How to Build Email Marketing in MailerLite

TL;DR

Set up MailerLite by verifying your account, completing the approval form, and authenticating a professional email address on your own domain. You can then import permitted contacts, organize them with groups and segments, create newsletters and signup pages, and build automated email sequences that support a complete email marketing system.

Transcript

• Hi there, my name is Simon, and in this video I'm going to show you step by step how to use the email marketing platform, MailerLite, and here's what we will cover in this video. Setting up your MailerLite account and going through the approval process, connecting a professional email address using your own domain, importing your existing contact... Read More

Key Insights

• MailerLite account activation requires email verification, completion of a business profile, and submission of an account confirmation form. The review considers the business, subscriber collection method, planned newsletter content, website or channel, and answers to additional questions before allowing full campaign activity.
• A physical business address is required for the marketing emails described in the tutorial. The account setup also requires acceptance of MailerLite's anti-spam policy, which permits messages only to contacts who gave permission and requires an unsubscribe link in every email.
• Account approval can take up to 24 hours according to the stated review window, although the demonstrated prior application was approved in about an hour. MailerLite still allows users to begin preparing forms, campaigns, landing pages, and other tools while approval is pending.
• A professional sending address uses a custom domain, such as an address formatted like contact at the business domain. The tutorial recommends obtaining a domain for about $10 because it presents campaigns more professionally and can help prevent messages from reaching subscribers' spam folders.
• Domain authentication begins under Account Settings and Domains, where the sender adds an email address and starts authentication. MailerLite may recognize the domain registrar and automate the process after login, while a manual setup option is available when automatic authentication does not work.
• Domain authentication can take up to 48 hours before its confirmation check mark appears. Once authenticated, the custom-domain email address can be used to send campaigns, giving the sender a professional address instead of relying on the email originally used to register the account.
• Subscriber imports support CSV or text uploads, copying and pasting from Excel, individual entry, and direct Mailchimp imports. During a CSV import, each useful column must be matched to a MailerLite field, while unnecessary identifiers, phone numbers, dates, IP addresses, and other data can be skipped.
• Groups are fixed categories used to organize subscribers by source or purpose, such as YouTube Subscribers or Website Subscribers. Segments are dynamic lists based on attributes or behaviors, such as selecting only members of a YouTube subscriber group who live in the United States.

Questions & Answers

Q: How do you set up and verify a MailerLite account?

Create an account by entering the company or organization name, your name, email address, and a password. Open the verification message from MailerLite and confirm the email address. Next, complete the profile with personal and industry information, select the tools you want to use, provide a physical business address, accept the anti-spam policy, and submit the account confirmation form.

Q: How does the MailerLite account approval process work?

MailerLite asks for information about the business, the approximate size of the existing email list, how subscribers were collected, the content planned for newsletters or pages, and a website or channel that represents the business. MailerLite reviews these details to decide whether the account appears legitimate. The stated review window is up to 24 hours, although the tutorial's earlier application took about an hour.

Q: What anti-spam requirements must MailerLite users follow?

Users must provide a physical business address during profile setup and agree to MailerLite's anti-spam policy. Marketing emails may be sent only to contacts who gave permission, such as people who joined through an opt-in form. Every sent email must also contain an unsubscribe link. The tutorial states that MailerLite can close an account when the user does not comply with this policy.

Q: How do you connect a professional email address to MailerLite?

Use an email address associated with a domain you own, then open Account Settings, select Domains, and choose the option to add a sending domain. Enter the professional email address, save it, and begin authentication. MailerLite may identify the domain registrar and complete the setup after you sign in there. If automatic authentication fails, use the provided manual setup option.

Q: How long does MailerLite domain authentication take?

Domain authentication may complete immediately during the guided process, but the tutorial notes that the confirmation check mark can take up to 48 hours to appear. A missing check mark immediately after setup therefore does not necessarily indicate failure. Once the domain is authenticated, the sender can use the professional custom-domain email address when sending MailerLite campaigns.

Q: How do you import existing contacts into MailerLite?

Open Subscribers, choose Add Subscribers, and select an import method. MailerLite accepts CSV or text files, information copied from Excel, manually entered subscribers, and contacts imported from Mailchimp. For a CSV import, upload the file, select or create a destination group, match relevant columns to MailerLite fields, skip unneeded columns, and finish the import. Contacts may take time to appear.

Q: What is the difference between groups and segments in MailerLite?

Groups are primary categories that organize subscribers according to a chosen source or purpose. For example, contacts from a YouTube channel can belong to a YouTube Subscribers group, while website signups can belong to a Website Subscribers group. Segments are dynamic lists created from attributes or behaviors, such as subscribers who belong to the YouTube group and live in the United States.

Q: What can beginners build with MailerLite after setup?

After completing account setup and configuring a sending address, beginners can import existing contacts, create and send simple email campaigns or newsletters, design signup forms, create landing pages, and build automated email sequences with MailerLite's automation tool. These components work together to collect new contacts, organize subscribers, distribute marketing messages, and deliver a planned sequence of emails.

Summary & Key Takeaways

• MailerLite account setup begins with creating an account, verifying the registration email, completing the business profile, and submitting an approval form. The profile requires business details and a physical address. MailerLite reviews the intended content, subscriber collection method, website or channel, and other information before approving full campaign use.

• A professional sending address is added through the Domains section of the account settings. After entering an address associated with a custom domain, the domain must be authenticated through its registrar. MailerLite may handle authentication automatically, while manual setup is available if the automatic process does not work correctly.

• Existing subscribers can be uploaded through a CSV or text file, pasted from Excel, added individually, or imported from Mailchimp. Uploaded columns must be matched to MailerLite fields. Groups categorize contacts by source or purpose, while segments create dynamic lists based on subscriber attributes or behaviors.