# Sending a Campaign

The campaign wizard sends one email or SMS campaign to a list of contacts. You choose the channel, decide whether you write the message yourself or an AI agent writes one per contact, pick the recipients, set a schedule, and launch. Behind the scenes the wizard compiles your choices into an orchestration, so everything you can do with an orchestration — pause it, read its log, drill into per-recipient outcomes — works for a campaign too.


> The images on this page are illustrations of the screens, drawn to match the labels described; screenshots of the live product replace them as they are captured.

Use it when you have something specific to say to a known audience: a promotion, an event invitation, a re-engagement nudge, a follow-up to an import. For an ongoing, AI-driven outbound program, an [Email Strategy](/help/email-strategies/overview) is the better fit; the wizard can also send *through* one.

## What You'll Need

- **The `agents:mail:manage` permission.** The seeded **Admin** and **Manager** roles have it; **Member** and **Viewer** do not, and will not see the entry points below.
- **For email:** a verified sending domain (**Settings (the gear icon) → Channels → Email Sending**) and a sender identity to send as (**Settings → Channels → Notification Senders**). Optional: a signature (**Settings → Channels → Email Signatures**).
- **For SMS:** a workspace phone number (**Settings → Channels → Phone Numbers**).
- **If an agent writes the message:** an existing [Email Strategy](/help/email-strategies/creating-strategies) or [SMS Agent](/help/sms-agents/overview). The wizard links to the creation flow if you have none.
- **An audience:** a saved list, a spreadsheet, or a pasted set of addresses. Consent is respected automatically — see *What happens after launch* below.

## Where to Start

The wizard lives at one place, reached from wherever you happen to be:

| You are… | Do this |
|---|---|
| Anywhere | **Agents → Workflows → Send Campaign**, or the **+ New** button in the top bar → **Campaign** |
| On **CRM → Records → Contacts** or **Leads** with rows selected | Click **Send campaign** in the selection bar. You are asked for a list name; the selection is saved as a list and the wizard opens on it |
| On **CRM → Daily work → Lists** | Click the megaphone icon on a row (**Send campaign to this list**), or open the list and click **Send Campaign** in its header |
| Just finished an import | On the **Import Complete** screen, click **Send a campaign to this list** |
| On **Agents → Workflows → Orchestrations** with no workflows yet | Click **Send a campaign** in the empty state |
| Reading a finished campaign's **Recipients** tab | Click a cohort action such as **Follow up with clickers** — the cohort becomes a list and the wizard opens on it (see [Reading Campaign Results](/help/orchestrations/campaign-results)) |

Arriving from a list pre-fills the Recipients step; you can still change it.

![Illustration: the Agents menu open, with Send Campaign under Workflows](/help/assets/orchestrations/send-campaign-entry-points.svg)

<!-- SCREENSHOT: orchestrations/send-campaign-entry-points.png — Agents menu open, Workflows section, "Send Campaign" entry visible -->

## Step 1 — Channel

The page is titled **Send a campaign** and shows a five-step indicator: **Channel · Content · Recipients · Schedule · Review**.

1. Optionally type a **Campaign name**. If you leave it blank, one is generated.
2. Under **Channel**, pick **Email** (*Sent from your verified sending domain*) or **SMS** (*Sent from one of your workspace numbers*).
3. Under **Who writes the message?**, pick one:
   - **I write it (static)** — your exact content, personalized with tags like `{{first_name}}`. No AI is involved; every recipient gets the same message with their own values filled in.
   - **An agent writes it** — an existing email or SMS agent generates a personal message per contact from its own instructions and the contact's CRM context.
4. Click **Next**.

![Illustration: step 1, Email and "I write it (static)" selected](/help/assets/orchestrations/send-campaign-channel.svg)

<!-- SCREENSHOT: orchestrations/send-campaign-channel.png — Step 1 with Email + "I write it (static)" selected -->

## Step 2 — Content

What you see depends on the choices in step 1.

### If an agent writes it

1. Under **Pick the agent**, choose the strategy (email) or SMS agent from the drop-down.
2. Click **Next**. That is the whole step — the agent's own settings decide the sender, tone, and content.

If the list is empty, the wizard links to **Create one with the mail wizard** or **Create an SMS agent first**.

