Sending your first broadcast

A broadcast is a one-time email sent from Zalify Reach to a list or segment of your contacts. This guide walks you through the full flow: pick an audience, design the email, write your subject line, send yourself a test, and then send or schedule the broadcast.

Before you start

Two things must be in place before Reach will send email for you:

• A verified sender domain. Reach requires SPF and DKIM records on your domain so mailbox providers trust your email. Set this up on the Email Settings page — see Verifying your sender domain.
• Contacts to send to. Broadcasts go to a list or a segment. If your audience is empty, start with Managing contacts and Lists and segments.

Reach only sends broadcasts to contacts who are subscribed. Unsubscribed contacts are excluded automatically — see Subscription status and unsubscribes.

Step 1: Create the broadcast

1. In Reach, go to the broadcasts section and create a new broadcast.
2. Give it an internal name. Your recipients never see this name — it is how you find the broadcast later in your reports.

Step 2: Pick your audience

1. In the audience step, choose the list or segment you want to send to.
2. Check the recipient count before you move on. If the number looks wrong, review your list membership or segment conditions first — it is much easier to fix now than after sending.

Lists are static groups you add contacts to; segments update automatically based on conditions. Either works as a broadcast audience. See Lists and segments for how to choose between them.

Step 3: Choose or design your email

1. Pick a starting point: a template or a blank design.
2. Build the email in the email editor using text, image, and button blocks, arranged in sections and columns. For a full tour of the editor, see Designing emails in the editor.
3. Make sure the footer includes the unsubscribe merge tag *|UNSUBSCRIBE_URL|* and your company address via {{ company_address }}. Both are covered in the Merge tags reference.

Step 4: Write the subject line and preview text

1. Enter a subject line. Keep it short and specific — most inboxes truncate long subjects, especially on mobile.
2. Enter preview text. This is the snippet inboxes show next to the subject line. If you leave it empty, inboxes pull the first text they find in your email, which is rarely what you want.

Step 5: Send a test

Always send a test to yourself before sending to your audience.

1. Use the test send option and enter your own email address.
2. Open the test on both desktop and your phone. Check the subject line, preview text, images, links, and the unsubscribe link in the footer.

Step 6: Send now or schedule

When everything looks right, you have two options:

• Send now. The broadcast starts sending to your audience right away.
• Schedule. Pick a date and time for the send. You can change the time later — see Scheduling and rescheduling a broadcast.

Review the final summary — audience, subject, and send time — before you confirm.

After you send

Opens, clicks, unsubscribes, and bounces start appearing in the broadcast's report shortly after sending begins. See Broadcast reports for what each metric means and how the data connects to the rest of Zalify.

If your results look weak — low opens or high bounces — start with Deliverability best practices.

Troubleshooting

• You cannot send or the send option is disabled. Your sender domain is probably not verified yet. Check the Email Settings page and follow Verifying your sender domain.
• The recipient count is lower than your list size. Unsubscribed contacts and contacts without a valid email address are excluded from sends.
• You need to send the same email regularly or based on behavior. Use an automation instead of a broadcast — see Building an automation.