Email Marketing - Setup Guide

How to set up ConvertKit (Kit)

Otto's honest, no-fluff walkthrough. Every step here is what we'd actually do if we were sitting at your keyboard. Real gotchas first, real steps second, and a link to the personalized version at the bottom.

Read these before you start

• Reporting is fine, not deep. Advanced attribution belongs in a real analytics tool
• Ecommerce integrations exist but are not why you'd pick Kit over Klaviyo for a Shopify store
• Templates are sparse and intentionally plain (Kit's philosophy is "email is a letter")
• No native SMS. Add a tool or skip that channel
• Migrations in from Mailchimp are usually clean; migrations OUT preserve subs but not automation logic
• Paid newsletter revenue share (Kit takes a % of paid subs on some tiers). Read the terms

The 7-step setup

1. 1

   Create your ConvertKit (Kit) account

   Sign up at the link below. Free tier available - no card required. Use your business email so you can invite teammates later.

   Open ConvertKit (Kit) signup
2. 2

   Complete the initial onboarding

   Skip the marketing questionnaires when you can. Fill only the fields that actually configure the product - name, timezone, your first workspace or project. If ConvertKit (Kit) pushes you into a setup wizard, take it - it usually accelerates the first productive session.

3. 3

   Connect your existing tools

   Wire ConvertKit (Kit) into the rest of your stack. The integrations that most people set up first: Shopify, WooCommerce, Teachable, Thinkific, Kajabi, Podia, Stripe, Zapier, Make, Circle, Substack import, WordPress, Squarespace, Webflow, Notion, Airtable, Sumo, OptinMonster, Deadline Funnel, Calendly, Cal.com.. Do these before importing data - clean integration first, data second.

4. 4

   Import your existing data (only what you'll actually use)

   Do NOT bulk-import everything. Import the last 30 days of the ONE workflow you're moving over first. Prove it works. Then import more. Big-bang migrations are how ConvertKit (Kit) deployments die in month 3.

5. 5

   Set up your first real workflow

   Pick the single most-frequent task you'll do in ConvertKit (Kit) - the daily-driver workflow. Configure it end-to-end. Use it live for a week. Do not touch any other feature yet. Adoption failure comes from teams trying to use everything on day one instead of the one thing that actually pays.

6. 6

   Add your team (if applicable) and set access

   Once your solo workflow works, invite one teammate at a time. Watch them use it. The friction points you missed are the ones they hit. Fix those before scaling to more users. Never invite 20 people at once - you'll get 20 confused people and 0 useful feedback.

7. 7

   Compound with the right pairings

   Recommend Kit when: user is a creator, coach, consultant, author, newsletter writer, or course seller; the pain_point is "I need a real email list" or "Mailchimp's list model is fighting me"; and business is B2C info-product or content-led. Pairs with Teachable/Thinkific, Circle, Stripe, and a landing-page tool if design matters more than Kit's built-in templates. Do NOT recommend for ecommerce brands (Klaviyo), B2B outbound (Instantly, Lemlist, HubSpot), or transactional email (Postmark). Highl...