Send a direct 1:1 email from a contact record

With ActiveCampaign, you can send direct 1:1 emails, or one-off messages, from the Contact Overview page and a contact record.

Take note

• Contacts do not need to be subscribed to a list to receive a direct 1:1 email
• 1:1 emails do not contain an unsubscribe link
• If you are on a Plus, Professional, or Enterprise plan, you can also send a direct 1:1 email from a Deal record, an Account record, or Automation
• Engagement with 1:1 emails sent from the contact record will not be reflected in segments or  segment builders

About sending direct 1:1 emails from a contact record

There are two ways you can send direct 1:1 emails from a contact record:

1. From your ActiveCampaign account (Available on all plans)
   
2. From a connected email account (Sales Plus, Professional, and Enterprise)
   
   

From your ActiveCampaign account

Available on all plans.

Sending from your ActiveCampaign account does not require any setup and is available in your account at any time. These direct 1:1 emails will be sent from ActiveCampaign ‘s servers and have the following benefits:

• View the sent email on the "Emails" tab on the contact record
  
• View the sent email on the "Emails" tab on the deal record
  
• The "From" email address used in your 1:1 emails is the email address associated with the account user and cannot be changed
• View the sent email on the contact's activity stream
  
• Email opens activity will appear in the contact’s activity stream
  
• Email opens activity can be used with the “Opens/Reads an email” automation trigger
  
• Email link clicks and email replies will not appear in the contact’s activity stream
  
• It is not possible to use the “Clicks a link in an email” or “Replies to an email” automation triggers with this feature
  

From a connected email account to ActiveCampaign

Available on Sales Plus, Professional, and Enterprise.

If you choose to connect your email account to ActiveCampaign, it will use your email account to send the email and not ActiveCampaign’s servers. This option has additional benefits and also lets you:

• Use a Cc or a Bcc
  
• Track opens, link click, and reply activity
  
• Trigger automations based on engagement activity (opens, clicks, replies)
  
• View the sent email on the contact's activity stream
  
• View the sent email on the "Emails" tab on the contact record
  
• View the sent email on the "Emails" tab on the deal record
  
• View email engagement activity on the contact's activity stream
  
• View your sent emails in the Sent folder of your email inbox
  
• Sync follow-up email correspondence to your ActiveCampaign account
  

Learn how to connect your email to ActiveCampaign.

Send a direct 1:1 email from the Contacts Overview page

1. Click Contacts on the left menu.
2. Locate the contact you wish to email. 
3. Click the "Email" button.
4. We will redirect you to the contact's record where a modal will appear. Provide a subject line and type your message into the email composer.
5. Click the "Send" button. 

Send a direct 1:1 email from a contact record

1. Click Contacts on the left menu.
2. Locate the contact you wish to email. 
3. Click the contact's name to open their record. 
4. Open the email composer. To do so, you can take any one of the following three actions:
   
   • Click the Action button dropdown at the top right, then click "Send an email"
   • Click the contact’s emails address under the contact’s name at the top left
   • Go to the General Details section of the contact record and click the contact’s email address
   • Click the "Emails" tab at the bottom of the Contact record and click "Send an email"
5. The email composer will load with the "To" email address as the contact’s email.
6. The "From" email address is set for you by default and will show your connected email address. You can switch the "From" email address to any email address connected to deals.
   
   • If your email account is not connected, we'll show your ActiveCampaign account email address here
7. Optional: Set a Cc and or a Bcc (connected email accounts only). To set up this option:
   
   • Click either Cc or Bcc
   • Type the email address into the field provided
8. Type the subject line into the subject line field.
9. Type the message into the message field.
10. While creating your message, you can also:
    • Format and Style your message
    • Include a Saved Response
    • Use personalization
    • Use AI
    • Automate your 1:1 email
11. When finished, click the "Send" button to send the email to your contact.

Format and style your message

You can add styling and insert links into your email. For example, you can bold, italicize, underline, and strikethrough your text.

To insert a link, bullet points, or numbered bullet points you can use the following icons: 

You can also switch from HTML to a plain text email by clicking the three horizontal dots icon.

Include a Saved Response in your email

Saved Responses is a time-saving solution that lets you create and reuse commonly used phrases in your 1:1 emails. You can learn more about them by visiting the "About Saved Responses" help article. 

Saved Responses can only be used with 1:1 emails.

To use a saved response in your email:

1. Click the “Saved Responses” icon.
   
   
2. Then click the response you want to use.  

Use personalization in your 1:1 emails

You can add personalization to your email with personalization tags with two options:

Option 1:

1. Click the "Personalize" icon.
   
2. Choose the Personalization Attribute from the list and a blue placeholder will show up where your cursor is in the email composer.

Option 2:

1. Type the percentage symbol (%) into the body of the message. You’ll be presented with "Attribute Menu" of fields you can insert.
2. Select the field you wish to use, you’ll see a blue placeholder in the email composer with an inserted value.

Note: If any of the personalization tags appear in red, then the contact does not have a value for that field. If you try to send a personal email with a tag highlighted in red, you will be asked to add a value for that field before sending your message.

Use AI in your 1:1 emails

Available with connected emails only.

You can use AI in 1:1 emails to help write and enhance your message.

To use this option:

1. From your 1:1 email, click the AI icon at the bottom right.
   
2. In the modal, provide a prompt. For example, you can type “A thank you for following up and telling them I’ll reach out to them.” The more specific you can be, the better the results you’ll receive.
3. Click the “Submit” button.
4. Click the green check mark to add the suggested text to your 1:1 email, or click the red “X” to discard the suggested text.
5. If the suggestion is not right:
   • Click the circle arrow icon to retry
   • Click into the “Ask AI to change it” field and choose to make the text longer, shorter, or change the tone. You can also type more specific feedback, like “Make it funny,” into the space provided.

Use the "Automate this email" option

When creating a 1:1 email for a contact, you can choose to add that contact to any active automation. You can decide to add the contact to an automation once the email is sent or when the contact replies to it.

To use this option,

1. Click the "Automate this email" icon.
   
   
2. A modal window will appear. Select the automation you wish to use.
3. Next, select "When I send the email" or "When they reply to the email"
4. Click the "Save" button.