A complete guide to UniLink's built-in email marketing tool — how to build your first campaign, set up automated sequences, segment your list, and improve deliverability so your emails actually reach the inbox.
- UniLink Email Marketing lets you send broadcast campaigns to your entire list or a segment, and set up automated sequences that trigger when someone subscribes — all from the same Dashboard where you build your page.
- Custom sending domains (your own from-address like [email protected]) require SPF and DKIM DNS records to be added correctly before your emails will reliably reach the inbox — UniLink's Settings panel shows you the required records and confirms when they are verified.
- Sequences are the highest-leverage feature for most creators: a three-email welcome sequence that delivers your lead magnet, introduces your work, and makes a soft offer does more long-term revenue work than dozens of one-time broadcasts.
- Sending to a cold list without a warm-up plan will spike your spam rate and damage your sender reputation — start with your most engaged segment and expand from there rather than blasting your full list on the first send.
Most link-in-bio tools stop at the page. UniLink does not. Once you have built a subscriber list via the Data Collect block, you have a direct email channel to every person who visited your page and opted in — and you can reach all of them without buying ads, fighting algorithms, or depending on a third-party platform to deliver your message. UniLink Email Marketing is built directly into your Dashboard, which means your subscribers, your campaign history, your analytics, and your automated sequences all live in one place. You do not need a separate Mailchimp or ConvertKit account to start sending. If you have subscribers in UniLink Audience, you can send them an email today.
What UniLink Email Marketing does
UniLink Email Marketing is a full-featured email tool with two sending modes: broadcast campaigns and automated sequences. A broadcast campaign is a one-time send — you write the email, pick a list or segment, schedule or send immediately, and every subscriber in that segment receives it at the same time. Sequences are automated: you define a series of emails, assign a trigger condition (usually a subscriber tag or source), and the sequence fires automatically whenever a new subscriber meets the condition. Email 1 goes out immediately at signup, email 2 after three days, email 3 after seven days — all without any manual action from you once the sequence is configured. Both modes use the same drag-and-drop email builder with blocks for text, image, button, divider, and social links.
Subscriber management is handled through the Audience tab — the same place where Data Collect block submissions land. Every subscriber can carry tags (applied manually or via the Data Collect block's tag settings), and those tags drive segmentation in Email Marketing. You can filter your list by tag, source (which page or form the subscriber came from), location, and date joined, then save that filter as a named segment. When you create a campaign, you choose which segment or list receives it. This means a subscriber who opted in via a fitness-related lead magnet can receive different campaigns than one who opted in via a business content offer — even if both are on the same UniLink page.
UniLink handles unsubscribe management automatically. Every email sent through UniLink includes an unsubscribe link in the footer — this is required by CAN-SPAM and GDPR, and it cannot be removed. When a subscriber clicks unsubscribe, they are immediately suppressed from future sends. You do not need to manually manage an unsubscribe list or worry about sending to someone who opted out. If you are connecting a custom sending domain, note that unsubscribe handling is still managed by UniLink's infrastructure — you benefit from automatic suppression regardless of which from-address your emails display.
Getting started
- Confirm you have subscribers: Email Marketing requires an audience to send to. Go to Dashboard → Audience and verify you have at least some subscribers. If the list is empty, add a Data Collect block to your page first and collect some subscribers before configuring campaigns. You can set up templates and sequences in advance, but you cannot test them meaningfully without a test subscriber in your list.
- Decide whether to use a custom sending domain: By default, UniLink sends on your behalf using its own sending domain. This is fine for getting started. If you want your emails to show "From: [email protected]" instead of a UniLink domain, you need to configure a custom sending domain. Have access to your domain's DNS settings ready — you will need to add SPF and DKIM records, which requires logging into your domain registrar or DNS provider (Cloudflare, GoDaddy, Namecheap, etc.).
