sales-brevo

What this skill does

# Brevo Platform Help

Help the user with Brevo platform questions — from email/SMS/WhatsApp campaigns and marketing automation through transactional messaging, Sales CRM, Conversations (live chat), Loyalty programs, e-commerce, and API integrations.

## Step 1 — Gather context


If `references/learnings.md` exists, read it first for accumulated knowledge.

Ask the user:

1. **What area of Brevo do you need help with?**
   - A) Email campaigns — creating, managing, or optimizing marketing emails
   - B) SMS / WhatsApp campaigns — setup, templates, approval
   - C) Marketing automation — journeys, triggers, workflows (for cross-platform strategy, hand off: `/sales-email-marketing {your question}`)
   - D) Transactional messaging — API/SMTP email, transactional SMS (for cross-platform, hand off: `/sales-transactional-email {your question}`)
   - E) Sales CRM — deals, pipelines, companies, tasks
   - F) Conversations — live chat, chatbot setup (for cross-platform strategy, hand off: `/sales-live-chat {your question}`)
   - G) Loyalty — programs, rewards, tiers, vouchers (for cross-platform strategy, hand off: `/sales-loyalty {your question}`)
   - H) Contacts — lists, segments, attributes, import/export
   - I) Deliverability — domain auth, dedicated IPs, warmup (for cross-platform, hand off: `/sales-deliverability {your question}`)
   - J) E-commerce — product sync, orders, coupons, revenue attribution
   - K) Landing pages & forms
   - L) Push notifications — web & mobile
   - M) API & webhooks — REST API, SDKs, automation
   - N) Integrations — Shopify, Salesforce, Zapier, Make, etc.
   - O) Aura AI — Marketing Agent, Sales Assistant, Data Analyst
   - P) Account & billing — plans, sub-accounts, user management
   - Q) Migration from Sendinblue — naming changes, URL updates
   - R) Something else — describe it

2. **What's your role?**
   - A) Marketing manager / email marketer
   - B) Developer / technical
   - C) E-commerce manager
   - D) Sales rep / team lead
   - E) Founder / solo operator
   - F) Agency managing multiple clients
   - G) Other

3. **What are you trying to accomplish?** (describe your specific goal or question)

**If the user's request already provides most of this context, skip directly to the relevant step.** Lead with your best-effort answer using reasonable assumptions (stated explicitly), then ask only the most critical 1-2 clarifying questions at the end — don't gate your response behind gathering complete context.

## Step 2 — Route or answer directly

If the request maps to a specialized skill, route:
- Prospect list building → `/sales-prospect-list`
- Contact enrichment / data hygiene → `/sales-enrich`
- Outbound cadence strategy → `/sales-cadence`
- Cross-platform deliverability → `/sales-deliverability`
- Transactional email architecture → `/sales-transactional-email`
- Live chat / chatbot strategy → `/sales-live-chat`
- Loyalty program design → `/sales-loyalty`
- Email marketing strategy (opt-in) → `/sales-email-marketing`
- Tool integration architecture → `/sales-integration`
- Lead scoring models → `/sales-lead-score`
- Funnel / landing page strategy → `/sales-funnel`

Otherwise, answer directly from platform knowledge using the reference below.

## Step 3 — Brevo platform reference

**Read `references/platform-guide.md`** for detailed module documentation, pricing, integrations, and data model.

*You no longer need the platform guide details — focus on the user's specific situation.*

## Step 4 — Actionable guidance

## Gotchas

*Best-effort from research — review these, especially items about plan-gated features and integration gotchas that may be outdated.*

