# Source: https://loops.so/docs/sending-first-email.md

> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://loops.so/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Sending your first email

> A guide for creating and sending emails with Loops.

So you're ready to send your first email from Loops!

Let's go through some best practices and then see how creating an email works.

## Best practices

Here are some important things to know and bear in mind when sending email with Loops.

* We have a “low-html” editor, which means your emails send with a minimal amount of styles applied. We do this so your emails are highly readable and so they're more likely to not be placed in the spam folder or deprioritized in the inbox by your email provider.
* Try not to use sensational copy like “sale”, “discount” or exclamation points in your emails.
* It's also important to keep your emails short and to the point. Use an efficient subject line that encourages the reader to open the email and get to the point quickly in the body of the message.
* Use personalization when possible to make the message more engaging and relevant to the reader by [personalizing your emails](/creating-emails/personalizing-emails).

## Send your first email

First, choose which type of email you want to send: a campaign, a loop or a transactional email.

[Find out about the types of email](/types-of-emails) you can send from Loops.

To send your first email, simply choose a template or start an email from scratch.

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/loops/OG31ikb--92jQDlq/images/getting-started.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=OG31ikb--92jQDlq&q=85&s=3ca8868a9bddc666b8293dc9ed17977f" alt="" data-og-width="2280" width="2280" data-og-height="1284" height="1284" data-path="images/getting-started.png" data-optimize="true" data-opv="3" srcset="https://mintcdn.com/loops/OG31ikb--92jQDlq/images/getting-started.png?w=280&fit=max&auto=format&n=OG31ikb--92jQDlq&q=85&s=5a506352291ae9d058114929ca283502 280w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/OG31ikb--92jQDlq/images/getting-started.png?w=560&fit=max&auto=format&n=OG31ikb--92jQDlq&q=85&s=f2b5821b771981420f36232316f9cc18 560w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/OG31ikb--92jQDlq/images/getting-started.png?w=840&fit=max&auto=format&n=OG31ikb--92jQDlq&q=85&s=4a949d33a3098407f8344113d1ca5490 840w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/OG31ikb--92jQDlq/images/getting-started.png?w=1100&fit=max&auto=format&n=OG31ikb--92jQDlq&q=85&s=2adb957e405ce648e593a0414190c58f 1100w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/OG31ikb--92jQDlq/images/getting-started.png?w=1650&fit=max&auto=format&n=OG31ikb--92jQDlq&q=85&s=f2cd45877711b775b264c09ad18f9be2 1650w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/OG31ikb--92jQDlq/images/getting-started.png?w=2500&fit=max&auto=format&n=OG31ikb--92jQDlq&q=85&s=cde9e90bc02db67c684e5204272261d5 2500w" />

## Sending settings

Along with the email subject, you can determine some of the sending settings, like the "From" sending address.

By clicking `>` you will reveal a [settings panel](/creating-emails/sending-settings), where you can specify the From email address (which is always tied to your sending domain), Reply to email and the Preview text (typically shown in email clients just beneath the Subject). For loops and transactional emails you can also specify a [CC and BCC address](/creating-emails/sending-settings#cc-and-bcc).

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/loops/W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp/images/more-button.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp&q=85&s=92dabc26cb1afd834bcf0e5033310865" alt="Email sending settings" data-og-width="2280" width="2280" data-og-height="795" height="795" data-path="images/more-button.png" data-optimize="true" data-opv="3" srcset="https://mintcdn.com/loops/W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp/images/more-button.png?w=280&fit=max&auto=format&n=W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp&q=85&s=80882dcf7b0f26e5da4f0b6d9682412d 280w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp/images/more-button.png?w=560&fit=max&auto=format&n=W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp&q=85&s=4711e285743e997f2c6d786dc04d3a08 560w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp/images/more-button.png?w=840&fit=max&auto=format&n=W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp&q=85&s=8d1ac591b346ed4f2600144d3ec31e02 840w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp/images/more-button.png?w=1100&fit=max&auto=format&n=W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp&q=85&s=0462910b30873af3f58dd618c708eaee 1100w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp/images/more-button.png?w=1650&fit=max&auto=format&n=W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp&q=85&s=fc77d4f2c30e0e5e9e000cebc4d1a6bb 1650w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp/images/more-button.png?w=2500&fit=max&auto=format&n=W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp&q=85&s=3e06c8905876e067e18b171623f46e69 2500w" />

You can include dynamic variables in these fields, too, making them personalized for each recipient of your campaigns, loops and transactional emails. Just click the contact property, event property or data variable icon next to each field.

