How to Schedule a Multi-Media Template Campaign | Astro Marketing Suite
While creating a templated campaign you have the ability to schedule your campaign for a later time. This can be extremely useful if you plan your campaigns in advance and you want them to be available at specific times.
Yup, We Got a 2 Minute Video on Scheduling a Campaign 🍿
Or you can follow the written directions below:
Jump to Step 2 if you're a pro.
Step 1: Create your Campaign
In order to schedule a campaign, you must first create one. Let's go!
- Go to the Campaigns Menu from your Marketing Suite Dashboard.
- Click Multi-Media Template Campaign
- Click the red New Template Campaign button. This pops you into the Campaign Editor, Step 1.
- Enter the Campaign Title (this will be the name of your Campaign as it appears on your Campaign list, your customers do not see this.)
- Select the Recipient List (make sure it is Refreshed)
- Choose your Communication Type/s (Email, App Notification, and SMS Text can all be scheduled)
- Enter your Subject Line/s (keep them brief and eye-catching!)
- Now for the Campaign Scheduler!
If this is your first time creating a Multi-Media Campaign, check out the following articles for more information:
Step 2: Scheduling - Now or Later?
You'll find the Campaign Scheduler options on the first page of your Campaign Editor, below the Subject Line fields.
There are two options: Send Campaign Now or Send Campaign Later.
Choose Send Campaign Now if you would like to send your Campaign right away.
Selecting Send Campaign Later will reveal several additional fields where you can enter the Date / Time / Timezone that you would like your queued Campaign to be delivered.
Send Date: If you just want to send your Campaign later in the day, you can choose Today's Date for the Send Date, and then select a Send Time for later in the day. Or you can choose a Date in the near future- or even way into the future!
Send Time: Pay close attention to the TIME that you choose from the drop-down, the full 24 hours are available for you to choose from- so if you want to send at 3:00 PM make sure you didn't accidentally select 3:00 AM 🙀
Timezone: The Timezone option will default to your local time zone according to your IP Address - so if you are on the move, or you have customers spread throughout different time zones, make sure you adjust this option.
When is the best time to send a marketing email?
To answer this question, you need to understand the behaviors of your audience. This includes knowing when you’ll be most likely to catch their attention and motivate them to take your desired action. Put your profiler hat on and start by asking yourself, "Who is your customer?"
Conduct some A/B comparisons to find your optimal send times.
- Test Your Timing: Experiment with sending emails at different times to see what works best.
- Try between 9-12 on a Wednesday, then try between 3-5 PM on a Tuesday.
- Measure Results: Compare open rates, click-throughs, and conversions to identify the most successful send times.
- Stay Flexible: Audience habits change, so regularly test and adjust your schedule to keep improving.
Keep testing, learning, and adapting for better engagement!
For more tips on choosing the best Time to send a Campaign, check out this article in our Astro Blog: Email Marketing Unleashed: Tips and Tricks for Local Pet Stores to Drive Results
Step 3: Adding a Template to Your Campaign
Once you have completed the Who and When of your Campaign it is time to add the What. Click "Continue to Step 2" and from the pop-up, Confirm that your Subject Lines are correct.
Now you’re in the Template Library. Here, you can select a template you’ve previously created from My Templates or import one from one of our curated collections below. Once an Astro Template is selected, you can customize it using the Template Editor.
If you’re selecting a template from My Templates, simply click on it and choose Add to Campaign.
If you’re editing a new template in the Template Editor, click Save & Add to Campaign once you’ve finished making your changes (see image below).
Step 4: Review, Preview, and SEND!
Now you are back in the Campaign Editor and ready to complete the final steps.
Review the Preview of your Campaign shown on the Right of your screen.
- Check the "From" - Is your store name correct?
- Go Back to Step 1 to edit
- Check the "To" - Does the number of Pet Owners look accurate?
- Go Back to Step 1 to edit
- Does your "Subject" look good?
- Go Back to Step 1 to edit
- Scroll down and review the content of your Template.
- Click Edit Selected Template to edit, or Select Different Template to replace or add template.
- Scroll down to the bottom of the page and review your Footer.
- Click Edit Template Footer to edit
TIP: Always send yourself a Preview to check your formatting. Click the Send Preview button and enter the email address that you would like the preview sent to.
Are you satisfied with everything? Good! Now you can click Save & Queue for Sending.
Are You Sure?
We don’t want you losing sleep wondering if that campaign you scheduled for tomorrow afternoon might actually go out at 3 a.m. (yikes!). That’s why Astro gives you one final chance to review the important details before hitting send.
When you click Save & Queue for Sending, a pop-up window will appear, showing how many people the campaign is targeting and how it’ll be delivered. This is your moment to double-check the date, time, and time zone of your scheduled campaign. Made a little oopsy? Fix it by clicking Back to Step 2. Or, if everything looks good, click Queue Send and rest easy.
When you return to your list of Draft/Sent Campaigns you'll see your scheduled Campaign at the top of the list with its Creation Date and Scheduled Send Date.
You did it! You successfully scheduled your first Astro Campaign!
For more tips on Email Marketing check out the Marketing section of our Blog.
Reach out to our partners in PIN, such as Pet Engine Marketing. Here's an Email Marketing Cheatsheet for Pet Retailers by Pet Engine Marketing
Related Articles:
Related Articles
How to Send Multi-Media Campaign | Marketing Suite
How to Send Multi-Media Campaign: 1. Go to to the Marketing Suite and select Campaigns. 2. Select 'Template Creator'. 3. Select 'New Template Campaign'. Template Campaign Setup Step 1 4. Enter in a Campaign Title. 5. Select your Recipient List. It ...Multi-Media Template Campaigns | Overview | Marketing Suite
Multi-Media Templated Campaigns Overview There are two categories of Campaigns on the Astro Marketing Suite: Templated Campaigns & Simple Campaigns. The main difference between the two types is that Templated Campaigns utilize a Template to carry the ...How To Send A Quick OFFER Campaign | Marketing Suite
How To Create An Quick Offer Campaign: Quick Campaigns were designed to help you get the word out quickly regarding a specific Offer you are running at your store. They can be paired with a custom Recipient List so the details of a particular Offer ...Astro Media | Image Library | Marketing Suite
This Library is curated with images to help you showcase your Neighborhood Pet Shop. It contains two main categories of images. Astro Lifestyle Media - Adoption Images, Banners & Buttons for your e-commerce, business or social webpages, or Astro ...Campaigns | How To Create A Quick MY PROMOTIONS Campaign | Marketing Suite
My Promotions My Promotions are the best thing to hit customer loyalty since, well... Astro Loyalty! You will not find My Promotions on any other marketing platform. They are the ultimate promotional tool since they can promote anything you want. ...