The Campaign Kicker blog
Email marketing, answered plainly
Every piece here answers one question somebody typed into a search box. We only write about what we have checked ourselves, we say the version and the date, and we never publish a list of twenty tips to fill a page. Grade-level words, no jargon, no sign-up wall on the reading.
How to create and use an email template in Outlook
Write the email, then File > Save As and pick Outlook Template (.oft). Where Outlook stores the file, how to reuse it, and what no template can do.
Read it →Best font for emails: the stack that survives Outlook
Arial or Helvetica for short messages, Georgia for long ones, always written as a fallback stack. Plus the sizes that work, and why custom fonts vanish.
Read it →How to email many people at once without using BCC
For a small group, put your own address in To and the rest in Bcc. For customers that is not enough. Here is what breaks, and what to do instead.
Read it →Google Docs newsletter template: how to build one you can reuse
Google publishes no newsletter template. Build the layout once in Google Docs, start each issue from Make a copy, and keep it readable in an inbox.
Read it →HOA newsletter templates: what goes in every issue
A one page layout you reuse monthly, the five blocks residents read, how to mail a whole street without exposing anyone's address, and the four things to cut.
Read it →Why is my email going to spam, and how do I fix it?
Three causes to check in order: a shared sending address, a domain with no signature of its own, and a list of addresses that stopped reading.
Read it →SPF, DKIM and DMARC explained in plain English
Three text records in your domain: SPF lists the servers allowed to send as you, DKIM signs each message, DMARC says what to do when a check fails.
Read it →How often should you send a newsletter, and when is that too much?
For most small businesses, once a month holds the list and twice a month is the ceiling. What hurts you is a long silence, not a weekly habit.
Read it →What is double opt-in, and does your newsletter need it?
Double opt-in asks a new subscriber to click one link before you send anything. US law does not require it. Here is what it costs and what it buys.
Read it →CAN-SPAM checklist: the five rules a small business newsletter has to follow
The FTC rules for commercial email in plain terms, what they do not require, and what to put in your footer so a normal newsletter never has to think about it.
Read it →What is a good email open rate, and why is that the wrong question?
Vendors publish anything from 15% to 40%, and none of them can see inside the mailbox. Here is why open rate moved in 2021 and what to read instead.
Read it →How to grow an email list when nobody knows you yet
A list grows when somebody gets something for their address. The routes that work without buying names, and the honest maths on how long the slow one takes.
Read it →How to start a newsletter that people keep reading
Three decisions before you touch a tool, the issue skeleton that works for a small business, and what to send when you have nothing to say.
Read it →How to schedule an email so it goes out
Scheduling in Gmail, Outlook and a sending tool, what each one quietly cannot do, and why a message that never left is usually a timer problem.
Read it →How to make a newsletter in Microsoft Word and send it
Word can lay out a newsletter and mail it through mail merge. Here is where it stops, what HTML email means, and the free template route.
Read it →Church newsletter ideas, templates, and how to send one to a congregation
What belongs in a church newsletter, how a bulletin differs, how to email a congregation that reads on phones, and where a free Word template stops working.
Read it →School newsletter templates, and how to email parents without exposing anyone
What a weekly school email should hold, how to send it without exposing parents addresses, and whether a free Word or Canva template will do the job.
Read it →How to write a nonprofit newsletter people read and give because of
The three emails a small nonprofit sends, what belongs in each, which numbers are safe to publish, and how to ask without training people to leave.
Read it →Welcome email examples, what to put in one, and when to send it
What a welcome email must do in the first 24 hours, how the sequence should run, and where a welcome differs from a confirmation or an autoresponder.
Read it →How to write email subject lines that get opened, with examples for every case
Subject lines for a marketing send, a job application, a complaint and a cold intro, plus why the front of the line is the only part you control.
Read it →How long should a newsletter be, by cadence and by where it is read
A practical word range for a weekly email, a monthly letter, an article inside either, a feed post and a printed sheet, and how to find your own number.
Read it →How to write a newsletter, from the introduction to the last line
How to write a newsletter: one thing per issue, the body first, the introduction last. Plus an event article, a reusable template, Substack and LinkedIn.
Read it →What is an autoresponder, and what is an autoresponder used for?
An autoresponder is one email triggered by something the reader did, usually joining your list. What a drip campaign adds, what it costs, and what can go wrong.
Read it →How much does email marketing cost, and what is the bill made of?
What tools charge by contact, send and feature, what free plans gave on 25 October 2026, and how to work out your own monthly number with the arithmetic.
Read it →How to clean an email list without throwing away the readers you have
Which addresses cost you deliverability, how to find the dead ones in your own reports, when to re-permission instead of delete, and what cleaning is worth.
Read it →How to segment an email list, and which segments are worth building
What a segment is, six worth building first, how a segment differs from a second list, and how to split an audience without mailing one person five times.
Read it →How to move your email list to a new tool without losing the consent
What to export, which columns a new importer needs, whether unsubscribed addresses must travel with you, and what usually breaks in an email list migration.
Read it →How to fix a DMARC failure, in the order the receiving server checks it
What DMARC checks, the four ways a message fails it, how to read an aggregate report, and how to move from p=none to p=reject without blocking good mail.
Read it →Why is my email not sending, queued or stuck in the Outbox
What queued, sent and delivered each prove, why a campaign stops halfway, the checks for Outlook, Gmail and a stuck Outbox, and how to read a bounce.
Read it →What sender reputation is, and how to check yours at Gmail and Outlook
What providers score you on, how to check your standing for free, why a delivery rate is not an open rate, and how long a new domain takes to earn trust.
Read it →Is my email domain blacklisted? How to check, who can clear it, and how long it takes
Where a domain gets listed, the free lookups that cover it, who can ask for removal, and how long a delisting takes to reach a mailbox provider.
Read it →What a good unsubscribe rate is, and what to do when yours jumps
The number two email tools publish for unsubscribes, why they differ, what a healthy rate looks like for your list, and what to do when a send spikes.
Read it →What a good click through rate is, and why the published numbers disagree
Two tools publish different click rate benchmarks from their own data. What a click rate counts, why the industry number moves, and what to aim at instead.
Read it →Why is my email in Gmail's Promotions tab, and what can you do about it?
Gmail sorts mail into five categories on its own, and its help pages put every fix on the reader's side. What a sender can and cannot change, and what to test.
Read it →Is buying an email list legal? The test a bought list has to pass
UK guidance puts the rule on sending, not buying. Each address must have agreed to email from you by name, which bought lists rarely carry. What to check first.
Read it →What makes a newsletter successful, and how do you measure it?
Success means the action you asked for, counted. Benchmarks with their conditions, the traps in open and click maths, and a five-rung ladder to measure on.
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