- Plan your first sequence: Before opening the email builder, decide what the first three emails of your welcome sequence will be. Email 1: deliver the thing you promised at signup (the lead magnet, the first tip, the confirmation). Email 2 (day 3): introduce your story and what you do. Email 3 (day 7): make a soft offer or point to your most popular content. Having this plan before you open the builder prevents the blank-page delay that causes most people to never finish their sequence.
- Review your subscriber tags: Sequences are triggered by subscriber tags. If all your subscribers have the same tag — or no tags — all subscribers will enter the same sequence, which may be fine. If you have multiple opt-in offers for different audience segments, verify the Data Collect blocks are applying distinct tags so you can run separate sequences for each segment without one audience receiving content meant for another.
How to set up Email Marketing
- Set up your custom sending domain (optional but recommended): Go to Settings → Email → Custom Domain. Enter the from-address you want to use (e.g., [email protected]). UniLink will display the SPF and DKIM DNS records you need to add to your domain. Log into your DNS provider, add both records exactly as shown, and return to UniLink. Click Verify. DNS propagation can take up to 24 hours; UniLink's Settings panel shows a green checkmark when both records are verified. Do not send campaigns from a custom domain until both records are verified — unverified custom domains will cause deliverability failures.
- Open Email Marketing: From your Dashboard, navigate to Email Marketing (or Audience → Email, depending on your plan's navigation layout). You will see tabs for Campaigns, Sequences, and Analytics.
- Create your first sequence: Click New Sequence. Name the sequence and set the trigger condition — typically a subscriber tag. Select the tag that your Data Collect block applies to new subscribers. Click Add Email to create the first email in the sequence. Set the delay to 0 days (send immediately at trigger). Use the drag-and-drop builder to write your welcome email: include the lead magnet link or the promised content, address the subscriber by name using the personalization token
{{first_name}}if you collected names, and set a clear subject line. Add a second email, set the delay to 3 days, and write your introduction email. Add a third at 7 days. Save the sequence and toggle it Active. - Create your first broadcast campaign: Click New Campaign. Choose a campaign name (internal only, not shown to subscribers). Select the segment or list to send to. Write the subject line and preview text — the preview text is the line that appears after the subject in most email clients and is often more persuasive than the subject line itself, so do not leave it auto-populated. Build the email body using the block editor. When the email is ready, either send immediately or schedule for a specific date and time. Scheduled sends are better than immediate for most creators — sending Tuesday through Thursday between 9 AM and 11 AM in your subscribers' primary timezone typically outperforms weekend or late-night sends.
- Review deliverability status before your first send: Go to Settings → Email and check the deliverability panel. If you are using a custom sending domain, confirm SPF and DKIM show as verified. If you are on UniLink's shared sending domain, there is nothing additional to configure. Check your list for any obviously invalid or mistyped email addresses in Audience before sending a large campaign — high hard bounce rates on your first send will damage sender reputation.
- Check analytics after sending: After a campaign sends, return to Email Marketing → Analytics or the campaign's detail view. You will see open rate, click rate, bounce rate, and unsubscribe rate. An open rate above 20% is healthy; above 30% is strong. Click rates above 2–3% are good. Unsubscribe rates above 0.5% on a single campaign signal that either the content missed expectations for that segment or you sent to a cold list that was not prepared for email from you.
