When you onboard, Instant connects to your domain and sets up one address that all of your email sends from. That address works for most of what you send, but not every email should look like it came from the same place. A plain text note that reads like it was written by your founder lands differently when it actually arrives from your founder, and a help-style email reads better coming from support.
Sender profiles let you set up more than one address on your domain, then choose which one an email appears to come from.
What is a sender profile?
A sender profile is a saved sender identity. It holds the name shoppers see in their inbox, the address the email sends from, and where replies go. You set a profile up once, then pick it whenever you build a campaign or a flow email.
Why you need one
- A founder-style plain text email only reads as personal if it actually arrives from your founder rather than from your store.
- Replies to a founder email need to reach the founder. With one shared reply address for everything you send, they do not.
- A one-off campaign, an outreach email or a support-style message often suits a different name and address to your regular marketing.
How the addresses work
Instant is already connected to your domain so it can send your email, which means new addresses on that same domain need no extra setup from you. If you send from yourbusiness.com, you can add:
- [email protected] for personal notes and plain text outreach
- [email protected] or [email protected] for general sending
- [email protected] for help-style emails you want replies to
You type the part before the @ and Instant adds your sending domain after it. The domain is fixed, which is what keeps every address you send from authenticated. No DNS changes are needed to add an address.
You already have a default
Every brand starts with one profile, built from the sender name, from address and reply to address you already send with. That is your default profile.
If you never add another profile, nothing changes. If you add profiles but do not pick one on a particular campaign or flow email, that email still sends from your default. You only change what a shopper sees when you deliberately choose a different profile.
How to set it up
Before you start
- Sender profiles apply to email only. Your SMS sender is unchanged.
- Your domain is already connected, so adding an address does not involve DNS or verification.
- You can only change the part before the @. To change the domain itself, see the related article at the end.
Adding an address
- Click the Settings cog in the bottom-left corner of your Instant AI dashboard
- Select Email Settings
- Open the Account tab
- Scroll to Sender profile and click Add sender profile
- Enter a Title to describe who the profile is, for example Founder, Support or Marketing manager
- Enter a Sender name, which is the name shoppers see in their inbox, for example Amelie from Cendre
- Enter the From address, typing only the part before the @, for example founder
- Enter a Reply to address if you want replies to reach an inbox someone monitors
- Click Done, then click Save changes
Note: Leave Reply to address empty and the profile shows No reply-to. On a founder or support profile, this is the field that decides whether a shopper who hits reply actually reaches a person.
Changing which profile is the default
Your default is the profile every new campaign and flow email starts on.
- Go to Settings > Email Settings > Account
- Click Default next to the profile you want new campaigns and flows to use
- Click Save changes
You cannot remove your default profile. To remove any other profile, click the X to the right of it, then click Save changes.
How it works
Choosing the sender for a campaign
The From row sits above Subject in the email editor and shows the name and address the campaign will send from.
- Click the chevron at the end of the From row
- Select a profile from the list, which shows each sender name with its address and title
- The From row updates to that profile
Do this before you send, and the campaign goes out from the profile you picked.
Tip: To add or edit a profile without leaving the editor, click Manage sender profile at the bottom of the list.
Choosing the sender inside a flow
The same picker appears on every flow touchpoint that has a subject line, so the choice is per email rather than per flow. This is what lets you mix senders inside one flow, for example a designed email from your store early on, then a plain text follow-up from your founder later in the same sequence.
What happens if you do not pick one
New campaigns and flow emails start on your default profile and stay there unless you change them. Changing which profile is the default later does not go back and change a campaign or flow email that already has one.
What shoppers see
The sender name appears in the inbox and the from address appears when they look at the sender details. If the profile has a reply to address, replies go there. Everything else about the email, including your design, content and unsubscribe handling, is unaffected by which profile you choose.
FAQ
Does this change how my current campaigns and flows send? No. Your existing sender name, from address and reply to address became your default profile, and everything keeps sending from it until you choose otherwise.
Can I send from any email address I want? No. You can create any address you like on your connected sending domain, but not on a different domain. This is what keeps your email authenticated. To send from a different domain, you need to add and verify that domain first.
Do I need to change my DNS to add an address? No. Your domain is already authenticated, so a new address on it works straight away.
Can I use a different sender on each email in a flow? Yes. The picker is on every flow touchpoint that has a subject line, so a plain text founder email and a designed store email can sit in the same flow.
Where do replies go? To the reply to address on the profile that sent the email. If a profile has no reply to address it shows No reply-to, so set one on any profile where you expect a shopper to write back.
Does this apply to SMS? No. Sender profiles set the sender identity for email only.
Do I have to use this? No. If you leave it alone, every email keeps sending from your default profile exactly as it does today.
For more on changing the domain your email sends from, see How to update your sending domain or subdomain with Instant AI. For more on how Instant sets up your sending domain and address, see How does Instant AI manage email sender to and from addresses?.