Create an email

Last update: July 14, 2025

Topics:
Email

CREATED FOR:

Beginner
User

Add an email action

To create an email in Journey Optimizer, add an Email action to a journey or a campaign. Then follow the steps below, according to your case.

Open your journey, then drag and drop an Email activity from the Actions section of the palette.
Provide basic information on your message (label, description, category).
Choose or create the email configuration.

The field is pre-filled, by default, with the last configuration used for that channel by the user.

NOTE

You can use the Send-Time Optimization option to predict the best time to send the message to maximize engagement based on historical open and click rates. Learn how to work with Send-Time Optimization

For more information on how to configure a journey, refer to this page.

Create a new scheduled or API-triggered campaign, and select Email as your action.
Complete the steps to create an email campaign, such as the campaign properties, audience, and schedule.
Select the Email action.
Select or create the email configuration. Learn more

For more information on how to configure a campaign, refer to this page.

Define your email content

From the journey or campaign configuration screen, click the Edit content button to configure the email content. Learn more

In the Header section of the Edit content screen, the From name, From email and BCC field are configured in the email configuration that you selected. Learn more
Add a subject line for your message. To configure and personalize the subject line with the personalization editor, click the Open personalization dialog icon. Learn more
NOTE
The subject line is mandatory.

The subject line must not include line breaks.
Click the Edit email body button to access the Email Designer and start building your content. Learn more
If you are in a campaign, you can also click the Code Editor button to code your own content in plain HTML using the pop-up window that displays.

NOTE
If you already created or imported content through the Email Designer, this content will display in HTML.

Check alerts

As you are designing your messages, alerts are displayed in the interface (on top right of the screen) when key settings are missing.

NOTE

If you do not see this button, no alert has been detected.

The settings and elements checked by the system are listed below. You will also find information on how to adapt your configuration to resolve the corresponding issues.

Two types of alerts can happen:

Warnings refer to recommendations and best practices, such as:
- The opt-out link is not present in the email body: adding an unsubscription link into your email body is a best practice. Learn how to configure it in this section.
  
  NOTE
  Marketing-type email messages must include an opt-out link, which is not required for transactional messages. The message category (Marketing or Transactional) is defined at the channel configuration level and when creating the message from a journey or a campaign.
- Text version of HTML is empty: do not forget to define a text version of your email body, as it will be used when HTML content cannot be displayed. Learn how to create the text version in this section.
- Empty link is present in email body: check that all the links in your email are correct. Learn how to manage content and links in this section.
- Email size has exceeded the limit of 100KB: for optimal delivery, make sure the size of your email does not exceed 100KB. Learn how to edit email content in this section.
Errors prevent you from testing or activating the journey/campaign as long as they are not resolved, such as:
- The subject line is missing: email subject line is mandatory. Learn how to define and personalize it in this section.
- The email version of the message is empty: this error is displayed when the email content has not been configured. Learn how to design email content in this section.
- configuration doesn’t exist: you cannot use your message if the configuration you have selected is deleted after the message creation. If this error occurs, select another configuration in the message Properties. Learn more about channel configurations in this section.

CAUTION

To be able to test or activate the journey/campaign using the email, you must resolve all error alerts.

Check and send your email

Once your message content has been defined, you can use test profiles to preview it, send proofs and control its rendering in popular desktop, mobile and web-based clients. If you inserted personalized content, you can check how this content is displayed in the message, using test profile data.

NOTE

In addition to test profiles, Journey optimizer also allows you to test different variants of your content by previewing it and sending proofs using sample input data uploaded from a CSV / JSON file, or added manually. Learn how to simulate content variations

To do this, click Simulate content then add a test profile to check your message using the test profile data.

Detailed information on how to select test profiles and preview your content is available in the Content Management section.

When your email is ready, complete the configuration of your journey or campaign, and activate it to send the message.

NOTE

To track the behavior of your recipients through email openings and/or interactions, make sure that the dedicated options in the Tracking section are enabled in the journey’s email activity or in the email campaign.

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