Key features and settings
| Feature / Setting | What it does | Best practice |
|---|---|---|
| Broadcast campaigns | One-time sends to your full list or a saved segment — the standard newsletter format where all selected subscribers receive the same email at the same time | Use for time-sensitive content (launches, promotions, announcements) rather than evergreen content, which is better served by a sequence; schedule campaigns rather than sending immediately so you can proofread and catch errors in the 10-minute window before delivery begins |
| Sequences (automated drip) | A series of emails that fire automatically based on a trigger condition — typically subscriber tag — with configurable delays between each email | Every subscriber source should have at least a three-email welcome sequence; the first email should deliver exactly what was promised at signup within minutes of subscription — delayed delivery of a promised lead magnet produces immediate unsubscribes |
| Segments | Saved filters of your subscriber list based on tag, source, location, or date joined — used to target specific audiences with relevant campaigns rather than sending every email to every subscriber | Create segments before you need them; a segment for "subscribed in last 30 days" is useful for re-engagement checks, "tag: purchased" distinguishes buyers from non-buyers, and "location: US" is useful when your campaigns are geo-relevant |
| A/B testing (subject line) | Sends two subject line variants to a portion of your list and delivers the winning variant to the remainder based on open rate after a defined test period | Test one variable at a time — subject line length, personalization token, question vs. statement, curiosity gap vs. explicit benefit; only run A/B tests on lists large enough to produce statistically meaningful results (typically 1,000+ subscribers per variant) |
| Custom sending domain | Configures Email Marketing to send from your own from-address ([email protected]) instead of UniLink's default sending domain, requiring SPF and DKIM DNS records | Always add a custom domain before you build a significant sender reputation — switching from-addresses after your list is large resets brand recognition with subscribers; verify SPF and DKIM before sending a single campaign from the custom address |
| Unsubscribe management | Automatically appends a CAN-SPAM/GDPR-compliant unsubscribe link to every email and suppresses unsubscribed addresses from all future sends immediately upon opt-out | Do not attempt to remove or obscure the unsubscribe link — it is legally required and UniLink will re-add it; a visible, easy-to-find unsubscribe link actually reduces spam complaints (which damage sender reputation far more than unsubscribes) by giving disengaged subscribers a clean exit |
| Open rate and click rate analytics | Campaign-level reporting showing percentage of delivered emails opened and percentage of opens that clicked at least one link | Track trends over time rather than individual campaign numbers — a declining open rate across your last five campaigns signals a deliverability or relevance problem that needs diagnosis; a single low-open campaign may just reflect a bad subject line |
How to get the most from Email Marketing
The single most valuable configuration most people skip is building a complete welcome sequence before they run their first broadcast campaign. A welcome sequence runs automatically for every new subscriber — it delivers value at the moment of highest interest (right after signup), builds a relationship before you ever ask for anything, and converts subscribers into buyers at a rate that broadcast campaigns rarely match. A three-email welcome sequence — lead magnet delivery, creator introduction, soft offer — takes a few hours to set up and then runs indefinitely with no further work. It is the highest return-on-effort activity in email marketing and it is underused specifically because it is done before you have an audience, which makes it feel abstract. Set it up now, even if you only have 50 subscribers.
Segmentation is what separates a 20% open rate list from a 45% open rate list. The reason most email open rates decline over time is not that subscribers stop caring about email in general — it is that they receive emails that are not relevant to the specific reason they subscribed. A subscriber who opted in for fitness content does not want business growth tips. One who bought a digital product does not need a sales email for the product they already own. UniLink's tag-based segmentation lets you maintain one list while sending highly relevant campaigns to each sub-audience. The more precisely you match email content to the specific interest that drove each subscriber to opt in, the higher your open rates, click rates, and purchases will be.
Deliverability is infrastructure, not an afterthought. The most important deliverability actions you can take are: adding your custom domain with verified SPF and DKIM records, never buying or scraping email lists, removing hard-bounced addresses promptly after a campaign, and not sending to a segment that has not received an email from you in more than six months without a re-engagement campaign first. Cold or stale lists have high spam-placement rates because mail providers use engagement history as a signal of whether your email is wanted. If a large percentage of your list has not opened any of your last five emails, segment them out and run a dedicated re-engagement campaign before including them in your regular send schedule.
A/B testing subject lines is the fastest way to improve open rates systematically. The discipline is simple: pick one element to test (personalization vs. no personalization, question vs. statement, explicit benefit vs. curiosity gap), run the test on a large enough segment, and keep a record of what won and by how much. Over ten campaigns, you will develop a clear picture of what your specific audience responds to — which is more valuable than any generic email marketing advice because it reflects your audience's actual behavior rather than industry averages.