### If you write an email

1. Enter a **Subject** and write the **Body** in the rich-text editor. Both accept personalization tags.
2. Click a tag chip to append it to the body, then drag it into place if needed.
3. Under **Send as**, choose how the email is signed:
   - **Sender profile** — pick one of your workspace's sender identities.
   - A custom **From name** and **From email** on your verified domain.
   - **Use the identity of…** an existing email strategy, to borrow its from-name and address.
4. Optionally pick an **Email signature**.
5. Leave **Append unsubscribe link** on (it is on by default). It adds a one-click opt-out footer and is recommended for bulk email. The link is plain text — no tracking code is visible in it.
6. Click **Next**.

![Illustration: step 2 for a static email — subject, body, tag chips, sender, signature and the unsubscribe checkbox](/help/assets/orchestrations/send-campaign-content-email.svg)

<!-- SCREENSHOT: orchestrations/send-campaign-content-email.png — Step 2 static email: subject with a tag, body editor, tag chips, "Send as" and "Append unsubscribe link" visible -->

### If you write an SMS

1. Type the **Message**. Below it, a counter reads *N characters = M segments as typed*.
2. Under **Send from number**, pick a workspace number, or **Use the number of…** an SMS agent.
3. If the message runs to more than one segment, tick **Multi-part allowed (bills per segment)**. Recipients still receive one continuous text — carriers stitch the parts together — but each segment is billed separately. Until you tick it, **Next** stays disabled for a multi-segment message.
4. Click **Next**.

A message that could exceed **1,600 characters** once tags are filled must be shortened; the wizard says so under the counter. Emoji or characters outside the basic GSM set switch the encoding, which drops the single-segment limit from 160 to 70 characters — the counter reflects this as you type.

![Illustration: step 2 for a static SMS — message, segment counter, sending number and the multi-part opt-in](/help/assets/orchestrations/send-campaign-content-sms.svg)

<!-- SCREENSHOT: orchestrations/send-campaign-content-sms.png — Step 2 static SMS: message, segment counter, "Send from number", multi-part checkbox -->

### Personalization tags

Tags work in the subject, body, message, and follow-ups. Add a fallback after a pipe for contacts missing the field: `{{first_name|there}}` renders "there" when there is no first name.

| Tag | Fills with |
|---|---|
| `{{first_name}}`, `{{last_name}}`, `{{full_name}}` | The contact's name fields |
| `{{email}}`, `{{phone}}` | Their email address or phone number |
| `{{company}}`, `{{role}}` | Company and role / title |
| `{{address}}`, `{{linkedin_id}}`, `{{years_experience}}` | Address, LinkedIn, years of experience |
| `{{custom.<field>}}` | Any custom contact field you have defined — one chip per field |

Plain URLs you type into an email body become clickable links whose visible text is the URL itself; clicks on them are tracked when email tracking is on.

### Follow-ups (optional)

Add one or more follow-up messages that go out **after** a delay you set in days and hours, to contacts who have not responded. Each follow-up has its own subject and body (email) or message (SMS) and accepts the same tags. A follow-up is skipped for any contact who replied since the campaign started — see *What happens after launch*.

## Step 3 — Recipients

The step is headed **Recipients** — *Pick a list, upload a file, or paste emails.* Three tabs:

- **Pick existing** — choose a saved list. If you arrived from a list, it is already selected and its contact count is shown.
- **Upload** — click **Click to select a .csv, .xlsx, or .xls file**, optionally set a **List name**, and click **Create list**. The file becomes a new list.
- **Paste emails** — paste addresses separated by commas, spaces, or new lines (the count is detected as you type), optionally name the list, and click **Create list**.

Click **Next** once a list is selected.

![Illustration: step 3, the Pick existing tab with a list selected](/help/assets/orchestrations/send-campaign-recipients.svg)

<!-- SCREENSHOT: orchestrations/send-campaign-recipients.png — Step 3 with "Pick existing" tab and a list selected showing its count -->

## Step 4 — Schedule

Under **When should this campaign send?** pick one:

| Option | What it does |
|---|---|
| **Send now** | Queues the campaign as soon as you launch it |
| **Send once at a specific time** | Pick a **Date & time** in your **Timezone** |
| **Recurring** | **Daily**, **Weekly** (choose **Days of week**), or **Monthly** (choose **Day of month**) at a **Time of day** |
| **Metered** | Walk through the list at a fixed pace, with optional hour/day caps and send-window restrictions |
| **Manual only** | Save it now; fire it later from the orchestration page |

![Illustration: step 4, the five schedule options](/help/assets/orchestrations/send-campaign-schedule.svg)

<!-- SCREENSHOT: orchestrations/send-campaign-schedule.png — Step 4 with "Send once at a specific time" selected -->

Click **Next**.

