Introduction

Amazon Simple Email Service (Amazon SES) is a powerful, cost-effective service designed to send bulk and transactional emails at scale. Whether you’re a startup, marketer, or developer, mastering Amazon SES for bulk email sending can turbocharge your email campaigns with high deliverability and detailed control. This tutorial walks you through the entire process—from zero setup to advanced bulk email sending—arming you with the knowledge to become an Amazon SES hero.

Table of Contents

Getting Started with Amazon SES

Step 1: Create an AWS Account

Before using Amazon SES, you need an active AWS account:

  • Visit aws.amazon.com
  • Click Create an AWS Account and follow the registration and billing setup process

Step 2: Access the Amazon SES Console

  • Log into the AWS Management Console
  • Search for SES in the service search bar
  • Select Amazon Simple Email Service to open the SES dashboard

Verifying Identities: Email Addresses and Domains

Amazon SES requires you to verify your sender identities to control and prevent spam.

Verify an Email Address

  • In the SES Console, navigate to Verified Identities
  • Click Create Identity
  • Select Email Address as the identity type
  • Enter the sender email address and submit
  • Check your inbox for a verification email and click the verification link

Verifying a domain allows you to send from any email address within that domain and improves deliverability through DKIM signing.

  • Choose Domain as the identity type
  • Add the provided DNS records (TXT for verification, DKIM CNAMEs) to your domain’s DNS settings
  • Once DNS propagation completes, SES will verify the domain

Setting Up for Bulk Email Sending

Request Production Access

By default, new Amazon SES accounts start in a sandbox mode with restrictions (sending only to verified addresses and low daily quotas).

  • Request to move your account out of the sandbox by submitting a sending limit increase request via the AWS Support Center
  • After approval, you can send bulk emails to any recipient and your sending quotas increase (e.g., 10,000 emails/day initially, scaling up to millions with good sending reputation)[5].

Configure Sending Limits and Regions

  • Check your sending quota and rate limits in the SES Console
  • Choose the AWS region closest to your target audience for lower latency

Creating and Using Email Templates

For bulk personalized emails, SES provides email templates.

Create an Email Template

  • Use the SES Console or AWS CLI to create templates containing placeholders (e.g., {{name}}, {{favoriteanimal}}).
  • Templates can include both HTML and plain text parts.
  • You can create up to 10,000 templates per account, each up to 500 KB in size[2].

Example Template JSON

{
  "TemplateName": "WelcomeTemplate",
  "SubjectPart": "Welcome, {{name}}!",
  "TextPart": "Hello {{name}}, thanks for joining!",
  "HtmlPart": "<h1>Hello {{name}}</h1><p>Thanks for joining!</p>"
}

Sending Bulk Emails via API

Amazon SES offers the SendBulkTemplatedEmail API operation to send personalized bulk emails in a single API call.

Prepare Your Bulk Recipient Data

Create a JSON file where each recipient’s data replaces template variables. Example:

{
  "Source": "sender@example.com",
  "Template": "WelcomeTemplate",
  "DefaultTemplateData": "{}",
  "Destinations": [    {
      "Destination": {"ToAddresses": ["user1@example.com"]},
      "ReplacementTemplateData": "{\"name\":\"Alice\"}"
    },
    {
      "Destination": {"ToAddresses": ["user2@example.com"]},
      "ReplacementTemplateData": "{\"name\":\"Bob\"}"
    }
  ]
}

Save this as bulk_email.json.

Send Bulk Email Using AWS CLI

Run the following command to send the bulk email:

aws ses send-bulk-templated-email --cli-input-json file://bulk_email.json

You can send to up to 50 destinations per API call, respecting your sending limits[2][6].

Sending via SDK (Node.js Example)

const AWS = require('aws-sdk');
const ses = new AWS.SES({ region: 'us-east-1' });

const params = {
  Source: 'sender@example.com',
  Template: 'WelcomeTemplate',
  Destinations: [    {
      Destination: { ToAddresses: ['user1@example.com'] },
      ReplacementTemplateData: JSON.stringify({ name: 'Alice' }),
    },
    {
      Destination: { ToAddresses: ['user2@example.com'] },
      ReplacementTemplateData: JSON.stringify({ name: 'Bob' }),
    },
  ],
};

ses.sendBulkTemplatedEmail(params).promise()
  .then(data => console.log('Bulk email sent:', data))
  .catch(err => console.error('Error sending bulk email:', err));

Best Practices and Compliance

Authenticate Your Emails

  • Use domain verification with DKIM to align with mailbox provider requirements[7].
  • Set up SPF and DMARC DNS records to improve email reputation.

Optimize Email Content

  • Avoid spammy language
  • Personalize content with templates
  • Include unsubscribe links where applicable

Monitor Metrics

  • Track bounce rates, complaint rates, and delivery rates via SES metrics
  • Use Amazon CloudWatch to set alerts on thresholds

Manage Suppression Lists

  • SES automatically maintains suppression lists for bounced and complaint email addresses
  • Export and manage suppression lists to maintain a clean mailing list[4].

Monitoring and Scaling Your Email Sending

Sending Quotas and Reputation

  • Your sending quota increases as you build a positive sending reputation (e.g., from 10,000 to 1,000,000 emails/day over time)[5].
  • Use SES feedback loops to adjust sending based on complaints and bounces.

Use Configuration Sets and Event Destinations

  • Track sending events (delivered, opened, clicked) by configuring SES Configuration Sets linked to Amazon SNS or CloudWatch.

Integration with Email Marketing Tools

  • Tools like G-Lock EasyMail support Amazon SES integration for easier bulk email management[5].
  • Alternatively, build custom solutions using SES SMTP interface or APIs.

Conclusion

Amazon SES offers a robust platform for sending bulk emails efficiently and at scale. Starting from account setup and identity verification, through template creation and bulk sending APIs, to advanced best practices and monitoring, mastering SES can transform how you engage with your audience. By following this comprehensive tutorial, you are well on your way from zero to hero in Amazon SES bulk email sending.

If you want to get started immediately, remember these key first steps: verify your sending identity, request production access, create your email templates, and test your bulk sending with the SendBulkTemplatedEmail API. With continuous monitoring and adherence to best practices, you can scale your email campaigns with confidence and high deliverability.

Happy emailing!