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Setting Up and Connecting SendGrid to ShortStack

Overview

Using your own Sendgrid account for email gives you full control over your sender reputation and makes it easier to use your own domain, especially when you have a DMARC policy in place.

 

Note: These instructions are intended for advanced users working with enterprise-level entities. If you publish your campaigns using one of our built-in domains (shortstack.page, lndg.page or cmpgn.page), you can get great deliverability results by using one of our From email addresses: no-reply@shortstack.page, no-reply@lndg.page or no-reply@cmpgn.page (For consistency, choose the one that matches your chosen campaign URL domain).

 

SendGrid Account Instructions

These instructions assume you don’t have a Sendgrid account. If you already have an account, you can skip to Step 4: Create API Key.

Step 1: Create a SendGrid Account

Go to the SendGrid Pricing Page and choose the Start for free button under the Pro plan. The Pro plan is the cheapest plan that includes a dedicated IP address, which you’ll need for DMARC.

Follow the prompts to create your SendGrid account.

 

Step 2: Set Up Reverse DNS

  1. In the sidebar menu, click Settings, then Sender Authentication.
  2. Under the Reverse DNS section, click the Create a Reverse DNS button.
  3. Choose your DNS host.
  4. Select your IP Address (if you signed up for Pro, you should already have one IP address in your account).
  5. Enter the domain you want to use to send email. Typically, this is a root domain (for example, yourcompany.com), but you can also use a subdomain (for example, contests.yourcompany.com or email.yourcompany.com, etc.) if your root domain is already set up to send email from another server.
  6. Click Next.
  7. You’ll be provided with one A record that you’ll need to add to your DNS. Once you’ve added the A record to your DNS, check the box that says, I’ve added these records and then click the Verify button. If your new A record hasn’t been propagated yet, verification might fail. If that happens, just wait a few minutes and try again until it is successful.

Step 3: Authenticate Your Domain

  1. In the sidebar menu, click Settings, then Sender Authentication.
  2. Under the Domain Authentication section, click the Authenticate Your Domain button.
  3. Choose your DNS host from Step 1 and check Yes in Step 2 for Would you like to brand the links for this domain? Click Next.
  4. Enter the domain you’ll be using to send email into the From Domain field. Expand Advanced Settings and ensure Use automated security is checked.
  5. Click Next.
  6. On the following page, you’ll be provided with a handful of new DNS records to add to the DNS for the domain you entered in the previous step. Add those records carefully, then in Step 2, check the I’ve added these records box and click Verify.

Step 4: Create an API Key

  1. While still in the Settings section of SendGrid, click API Keys in the sidebar menu.
  2. Click the Create API Key button in the upper right corner.
  3. Give your new API key a name, like “ShortStack”, then check Restricted Access. Under Access Details, find Mail Send and check the rightmost circle, under Full Access, like this:



  4. Scroll down and click the Create & View button to view your API Key. Copy the API Key and store it in a safe place, like a password manager. You’ll need this key to configure your ShortStack Company Profile.

Step 5: Update Your ShortStack Company Profile

  1. Go to the Emails Manager in ShortStack and click the New Email button.
  2. Choose an email type (like Autoresponder). You won’t be saving this email – you’re just using it to get to the Company Profile Editor.
  3. Click the name of your company profile under Selected Company Profile to view the Company Profile Editor.
  4. In the Default From Email field, enter an email address using the domain you configured in SendGrid. For example, if you configured acme.com, you might enter no-reply@acme.com into the Default From Email field.
  5. Scroll to the bottom and paste your SendGrid API Key into the appropriate field under Advanced Settings. Click the Select button to save.
  6. Click anywhere outside the email wizard to close the wizard. Click the Don’t Save button, if prompted (your company profile changes were already saved).
  7. Any new emails that use this company profile will now be sent using your SendGrid account. If you have any existing email campaigns that are still running, you might want to update the From email address accordingly, or just erase it and the Default From Email will be used from your company profile.

 

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