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/loops/Ghb_kmuDWgpv_ZFW/images/sending-setting-dynamic.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=Ghb_kmuDWgpv_ZFW&q=85&s=37b70af55b0d61afc08c872745d1b9e2" alt="Adding dynamic data to the sending settings" data-og-width="2280" width="2280" data-og-height="782" height="782" data-path="images/sending-setting-dynamic.png" data-optimize="true" data-opv="3" srcset="https://mintcdn.com/loops/Ghb_kmuDWgpv_ZFW/images/sending-setting-dynamic.png?w=280&fit=max&auto=format&n=Ghb_kmuDWgpv_ZFW&q=85&s=6088b36fcf1e713c869e055cf147b33a 280w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/Ghb_kmuDWgpv_ZFW/images/sending-setting-dynamic.png?w=560&fit=max&auto=format&n=Ghb_kmuDWgpv_ZFW&q=85&s=db4539b239ee71d4a106fc64580b4374 560w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/Ghb_kmuDWgpv_ZFW/images/sending-setting-dynamic.png?w=840&fit=max&auto=format&n=Ghb_kmuDWgpv_ZFW&q=85&s=ab4f65f5e9c0533896fc23c99cf74af3 840w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/Ghb_kmuDWgpv_ZFW/images/sending-setting-dynamic.png?w=1100&fit=max&auto=format&n=Ghb_kmuDWgpv_ZFW&q=85&s=4ea5e673494eec2d5f88062da328bdfc 1100w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/Ghb_kmuDWgpv_ZFW/images/sending-setting-dynamic.png?w=1650&fit=max&auto=format&n=Ghb_kmuDWgpv_ZFW&q=85&s=5fa462779d862577d2cc532b8bc1ed90 1650w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/Ghb_kmuDWgpv_ZFW/images/sending-setting-dynamic.png?w=2500&fit=max&auto=format&n=Ghb_kmuDWgpv_ZFW&q=85&s=60fd0559b6f494ad8450565b5ba84459 2500w" />

[Read more about sending settings](/creating-emails/sending-settings)

## Add contact data

You may want to add contact data into your emails, for example, a first name or a purchased product's name. You can do this by adding dynamic content to your email.

[Learn more about personalizing emails](/creating-emails/personalizing-emails)

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/loops/EgyPhKkeXp9wCnWY/images/basic-merge.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=EgyPhKkeXp9wCnWY&q=85&s=50f73381c384e4ff6ed919d81630cbe9" alt="" data-og-width="2280" width="2280" data-og-height="1035" height="1035" data-path="images/basic-merge.png" data-optimize="true" data-opv="3" srcset="https://mintcdn.com/loops/EgyPhKkeXp9wCnWY/images/basic-merge.png?w=280&fit=max&auto=format&n=EgyPhKkeXp9wCnWY&q=85&s=18814146da18de5f13e391fa12a20c0e 280w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/EgyPhKkeXp9wCnWY/images/basic-merge.png?w=560&fit=max&auto=format&n=EgyPhKkeXp9wCnWY&q=85&s=11778fb9f17dcc74d2d8cc3862188dd0 560w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/EgyPhKkeXp9wCnWY/images/basic-merge.png?w=840&fit=max&auto=format&n=EgyPhKkeXp9wCnWY&q=85&s=1d9873614099f8e8a8bf03a6737d6784 840w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/EgyPhKkeXp9wCnWY/images/basic-merge.png?w=1100&fit=max&auto=format&n=EgyPhKkeXp9wCnWY&q=85&s=2edecb2194d57f86bc98b4f265381631 1100w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/EgyPhKkeXp9wCnWY/images/basic-merge.png?w=1650&fit=max&auto=format&n=EgyPhKkeXp9wCnWY&q=85&s=f516cbbf3856e25d5583034ff6b9319c 1650w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/EgyPhKkeXp9wCnWY/images/basic-merge.png?w=2500&fit=max&auto=format&n=EgyPhKkeXp9wCnWY&q=85&s=1e7b6b3fcaf7193246b46cbfe703f4d2 2500w" />

## Make your message visual

When you design an email with Loops, you can add instructive screenshots, GIFs, or images to create an engaging email.