Troubleshooting common issues
| Problem | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Emails from custom domain landing in spam | SPF or DKIM DNS records are missing, incorrectly entered, or not yet propagated — without these records, receiving mail servers cannot verify that UniLink is authorized to send on behalf of your domain | Go to Settings → Email → Custom Domain and check the verification status of both SPF and DKIM records; if either shows as unverified, re-check the DNS records in your registrar for typos or missing values; DNS propagation can take up to 24 hours after adding records, so recheck after waiting; do not send more campaigns from the custom domain until both records show verified |
| Sequence is not triggering for new subscribers | The sequence's trigger tag does not match the tag being applied by the Data Collect block — a mismatch of even one character (spaces, capitalization) will prevent the sequence from starting | Open the sequence settings and note the exact trigger tag; open the Data Collect block settings and confirm the tag it applies to new subscribers is character-for-character identical; go to Audience, find a recent subscriber who should have triggered the sequence, and check which tags they actually have — compare against the sequence trigger |
| Open rate is below 10% on a large send | Emails are landing in spam due to a deliverability issue, the list is cold or stale, or the subject line is triggering spam filters (excessive capitalization, spam-trigger words, misleading re: or fwd: prefixes) | Check that your custom domain's SPF and DKIM records are verified; review the subject line for spam-trigger patterns; if the list has not been emailed in 3+ months, run a re-engagement campaign to the most recently active segment before sending broadly; check whether the emails are in your own spam folder when you send a test |
| Campaign shows "sending" status for hours | Large list sends are queued and processed in batches — this is normal behavior for lists above a few thousand subscribers and is not an error | No action needed; sending a campaign to 10,000 subscribers may take 2–4 hours to fully deliver depending on queue volume; check the campaign detail page for current delivery progress; if sending status persists beyond 24 hours, contact UniLink support with the campaign ID |
| Unsubscribe rate above 1% on a single campaign | The email content did not match subscriber expectations (wrong topic, too promotional for a content-only list), the send frequency increased suddenly, or the email was sent to a segment that did not explicitly opt in for that type of content | Review the campaign content against the promise made at signup; if you shifted from content to promotion without a warming sequence, add a transition email before the next promotional send; check whether the segment includes subscribers from multiple opt-in sources with different expectations and split them into separate lists going forward |
Personalization token {{first_name}} showing as literal text in delivered emails |
The token syntax is correct but the subscriber record has no first_name value — either the Data Collect block did not collect names, or the subscriber submitted only an email address | Add a fallback to your personalization token using UniLink's fallback syntax (e.g., {{first_name | "there"}} so the email reads "Hi there" instead of "Hi {{first_name}}" when no name is stored); in Audience, you can also manually add first names to individual subscriber records for high-value contacts |
Best fit for
- Creators, coaches, and course sellers who already collect subscribers via UniLink's Data Collect block and want to send and automate emails without switching to a separate email marketing platform
- Anyone building a welcome sequence or automated drip for a lead magnet funnel — the tag-based sequence trigger connects directly to Data Collect block subscriber tags with no manual configuration
- Small e-commerce brands using UniLink's Shop or Digital blocks who want to email buyers with post-purchase sequences, upsells, or re-engagement campaigns from the same Dashboard where they manage orders
- Newsletter writers and content creators who want basic broadcast campaigns with open and click analytics without the monthly cost of a dedicated email tool
Not the right tool if
- You need advanced e-commerce email flows (abandoned cart, browse abandonment, post-purchase cross-sell with dynamic product blocks) — those workflows require a dedicated e-commerce email platform like Klaviyo with deep store integration
- Your list is above 50,000 subscribers and you need enterprise deliverability controls, dedicated IPs, or advanced inbox placement monitoring — at that scale, a dedicated email service provider with more granular deliverability tooling is the better choice
- You need complex conditional logic in sequences (if subscriber opened email 2 then send email 3A, otherwise send email 3B) — UniLink sequences are linear; branching automations require a platform with visual automation builders
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a custom sending domain to use UniLink Email Marketing?
