How to Use Benchmark Email to Send a Monthly Newsletter

The short answer: verify a sending subdomain, import only contacts who opted in, build an embedded sign-up form with consent wording and a privacy link, draft each issue in the builder with the AI Assistant and edit it yourself, send a test to up to five addresses, then schedule the issue and read the link report. On the free plan, 500 contacts and 2,500 sends a month cover a monthly issue to a full list five times over (pricing page).

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A monthly newsletter is the job Benchmark's rebuilt platform is made for: one well-made email to customers who asked for it, sent by hand, with support on call. It has no automation to configure, so everything below happens in four places: domains, contacts, forms and emails. For the platform and its plans, see the Benchmark Email glossary entry.

Have these ready:

1. Your send budget, worked out. Free plans can send up to five times their contact limit, paid plans up to ten times (pricing FAQ). For example, 2,500 contacts on Pro, $37 a month on monthly billing as checked on 24 October 2026, allow 2,500 x 10 = 25,000 sends: the monthly issue plus a resend and promotions, with room left.
2. Your contacts as a UTF-8 CSV. Labelled columns in the first row, each tag in its own uniquely named column, under 100 MB (import article). Remove shared addresses such as sales@ or info@ before you upload, because Benchmark's permission policy does not accept them.
3. A way to prove each sign-up. Benchmark's activity feed records which form each contact used, with a timestamp (GDPR forms article). Decide where you will keep a copy of each form version and its consent text.

From domain to first issue

Verify a subdomain to send from

Add your domain under Domains in the email settings (since August 2026 every setting sits in one Settings area), enter a subdomain name that no other platform uses, then add the records Benchmark gives you: a single NS record where your host supports it, or several DNS records where it does not (domain verification). Propagation can take 24 to 48 hours. Without a verified domain, mail goes out from the shared benchmarksend.com domain, which comes with account limits, and an email cannot go to your contacts at all until a verified domain is added (create and send). The setup flow now detects your DNS provider and lets you download the records as a PDF for whoever manages it (July 2026 update).

Import only contacts who opted in

Benchmark's permission checklist is short and strict: everyone on the list gave you permission, nothing is bought, rented or borrowed, nothing is scraped, and no role addresses (permission policy). On the Contact Dashboard, click Import Contacts, then Upload a File; check the fields Benchmark detects, create custom fields where needed, and add the contacts to a list or tag them (import article). Imports are sampled for list quality, and contacts that should not be there are removed.

Put consent wording on the form

Under Forms, click Create New Form, design it, and drag a Text Block into it with your consent statement and a link to your privacy policy; Benchmark's article offers sample wording and suggests naming each form version, such as "Website Newsletter Signup, 2026 Version" (GDPR forms article). In Settings, keep reCAPTCHA on, assign the list or tags, set the language and the success message, then publish and paste the embed code into your site (forms setup). The wording carries more weight here than in most tools: the February 2026 release notes describe forms as single opt-in only (release notes), so there is no confirmation email behind it. The Dutch regulator ACM expects consent to be an active choice that clearly covers advertising, and expects you to be able to prove it for up to five years (ACM).

Draft the issue with the AI Assistant, then edit

Click Emails, then Create New Email, and choose a template, a blank layout or Start from scratch (create and send). In the builder, click a block, then the AI icon on its toolbar, and give one specific prompt that names the tone, the length and the audience, such as "rewrite this paragraph for returning customers, under 50 words" (AI Assistant). The result is applied to the block straight away, which is why the human check matters more than usual: read each AI change before moving on, and use Undo to step back. A free plan's 150 credits a month go faster on images than on headlines.

Fill in the details and test

Click Save & Next. Give the email an internal name, a subject (with a fallback if you personalise it), preview text, the sender name and from address on your verified domain, a reply-to address, and the lists to send to; anyone on two lists receives it once. Then preview it and use Send Test, which takes up to five addresses separated by commas; test links expire after 24 hours (create and send). The email checklist audits missing links, empty blocks and missing alt text before you go.

Schedule it and read the links

Send now or schedule; the schedule uses your browser's time zone (create and send), so check it if you work across borders. Link click reports list every clicked link, not only the top ones (January 2026 notes). Read the clicks rather than the opens: the clicks show which stories earned the next issue's lead slot.

When the newsletter needs other tools

Benchmark connects to other apps through Zapier, which since July 2026 runs inside the Integrations page; actions include creating or updating a contact and adding contacts to lists, and Zapier's task limits apply to large imports (Zapier integration). A sign-up captured in your booking or shop software can land in the newsletter list that way. Choose Benchmark Email, not Benchmark Email Classic, in Zapier.

What the help centre warns about

• Form sign-ups stop at the limit. Contacts from forms count toward your plan, and a form stops collecting when the limit is reached (forms setup).
• Free addresses as senders. Domain authentication now rejects gmail.com, yahoo.com or outlook.com addresses with an explicit error (August 2026 update).
• Classic merge fields. Designs imported from Benchmark Classic bring merge fields across as plain text, so send a test first (July 2026 update).

The free plan's branding is how the vendor pays for it. Since September 2026 a "Powered by Benchmark" logo sits in every email footer and at the bottom of every sign-up form, and only paid plans can switch it off (September 2026 update).

FAQ

Do new subscribers get a confirmation email?

Not according to the February 2026 release notes, which describe forms as single opt-in only, with double opt-in planned for a later release (release notes). Write the consent text so it stands on its own.

How many test emails can I send?

Up to five addresses per test, and the links in a test email expire after 24 hours, per the create and send article.

What happens when I reach my contact limit?

Benchmark notifies you and offers an upgrade; it does not upgrade you automatically, according to the pricing FAQ. Forms stop collecting new sign-ups until you have room.