Simply drag and drop any image (including GIFs!) into the editor.

You can also easily add links, lists, buttons and dividers to create more engaging and useful emails.

We also offer a styling panel to customize design elements like font size, text color, background color, borders and spacing.

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/loops/W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp/images/message-visual.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp&q=85&s=e2c7088ffd4d20ac66b5fee7a1756010" alt="" data-og-width="2280" width="2280" data-og-height="1953" height="1953" data-path="images/message-visual.png" data-optimize="true" data-opv="3" srcset="https://mintcdn.com/loops/W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp/images/message-visual.png?w=280&fit=max&auto=format&n=W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp&q=85&s=1566d2f25ff94cd77ce02190627153c6 280w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp/images/message-visual.png?w=560&fit=max&auto=format&n=W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp&q=85&s=b97a0e4251a474a7649518819d87364b 560w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp/images/message-visual.png?w=840&fit=max&auto=format&n=W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp&q=85&s=a81c6e2c9f6ac29e31329ada927e038a 840w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp/images/message-visual.png?w=1100&fit=max&auto=format&n=W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp&q=85&s=adb055873f4fd4c0e917faac0c927983 1100w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp/images/message-visual.png?w=1650&fit=max&auto=format&n=W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp&q=85&s=5e6346334f27792ff4fab4450fe9c3a9 1650w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp/images/message-visual.png?w=2500&fit=max&auto=format&n=W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp&q=85&s=738b8ddf5342b807bcfddc6fa07e61c7 2500w" />

[Read more about our editor](/creating-emails/editor)

## Preview your email

Once you are happy with the design of your email, you can preview it in your email client.

Click the **Send a preview** icon in the top right corner of the email editor to send a test email to yourself or anyone on your team from the "Send a Preview Email" modal.

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/loops/W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp/images/preview-email.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp&q=85&s=683bcbbf3359237aa498b1c3175c9b03" alt="" data-og-width="2280" width="2280" data-og-height="1049" height="1049" data-path="images/preview-email.png" data-optimize="true" data-opv="3" srcset="https://mintcdn.com/loops/W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp/images/preview-email.png?w=280&fit=max&auto=format&n=W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp&q=85&s=fcdca66daa7b611aa4a5f980d16e3096 280w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp/images/preview-email.png?w=560&fit=max&auto=format&n=W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp&q=85&s=957f5e6730161cb23653d0d73c377842 560w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp/images/preview-email.png?w=840&fit=max&auto=format&n=W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp&q=85&s=c8ef7b841cc0a780c031a05c5899682c 840w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp/images/preview-email.png?w=1100&fit=max&auto=format&n=W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp&q=85&s=f4c7a21467b189d38f512244a7e3e1fb 1100w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp/images/preview-email.png?w=1650&fit=max&auto=format&n=W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp&q=85&s=708a6e1d69e168a971c2652b9e335f45 1650w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp/images/preview-email.png?w=2500&fit=max&auto=format&n=W7EWSDUW0GR-XWrp&q=85&s=ee1b0470e3caed561a2463c52334b80e 2500w" />

