Brevo Account Setup: Step-by-Step Beginner Guide

Getting your Brevo account set up correctly from the start makes everything easier down the road — better deliverability, cleaner data, and fewer issues when you're ready to scale.

This guide walks you through every step: creating the account, verifying your domain, importing your contacts, and preparing for your first send.

Step 1: Create Your Brevo Account

Go to brevo.com and click Sign Up Free. You'll be asked for your:

• First and last name
• Email address
• Password

After confirming your email address via a verification link, you'll be taken into the Brevo onboarding flow.

What to enter during onboarding:

• Your company name (this appears in your emails)
• Your website URL (required for domain verification later)
• Your primary use case — select "Email Marketing" if you're just getting started

Step 2: Configure Your Sender Information

Before you send anything, set up your sender details. This is the name and email address that subscribers see when they receive your messages.

Go to Settings → Senders, Domains & Dedicated IPs → Senders and add your sender:

• Sender name: Your business name (e.g., "Sendexy Team" or "Mark at Sendexy")
• Sender email: Use a branded email address — ideally hello@yourdomain.com or newsletter@yourdomain.com. Never use a Gmail or Yahoo address as your sender email.

Using a branded sender email is critical for both professionalism and deliverability.

Step 3: Verify and Authenticate Your Domain

Domain authentication is one of the most important setup steps and one that many beginners skip. Skipping it significantly increases your chances of landing in spam.

Go to Settings → Senders, Domains & Dedicated IPs → Domains and add your domain (e.g., yourdomain.com).

Brevo will ask you to add two DNS records to your domain's DNS settings:

DKIM Record A DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) record proves to receiving mail servers that Brevo is authorised to send email on behalf of your domain. It's a TXT record you add in your domain registrar (GoDaddy, Namecheap, Cloudflare, etc.).

DKIM Alignment (Optional but Recommended) Brevo may also offer an additional alignment record. Adding this improves your DMARC compliance score.

We have a dedicated guide on SPF and DKIM setup — check our Deliverability section for step-by-step DNS instructions.

Once added, click Verify in Brevo. DNS propagation can take up to 48 hours, though it usually completes within 30 minutes.

Step 4: Import Your Contacts

If you already have a subscriber list, you can import it directly into Brevo.

Go to Contacts → Import Contacts and choose your method:

• CSV file upload — the most common method. Your CSV should include at minimum an email column, and ideally a first name column.
• Copy/paste — useful for small lists
• Sync from CRM — if you're connecting an existing tool

Before importing, check your list:

• Remove any addresses that have hard-bounced before
• Make sure your subscribers genuinely opted in — Brevo is strict about consent
• Clean out obvious typos and role addresses (like info@ or noreply@)

During import, you'll be asked to map your CSV columns to Brevo contact attributes. You'll also be asked to confirm that your contacts gave consent to receive emails.

Step 5: Create Your First List

Brevo organises contacts into lists. At minimum, create one list named something like "Newsletter Subscribers" or "Main List."

You can create multiple lists for different segments — for example, a list for customers and a separate one for prospects.

Go to Contacts → Lists → Create a List.

Step 6: Set Up Your Unsubscribe Footer

Brevo automatically includes an unsubscribe link in your emails (required by law), but you should review how it looks and what page people land on after unsubscribing.

Go to Settings → Email → Subscription & Unsubscribe to customise your unsubscribe confirmation page.

Step 7: Explore the Email Editor

Before you send your first campaign, take 10 minutes to explore Brevo's drag-and-drop email editor. Go to Campaigns → Create an Email Campaign and choose:

• Drag & Drop Editor — the most beginner-friendly option
• HTML Editor — for advanced users who want full code control

Browse the template library to see the range of pre-built designs available. You can customise any template with your brand colours, logo, and content.

You're Ready to Send

With your sender verified, domain authenticated, contacts imported, and editor explored, your Brevo account is properly set up. You're now in a strong position to send campaigns that actually reach the inbox.

The next step is learning how to build your first automation workflow — which we cover in the Email Automation & Workflows section.

Brevo Pricing at a Glance

All plans include unlimited contact storage. See full pricing on Brevo →