How do I send emails to the entrants?

EntryThingy's email system lets you send personalized emails to artists based on their entry status and which call they submitted to. This guide walks you through the complete email workflow.

Getting Started

To send an email:

Log into your EntryThingy account
Click "Emails" in the main navigation
Click the "New Email" button (top right)

The email system uses a 4-step wizard to guide you through the process:

Select Recipients - Choose who should receive the email
Compose - Write your subject and message
Preview - Review how the email will look
Send - Confirm and send (or schedule for later)

Step 1: Select Recipients

On the first screen, you'll choose who should receive your email using a funnel interface:

Exhibition Selection

Select which call/exhibition to target:

All exhibitions: Send to all artists who have submitted to any of your calls
Specific exhibition: Select a specific call from the dropdown. The number next to each call shows how many unique artists have submitted to that call.

Entry Status Selection

Filter by entry status using the status chips. You have two types of filters to choose from:

Entire submission - Filter by whether their whole entry was accepted, rejected, etc. - Example: Select "Accepted" to email all artists whose entire submission was accepted

Individual artworks - Filter by whether they have at least one piece that was accepted, rejected, etc. - Example: Select "Accepted" to email artists who have at least one accepted artwork (even if other pieces were not accepted)

A blue information box explains the difference between these two filter types. You can only use one type at a time - they're mutually exclusive.

Tip: As you select filters, the recipient count updates automatically. You can see a preview of who will receive the email and download a CSV list of recipients.

Recipient Summary

At the top of the status section, you'll see:

Recipient count: How many artists will receive the email
Recipient preview: A sample of names/emails (first 3)
View All button: Opens a modal showing all recipients
Download CSV button: Download a list of all recipients

If no artists match your filters, you'll see a message saying "No artists match these filters" with a suggestion to try different selections.

Once you've selected your recipients, click "Next: Compose" to continue.

Step 2: Compose

On the compose screen, you'll write your email:

Subject Line

Enter a clear, descriptive subject line. This is what artists will see in their inbox.

Message Body

Write your email message using the rich text editor. You can:

Format text (bold, italic, headings, lists, paragraphs)
Add links
Use merge tags to personalize the email
The editor supports both visual editing and markdown input

Tip: The editor automatically converts markdown to HTML for new emails. If you're editing an existing email with HTML content, it will preserve the HTML formatting.

Merge Tags

Below the message editor, you'll see a blue information box showing how to personalize your emails with merge tags. These tags get replaced with each artist's specific information when the email is sent:

FIRSTNAME becomes "Hi Sarah,"
LASTNAME becomes "Thank you, Johnson"
ENTRYNUMBER becomes "Your entry #4523"
CATEGORY becomes "Category: Photography"
IMAGEINFO includes all artwork titles with links

Example:

``` Hi FIRSTNAME,

Your entry #ENTRYNUMBER has been accepted for CATEGORY!

Your submitted pieces: IMAGEINFO ```

This will appear to the artist as:

``` Hi Sarah,

Your entry #4523 has been accepted for Photography!

Your submitted pieces: 456 Sunset Over Mountains 457 Morning Light ```

The piece titles will be clickable links that go directly to the artwork image.

Reply-To Email

Set the email address where replies should be sent. This defaults to your account email, but you can change it if needed.

Saving Your Work

You have two options:

Save as Draft: Saves your email and returns you to the emails list. You can continue editing later.
Next: Preview: Saves your email and moves to the preview step.

Step 3: Preview

Before sending, preview how your email will look to recipients:

Preview as Different Recipients

Use the dropdown to select a recipient and see how the email will look with their personalized merge tags. This helps you verify that:

Merge tags are working correctly
The email looks good with real data
Personalization makes sense

Send Test Email

Send a test email to your own inbox to see how it looks in a real email client:

Enter your email address (defaults to your account email)
Click "Send Test Email"
Check your inbox to see how the email renders

This is especially useful for checking formatting, links, and overall appearance.

Review Email Details

The preview shows:

From: Your gallery/organization name
Reply-To: The reply-to email you set
To: The selected recipient's email
Subject: Your email subject line
Body: The rendered email with merge tags replaced

Once you're satisfied with the preview, click "Next: Send" to proceed.