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/loops/fIUHJKlenPzifHhe/images/preview-contacts.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=fIUHJKlenPzifHhe&q=85&s=5cd4431886bd2da34f9a5f4e56b4defb" alt="" data-og-width="2280" width="2280" data-og-height="1314" height="1314" data-path="images/preview-contacts.png" data-optimize="true" data-opv="3" srcset="https://mintcdn.com/loops/fIUHJKlenPzifHhe/images/preview-contacts.png?w=280&fit=max&auto=format&n=fIUHJKlenPzifHhe&q=85&s=bde7466045111d2c173926d37feff97c 280w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/fIUHJKlenPzifHhe/images/preview-contacts.png?w=560&fit=max&auto=format&n=fIUHJKlenPzifHhe&q=85&s=0fb69865a8eb84353708ce517d8734eb 560w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/fIUHJKlenPzifHhe/images/preview-contacts.png?w=840&fit=max&auto=format&n=fIUHJKlenPzifHhe&q=85&s=f3573dd5694694432c94eba495ff5d34 840w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/fIUHJKlenPzifHhe/images/preview-contacts.png?w=1100&fit=max&auto=format&n=fIUHJKlenPzifHhe&q=85&s=a0b01074f1db9b816c465dd1dcd65936 1100w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/fIUHJKlenPzifHhe/images/preview-contacts.png?w=1650&fit=max&auto=format&n=fIUHJKlenPzifHhe&q=85&s=a48b18ce993144244127f37c4fca3d2d 1650w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/fIUHJKlenPzifHhe/images/preview-contacts.png?w=2500&fit=max&auto=format&n=fIUHJKlenPzifHhe&q=85&s=e3e6c5498f34b37f27dd657d3da480c8 2500w" />

The **Add preview tag** toggle will add a "\[Preview]" to the start of the subject line to easily identify them in your inbox. Toggle this off to see how the email will appear in your recipients' inboxes.

### Dynamic content in previews

When sending preview emails, Loops uses the contact properties and any declared fallbacks of the selected contacts in the preview modal. However, any custom values you enter in the **Dynamic content** tab will override the contact's actual properties.

If you have dynamic content in your email, you can add custom content on the **Dynamic content** tab.

<img src="https://mintcdn.com/loops/fIUHJKlenPzifHhe/images/preview-data.png?fit=max&auto=format&n=fIUHJKlenPzifHhe&q=85&s=7957bdc971faca66f0be0183a3a38518" alt="" data-og-width="2280" width="2280" data-og-height="1314" height="1314" data-path="images/preview-data.png" data-optimize="true" data-opv="3" srcset="https://mintcdn.com/loops/fIUHJKlenPzifHhe/images/preview-data.png?w=280&fit=max&auto=format&n=fIUHJKlenPzifHhe&q=85&s=464d7ce2c1a20ba811196283f6436617 280w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/fIUHJKlenPzifHhe/images/preview-data.png?w=560&fit=max&auto=format&n=fIUHJKlenPzifHhe&q=85&s=de1cccd46febd43a32bc3d0d5810d8b8 560w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/fIUHJKlenPzifHhe/images/preview-data.png?w=840&fit=max&auto=format&n=fIUHJKlenPzifHhe&q=85&s=5702d7e5133e46bfdf12c4ac3c931eeb 840w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/fIUHJKlenPzifHhe/images/preview-data.png?w=1100&fit=max&auto=format&n=fIUHJKlenPzifHhe&q=85&s=66f43a9850587aad22f4629ae73f58b3 1100w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/fIUHJKlenPzifHhe/images/preview-data.png?w=1650&fit=max&auto=format&n=fIUHJKlenPzifHhe&q=85&s=14ffc4f5adb955ae8724164df9410257 1650w, https://mintcdn.com/loops/fIUHJKlenPzifHhe/images/preview-data.png?w=2500&fit=max&auto=format&n=fIUHJKlenPzifHhe&q=85&s=eebc3f1fabcf670eed70933a0b3d7488 2500w" />

### Test without sending emails

You can test email sending by using email addresses with `@example.com` and `@test.com` domains. This will not actually send emails but is a great way to test loops, schedule campaigns, or test transactional emails without affecting your sending domain's reputation.

## Set up your email sending for the first time

Now you're ready to send the email!

You are able to select which contacts to send to, then either send it now or schedule it for later.

Wondering what the next step is to get started implementing emails for your SaaS? Check out the [getting started guide](/quickstart).

**Did we miss something?**

Not to worry! Just email our support team at [chris@loops.so](mailto:chris@loops.so) ✌️