Send a Mailchimp email campaign: interactive demo

What is an email campaign in Mailchimp?

In Mailchimp, a campaign is a single email (or series of emails) you design and send to a chosen group of contacts. It holds everything about that send in one place: the design, the content, the audience it goes to, the sender address, and the schedule.

Campaigns are how most teams actually use Mailchimp day to day, whether it is a product update, a newsletter, a promotion, or a re-engagement email. The platform gives you templates and a drag and drop editor so you can design a professional looking email without writing any code.

Getting the campaign set up correctly matters, because the audience list, sender address, and schedule all decide who receives your email and when. A small mistake here, like the wrong audience or an unverified sender, can mean the email goes to the wrong people or does not send at all.

How to Create and Send an Email Campaign in Mailchimp

1. Go to the Campaigns tab

2. Click "Create"

In the Campaigns section, find the "Create" button, usually in the top right corner. Click it to begin building a new campaign from scratch.

3. Choose a template

Decide whether to build your own template or start from a pre designed one. Pick the option that best fits your campaign goal and design style.

4. Apply your template

Browse the available templates, select the one you like, and click "Apply" to load it into the editor for customizing.

5. Customize and save the design

Use the editor to personalize the template. Add your text, images, links, and any other elements your campaign needs, then click "Save" when you are happy with the design.

6. Add your audience in the "To" field

Click the "To" field to choose who receives the email. You can enter addresses manually or select an existing audience list saved in your account.

7. Choose the "From" address

Select the sender address for the campaign. Make sure to pick one from your list of verified email addresses in Mailchimp.

8. Save the audience details

Once the audience and sender address are set, click "Save" to confirm these details.

9. Schedule the send

Choose the date and time you want the campaign to go out. Use the scheduling feature to pick the best delivery time for your audience.

10. Save the schedule

Click "Save" to confirm the scheduled send time.

11. Review and send

Give everything one final check, then click "Send" to launch your campaign.

Who uses Mailchimp email campaigns?

Marketing teams run campaigns as their core weekly or monthly job, sending newsletters, product updates, and promotions to large lists. They are the ones who need the setup to be repeatable and error free every time.

Small business owners and founders use campaigns to stay in touch with customers without hiring an agency. For them, a clear, repeatable process is what makes email marketing manageable alongside everything else.

Customer and lifecycle teams use campaigns to onboard, re-engage, and update users. These sends happen again and again, so a reliable, documented process saves real time.

Marketing tools like Mailchimp change their interface often, which means how-to guides and internal training go stale fast. The interactive walkthrough above was built with Layerpath. When a button or step moves, you update that single step instead of re-recording the whole guide, so your team always follows current instructions.