Step 4: Send

The final step shows a summary and lets you confirm before sending:

Email Summary

Review all the details:

Subject: Your email subject
Recipients: Number of artists who will receive the email
Exhibition: Which call/exhibition (if filtered)
Status Filter: Which entry status (if filtered)
Reply-To: Where replies will be sent
Token Cost: How many tokens this email will cost
Your Balance: Your current token balance

Token Costs

Each email costs tokens based on the number of recipients:

1 token per 100 recipients (rounded up)
Examples:
1-100 recipients: 1 token
101-200 recipients: 2 tokens
201-300 recipients: 3 tokens
501 recipients: 6 tokens

Minimum cost: 1 token (even for 1 recipient)

If you don't have enough tokens, you'll see a warning and a link to purchase more tokens. Tokens are deducted when the email is sent (or scheduled).

Send Immediately

To send right away:

Type "SEND" in the confirmation field (case-insensitive)
Click "Confirm & Send"

Important: Once you send, the email cannot be undone. Make sure you're ready before confirming.

Schedule for Later

Instead of sending immediately, you can schedule the email:

Enter a date and time in the "Schedule for Later" section
Click "Schedule Send"

Note: All times are in Pacific Time (PST/PDT). The email will be sent automatically at the scheduled time.

Managing Your Emails

After creating an email, you can manage it from the Emails page:

Email Status

Emails are organized by status:

Drafts: Emails you've started but haven't sent yet. Click "Continue →" to finish composing.
Scheduled: Emails scheduled to send at a future date/time. You can edit or delete scheduled emails.
Sending: Emails currently being delivered. You can view analytics but cannot edit.
Sent: Emails that have been delivered. Click "Analytics" to see open rates, click rates, and delivery status.

Email Actions

Depending on the email status, you can:

Edit: Modify draft or scheduled emails (click "Edit" or "Continue →" for drafts)
Delete: Remove emails (drafts, scheduled, or sent). You'll be asked to confirm before deletion.
View Analytics: See delivery statistics, open rates, and click rates for sent emails. Click "Analytics" on any sent email.
Continue: Finish composing draft emails (click "Continue →" on draft emails)

Note: You cannot edit emails that are currently being sent ("Sending" status). Wait until delivery is complete to view analytics.

Best Practices

Use clear subject lines: Make it easy for artists to understand what the email is about
Personalize when possible: Use merge tags like FIRSTNAME to make emails feel more personal
Test before sending: Always send a test email to yourself to check formatting and links
Preview with different recipients: Check how merge tags look with real data
Filter carefully: Make sure your recipient filters match your intended audience
Check token balance: Ensure you have enough tokens before sending
Schedule strategically: Use scheduled sends to send emails at optimal times

Common Use Cases

Notifying Accepted Artists

Select the specific exhibition
Select "Accepted" status
Compose a congratulatory message with delivery instructions
Preview and send

Reminding Artists About Deadlines

Select the exhibition
Select "Not Submitted" or "Submitted" status
Compose a reminder message
Schedule to send a few days before the deadline

Announcing Results

Select the exhibition
Select "All statuses" or specific statuses
Compose an announcement
Send immediately or schedule for a specific time

Email Analytics

After sending an email, you can view detailed analytics to track its performance:

Accessing Analytics

Go to the Emails page
Find your sent email in the "Sent" section
Click "Analytics"

Analytics Metrics

The analytics page shows:

Recipients: Total number of artists who received the email
Opens: How many recipients opened the email
Clicks: How many recipients clicked links in the email
Bounces: How many emails failed to deliver (permanent or temporary failures)
Open Rate: Percentage of recipients who opened the email
Click Rate: Percentage of recipients who clicked links

Recipient Details

You can see a detailed list of all recipients and whether their email was delivered successfully. The list is sortable and can be downloaded as a CSV file.

Note: Analytics data is delayed by approximately 10 minutes from actual results. This is normal and allows the system to process delivery events.

Using Analytics

Track engagement: See which emails resonate with artists
Identify delivery issues: Check bounce rates to identify email address problems
Measure effectiveness: Compare open and click rates across different emails
Export data: Download recipient lists for your records

Editing Scheduled Emails

If you've scheduled an email for later, you can edit it before it sends:

Go to the Emails page
Find your scheduled email in the "Scheduled" section
Click "Edit"
Make your changes (recipients, subject, body, or schedule time)
Save your changes

Note: You can also delete scheduled emails if you decide not to send them.

Need Help?

If you have questions about sending emails or need assistance with the email system, contact support. We're here to help you communicate effectively with your artists!