Campaign Management Best Practices

Campaigns let you send personalized documents to hundreds or thousands of recipients. Follow these best practices to ensure smooth, error-free bulk sending.

CSV File Preparation

Required Columns

Every CSV must have:

1. Recipient Name - Full name of signer
2. Recipient Email - Valid email address

Example minimum CSV:

name,email
John Smith,john@example.com
Jane Doe,jane@example.com

Optional Columns (Merge Fields)

Add columns for personalized data:

• Student names, grades, classes
• Employee positions, salaries, departments
• Client companies, project names, amounts
• Property addresses, rent amounts, dates

Example with merge fields:

parent_name,parent_email,student_name,grade,teacher,trip_date
Sarah Johnson,sarah@email.com,Emma Johnson,Grade 5,Mrs. Smith,15 Mar 2025
Michael Brown,michael@email.com,Liam Brown,Grade 5,Mrs. Smith,15 Mar 2025

Column Naming Best Practices

Good column names:

• ✅ employee_name - Clear and specific
• ✅ annual_salary - Descriptive
• ✅ start_date - Obvious purpose
• ✅ department_name - Clear

Bad column names:

• ❌ col1 - Not descriptive
• ❌ data - Too generic
• ❌ field - Unclear
• ❌ x - Meaningless

Naming conventions:

• Use lowercase
• Use underscores (not spaces)
• Be descriptive
• Match merge field labels

Data Formatting

Dates:

• Format: DD/MM/YYYY or YYYY-MM-DD
• Example: 15/03/2025 or 2025-03-15
• Be consistent across all rows

Numbers:

• No currency symbols: 50000 not $50,000
• No commas: 50000 not 50,000
• Decimals OK: 50000.50

Phone Numbers:

• Include country code: +44 7700 900123
• Or use consistent format: (555) 123-4567

Email Addresses:

• Lowercase recommended
• No spaces
• Valid format: name@domain.com

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Data Validation

Pre-Upload Checks

Before uploading CSV:

• All required columns present (name, email)
• No empty rows
• No duplicate email addresses
• All emails valid format
• Dates in consistent format
• Numbers without symbols
• No special characters in names
• Column names match merge fields

Email Validation

Check for:

• Valid format (name@domain.com)
• No typos (gmial.com → gmail.com)
• No spaces
• No special characters (except @ and .)
• Real domains (not test@test.com)

Tools for validation:

• Excel: Data → Data Validation
• Google Sheets: Data → Data validation
• Online tools: Email Checker, Verify Email

Remove Duplicates

Why duplicates are bad:

• Same person receives multiple emails
• Wastes sending quota
• Looks unprofessional
• Confuses recipients

How to remove duplicates:

• Excel: Data → Remove Duplicates
• Google Sheets: Data → Data cleanup → Remove duplicates
• Sort by email and manually check

Test with Small Sample

Before sending to 1,000 people:

1. Create test CSV with 3-5 rows
2. Use your own email addresses
3. Send test campaign
4. Verify all merge fields correct
5. Check email formatting
6. Review signed PDF
7. Fix any issues
8. Then send to full list

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Testing Before Bulk Send

Create Test Campaign

Steps:

1. Prepare test CSV (3-5 rows)
2. Use test email addresses (your own)
3. Create campaign with test CSV
4. Map all columns correctly
5. Preview first document
6. Send test campaign
7. Sign test documents
8. Review everything

What to Test

Document generation:

• All merge fields populated correctly
• No missing data
• Dates formatted properly
• Numbers formatted correctly
• No text overflow
• Fields in correct positions

Email delivery:

• Emails received
• Subject line correct
• Personal message included
• Signing link works
• Branding correct

Signing experience:

• Document loads properly
• All fields visible
• Signature canvas works
• Can submit signature
• Confirmation received

Completion:

• Signed PDF correct
• Certificate generated (if enabled)
• All merge fields in signed PDF
• Audit trail present

Common Test Scenarios

Test different data types:

• Long names (20+ characters)
• Special characters (O'Brien, José)
• Multiple word names (Mary Jane Smith)
• Long addresses
• Large numbers
• Edge case dates

Test edge cases:

• Minimum values
• Maximum values
• Empty optional fields
• Special characters
• International characters

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Monitoring Campaigns

Campaign Dashboard

Key metrics to track:

• Total Sent - Documents sent
• Completed - Signed documents
• Pending - Awaiting signature
• Declined - Refused to sign
• Expired - Past expiry date
• Completion Rate - Percentage signed

Monitor daily:

• Check completion rate
• Follow up on pending
• Address declined documents
• Resend expired (if needed)

Real-Time Tracking

What to watch:

• Documents being sent (progress bar)
• Completion notifications
• Decline notifications
• Error notifications

