Schedule and send an email

Schedule an email to send to contacts now or at a later date

Review your plan: Some features, such as scheduling for later and resending to non-openers, are not available in all Constant Contact plans. If you don’t have full access, you may need to upgrade your plan.

Once you've finished customizing your email and have given it a preview to check for content and design errors, it's time to send it to your contacts. You can choose to send it immediately or schedule it to go out at a future date and time, up to a year in advance. If you add more contacts to your list before the scheduled date, they'll receive your email too!

Tip: Don’t forget to check for errors and send a test version of your email for proofreading before sending it to your contacts!

1. In the left-hand menu, click Marketing channels or Channels > Emails. If you’re currently working on your email, skip to step 4.
2. (Optional) Use the filters to help narrow your search.
3. If you want to make any edits or review your email one more time before scheduling, click Edit. If you’re ready to schedule to send, click . . . > Schedule and skip to step 5.
   
   
   
   
4. When you're ready to schedule your email, click the Continue button.
   
   
   
   
5. Choose when you want to send:
   • Send now - To immediately begin sending your email. Please note, an email may take up to 30 minutes to send, depending on your list size. To prevent any accidental sends, you're prompted to confirm your selection.
   • Schedule for later - To enter a future date and time to send your email, up to a year in advance. 
6. Select the recipients for your email:
   • Lists - Select a list or multiple lists. Don't worry - if a contact is on more than one list, they only receive the email once. If you need to add contacts to a list or create a new list, click the "Go to the Contacts page" or "Manage contacts" link and return to the schedule page when you're ready.
     Note: Your recipient count changes as you select or deselect different lists. If needed, click "Refresh contacts" to get an updated total number of unique contacts your email will be sent to based on the lists you've selected.
   • Segment - Select a segment to send your email to contacts with shared interests or behaviors. The segment automatically refreshes at the time your email is sent to ensure you're only sending to the contacts who currently meet your segment criteria. Click “Go to the Segments page” or “Manage contacts” to create a new segment or make changes to an existing segment, and return to the schedule page when you're ready.
   • Narrow or Filter by tag - When sending to an email list, you can filter your contacts by tag to prevent your email from being sent to contacts with a specific tag or only to those with the tag. Since tags are added to the individual contact, you can send to contacts across multiple lists that have the same tag. If you haven't created any tags, you won't see the "Narrow by Tag" or "Filter by tag" link.
     
      
7. Scroll down to the Campaign Info section or click to expand the Sender details section:
   • Subject line - Give your subject line a final review—it's the first thing your contacts see and can be what makes them decide to open your email or not, so you want to make it enticing. Consider personalizing your subject line or adding emoji to give it more impact!
     

     Tip: Depending on your email plan, you have a couple of options to help you with your subject line! First, if you're not sure what to write, click the "recommended subject lines" link or the sparkle symbol to get some subject line suggestions. Or, if you have too many ideas, you can A/B test two different subject lines with a portion of your contacts to see which performs better. The most effective subject line is then automatically sent to the rest of your contacts.

   • Preheader - Give your preheader a final review to make sure it supports your subject line. Depending on your email plan, you can click the "recommended preheaders" link or the sparkle symbol to get some preheader suggestions.
   • From name - This should be a name that your contacts are most likely to recognize, whether it's the name of your organization, your personal name, or a combination of both.
   • From email address - Your "From" email address, when coupled with your “From” name, is a small but important part of your branding, so we recommend using a custom domain to best represent your organization. It also helps your contacts' email clients determine if your emails are valid or if they should be sent to the spam folder. If you need to add a new email address to use, you can select "Add another email" at the bottom of the drop-down menu to verify it. 
     

     Important: Due to industry email authentication requirements, your “From” email address may look different if you don’t have your own domain or haven’t self-authenticated your domain. In these cases, we rewrite your email address with our shared ccsend.com domain to ensure your emails still get delivered to your contacts.

   • Reply-to email address - The "Reply-to" email address receives replies from your contacts when they want to respond to your email.  Make sure it's an email account that you check regularly.
   • Physical address. This displays in your email footer and is legally required to comply with the CAN-SPAM Act. If you don’t have a physical location, you can use a valid PO box. If you need to change the address listed, you can click Edit address.
     
        
8. In the Additional Options or Advanced settings section, you can:
   • Check the box and select a verified email address to receive the early results email. This tells you how your email performed within the first 48 hours after it was sent.
   • Check the box to automatically resend your email to those who don't open it.  
     

     Tip: Looking to have this email resent on a regular basis to new contacts? Consider setting up an automation!

9. Click the Send now or Schedule button.
   
    
    

Once your email has been sent, give your contacts some time to open it and then check the results to see how it's performing.

If a contact tells you they aren't receiving your email and they aren't on your bounce list, ask the contact to check their spam folder. If the email isn't in the spam folder, you can have your contact safelist your "From" email address in their email account or security program. There are also some role email addresses that Constant Contact never sends to.

Be a better marketer: Help extend the reach of your email by sharing it on your social media pages!

Questions?