> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.snowdoughnut.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Launching an email campaign

> The process for standing up an email campaign or automated sequence in our framework: gather the inputs, fill in the email campaign brief, build the segment, write and design the send, test it, run the pre-send checklist, send, and file the brief.

Take an email campaign from an approved marketing campaign to a sent, correctly tracked, correctly segmented send. This process covers all three levels, campaign or flow, segment, and individual send, because the inputs are gathered once for the whole build.

<Info>
  This process uses the [**email campaign brief**](/email-campaign-brief), the [**marketing campaign brief**](/marketing-campaign-brief), the three [naming conventions](/naming-conventions-overview), the [**UTM standards**](/utm-standards), the [**email copy template**](/email-copy-template), the [**email creative specs**](/email-creative-specs), and the [**email pre-send checklist**](/email-pre-send-checklist).
</Info>

## What you'll end up with

Three things that point at each other:

* A completed [**email campaign brief**](/email-campaign-brief), filed in the [campaign library](/campaign-library-overview) under the Email folder.
* A **sent campaign or a live sequence**, named per the three naming conventions, tagged with UTMs that distinguish each send, driving a conversion action defined in the [event tracking plan](/event-tracking-plan).
* **Links back** from the marketing campaign brief to this campaign's brief and finished copy.

One person, the [**owner**](/glossary#owner), is accountable for all three.

## Before you start

Every input below has to exist, or be deliberately marked as not applicable, before the build starts.

| Input                     | Where it comes from                                                                                                 | Required                             | If it doesn't exist yet                                                                  |
| :------------------------ | :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | :----------------------------------- | :--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Parent marketing campaign | [Marketing campaign brief](/marketing-campaign-brief)                                                               | Always                               | Stop. Run the [campaign brief process](/campaign-brief-process) first                    |
| Customer profile          | [Customer profile library](/customer-profile-library-overview)                                                      | Always                               | Build it with the [B2B](/customer-profile-brief) or [B2C](/b2-c-customer-profiles) brief |
| Segment definition        | Your email platform                                                                                                 | Always                               | Write the query into the brief before building it                                        |
| Consent basis             | Your CRM or platform                                                                                                | Always                               | Stop. Do not send to contacts without a recorded basis                                   |
| Conversion action         | [Event tracking plan](/event-tracking-plan)                                                                         | Always                               | Add a row using the [tracking plan overview](/event-tracking-plan-overview)              |
| Destination               | [Landing page library](/landing-page-library)                                                                       | Always, unless the email has no link | Pick an existing page, or run [building a landing page](/landing-page-process)           |
| Copy                      | [Copy brief](/ad-copy-standards), [email copy template](/email-copy-template)                                       | Always                               | Brief it via the [copywriting process](/copywriting-process)                             |
| Design                    | [Creative brief process](/creative-brief-process), [email creative specs](/email-creative-specs)                    | If the email needs new design        | Brief it, or use an existing template                                                    |
| Authentication            | Your sending domain                                                                                                 | Always                               | Fix SPF, DKIM, and DMARC before sending anything                                         |
| Names, all three levels   | [Campaign](/campaign-naming-conventions), [segment](/ad-set-group-naming-conventions), [send](/ad-name-conventions) | Always                               | Assemble from the dictionaries                                                           |
| UTMs                      | [UTM standards](/utm-standards)                                                                                     | Always                               | Build them, including `utm_content` per send                                             |
| Experiment ID             | [Experiment ID conventions](/experiment-ids)                                                                        | Only if testing                      | Register one via [creating an experiment](/creating-an-experiment)                       |

<Warning>
  Consent basis and domain authentication are the two rows that stop a send rather than delay it. Neither is fixable in the hour before a scheduled send, so check both first.
</Warning>

## The process at a glance

<Steps>
  <Step title="Confirm the campaign has a parent">
    Every email campaign belongs to a marketing campaign brief.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Gather the inputs">
    Work the table above. Pick what exists, brief what doesn't.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Fill in the email campaign brief">
    Send type, objective, conversion action, audience, content, send settings, deliverability.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Build the segment and its suppressions">
    From the written definition, not from memory at send time.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Write the copy and build the email">
    Copy from the copy brief into the email copy template, then into the platform.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Assemble names and UTMs">
    All three naming levels, with utm\_content distinguishing each send.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Send test emails and render-check">
    Real inboxes, real devices, light and dark mode.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Run the pre-send checklist">
    The last pass before it goes out.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Send, then link back">
    Send or activate, then link the finished copy into the marketing campaign brief.
  </Step>

  <Step title="File the brief and set a review date">
    Into the campaign library. Sequences get a recurring review date.
  </Step>
</Steps>

## 1. Confirm the campaign has a parent

Open the [marketing campaign brief](/marketing-campaign-brief) this send belongs to and confirm email is listed in its channels table with a reason.

