Getting started with Sendlane

Overview

This article is intended for new Sendlane users. Welcome!

Starting a new retention marketing program or migrating to Sendlane involves several steps. This guide provides step-by-step instructions for each task with links to more detailed guides for further information.

When the tasks in this guide are complete, you'll be ready to send your first email campaign to yourself. At the end of this article, you'll find links to more guides that will help you set up and use all of Sendlane's features.

In this guide

• Step One: Configure account settings
• Step Two: Integrate your eCommerce store
• Step Three: Send a test campaign

Step One: Configure account settings

You'll find all the settings described below on your account settings page. To access the account settings page, click the Account icon in the left-hand sidebar.

• Configure attribution settings to ensure revenue is tracked and attributed with the same parameters as your previous platform
• Set up global UTM parameters to enable third-party data analytics tools like Google Analytics or Triple Whale
• Add user accounts for staff or partner access
• Import custom fonts and create a branded color palette to ensure consistent branding across your emails, forms, reviews pages, and more

Step Two: Integrate your eCommerce store

Integration enables Sendlane to access your store's data, which can be used to personalize content, create dynamic segments, and more.

See the guide for your eCommerce integration for detailed instructions on integrating your eCommerce store with your Sendlane account:

• How to integrate Shopify and Sendlane
• How to integrate BigCommerce and Sendlane
• How to integrate WooCommerce and Sendlane^[1]
• How to integrate Miva and Sendlane^[2]
• Sendlane's custom integration^[3]

Step Three: Send a test campaign

Now that you've connected your Sendlane account to your eCommerce store, configured critical settings, and added branding fonts and colors, you're ready to work on your first campaign.

You will create a sender profile, configure your campaign's settings, design your campaign, and send it to yourself.

Create your first sender profile

Sender profiles contain information recipients will see in their inboxes when they receive your email. To create a sender profile:

1. Click the Audience icon in the left-hand sidebar
2. Click the Sender Profile tab
3. Click + Sender Profile
4. For detailed information about each field, see How to create and manage sender profiles (select Unverified and enter your email address as the domain for now)
5. Click Save

Configure your campaign's settings

1. Click the campaign icon in the left-hand sidebar
2. In the top right corner, click New Campaign
3. Click Create Email Campaign
4. Give your campaign a descriptive name (this won't be visible to recipients)
5. In the Sender Profile dropdown, select the sender profile you just created
6. In the Send to dropdown, select the list you added your email address to (ignore the Don't send to and Advanced sections for now as they are not required for this exercise)
7. Enter a Subject line for your email
8. Optionally, enter a preheader for your email
9. Click Create Email
10. Click Start From Scratch
11. Click Visual Builder

Design your campaign

Your campaign is taking shape and is now ready to design. This exercise is intended to introduce you to the visual email builder, not necessarily to create the most beautiful email possible (that will come later).

The easiest way to learn to use the visual builder is to experiment with it. Use Understanding the visual email builder as a guide and add content to your email.

Here's an example design flow you can follow:

1. Drag an image element from the left-hand sidebar into the automatically added full row layout block
2. Use the file uploader to select an image of your company's logo from your desktop
3. Add alt text that says something like "[Company name]'s logo"
4. Click outside of the image block to return to the email builder
5. Drag another full row layout block from the left-hand sidebar to the space under your logo image and above the footer
6. Replace the placeholder text with a short message welcoming customers to your retention marketing program
7. Return to the email builder
8. Click the 2 Col layout block (you can drag layout blocks to the desired position or click them to add the block to the end of your email)
9. Drag an image block into one of the two columns in the 2 Col layout block
10. Upload or link to an image of a product or other company artifact
11. Repeat the previous two steps for the other column in the 2 Col layout block
12. Under Elements you should see a section for your eCommerce integration; click the Product block
13. Click into the product block > Products tab
14. Under Add Products, select Dynamic

You've just created an email in the Sendlane visual builder with copy, company assets, and information about your best-selling products.

Review the following articles for more information on each of Sendlane's three email builders:

• Understanding Sendlane's email builders
• Understanding the visual builder
• How to display products in an email

Send your campaign

Now it's time to send your email:

1. Click Save & Continue
2. Under Schedule, select Send Immediately
3. In the top right corner, click Send Immediately
4. Check your inbox for your email (because we used an unverified domain, it may land in your spam folder)^[4]

Congratulations! You've successfully set up your Sendlane account, integrated your eCommerce store, and sent an email campaign. Check out the Next Steps section below for more guides on getting started with Sendlane.

Next steps

You've completed the first getting started guide in Sendlane's onboarding series. We highly recommend completing the guides in the order they appear below:

1. Getting started with Sendlane
2. Getting started with integrations
3. Getting started with warming
4. Getting started with automations
5. Getting started with forms
6. Getting started with coupons