Getting started with Flexmail

Welcome to Flexmail. This guide walks you through everything you need to set up before you send your first campaign. Each step is straightforward, and once you've worked through them you'll have a solid foundation in place. Most users complete this setup in under an hour.

Before you begin

To follow this guide, you'll need:

• A Flexmail account (free trial or paid subscription)
• Access to your domain's DNS settings, or someone who can help you with that
• A list of existing contacts in CSV format, if you're moving from another platform
• Your company logo and brand colours, HEX codes are ideal

Step 1: Choose your communication languages

Flexmail supports multilingual sending from a single account, a real advantage if your audience spans language communities. When you first log in, Flexmail will ask which languages you want to use.

If you only send in one language, Flexmail keeps things simple and hides settings you don't need. If you select more than one language, you'll also choose a fallback language: the one Flexmail uses when a translation isn't available for a specific contact.

Step 2: Set up your brand kit

Your brand kit stores your logo, colours, and fonts. Once set up, these are available every time you create a message or template, so you don't need to hunt for your HEX codes each time.

Go to Settings, then Brand kit.

1. Upload your logo
2. Add your primary and secondary brand colours using HEX codes
3. Select your preferred fonts

Step 3: Set up sender validation 

Before you can send a campaign, Flexmail needs to confirm that you have access to the email address you want to send from. It's a simple one-time step per sender address.

Go to Settings, then Add or remove senders. Add the address you want to use and Flexmail will send a confirmation email to that address. Click the link in that email and you're ready to go. You can add as many sender addresses as you need.

Step 4: Set up email authentication

Email authentication tells receiving mail servers that your emails genuinely come from you. Without it, your emails are more likely to land in spam. Flexmail uses three security standards: SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.

Once you've validated a sender address, Flexmail automatically checks whether your domain records are correctly configured. If anything is missing, you can download a file from your account with the exact settings your domain administrator needs to add. DNS changes can take 24 to 48 hours to take effect, which is completely normal.

Step 5: Set up your custom fields

Custom fields let you store extra information about your contacts beyond the defaults like name and email address. Think of fields like company name, birthday, subscription plan, or any detail relevant to your business.

Setting these up before you import contacts means you can map your data correctly straight away, rather than re-importing later. Go to Settings, then Manage custom fields.

Step 6: Set up interests

Interests are labels you attach to contacts to track what they care about. They're one of the most powerful tools in Flexmail for sending relevant, targeted emails over time.

Interests can be added to a contact in several ways:

• Automatically, when a contact clicks a link in your email that you have tagged with a specific interest
• During import, by assigning interests to contacts in bulk
• By the contact themselves, when they fill in an opt-in form or update their profile page
• Via the API, for more advanced integrations

You don't need to have everything figured out right now. Start with the categories that make sense for your business and they'll fill up naturally as contacts engage with your emails.

Go to Contacts, then Interests, to get started.

Step 7: Import your existing contacts

If you already have a list of contacts, you can bring them into Flexmail by uploading a CSV file. Flexmail walks you through the process step by step.

Go to Contacts and click Add contacts. Upload your file, then match each column to the correct field in Flexmail, including any custom fields you created in step 5.

Step 8: Import existing unsubscriptions on the blacklist 

If you're moving to Flexmail from another platform, this step is important. Anyone who previously unsubscribed must not receive emails from your new setup.

Export your unsubscribers from your old platform, then import that list into the Blacklist tab in Flexmail before you import your active contacts. Flexmail will automatically exclude these addresses from all future campaigns.

Step 9: Create your first segment 

Segments let you define specific groups within your contact list so you can send more relevant emails. In Flexmail, segments are built from contact fields, custom fields, interests, and behaviour, and they update automatically as your contact data changes.

Go to Contacts, then Segments, and click Add segment.

Step 10: Create an opt-in form 

An opt-in form lets visitors subscribe to your emails directly from your website. When someone fills in the form, they receive a confirmation email. Once they click confirm, they're added to your account as a verified contact.

This double opt-in process gives you documented consent for every contact, which is exactly what GDPR requires. It also means your list stays clean and your engagement rates stay high, because everyone on it genuinely wants to hear from you.

Go to Forms, then Opt-in forms, and click Create new opt-in form. Once you're happy with the form, generate the embed code and add it to your website.

Step 11: Create your first template 

Templates save you time and keep your emails consistent. Instead of building your layout from scratch every time, you start from a template and just update the content.

Go to Campaigns, then Messages, and click Create new message. Use the Email builder to design your layout, add your logo, and apply your brand colours. Once you're happy with the result, save it as a template.

A few useful templates to create early on:

• Newsletter template, for sharing updates and articles
• Single-topic template, for focused messages with one clear call to action
• Promotional template, for offers and product announcements
• Event invite template, for webinars and in-person events

Step 12: Create a welcome email 

A welcome email is the first message a new subscriber receives from you, and it sets the tone for everything that follows. Research shows that 76% of people expect a welcome email immediately after subscribing, and subscribers who receive one show 33% more long-term engagement.

Tell new contacts who you are, what they can expect, and how to get the most out of your emails. Create your welcome message in the Email builder, then set up an automation workflow to send it automatically whenever a new contact joins your list.

Step 13: Send your first campaign

Create your campaign by choosing your message, your sender address, a subject line, and the segment you want to reach. Decide whether to send immediately or schedule it for later.

After sending, check your campaign reports to see how it performed. Your open rate, click rate, and unsubscribe rate all tell you something useful about how your message landed, and where you can improve next time.

Common mistakes to avoid

Skipping email authentication

Many users skip steps 3 and 4 and try to send a campaign straight away. Without a validated sender address and proper DNS records, your emails are much more likely to land in spam or be rejected entirely. Complete authentication before you send anything.

Importing contacts without documented consent

It's tempting to import every email address you've ever collected, but if you can't point to a clear moment when those people agreed to receive emails from you, you shouldn't import them. Sending to people without consent risks spam complaints, damages your sender reputation, and violates GDPR.

Forgetting to import unsubscribers first

If you're migrating from another platform, importing your active contacts before your blacklist is a common mistake. Always import unsubscribers first (step 8) so no previously opted-out contact accidentally receives your first campaign.

Not setting up custom fields before importing

If you import contacts before setting up your custom fields, you'll have to re-import or manually update records to add that data later. Take the time to create your fields in step 5 so the import maps correctly from the start.

Sending without a test profile

Personalisation placeholders like first name or company will appear as empty or broken in your preview if you haven't filled in a test profile. Set this up in Settings before you preview or test any message.

Next steps

Well done on completing your setup. Here are some great next steps to help you get even more out of Flexmail:

• Explore automation by setting up a workflow sequence
• Run an AB test on your next campaign to optimise your subject lines (Pro and Premium plans)
• Add more opt-in forms on specific pages of your website to grow your list
• Set up link tracking to automatically assign interests based on what contacts click

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