No — UniLink sends on your behalf using its own verified sending infrastructure by default. Your emails will be delivered and your unsubscribes will be managed without any DNS configuration. A custom sending domain is recommended when you want your from-address to show your brand ([email protected] instead of a UniLink domain) and when you want to build sender reputation on a domain you own. If you add a custom domain, you must add the SPF and DKIM records UniLink provides before sending — without them, your emails will fail authentication checks and land in spam. UniLink's Settings panel shows exactly which records to add and confirms verification status in real time.
Can I import subscribers from Mailchimp or ConvertKit into UniLink Email Marketing?
Yes — you can import subscribers into UniLink Audience via CSV upload. Export your list from Mailchimp, ConvertKit, or any other tool as a CSV with at minimum an email column. In Dashboard → Audience, use the import function to upload the CSV and map the columns to UniLink's fields (email, first name, last name, tags). Imported subscribers are added to your Audience immediately and are available as campaign targets. Before importing, confirm that every subscriber on the list gave explicit consent to receive emails from you — importing purchased lists or lists with no opt-in record violates CAN-SPAM and GDPR and will produce high spam complaint rates that damage your sender reputation.
What is the difference between a campaign and a sequence?
A campaign is a one-time broadcast — you send it once, it reaches every subscriber in the selected segment at the same time, and it is done. A sequence is an automated series — it runs continuously in the background, firing for each new subscriber who meets the trigger condition, with the same email series delivered to each subscriber on their individual schedule from the day they subscribed. Campaigns are for time-sensitive content (announcements, promotions, seasonal sends). Sequences are for evergreen content (welcome series, onboarding, lead magnet delivery) that should be sent to every new subscriber regardless of when they joined. Most creators should have at least one active sequence running at all times and use campaigns for supplemental sends on top of that foundation.
Why are my emails going to spam even though my domain is verified?
DNS verification (SPF and DKIM) is necessary but not sufficient for inbox delivery. Mail providers also evaluate engagement history — if recipients frequently ignore your emails, move them to spam, or unsubscribe at high rates, your sender reputation declines over time regardless of technical authentication. The most common causes of spam placement after successful domain verification are: sending to a cold or stale list that has not engaged with your emails recently, sending too frequently without enough value, subject lines that trigger spam filters (misleading, all-caps, excessive exclamation points), or a sudden increase in send volume that looks like unusual behavior to mail providers. Fix this by sending to your most engaged segment first, gradually warming up to the full list, and ensuring your content consistently delivers on the expectations you set at signup.
Can I run A/B tests on email body content, not just subject lines?
UniLink's A/B testing feature focuses on subject line variants. If you want to test email body content (different CTAs, different offers, different email length), the workaround is to create two separate campaigns targeting two equal-sized segments of your list and track their performance independently. This is not a true A/B test because the segments may differ in ways beyond the content variation, but for most creators at typical list sizes, the results are directionally useful. Document which variant went to which segment, note the open and click rates for each, and use the results to inform the approach you take in future campaigns. At scale, more rigorous split-testing becomes worth the manual effort.
- Set up your welcome sequence before you run your first broadcast campaign — a three-email automated sequence that delivers your lead magnet, introduces your work, and makes a soft offer runs indefinitely with no additional effort and consistently outperforms one-time sends on a per-subscriber basis.
- Custom sending domains require verified SPF and DKIM DNS records before you send a single campaign — unverified custom domains cause authentication failures and land your emails directly in spam regardless of content quality.
- If a sequence is not triggering for new subscribers, the most likely cause is a tag mismatch between the Data Collect block setting and the sequence trigger condition — check both for character-for-character accuracy.
- Declining open rates over time are almost always a segmentation problem — sending irrelevant content to the wrong audience segment is more damaging to deliverability than any subject line choice.
- The preview text field (the line after the subject in inbox views) is one of the most underused settings in email marketing — filling it in on every campaign with copy that extends the subject line hook can improve open rates by 5–15% with no other changes.
Ready to send your first email campaign? Create your free UniLink page, collect your first subscribers with the Data Collect block, and use UniLink Email Marketing to send campaigns and sequences — all from the same Dashboard, with no separate email tool required.