> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.lettr.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Creating a Campaign

> Start a campaign from scratch, a template, or a duplicate, then move through the four-step builder that saves progress as you edit

The campaign builder is a guided, four-step wizard that takes you from an empty campaign to ready-to-send. This page covers each step at a high level. Deeper details about the content editor, audience picker, and scheduling controls live on their own pages.

## Starting a New Campaign

There are three ways to start a campaign:

| Starting point                     | When to use it                                                                                         |
| ---------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **From scratch**                   | A new email idea that isn't based on anything you've sent before                                       |
| **From a template**                | You've already designed an email in your template library and want to reuse it                         |
| **Duplicate an existing campaign** | You want to send a follow-up, a similar promotion, or a recurring update without rebuilding the layout |

### From Scratch

Click **New campaign** on the **Campaigns** page. You'll see a prompt asking what the campaign is about. You can fill in a short description — this becomes a starting point for the campaign name and, if you fill it in, lets Lettr's AI generate a suggested subject line and pull sender defaults from a similar campaign you've sent before. You can skip the prompt and fill in everything by hand if you prefer.

<Card title="Try it in the app" icon="wand-magic-sparkles" href="https://app.lettr.com/campaigns?guide=eyJ2IjoxLCJzdGVwcyI6W3siYW5jaG9yIjoiY2FtcGFpZ25zLmNyZWF0ZSIsIm1lc3NhZ2UiOiJDbGljayBOZXcgY2FtcGFpZ24gdG8gc3RhcnQuIEFkZCBhIHNob3J0IGRlc2NyaXB0aW9uIGFuZCBMZXR0ciBjYW4gc3VnZ2VzdCBhIHN1YmplY3QgbGluZSBhbmQgc2VuZGVyIGRlZmF1bHRzLCBvciBmaWxsIGl0IGluIGJ5IGhhbmQuIn1dLCJkb2NzIjoiaHR0cHM6Ly9kb2NzLmxldHRyLmNvbS9sZWFybi9jYW1wYWlnbnMvY3JlYXRpbmctYS1jYW1wYWlnbiJ9">
  Follow an interactive walkthrough of this guide inside Lettr.
</Card>

### From a Template

You can also link the campaign to an existing [template](/learn/templates/introduction) from the **Compose** step (see below). Linked campaigns inherit the template's HTML and stay in sync with it while they're in Draft — see [Content & Design](/learn/campaigns/content-and-design#linking-a-template) for details.

### Duplicate

From the **Campaigns** list, choose **Duplicate** on any campaign. A new Draft is created with the same subject, sender, content, and audience configuration. Modify whatever you need and send it as a new campaign — the original is unaffected.

You can also duplicate multiple campaigns at once from the bulk action bar on the Campaigns page.

## The Four-Step Builder

Once you've created a campaign, you land in the builder. It's organized as four steps you can move through in order, but you're free to jump back and forth — Lettr saves your progress automatically as you edit.

### Step 1 — Compose

The Compose step is where you set the email itself:

* **Subject line** — what recipients see in their inbox. Lettr offers an AI spam check that highlights words and patterns that might trigger spam filters.
* **From address** — choose the local part (the bit before the `@`) and pick which of your verified [sending domains](/learn/domains/sending-domains) to send from.
* **From name** — the display name recipients see (for example, "Acme Newsletter" instead of just the email address).
* **Reply-to** — optional. An address recipients reach if they hit "Reply".
* **Content** — the body of the email. You can use the [visual editor](/learn/campaigns/content-and-design#visual-editor), the [HTML editor](/learn/campaigns/content-and-design#raw-html-editor), or link to a [template](/learn/campaigns/content-and-design#linking-a-template).

See [Content & Design](/learn/campaigns/content-and-design) for the full editor experience.

### Step 2 — Audience

The Audience step is where you choose who receives the campaign. You have three options:

* **All contacts** — every subscribed contact in your audience
* **Lists** — one or more [audience lists](/learn/audience/lists)
* **Segments** — one or more [segments](/learn/audience/segments)

The builder shows you an estimated recipient count next to each option as you pick. The estimate filters down to only `subscribed` contacts and deduplicates across overlapping lists or segments.

See [Audience Selection](/learn/campaigns/audience-selection) for how multiple selections combine and which contacts are filtered out.

### Step 3 — Schedule

Decide when the campaign goes out:

* **Send now** — the campaign begins delivering as soon as you confirm
* **Schedule** — pick a future date and time. Until that moment, the campaign is in `Scheduled` status and you can unschedule it back to Draft at any point

See [Sending & Scheduling](/learn/campaigns/sending-and-scheduling) for timezone behavior and the full schedule mechanics.

### Step 4 — Review

The Review step shows a summary of everything you've set up: subject, sender, audience size, schedule, and a preview of the email. From here you can:

* **Send a test email** to yourself or a colleague to check rendering and merge tags
* **Go back** to any prior step to make adjustments
* **Send** (or **Schedule**) to commit the campaign

<Tip>
  Always send a test email before launching. Even when you've used a template you trust, a typo in the subject or a broken merge tag in the body is much easier to catch from your own inbox than from your support queue afterwards.
</Tip>

## Saving Progress

Edits in the builder save automatically as you make them. You can close the page and come back later — the campaign stays in `Draft` status until you explicitly send or schedule it.

## Deleting a Draft

If you decide not to send a campaign, you can delete it from the Campaigns list. Deleting is only allowed for `Draft` and `Failed` campaigns — once a campaign has been scheduled, prepared, or sent, deletion is disabled (you can unschedule a Scheduled campaign back to Draft if you want to delete it).

## Test Emails

The **Send test email** button in the builder sends a single copy of the current campaign to one or more recipients you specify. Tests are sent as transactional emails — tracking is disabled on test sends — and they're rate-limited to prevent accidental flooding.

Test emails are a good way to:

* Check how the campaign renders in different mail clients
* Verify that merge tags resolve correctly (test emails use whatever recipient you specify, so unique-to-recipient merge tags will look different in a real send)
* Run the campaign past stakeholders for approval before launch

<Note>
  If your campaign HTML doesn't include `{{unsubscribe_link}}`, the Review step shows a warning above the **Send test email** button. Lettr appends a default unsubscribe footer to both the test and the real send so your campaign stays compliant. See [The Unsubscribe Link](/learn/campaigns/content-and-design#the-unsubscribe-link) for how to customize it, and [The Web-version Link](/learn/campaigns/content-and-design#the-web-version-link) for the optional in-browser version.
</Note>

## Next Steps

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Content & Design" icon="paintbrush" href="/learn/campaigns/content-and-design">
    Build the email body and personalize with merge tags
  </Card>

  <Card title="Audience Selection" icon="bullseye" href="/learn/campaigns/audience-selection">
    Pick who receives the campaign
  </Card>

  <Card title="Sending & Scheduling" icon="paper-plane" href="/learn/campaigns/sending-and-scheduling">
    Send now or schedule for later
  </Card>
</CardGroup>