Sending Newsletters

This guide covers how to send a newsletter using FeedOtter Email. Before sending, make sure you have completed the following:

• A verified Sender Profile (Settings → Emailing)

• A verified Sending Domain (Settings → Emailing)

• At least one Unsubscribe Group (Audience → Unsubscribe Groups)

• At least one Contact List with subscribers (Audience → Lists)

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Scope: Newsletters Only

FeedOtter Email is available for sending curated newsletters only. It is not available for RSS Automations, which use third-party ESP integrations instead.

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Step 1: Open a Newsletter Issue

1. Navigate to Newsletters in the left sidebar

2. Open the newsletter series you want to send from

3. Create a new issue or open an existing one

If you have not yet created a newsletter, create one first from the Newsletters page.

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Step 2: Configure the Audience (Sending Settings)

1. Inside the newsletter issue, navigate to the Audience tab

2. Under Sending Platform, select FeedOtter Email

3. Configure the following required fields:

Field	Description
List	The contact list to send to
Sender Profile	The from-name and from-email address
Unsubscribe Group	The suppression group for opt-out management

All three fields are required. The send cannot proceed without them.

Screenshot suggestion: The newsletter issue Audience tab with FeedOtter Email selected and the List, Sender Profile, and Unsubscribe Group fields filled in.

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Step 3: Add an Unsubscribe Link to Your Email

This is the most important requirement for sending with FeedOtter Email.

Your email HTML must include a valid unsubscribe link using a SendGrid ASM tag. Without this, FeedOtter will block the send during the preflight check.

Recommended Tag

The recommended tag is:

<%asm_group_unsubscribe_raw_url%>

This tag outputs the raw unsubscribe URL, which you wrap in an anchor tag in your email HTML:

<a href="<%asm_group_unsubscribe_raw_url%>">Unsubscribe</a>

At send time, SendGrid replaces this tag with the actual opt-out URL personalized for each recipient.

Why This Tag Is Required

• FeedOtter Email does not automatically append an unsubscribe footer to your email

• If no valid unsubscribe tag is found in your HTML, the preflight check will fail with the error: "Feedotter Email HTML must include an ASM unsubscribe tag."

• Sending is blocked until the tag is added

All Accepted Unsubscribe Tags

Any of the following tags will satisfy the requirement:

Tag	Notes
<%asm_group_unsubscribe_raw_url%>	Recommended. Outputs the raw URL; use inside href="..."
<%asm_group_unsubscribe_url%>	Outputs a full <a> tag with unsubscribe text
<%asm_global_unsubscribe_raw_url%>	Global (account-wide) opt-out; raw URL
<%asm_global_unsubscribe_url%>	Global opt-out; full link tag
<% unsubscribe %>	HTML only; not valid in plain-text

The group-level tags (asm_group_unsubscribe_*) are preferred because they allow subscribers to opt out of this specific email type rather than all email from your domain.

Plain-Text Version

If your newsletter includes a plain-text version, it also requires an ASM unsubscribe tag. Any of the ASM variants are accepted in plain text, with the exception of <% unsubscribe %>.

Example plain-text footer:

To unsubscribe from this newsletter, visit: <%asm_group_unsubscribe_raw_url%>

Screenshot suggestion: Email editor showing an unsubscribe link in the footer with the ASM tag visible.

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Step 4: Preflight Check

Before every send, FeedOtter runs an automated preflight check on your email. The preflight verifies that the email meets the requirements for delivery through FeedOtter Email.

What Preflight Checks

• The HTML includes a valid ASM unsubscribe tag

• The plain-text version (if present) includes a valid ASM unsubscribe tag

• All required sending fields (list, sender profile, unsubscribe group) are configured

If Preflight Fails

If preflight finds an error, the publish action is blocked. The error is displayed in the Publish panel with a description of what needs to be fixed.

Resolve all preflight errors before attempting to publish. Common fixes:

• Missing unsubscribe tag: Add <a href="<%asm_group_unsubscribe_raw_url%>">Unsubscribe</a> to your email footer

• Missing sender profile or list: Return to the Audience tab and complete all required fields

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Step 5: Publish or Schedule the Send

Once your content is ready and preflight passes:

1. Click the Publish button in the newsletter issue layout

2. The Publish panel opens

3. Choose to send now or select a future date and time

4. Click Confirm to schedule or send

Sending Now

The email enters the send queue immediately and typically delivers within a few minutes.

Scheduling a Future Send

Select a date and time for the send. The email will be queued in SendGrid and delivered at the scheduled time. You can view and cancel scheduled sends from Feedotter Email → Sends before the scheduled time.

Screenshot suggestion: The Publish panel showing the schedule date/time picker and the Confirm button.

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After Sending

After a send is confirmed, it appears in Feedotter Email → Sends. From there you can:

• View delivery and engagement stats

• Access the per-send report with open rates, click rates, bounces, and unsubscribes

• Review which links were clicked

See Sends & Reporting for full details on available metrics.

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Troubleshooting

Problem	Solution
"Feedotter Email HTML must include an ASM unsubscribe tag"	Add <a href="<%asm_group_unsubscribe_raw_url%>">Unsubscribe</a> to your email footer
"FeedOtter plain-text must include the ASM unsubscribe tag"	Add <%asm_group_unsubscribe_raw_url%> to the plain-text version of your email
FeedOtter Email does not appear as a sending platform	Your account may not have FeedOtter Email enabled; contact [e-mail]
No sender profiles available	Create a Sender Profile at Settings → Emailing and wait for verification
No unsubscribe groups available	Create an Unsubscribe Group at Audience → Unsubscribe Groups