# Newsletter

> Send branded newsletters to your subscriber lists with full engagement tracking.

Source: https://docs.graph8.com/engage/newsletter/

Newsletter lets you create, schedule, and send email newsletters directly from graph8 - no third-party tool needed. Every open, click, and unsubscribe feeds back into your lead scoring and audience targeting.

## Why It Matters

Most teams use a separate newsletter tool (Mailchimp, Beehiiv, ConvertKit) alongside their sales platform. That creates data silos - newsletter engagement never reaches your pipeline. graph8 Newsletter closes that loop: a prospect who clicks a pricing link in your newsletter becomes a warm lead in your outbound sequences automatically.

## How It Works

1. Go to **Studio → Campaign** and click **Generate**
2. Select **Newsletter** as the campaign type
3. Choose a goal and describe your newsletter direction
4. graph8 generates 5 newsletter ideas with AI
5. Push your favorite idea to a campaign - 9 newsletter-specific documents are generated automatically
6. Go to the campaign dashboard and click **Create New Issue** to compose your first newsletter
7. Write your content, preview it, and send

## Newsletter Documents

When you create a newsletter campaign, graph8 generates 9 strategic documents tailored to newsletter publishing:

| Document | What It Does |
|----------|-------------|
| Newsletter Brief | Mission, positioning, and value proposition to subscribers |
| Content Pillars | 4-6 recurring themes mapped to subscriber pain points |
| Editorial Calendar | 12-issue plan with themes, hooks, and CTA focus per issue |
| Tone & Voice Guide | Voice traits, DO/DON'T examples, newsletter vs sales email comparison |
| Subject Line Bank | 30+ subject line formulas grouped by psychology type |
| CTA Playbook | CTA types, placement rules, and rotation strategy |
| Subscriber Persona | Ideal subscriber profile with engagement triggers |
| Growth Playbook | Subscriber acquisition channels, targets, and list hygiene |
| Performance Benchmarks | Industry benchmarks, health score framework, SES thresholds |

These documents appear in the campaign sidebar. Click any document to view it as a rich, structured page - not raw text.

## Creating Issues

Each newsletter send is called an **issue**. To create one:

1. Open your newsletter campaign in **Studio → Campaign**
2. Click **Create New Issue** in the dashboard sidebar
3. Fill in the subject line and preview text
4. Write your HTML content in the editor
5. Optionally map to an editorial calendar issue number for tracking
6. Click **Save Draft** or **Send Now**

### Issue Statuses

| Status | Meaning |
|--------|---------|
| Draft | Not yet sent - still editable |
| Scheduled | Queued for future delivery |
| Sending | Currently being delivered via SES |
| Sent | Delivery complete - metrics tracking active |
| Failed | Send failed - check SES configuration |

### Send Validation

Before an issue can be sent, graph8 runs a preflight check:

- **Confirmed subscribers** — only confirmed subscribers count toward the send (double opt-in pending subscribers are excluded)
- **Suppression check** — bounced and complained subscribers are skipped
- **Domain status** — sending domain must be Verified
- **Required fields** — subject, preview text, and HTML content must be present

If any check fails, the Send dialog blocks the action and lists what to fix. The issue editor scrolls into long content automatically so you can review before sending.

## Engagement Tracking

Every newsletter issue tracks these metrics automatically:

| Metric | What It Measures |
|--------|-----------------|
| Delivered | Emails that reached the inbox |
| Opened | Unique opens (pixel tracking) |
| Clicked | Link clicks with URL tracking |
| Bounced | Hard and soft bounces |
| Unsubscribed | One-click unsubscribe actions |
| Complained | Spam complaints from ISPs |

**Data loop**: Opens and clicks publish lead signals to graph8's scoring engine. A subscriber who clicks your pricing link gets scored higher in your outbound campaigns - automatically.

## Subscribers

Newsletter sending is **subscriber-based** — every send targets a list of confirmed subscribers, separate from your outbound audiences. Each subscriber has their own status, preference center, and engagement history.

