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Quickstart

This guide walks you through creating and running your first Outreach campaign from start to finish. It covers the standard flow for both SMS and Email campaigns.

Before You Begin​

Make sure the following items are ready before you start:

  • Your organisation has Outreach access enabled (Org Admin must request access first)
  • At least one delivery channel is configured:
  • A CSV file containing your recipient data
  • Your message content planned, including any required compliance text
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Need more help getting these items set up? Take a look at the Getting Started guide for detailed prerequisites and setup instructions.

1. Create a New Campaign​

  1. Navigate to Outreach → Campaigns in the sidebar.
  2. Click Create Campaign.
  3. The campaign wizard opens on the Overview step.

2. Set Up Campaign Basics​

On the first step of the wizard:

  1. Enter a Campaign Name. Choose something descriptive (e.g. "March Payment Reminders").
  2. Enter an optional Description.
  3. Select a Delivery Channel:
    • SMS: for text message campaigns
    • Email: for email campaigns
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The delivery channel cannot be changed after the campaign is created.

3. Upload and Map Contacts​

On the Add Contacts step:

  1. Upload a CSV file containing your recipient data.
    • Maximum 300,000 rows and 50 MB file size.
    • Only .csv files are accepted.
  2. Before upload begins, you must confirm that you have obtained explicit consent from recipients for communication.
  3. Once uploaded, map your CSV columns:
    • Select exactly one column as the Destination (phone number for SMS, email address for Email).
    • Optionally select other columns as Custom Variables for personalisation.
    • Columns you do not need can be set to Do not import.
  4. Review the contact summary:
    • Total contacts: number of valid rows that will be imported
    • Invalid contacts: rows with missing or invalid recipient values that will be skipped

For SMS campaigns, destination phone numbers must be in E.164 format.

4. Build Your Template​

SMS​

On the Message Template step:

  1. Write your message content in the text editor.
  2. Insert variables from the toolbar. These are the custom fields you mapped from your CSV.
  3. Use the Quick Insert menu to add compliant text such as opt-out instructions (e.g. "Reply STOP to opt out").
  4. Preview your message in the phone preview panel. Enter example values for variables to see how they render.

Email​

On the Template step:

  1. Choose your editor experience:

    • Design Editor: block-based layout builder (add blocks by hovering and clicking)
    • Code Editor: HTML editor with syntax highlighting and live preview

    Not sure which to pick? See Choosing an Email Editor.

  2. Build your email content using the editor.

  3. Configure Sender Settings in the Sender tab:

    • From Email: select from your verified sender emails
    • Reply-to Email: select from your verified sender emails
    • Subject: enter your email subject line (supports variables)

  4. Add an unsubscribe link. This is required to finish the campaign.

  5. Optionally add attachments (up to 20 MB total) in the Attachments tab.

  6. Use the Test Data tab to enter example variable values and preview how they appear.

  7. Optionally send a test email to up to 10 recipients to verify everything looks correct.

5. Finish and Save​

When you click Finish in the campaign wizard:

  • SMS campaigns save immediately.
  • Email campaigns run a checklist of required items:
    • Sender email is set (required)
    • Reply-to email is set (required)
    • Unsubscribe link is present (required)
    • Subject is set (optional, shows warning if missing)
    • Test email has been sent (optional, shows warning if not done)

If all required checks pass, the campaign is saved with a status of Ready.

6. Run the Campaign​

  1. From the Campaigns list, find your campaign and open the action menu.
  2. Select Run.
  3. In the Run Campaign modal:
    • Review the campaign summary, including expected message count and template preview.
    • Read and accept the disclaimer confirming you are responsible for lawful use of recipient data.
    • Click Run Campaign.
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You cannot run two active campaigns of the same channel type at the same time. If another SMS campaign is currently running, you must wait for it to complete (or stop it) before starting a new one. An SMS and an Email campaign can run simultaneously.

7. Monitor and Export​

Once a campaign is running:

  1. Open the campaign to view the Messages page.
  2. The stats panel at the top shows real-time counts of messages by status (e.g. Queued, Sending, Delivered, Failed).
  3. Use filters and search to find specific messages or filter by status/failure reason.
  4. Retry failed messages individually or in bulk (when filtering by failed messages only).
  5. Export campaign or message data to CSV for reporting or audit purposes.

See Monitoring and Messages for detailed guidance on statuses, retries, and exports.

Next Steps​