Sending your first Pardot email – Checklist

Sending your first Pardot email from a new email service provider can be both exciting and nerve-racking at the same time. Here are the checklist you will want to complete to ensure your first email campaign runs smoothly:​

	Separate unsubscribes and hard bounces from your initial data import You don’t want to send emails to contacts that have previously unsubscribed or are known to have an invalid email address so import them separately and globally opt them out. Pardot manages your unsubscribes and email bounces automatically for you going forwards, so you won’t need to create a separate suppression list.
	Import your data You can choose to add your prospects to a list when you import them or add them to a list later (see below).
	Segment your lists Create segmentation lists for the prospects you want to receive your email. Whether you’re creating a static list of your current customers or building a dynamic list of prospects that meet specific criteria, get your lists ready before you start to send your email.
	Create your email template Build your email design using one of Pardot’s ready-made templates. Add your content or any personalisation and when you’re happy with the design, click ‘Publish to Template’.
	Create your email draft Once you’ve published your email template, it’s ready to use in an email send. Set up your email draft with your subject line, who the email will be sent from and a reply-to email address.
	Test your email send Send your email draft to a test list to ensure you see the email exactly as a prospect would. If you don’t use a test list, it won’t pull in any personalisation or enable the view online or unsubscribe links for you to test.
	Send When you’re confident that your email looks exactly as you would like, it’s linking through to the correct URL’s and pulling in the right prospect data, you’re ready to send your email! Choose to send it now or schedule it for a later day or time.
	Report To find out how many prospects opened or clicked on your email, what links were most popular or how many prospects hard bounced or unsubscribed, click through on the List Email Report.

And that’s it. You’ve imported clean data, segmented relevant audiences, created a great looking email and sent your first campaign. Read our next blog post for our tips on Getting the most out of your email campaigns.