the list or a "New Constructor" option with an empty field. In the case of standard templates, you will need to adapt them to your needs (remove unnecessary elements and add the necessary ones, change the writing style, font, colors, and more).
Once you have completed your letter, click the "Save" button.
In these three cases, it is vital to remember the maximum letter size of 8 MB. A more significant number will take a long time to load, and spam filters may block an email.
Checking the Display of an Email Campaign
If you need to check how the email is displayed on different devices and email clients, send a test letter to other addresses and open it on different devices (smartphone, tablet, or PC). You may also ask colleagues to check the campaign and ensure it is correct. Again, it will help reduce the chance that your workflow will get into a spam folder.
Click the "Send Test Letter" button, enter the desired email address and click "Send Email" to do this. After that, the system will notify you about the successful test sending.
Sending a Campaign
As soon as you are convinced of the correctness of the mailing, double-check all the data in the letters (text, pictures, links). If there are still issues, go back and edit the email in the builder or HTML editor.
After creating a letter template, you must enter the subject of the letter, the sender's address, and the recipient's address. Below you will see how the incoming message will be displayed in the email box. It will allow you to predict whether subscribers will be interested in the subject of the letter and whether they will want to open it.
The following detail is the sending time. Initially, the system offers to send the email immediately. However, you should select the "Send later" option and specify the day and time if you plan to send a campaign later. You will receive more specific data after A/B testing.
In the "Additional settings" section, you can specify the format for displaying images, set up a block for unsubscribing from the newsletter, and specify an email address to receive replies from users.
You also can specify settings for collecting data on letters for further analytics in this menu. For example, you may enable and disable monitoring of reads and clicks on links (they will not be displayed in the report after disabling) and add UTM tags for individual analytics services.
In addition, you can add the necessary files separately as attachments. However, we advise you to place them prudently on a cloud service and include links in the text of the letter.
Once you have completed all the preparations and verification, click "Submit Newsletter." After that, subscribers will receive letters instantly or at the specified time.
How To Analyze the Results
Go to the "Campaign History" section to check the results of launching workflows. Reports are available here for each launched campaign.
Initially, you can find standard indicators on the screen (sending, delivery, opening a letter, and clicking on links). Click on the title to find out more. Remember that all information has a percentage. Move the mouse pointer over the required indicator for more accurate data.
In the advanced section, you can compare your mailing metrics with industry averages. Select a business area from the drop-down list and click "Compare." The received data can improve the email database and the campaign itself.
Besides there is also a click map, a conversion table with traffic indicators, and a "Behavior" tab with detailed information about subscribers (region, device, and email reading dynamics).
What other types of campaigns are available in Unisender
The service allows you to configure more types of email workflow. You can also launch the following campaigns:
- SMS campaigns. However, only corporate clients can do this. To access the function, you must add information about the company to the settings and deposit 5,000 RUB or the equivalent in another currency to your account.
- Viber messages. In addition to registering a company, you also need to pay for a Viber ID (the minimum monthly amount is 380 EUR) and constantly revise the text of campaigns. Creating an email workflow for Viber is similar to working with an SMS campaign, but here, you can add emojis, CTA buttons, and other elements.
Conclusion
Let's summarize an article. The Unisender platform is excellent for those who are just getting started with mailing lists. The interface has enough elements, so freelancers and small business owners can easily figure out how it works.
The most prominent advantages are an intuitive interface, dozens of integrations with CRM and chatbots, a well-thought-out API, several options for creating a letter template, and a convenient code editor.
As for disadvantages, you cannot embed a survey in the text of the letter, and a small number of ready-made templates in the constructor are available.
We hope that you found this article helpful. If you have any questions regarding the email workflow creation, write them in the comments. We will answer each of them and choose the most interesting ones as the basis for our following articles.