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Running a Campaign

Running a campaign begins the message sending process. This page covers the run rules, the disclaimer, what happens during execution, and how to stop a running campaign.

Prerequisites​

Before a campaign can be run:

  • The campaign must be in a Ready status.
  • No other campaign of the same channel type can currently be running. An SMS and Email campaign can run simultaneously, but two SMS or two Email campaigns cannot.

How to Run a Campaign​

  1. Navigate to Outreach → Campaigns.
  2. Find the campaign you want to run.
  3. Open the action menu (⋮) and select Run, or click Run from within the campaign view.
  4. The Run Campaign modal opens.

Run Campaign Modal​

The modal displays:

  • Campaign summary: name, channel type, and number of messages that will be sent
  • Template preview: a preview of the message content
    • SMS: phone preview with message text
    • Email: email preview with subject, sender info, and attachment list
  • Disclaimer: a terms and conditions agreement you must accept before proceeding

Accepting the Disclaimer​

You must read and accept the run disclaimer before the campaign can start. The disclaimer confirms that:

  • You have obtained appropriate consent from all recipients
  • Your message content is lawful and appropriate for the intended audience
  • Required opt-out or unsubscribe mechanisms are included
  • You are not attempting to message contacts who have already opted out

For more detail on the disclaimer, see Terms and Conditions.

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If you do not accept the disclaimer, the campaign will not run and no messages will be sent.

Starting the Run​

After accepting the disclaimer, click Run Campaign. The campaign status changes to In Progress and messages begin sending.

What Happens During a Run​

SMS​

  1. Messages are queued and sent in batches.
  2. Each message moves through status transitions: Queued → Sending → Sent → Delivered (or Failed / Opted Out).
  3. Message statuses update in near real-time as delivery progresses.
  4. Messages in the "Sent" state for more than 10 minutes are automatically updated to Assumed Delivered (not all carriers report final delivery).
  5. Messages in the "Sending" state for more than 10 minutes are updated to Failed with a reason of "Timed Out".

Email​

  1. Messages are queued and sent in batches.
  2. Each message moves through status transitions: Queued → Sending → Delivered (or Failed / Opted Out / Retrying).
  3. Message statuses update in near real-time as delivery progresses.
  4. Messages that are deferred by the receiving server enter a Retrying state until delivery succeeds or permanently fails.

Failure Handling​

  • Messages that fail due to pre-send errors (e.g. errors before the message reaches the delivery provider) are automatically retried up to 3 times before being marked as Failed.
  • Messages that fail due to post-send errors (e.g. undeliverable, bounced) are marked as Failed with a specific failure reason.
  • SMS messages sent to recipients who have opted out are automatically detected and marked as Opted Out.

Stopping a Campaign​

If you need to stop a campaign that is currently in progress:

  1. Open the campaign or find it in the campaigns list.
  2. Click Stop in the action menu.
  3. Confirm the stop action in the modal.

When a campaign is stopped:

  • Only messages in the Queued state are removed from the sending queue.
  • Messages that are already Sending or have been Sent are not affected; they continue their normal lifecycle.
  • The campaign status reflects the final state of all messages.
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Stopping a campaign does not recall messages that have already been sent. Only unsent (queued) messages are cancelled.

Next Steps​