Set up notifications:

• Email when campaign completes
• Email for each completion (optional)
• Email for declines
• Email for errors

Individual Document Status

Track each document:

• Recipient name and email
• Status (Sent, Viewed, Signed, Declined)
• Sent date and time
• Viewed date and time (if applicable)
• Signed date and time (if signed)
• Decline reason (if declined)

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Daily Sending Limits

Professional Plan Limits

Sending limits:

• 100 documents per day per user
• Resets at midnight UTC
• Applies to campaigns only
• No limit on individual documents

Why limits exist:

• Prevent spam
• Ensure deliverability
• Maintain email reputation
• Comply with email providers

Managing Large Campaigns

For campaigns over 100 documents:

Option 1: Queue Over Multiple Days

• Campaign automatically queues
• Sends 100 per day
• Continues next day
• No action required

Example:

• 250 documents total
• Day 1: 100 sent
• Day 2: 100 sent
• Day 3: 50 sent

Option 2: Multiple Users

• Split CSV into multiple files
• Each user sends 100
• All sent same day
• Requires coordination

Example:

• 300 documents total
• User 1: 100 documents
• User 2: 100 documents
• User 3: 100 documents

Option 3: Contact Support

• Request limit increase
• Available for Enterprise
• Custom limits available
• Requires approval

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Best Practices by Use Case

HR Onboarding (50-100 Employees)

Preparation:

• Collect all employee data in advance
• Verify email addresses
• Prepare employment contracts
• Create template with merge fields

CSV columns:

• employee_name, employee_email
• position, department, salary
• start_date, manager_name

Timing:

• Send 2 weeks before start date
• Set 7-day expiry
• Reminders every 2 days

Monitoring:

• Check daily completion rate
• Follow up on pending after 3 days
• Resend if needed

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School Permission Slips (200-500 Parents)

Preparation:

• Export student/parent data from system
• Clean and validate emails
• Create permission slip template
• Add merge fields for student info

CSV columns:

• parent_name, parent_email
• student_name, grade, teacher
• trip_date, trip_location, cost

Timing:

• Send 2-3 weeks before trip
• Set expiry 3 days before trip
• Reminders every 3 days

Monitoring:

• Track completion rate daily
• Send reminder emails to parents
• Call parents who haven't signed
• Print backup forms if needed

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Client Proposals (20-50 Clients)

Preparation:

• Prepare personalized proposals
• Verify client contact information
• Create proposal template
• Add merge fields for project details

CSV columns:

• client_name, client_email, company_name
• project_name, project_cost, start_date

Timing:

• Send when proposals ready
• Set 14-day expiry
• Reminders every 3 days

Monitoring:

• Follow up personally after 3 days
• Call high-value prospects
• Adjust proposals if needed
• Track win rate

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Troubleshooting Campaigns

Campaign Won't Send

Possible causes:

• Invalid CSV format
• Missing required columns
• Duplicate email addresses
• File size too large
• Network error

Solutions:

1. Check CSV format (UTF-8 encoding)
2. Verify required columns present
3. Remove duplicate emails
4. Reduce file size (split if needed)
5. Try again or contact support

Merge Fields Not Populating

Possible causes:

• Column names don't match field labels
• Empty cells in CSV
• Wrong field type
• Special characters in data

Solutions:

1. Match column names to field labels exactly
2. Fill empty cells or remove rows
3. Use correct field type (text, number, date)
4. Remove special characters

Emails Not Delivered

Possible causes:

• Invalid email addresses
• Spam filters
• Email provider blocks
• Daily limit reached

Solutions:

1. Validate all email addresses
2. Ask recipients to check spam
3. Use professional email domain
4. Wait for daily limit reset

Low Completion Rate

Possible causes:

• Confusing document
• Too many fields
• Unclear instructions
• Wrong recipients

Solutions:

1. Simplify document
2. Reduce number of fields
3. Add clear instructions
4. Verify recipient list

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Campaign Checklist

Before sending your campaign:

Preparation

• CSV file prepared and validated
• All required columns present
• No duplicate email addresses
• All emails valid format
• Data properly formatted
• Column names match merge fields

Template

• Template created and tested
• All merge fields labeled
• Field types correct
• Signature fields placed
• Template looks professional

Testing

• Test campaign sent (3-5 recipients)
• Test documents reviewed
• All merge fields correct
• Emails delivered
• Signing works properly
• Signed PDFs correct

Campaign Settings

• Reminder frequency set
• Expiry date set (if needed)
• Personal message added
• Certificate generation enabled (if needed)
• Preview looks correct

Monitoring

• Dashboard bookmarked
• Notifications enabled
• Follow-up plan ready
• Team informed

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