Configuring newsletters in Magento 2 allows you to engage with your customers, inform them about new products, promotions, and updates, and ultimately drive sales. Here’s a comprehensive guide to setting up and managing newsletters in your Magento 2 store:
1. Configuration Settings:
Log in to your Magento 2 Admin Panel.
Navigate to Stores > Settings > Configuration.
In the left-hand menu, expand Customers and click on Newsletter.
Subscription Options:Enabled: (This option might be under General Options in some Magento versions or implicitly enabled). Ensure newsletter functionality is active.
Allow Guest Subscription: Set to “Yes” if you want non-registered users to be able to subscribe. Set to “No” if only registered customers can subscribe.
Need to Confirm: Set to “Yes” to enable double opt-in. This is highly recommended as it verifies the subscriber’s email address and consent. A confirmation email will be sent to the user, and they must click a link to activate their subscription.
Confirmation Email Sender: Choose the store identity (email address and sender name) that will appear as the sender of the confirmation email.
Confirmation Email Template: Select the email template to be used for subscription confirmations. You can use the default Magento template or create a custom one.
Success Email Sender: Select the store identity for the subscription success email.
Success Email Template: Choose the email template for the “welcome” email sent after successful subscription.
Unsubscription Email Sender: Select the store identity for unsubscription confirmation emails.
Unsubscription Email Template: Choose the email template for when a user unsubscribes.
Click “Save Config” after making your changes.
2. Creating Newsletter Templates:
Before you can send a newsletter, you need to create a template for its content and design.
Navigate to Marketing > Communications > Newsletter Templates.
Click the “Add New Template” button.
Template Information:Template Name: An internal name for your reference (e.g., “Monthly Promotion – June”).
Template Subject: The subject line of the newsletter email that subscribers will see (e.g., “? Don’t Miss Our June Specials!”).
Sender Name: The name that will appear as the sender of the newsletter.
Sender Email: The email address from which the newsletter will be sent. Ensure this is a valid and monitored email address.
Template Content:Use the WYSIWYG editor to create the content of your newsletter. You can add text, images, links, and other HTML elements.
Important: By law, you must include an unsubscribe link. The default editor usually includes a placeholder for this (e.g., {{var subscriber.getUnsubscriptionLink()}}). Do not remove it.
You can use variables to personalize the newsletter (e.g., {{var subscriber.getFirstName()}}).
Template Styles (Optional):Add custom CSS styles to further customize the appearance of your newsletter.
Preview Template: Use this option to see how your newsletter will look.
Click “Save Template.”
3. Managing Newsletter Subscribers:
You can view and manage your newsletter subscribers.
Navigate to Marketing > Communications > Newsletter Subscribers.
Here you will see a list of all subscribers, including guests and registered customers.
You can:
Manually subscribe or unsubscribe customers: Select customers and choose the appropriate action from the “Actions” dropdown.
Export the subscriber list: Useful for backups or using third-party email marketing services.
Delete subscribers.
Registered customers can also manage their newsletter subscription status from their account dashboard on the storefront.
4. Sending Newsletters (Queueing):
Once your template is ready and you have subscribers, you can schedule your newsletter to be sent.
Navigate to Marketing > Communications > Newsletter Templates.
Find the template you want to send in the grid.
In the “Action” column for that template, select “Queue Newsletter.”
Queue Information:Queue Date Start: Select the date and time you want the newsletter sending process to begin. Magento uses a cron job to process the newsletter queue.
Subscribers From: You can select specific customer groups if needed, though typically you’ll send to all subscribers.
The Subject, Sender Name, and Sender Email will be pre-filled from your template but can be overridden here if necessary.
The message content from your template will also be displayed. You can make last-minute minor edits here, but it’s generally better to finalize the content in the template itself.
Click “Save Newsletter.”
The newsletter is now added to the queue and will be sent out according to your cron job schedule starting from the “Queue Date Start” you specified.
5. Checking the Newsletter Queue and Problems:
Newsletter Queue:Navigate to Marketing > Communications > Newsletter Queue.
This page shows the status of newsletters that are currently being sent or are scheduled to be sent.