## 2. Gather the inputs

Work down the table in **Before you start**.

**Segment.** Write the segment as a definition in the brief before building it in the platform. A written query can be checked by someone else; a segment built at send time usually cannot, and that is where wrong-audience sends come from.

**Suppressions.** List them explicitly, including other campaigns sending in the same window. Overlapping sends are a deliverability problem as much as an experience one.

**Consent.** Confirm every contact in the segment has a recorded basis for receiving marketing email. This is not a step to take on trust.

**Destination.** Check the [landing page library](/landing-page-library) for a page that already serves this offer. The page has to carry the same offer and the same call-to-action wording as the email, or the click is wasted.

## 3. Fill in the email campaign brief

Copy the [**email campaign brief**](/email-campaign-brief) and work down it. Every campaign or sequence gets its own.

If this is an automated sequence, pay particular attention to the trigger, the timing, and the exit condition. A sequence with no exit condition keeps asking a contact to do something they have already done.

## 4. Build the segment and its suppressions

Build the segment from the written definition. Then check the count against the estimate in the brief.

A count that differs sharply from the estimate means the query does not say what you thought it said. Resolve that before sending rather than after.

## 5. Write the copy and build the email

Copy comes from the [copy brief](/ad-copy-standards), drafted into the [email copy template](/email-copy-template), and only then into the platform. Write the subject line and preview text together, since they are read together in the inbox.

Design has to meet the [email creative specs](/email-creative-specs): body width, image weight, dark mode behavior, and the total HTML size that keeps the message from being clipped.

## 6. Assemble names and UTMs

Write all three names and the tagged URLs into the brief.

Use `utm_content` to distinguish each send in a sequence. Without it, three touches collapse into one line in reporting and you cannot tell which one did the work.

## 7. Send test emails and render-check

Send a real test to real inboxes, not just the platform's preview.

* Check at least one webmail client, one mobile app, and one desktop client.
* Check **light and dark mode**. Dark mode handling varies sharply between clients, and a logo that disappears against an inverted background is the most common failure.
* Click every link in the test, including the unsubscribe link and any link inside an image.
* Confirm personalization tokens resolve, and that the fallback is sensible when a field is empty.
* Confirm the email is not clipped. See the [email creative specs](/email-creative-specs) for the size threshold.

## 8. Run the pre-send checklist

Run the [**email pre-send checklist**](/email-pre-send-checklist).

## 9. Send, then link back

Send the broadcast or activate the sequence, then:

* Paste the finished copy link into the [marketing campaign brief](/marketing-campaign-brief) and file it in the [copy drive](/copy-drive).
* Confirm the first conversions are attributing correctly rather than assuming they will.
* Record the send date in the brief.

## 10. File the brief and set a review date

File the completed [email campaign brief](/email-campaign-brief) in the [campaign library](/campaign-library-overview), under the Email folder, named per the [file naming conventions](/file-naming-conventions).

For an automated sequence, set a recurring review date. A sequence keeps sending to new contacts long after the campaign closes, and an unreviewed one is the most common way an expired offer stays in circulation.

## Exceptions

* **The send is transactional.** Order confirmations and account messages are not marketing sends and do not need a marketing consent basis. They still need correct authentication, working links, and a recorded owner.
* **The send is a small internal or list-hygiene message.** It still gets a brief, but sections like creative, experiment, and KPI targets may not apply.
* **The campaign is cancelled before sending.** File the brief with a short note on why it stopped. The segment definition and copy usually get reused.

## Related resources

* [**Email campaign brief**](/email-campaign-brief) The workbook this process runs on.
* [**Email pre-send checklist**](/email-pre-send-checklist) The pass before it goes out.
* [**Email creative specs**](/email-creative-specs) Width, image weight, dark mode, and clipping.
* [**Email copy template**](/email-copy-template) Where the copy is drafted.
* [**Campaign brief process**](/campaign-brief-process) The parent process, one level up.