## Step 5 — Review and Launch

The **Review** step lists everything in one place: **Campaign**, **Channel**, **Content** (*Static content with tags* or *AI agent writes each message*), **Sender**, **Unsubscribe link** (*Appended* / *Not appended*), **SMS length** (*Single segment* / *Multi-part allowed*), **Follow-ups**, **Recipients** with the contact count, and **Schedule**. Use **Back** to change anything.

1. Click **Create campaign**.
2. The page changes to **Campaign created (draft)**. Nothing has been sent yet.
3. Either click **Review in builder** to inspect the compiled orchestration, or click **Launch campaign**.
4. After launch you land on the campaign's dashboard with a green **Campaign launched.** banner and a link to the **Recipients** tab.

![Illustration: step 5, the Review table and the Create campaign button](/help/assets/orchestrations/send-campaign-review.svg)

<!-- SCREENSHOT: orchestrations/send-campaign-review.png — Step 5 Review table filled in, "Create campaign" button -->
![Illustration: the Campaign created (draft) screen with Review in builder and Launch campaign](/help/assets/orchestrations/send-campaign-created.svg)

<!-- SCREENSHOT: orchestrations/send-campaign-created.png — "Campaign created (draft)" screen with "Review in builder" and "Launch campaign" -->

## What Happens After Launch

- **Sends fire on the platform's scheduler tick.** Expect the first messages within a few minutes of the scheduled time, not the exact second. Large lists go out in batches across several ticks.
- **Consent is enforced per contact at send time.** Anyone who has opted out, and any address that has bounced, is skipped automatically and recorded as **Suppressed** on the Recipients tab with the reason. Consent does not travel with a list: a cohort built from a previous campaign drops opted-out contacts before the list is created, and the wizard tells you how many were excluded.
- **A contact who replies drops out of the follow-up sequence.** Any follow-up still pending for them is recorded as **Skipped** with the reason *Contact responded since this campaign started*.
- **SMS is rate-limited per sending number** so one campaign cannot get your number throttled by the carrier. The default pace is 0.8 messages per second per long-code number; a tenant admin can change it per number under **Settings → Channels → Phone Numbers → (edit a number) → Campaign SMS rate (msgs/sec, optional)**. Carrier rate-limit responses are retried later rather than counted as failures.
- **Every message is stored in full** and linked back to the campaign, so the contact's Activity Timeline, the [Sent Emails](/help/reports/overview) and Sent SMS reports, and the campaign's own Recipients tab all agree.

## Troubleshooting

**Next is disabled on the Content step.** Something required is missing: an email needs a subject, a body with text, and a sender; an SMS needs a message and a sending number. A multi-segment SMS also needs **Multi-part allowed** ticked, and a message that could exceed 1,600 characters must be shortened. Follow-ups need a delay greater than zero and their own content.

**"No lists yet. Try uploading or pasting."** Your workspace has no saved lists. Use the **Upload** or **Paste emails** tab, or import one first — see [Importing Data](/help/crm/importing).

**Most recipients show as Suppressed.** Check the reason in the row's **Detail** column. Opted-out and bounced contacts are skipped by design; if the whole list is suppressed, the list was probably built from contacts who unsubscribed from an earlier campaign.

**An SMS row shows Skipped with a segment reason.** The rendered message for that contact — after tags were filled — was longer than the campaign allows. Either enable multi-part or shorten the message and tag fallbacks.

## Next Steps

- [Reading Campaign Results](/help/orchestrations/campaign-results) — the Recipients tab, engagement states, and turning a cohort into the next campaign.
- [Lists](/help/crm/lists) — build and maintain the audiences you send to.
- [Building Workflows](/help/orchestrations/building-workflows) — when a campaign needs branching, waits, or other agents, edit the compiled orchestration in the builder.