Section 6

Marketing

Turn market intelligence into outreach. Build targeted email campaigns, measure engagement in Campaign Reports, and amplify your reach by publishing content through PSN's own channels.

Note: Smart Searches in Marketing work exactly the same as in Sales — see that section for the full walkthrough. Here we focus on what's unique to Marketing.

Your first campaign in 5 minutes

1
Build an audience
Select from your saved searches the list of contacts you want to email.
2
Create New Campaign
Add a name, subject line, and From Address.
3
Edit message content
Write or paste your email — use the editor button.
4
Test Send first
Send to yourself via the Saved Campaigns row.
5
Send & track
Hit Send, then watch Campaign Reports for opens & clicks.

Before you start — build your audience

Where saved searches come from: the Public Bodies tab

Your Send To audiences in Campaigns are powered by saved searches you build in the main Public Bodies tab at the top of the platform — not inside Marketing itself. Once saved, they show up automatically in the Campaigns audience picker (and in Sales).

1
Pick the sector
Use Org name and type to choose the type of organisation (e.g. Care Homes, NHS Trusts, Local Authorities).
2
Choose the area
Filter by region, county, or local authority — e.g. Greater London.
3
Refine by demographics
Layer on attributes like carehome capacity, school population, annual spend or number of GPs.
4
Add postholder function
Include specific roles (e.g. IT Director, Procurement Lead) so your email lands with the right contact.

Public Bodies tab with sector, area, demographics and postholder filters — Public Bodies → Org name and type, Area, Demographics, Postholders. Your active filters appear in *Your selections*.

Save selections dialog asking for a name — Hit **Save**, give the selection a clear name (e.g. *Care Homes in London — 30+ residents*), and it lands in your saved searches — ready to pick as an audience in Campaigns.

Back in Marketing, open Create New Campaign → Send To, and your newly saved search will be in the list.

Step 1

Sending Setup — choose how your emails are sent

Before your first campaign, decide whether emails go out from your own company domain or from a PSN-managed domain. This is a one-time decision that affects deliverability and brand trust.

Recommended

Send from your own domain

Emails come from your company address (e.g. name@yourcompany.com).

✓Better deliverability — less chance of spam folders
✓Builds trust with recipients
✓Keeps your brand front and centre

What's required

PSN provides a set of DNS records. Your IT team (or whoever manages your domain) adds them — this authorises PSN to send on your behalf.

How it works

Request sender setup from your account manager
PSN provides your DNS records
Your IT team adds them to your domain
PSN verifies and activates your sender address

Send via PSN (no setup)

Use a PSN-managed email domain — start sending straight away with zero technical setup.

✓No DNS or IT involvement
✓Send your first campaign today

Things to be aware of

•Emails won't come directly from your company domain
•Deliverability and trust may be slightly lower than using your own domain

Which should you choose?

→Use your own domain if you want the best results and long-term performance.
→Use PSN sending if you need to move quickly or don't have access to your domain settings.

Not sure? Your account manager can walk you through the right option and help with domain setup.

Step 2

Campaigns — compose, save, send

Everything you need to launch an email campaign on one screen: credits, the composer, your saved drafts, and the report on what's already gone out.

Marketing Campaigns page with composer, saved campaigns and reports

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1
Campaign Credits Remaining
Each send burns one credit per recipient — check this number before scheduling a large blast.
2
Campaign Name
Internal label only — not visible to recipients. Use a clear naming scheme like '2026-04 Q2 NHS IT'.
3
Subject Line
What recipients see in their inbox — keep it under ~60 characters and concrete.
4
Edit Message Content
Opens the rich-text editor where you write or paste the email body and add merge fields.
5
From Address
Must be a verified sender. If empty, contact your account manager first.
6
Send To (audiences)
Tick one or more saved Smart Search audiences. These are the same lists used in Sales.
7
Save Campaign
Saves as a draft — does NOT send. Find it in Saved Campaigns below to test or send.
8
Saved Campaigns row actions
Edit, Remove, or Test Send each draft. 'Sent' campaigns become read-only with a green badge.
9
Campaign Reports
Auto-populated after a send — shows Delivered, Opens, Clicks, Unsubs. Click View for the full pie chart.

About the Message Content editor

When you click Edit Message Content, you can either type directly into the editor or paste in HTML you've prepared elsewhere. Use the <> (source code) button in the toolbar to paste raw HTML.

