How to create broadcasts
Andy Fowler avatar
Written by Andy Fowler
Updated over a week ago

Create one-off email blasts and announcements to send to your audiences.

Still need to create the audience who will be receiving your broadcast? Click here to learn how.

Creating a new broadcast

To start, go to Marketing > Broadcasts in your Nutshell account and click Create new broadcast.

Nutshell will offer you three options to start your broadcast from:

  • Recent message: Recently created broadcasts and editions

  • Nutshell template: Suggested broadcast templates from the Nutshell team

  • Scratch: Begin your broadcast with a blank slate

If you select a previously created broadcast or a Nutshell suggested template, you will click the green Start from .. button and provide a descriptive name for your new edition.

If you select to create a new broadcast from scratch, you will click the green Create new broadcast button and provide a descriptive name for your broadcast.

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Click save and you will be dropped on to the broadcast editor.

Editing your broadcast

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The editor allows you to completely customize your broadcast by dragging content from the editor into the body of your broadcast.

You can add and edit the following content into the body of your broadcast:

  • Text

  • Images

  • Buttons

  • Dividers

  • Social media links

  • HTML code

  • Videos

  • Icons

  • Menus

Adding and editing text

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When adding a text field to your broadcast, you will have the ability to edit your text with the following features:

  • Font family (style)

  • Font size

  • Bold

  • Italic

  • Underline

  • Strikethrough

  • Superscript

  • Subscript

  • Clearformatting

  • Alignment

  • Special characters

  • Undo/Redo

  • Numbered list

  • Bullet list

  • Text color

  • Text background color

  • Hyperlink

  • Special links

  • Merge tags (More)

Special Links: Within the special links feature, we provide an Unsubscribe link (Required links) and a View in Browser link (Other links).

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Merge Tags: Merge tags are smart fields that auto-fill with customer information and the mailing address listed within your General settings inside of Nutshell.

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Smart fields are places in your template that auto-fill with specific data about the corresponding contact. You can think of them as shortcuts to give each email a personal touch. When you send outreach emails, the smart fields will auto-populate with the right information for each contact.

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Available smart fields/merge tags for outreach:

  • First name: Inserts the first name of the person you are emailing. If you are emailing a company or lead, Nutshell will automatically pull in the first name of the first-listed associated person.

  • Last name: Inserts the last name of the person you are emailing. If you are emailing a company or lead, Nutshell will automatically pull in the last name of the first-listed associated person.

  • Company Name: Inserts the primary company name into the email. If you are emailing a person or lead, Nutshell will automatically pull in the name of the first-listed associated company.

Add fallback text to fill in when a merge tag is unavailable on any of the contacts in your broadcast. For example, this comes in handy to send a contact a message greeting of "Hi friend" if the only details you have about them is their email address.

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Psst: Whether you’re sending a broadcast, newsletter, or drip sequence, an unsubscribe link and your mailing address are required within your outreach emails. Don’t worry, Nutshell will remind you to add one if you forget!

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Removing content

You are able to remove content from your draft by clicking on the outlined content and selecting the blue trash icon.

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Previewing your broadcast

Before you send your broadcast, you can preview how your broadcast will appear to your audience by selecting the Details tab.

You are able to toggle between a desktop preview and a mobile preview.

You will need to select which email address your broadcast will be sent from and which audience your broadcast will be sent to, provide a subject line, and you have the option to include preview text.

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If your organization utilizes Google Analytics UTM parameters, you are able to add UTM parameters to all links within your Broadcast by checking the box next to Add UTM parameters to all links and selecting Edit parameters.

Psst: You can find this tracking data in your Google Analytics account. It is not housed inside of Nutshell.

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When you’re ready to send your Broadcast out of Nutshell, click Prepare to send. Nutshell will alert you to any requirements for your Broadcast that have not been fulfilled.

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When it’s confirmed that all requirements for your Broadcast are met, click Review.

Nutshell will verify the title of your Broadcast, the sending email address, which Audience is receiving the Broadcast, and the subject line and preview text for the Broadcast. Click Send when ready.

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Scheduling your Broadcast

Not ready to send your Broadcast now? Click Schedule now at the top of your Broadcast.

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Nutshell will confirm if your Broadcast meets all sending requirements prior to allowing you to schedule your Broadcast. If all requirements are met, select Schedule and review.

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You will be able to determine the exact date and time that your Broadcast sends out to your Audience. Click Next to continue.

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Nutshell will confirm the details of your scheduled Broadcast.

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Once scheduled, your Broadcast will take on a yellow Scheduled banner and display the date and time it is expected to send out to your Audience.

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Broadcast engagement

The Engagement section of your Broadcasts provides actionable metrics that highlight your contacts’ engagement with your email outreach.

  • Total Sent Count: Total of how many times your Broadcast was sent out

  • Open Rate: The percentage of emails sent that have been opened

  • Click Rate: The percentage of emails sent that have been clicked

  • Unsubscribe Rate: The percentage of emails sent that resulted in the recipient unsubscribing

  • Bounce Rate: The percentage of emails sent that bounced

The graph on your Broadcast engagement page shows your Audience’s engagement with your Broadcast email over a determined range of time.

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