1. **Sendinblue → Brevo migration confusion**: API base URL changed from `api.sendinblue.com` to `api.brevo.com`. Old SDKs may still reference Sendinblue namespaces. The GitHub org is still `sendinblue`. If a user mentions Sendinblue, treat it as Brevo.
2. **Volume-based vs contact-based pricing**: Brevo charges by email volume, not contacts (unlike Mailchimp/HubSpot). Unlimited contacts on all plans. Don't confuse the user by mentioning contact limits.
3. **Free plan daily limit**: 300 emails/day on the free plan — this is a daily cap, not monthly. Users hitting this limit need Starter plan ($25/mo for 20K emails/mo).
4. **WhatsApp template approval delay**: WhatsApp campaigns require Meta-approved templates. Approval takes 24-48 hours. Don't tell users they can send WhatsApp immediately.
5. **Automation ≠ campaigns**: In Brevo, "Campaign" = single send, "Automation/Journey" = multi-step workflow. Don't confuse these — users asking about "drip sequences" want Automation, not Campaigns.

- **Self-improving**: If you discover something not covered here, append it to `references/learnings.md` with today's date.

## Step 5 — Related skills

- `/sales-email-marketing` — Opt-in email marketing strategy across platforms
- `/sales-transactional-email` — Transactional/triggered email delivery strategy
- `/sales-live-chat` — Live chat and chatbot strategy across platforms
- `/sales-loyalty` — Loyalty program design across platforms
- `/sales-deliverability` — Cross-platform email deliverability (SPF/DKIM/DMARC, warmup, reputation)
- `/sales-cadence` — Outbound sequence design (if using Brevo for cold outreach)
- `/sales-integration` — Connect Brevo with CRM, e-commerce, and other tools
- `/sales-funnel` — Landing page and funnel strategy
- `/sales-lead-score` — Lead scoring models (Brevo has contact scoring on Professional plan+)
- `/sales-checkout` — Checkout optimization (Brevo e-commerce features)
- `/sales-do` — Not sure which skill to use? The router matches any sales objective to the right skill. Install: `npx skills add sales-skills/sales --skill sales-do`

## Examples

### Example 1: Setting up a welcome automation
**User says**: "How do I create a welcome email series in Brevo?"
**Skill does**: Guides through Automation → Create Journey → trigger on "Contact added to list" → add email steps with wait delays → test with a test contact
**Result**: 3-email welcome series automation live and tested

### Example 2: Connecting Shopify for abandoned cart
**User says**: "I want to send abandoned cart emails from Brevo for my Shopify store"
**Skill does**: Walks through installing Brevo Shopify plugin → syncing products/orders → creating abandoned cart automation journey → configuring timing (1hr, 24hr, 72hr) → adding product blocks to email template
**Result**: Abandoned cart automation connected to Shopify and sending

### Example 3: Sending transactional emails via API
**User says**: "How do I send order confirmation emails through the Brevo API?"
**Skill does**: Shows API key setup → creating a template in Brevo UI → calling `POST /smtp/email` with templateId and params → setting up webhooks for delivery tracking → error handling
**Result**: Transactional email flow working with template and dynamic parameters

## Troubleshooting

### Emails landing in spam
**Symptom**: Marketing or transactional emails going to spam folder
**Cause**: Domain not authenticated, no dedicated IP, or sending to unengaged contacts
**Solution**: 1) Verify domain authentication (DKIM + DMARC) in Settings → Domains. 2) Check SPF includes `spf.brevo.com`. 3) On paid plans, request a dedicated IP and warm it up gradually. 4) Clean your list — remove contacts who haven't opened in 6+ months. See `/sales-deliverability` for comprehensive guidance.

### WhatsApp template rejected
**Symptom**: WhatsApp message template stuck in "Pending" or rejected by Meta
**Cause**: Template violates Meta's commerce or content policies, or contains prohibited content
**Solution**: 1) Review Meta's WhatsApp Business message template guidelines. 2) Avoid promotional language in utility templates. 3) Ensure opt-in compliance. 4) Resubmit with modifications. Allow 24-48 hours for review.

### API returning 429 Too Many Requests
**Symptom**: API calls failing with status 429
**Cause**: Rate limit exceeded
**Solu