Message Content editor toolbar showing formatting options, source code button and Merge Tags dropdown — The Message Content editor — note the `<>` source code button and the **Merge Tags** dropdown on the right.

HTML editors

PSN includes a built-in editor for creating and styling emails. If you prefer to paste in your own HTML via the <> source code view, avoid content generated by tools like Microsoft Word — these introduce hidden formatting that can break email rendering.

Instead, use clean HTML from a purpose-built email editor, or export directly from your existing platforms — for example:

→Mailchimp / HubSpot — build within your platform and export the HTML
→Stripo — structured email builder with reliable HTML output
→Topol.io — simple builder for quick, clean templates

Merge Tags — personalise each email

Use the Merge Tags dropdown (top-right of the editor) to insert placeholders that are replaced with each recipient's details at send time:

→Salutation — e.g. "Dear John,"
→Organisation name — e.g. "Manchester City Council"

Always Test Send to yourself first to confirm merge tags render correctly.

Step 3

Campaign Reports — read the response

Click View on any sent campaign to open its engagement breakdown. Use these numbers to refine subject lines, audiences and send times for the next campaign.

Campaign Report modal with engagement pie chart

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1
Campaign Report header
Modal title — close with the X to return to the Marketing page.
2
Engagement pie chart
Visual share of Opens, Clicks, Unsubscribes and Others — quick glance at health.
3
Legend
Hover any segment in the chart to see exact counts.
4
Delivered
Total emails that reached an inbox (excludes bounces).
5
Opens
Recipients who opened the email — anything above ~25% is healthy in B2B public sector.
6
Clicks
Recipients who clicked a link — your true intent signal. Promote these into Sales pipelines.
7
Unsubscribes
Watch this trend over time. A spike means the audience or message wasn't right.

Compare like-for-like

Send the same template to two audiences — easiest way to test which list is hottest.

Promote clickers

Anyone who clicks should land in a Sales pipeline within 24 hours.

Track unsub rate

Above 1% per send is a warning sign — review your subject and audience fit.

Step 4

Test Emails & Opt-outs — the safety net

The Tools panel at the bottom of Marketing lets you control who can receive Test Sends and download the global unsubscribe list.

1
Manage Test Emails
Opened from the Tools panel — controls which addresses can receive a Test Send.
2
Email
The test recipient's address. Add your own work address and a colleague's for QA.
3
Salutation
Used by merge fields like {salutation} so test sends preview personalisation.
4
Organisation
Used by {organisation} merge fields — keep these realistic to catch formatting bugs.
5
Enabled
Toggle to include or exclude an address from Test Sends without deleting it.
6
Delete
Permanently remove a test recipient.
7
Add New Email
Add another tester. Two or three reviewers is the sweet spot — more slows down approval.

Download Opt-Outs

The other Tools button exports every recipient who has unsubscribed. PSN automatically suppresses these contacts from any future campaigns you send through the platform — but keep a copy in your own systems to ensure opt-outs are reflected across all your communication activities.

Step 5

Publish & Advertise — reach beyond your own list

Three channels for getting in front of PSN's wider public-sector audience without sending an email yourself.

Publish/Advertise sub-menu showing Event Calendar, Article Creation and Digital Advertising

1
Event Calendar Posting
Publish your webinar or event to PSN's public calendar — a free extra channel for registrations.
2
Add and manage event details
Self-serve link — create, edit and update your listings without a ticket.
3
Article Creation
Sponsored editorial. PSN writes and places the piece — ideal for product launches and case studies.
4
Contact us to arrange
Article Creation isn't self-serve yet — reach out to your account manager to commission one.
5
Digital Advertising
Banner and sponsored slots across PSN's media properties — broader awareness reach.
6
Download PDF (media pack)
Formats, dimensions, audience demographics and rates. Self-booking is coming soon.

Self-serve

Event Calendar Posting

Submit your own webinars, demos and in-person events to PSN's public events calendar — extra reach beyond your own list.

Article Creation

PSN's editorial team writes and places a product or service article in front of the public-sector audience.

Media pack

Digital Advertising

Banner and sponsored placements across PSN's media network — download the media pack to see formats and rates.

Closing the loop with Sales

Marketing's job is to generate signal — Sales' job is to convert it. After every send, open Campaign Reports, identify the clickers, and create a Pipeline for each one as a Prospect. That's how a campaign becomes revenue, not just a number.