### Subscriber Statuses

| Status | Meaning |
|--------|---------|
| **Pending** | Confirmation email sent, waiting on double opt-in |
| **Subscribed** | Confirmed and receiving newsletters |
| **Unsubscribed** | Opted out via one-click unsubscribe or preference center |
| **Bounced** | Hard bounce — automatically excluded from future sends |
| **Complained** | Marked as spam — automatically excluded across all graph8 modules |

### Adding Subscribers

You can populate a newsletter's subscriber list in three ways:

- **Promote from an audience** — convert an existing graph8 audience into subscribers (a confirmation email is sent if double opt-in is enabled)
- **Manual add** — paste emails or upload a CSV from the Subscribers tab
- **Public signup form** — embed a subscribe form on your site; submissions trigger the double opt-in flow

### Setup Checklist

When you open a newsletter campaign for the first time, the **Setup Checklist** shows what's left before you can send:

1. Verified sending domain
2. At least one confirmed subscriber
3. From name and reply-to address configured
4. Newsletter content drafted

The checklist runs against your subscriber list (not audience size) and updates in real time as you complete steps.

### Compliance & Hygiene

graph8 handles compliance automatically:

- **Double opt-in** — new subscribers receive a confirmation email; only confirmed subscribers receive issues
- **One-click unsubscribe** (RFC 8058) — included in every email; clicking unsubscribes immediately without an extra click
- **Preference center** — secure HMAC-signed tokens give subscribers a per-newsletter preference page (no login required)
- **Bounce management** — hard bounces automatically suppress the subscriber
- **Complaint handling** — spam complaints suppress the subscriber across newsletter, outbound, and every other graph8 module
- **NULL email guard** — subscribers without valid email addresses are filtered from sends

## Settings

Newsletter settings live at two levels: org-wide defaults and **per-newsletter** overrides.

### Org-Level Settings

1. Go to **Settings → Newsletter**
2. Configure your sending domain (subdomain verification via DNS)
3. Set default sender values (From Name, From Email, Reply-To)
4. Enable double opt-in (recommended)
5. Set warmup daily limits for new domains

### Per-Newsletter Settings

Each newsletter campaign can override the org defaults — useful when you publish multiple newsletters from the same org with different brands or sender identities.

Open the newsletter campaign and go to the **Settings** tab to set per-newsletter:

- From Name and Reply-To (override org default)
- Sending domain (pick from verified domains via the domain picker)
- Subscribe / unsubscribe redirect URLs
- Footer customization (legal address, brand)

### Domain Verification

To send newsletters, you need a verified sending domain:

1. In **Settings → Newsletter → Domains**, enter your subdomain (e.g., `updates.yourcompany.com`)
2. Click **Verify Domain** — graph8 generates the required DNS records
3. Add the TXT record and 3 CNAME records to your DNS provider (records are shown with copy buttons and per-record verification status)
4. Click **Re-check** to verify — most DNS providers propagate in 15–60 minutes
5. Once all records show **Verified**, the domain is available in the per-newsletter domain picker

The DNS UX shows live verification state per record, so you can see exactly which entry is missing or misconfigured.

> **Tip:**
> Use a subdomain like `updates.yourcompany.com` or `news.yourcompany.com` instead of your root domain. This protects your main domain's email reputation if something goes wrong with newsletter deliverability.

## Campaign Dashboard

Newsletter campaigns have a specialized dashboard. When you open a newsletter campaign, you'll see:

- **NEWSLETTER** badge next to the campaign name
- **Newsletter Content** card with deep links to issues and subscriber management
- **Strategic assessment** and **readiness score** from AI analysis
- **Risk assessment** specific to newsletter operations

Outbound-specific features (sequencer, audience pipeline) are hidden for newsletter campaigns.

## Next Steps

- [Campaigns →](https://docs.graph8.com/studio/campaigns/) - Learn about campaign creation and management
- [Sequencer →](https://docs.graph8.com/engage/sequencer/) - Set up automated outbound sequences
- [Inbox →](https://docs.graph8.com/engage/inbox/) - Manage replies to your outreach