Build your first email campaign

Once your sending domain is authenticated and your marketing contacts are set, you're ready to send your first email campaign. This is the moment where your marketing hub starts doing what it's built for: reaching your audience at scale.

HubSpot's email tool is a drag-and-drop builder. No coding required, no external tools needed. You design the email, pick a list, and send. But "pick a list and send" glosses over the decisions that determine whether your email gets opened, clicked, or ignored.

This article covers both the mechanics (how to build and send) and the strategy (what to put in and who to send it to) for your first marketing email.

Two types of marketing email

HubSpot has two email types, and the distinction matters:

Regular send emails. You choose a list, set a date and time, and HubSpot sends the email to everyone on that list. Use this for newsletters, announcements, event invitations, and any one-time broadcast.

Automated emails. These are published but not sent to a list directly. Instead, a workflow triggers when to send them. Use this for welcome sequences, nurture campaigns, form follow-ups, and any email that should fire based on a contact's behaviour.

For your first email campaign, start with a regular send. It's simpler and lets you learn the builder without also learning the workflow tool.

Build the email

Go to Marketing > Email > Create Email. Choose "Regular". Select a template (start with "Simple" if you're unsure).

The editor is drag-and-drop. The left panel shows modules you can add: text, images, buttons, dividers, and layout blocks. Drag them into the email body and arrange them.

A few things that matter:

Layout. Use a single-column layout for most B2B emails. It reads cleanly on mobile. If you want an image next to text, drag in a 50-50 layout block.

Images. Drag an image module in and upload your image. HubSpot's file manager stores everything you upload. You can also use HubSpot's AI image generator if you need a quick visual.

Buttons. Change the default "Learn More" text to something specific: "Download the guide", "Book a call", "See pricing". Link it to a HubSpot page or external URL.

Brand consistency. Your brand kit colours appear as favourites in the colour picker. Use them.

Personalisation tokens

Anywhere you see a "Personalise" button (subject line, preview text, body), you can insert a token that pulls data from the contact's CRM record. The most common is first name in the subject line: "{{first_name}}, here's your guide" becomes "Sarah, here's your guide".

Tokens work with any contact, company, or deal property. Use them in the greeting ("Hi {{first_name}}"), in contextual references ("As someone in {{industry}}..."), or in the subject line for higher open rates.

Configure the email settings

Before sending, fill in these settings:

From name and email. The "from" name is what appears in the recipient's inbox. For B2B, use a person's name ("Ewoud from Solid Growth") rather than a company name. It feels personal and gets higher open rates. The email address must match a verified sending domain.

Subject line. Keep it under 50 characters for mobile. Be specific about what's inside. Test personalisation tokens in the subject line.

Preview text. The short snippet that appears after the subject line in most email clients. If you leave it blank, email clients pull the first line of your email body, which usually looks messy. Write a deliberate preview text.

Subscription type. Every email must be assigned a subscription type (e.g. "Newsletter", "Product updates", "Events"). If a contact has opted out of that subscription type, they won't receive the email even if they're on your list. Create your subscription types before your first send under Settings > Marketing > Email > Subscription Types.

Choose your audience and send

In the Send/Schedule tab, select your recipient list. You can also add an exclusion list: contacts who are on the recipient list but should not receive this specific email.

You have three sending options:

Send now. Sends immediately to everyone on the list.

Schedule. Pick a date and time. HubSpot can also send based on each recipient's time zone if that data exists in the CRM.

Send test first. Before sending to your full list, click "Send test email" and enter your own email address. Check it on both desktop and mobile. Check it in Gmail, Outlook, and Apple Mail if you can. Rendering varies across clients.

After the send

Once the email goes out, check the analytics: open rate, click rate, bounce rate, unsubscribes. These numbers are your baseline. Every future email you send should aim to match or beat them.

If your open rate is below 20%, your subject lines need work. If your click rate is below 2%, your content or CTA isn't compelling enough. If your bounce rate is above 2%, you have data quality issues.

Your first email campaign sets the standard for everything that follows. Get the basics right: authenticated domain, clean list, relevant content, clear CTA, tested on mobile. Measure the results and iterate from there.