Learning Objective
By the end of this guide, you'll understand what the Launch Stage is, why it's critical for campaign quality, and how to use it to preview, personalize, and finalize your campaign before sending.
Why This Matters
Launching a campaign without reviewing it leads to avoidable mistakes: typos, broken variables, missing images, or irrelevant messaging. Without the Launch Stage:
❌ You send emails with errors that hurt credibility
❌ You can't personalize messages for high-value leads
❌ You miss the chance to catch mistakes before they reach prospects
Using the Launch Stage helps you:
✅ Preview exactly what each lead will receive
✅ Add last-minute personalization for specific leads
✅ Catch errors before sending (typos, broken variables, wrong images)
✅ Ensure your campaign is professional and ready to send
Prerequisites
You have a campaign with leads imported and sequence steps configured
Variables and Liquid syntax are used in your sequence (optional, but common and recommended)
Understanding of your campaign sequence (steps, delays, messaging)
What Is the Launch Stage?
The Launch Stage is the final review step before your campaign goes live. It's where you:
Preview what each lead will receive at every step
Make lead-specific edits (personalize for VIPs or high-value prospects)
Verify everything is set up correctly (variables, images, links, CTAs)
Key rule: 📬 1 lead launched = campaign goes live for that lead.
Once you launch a lead, they enter the sequence and start receiving emails.
Step 1: Access the Launch Stage
Go to Campaigns, then open the campaign you want to review
Click Launch in the campaign navigation
You'll see a list of leads ready to launch.
Step 2: Preview Your Campaign
Why Preview?
Previewing shows you exactly what each lead will receive at every step in the sequence. This is your last chance to catch mistakes.
How to Preview
In the Launch section, select a lead
Click through each step in the sequence
Review:
Subject lines
Email body content
Variables (are they replaced correctly?
#{{firstName}}→ "Jack")Images (loading correctly?)
Links (working and tracked?)
CTAs (clear and compelling?)
When you click a lead on the left, the preview updates on the right so you can review exactly what that lead will receive
Step 3: Add Lead-Specific Personalization
Why Personalize in the Launch Stage?
For high-value prospects (e.g., C-level executives, enterprise accounts), you can add extra personalization that goes beyond variables.
How to Personalize
In the Launch section, select a lead
Go to the step you want to edit, then click Personalize
Make changes:
Add a custom sentence (e.g., "I saw you recently posted about X on LinkedIn...")
Update or remove an image
Edit the CTA (e.g., change "Book a call" to "Let's chat at 3 PM EST")
Save
Example personalization:
Original: "Hi #{{firstName}}, I help sales teams..."
Personalized: "Hi Jack, I saw your recent post about scaling your SDR team. Here's how we helped a similar company..."
Step 4: Handle Variables and Liquid Syntax in Drafts
What Happens to Variables in Drafts?
If your sequence uses variables like #{{firstName}} or Liquid syntax (e.g., {% "now" | date: "%H:%M:%S" %}), the review draft freezes the dynamic content.
Example:
#{{firstName}}becomes "Jack" (frozen){% "now" | date: "%H:%M:%S" %}becomes "12:05:35" (frozen)
Problem: Variables Get Converted
⚠️ If you create a draft, close it, and reopen it, all variables are converted again. You'll need to redo the work of replacing text with variables.
Three Draft Options
1. Draft without using variables in draft
Create a draft without variables. Use static text for preview only. Variables remain in the actual sequence.
2. Draft with variables
Reinsert variables manually during the review process (e.g., replace "Jack" with #{{firstName}}). This keeps the sequence dynamic.
3. Without draft
Skip the draft and launch directly. Use this if your variables are already tested and working correctly.
Best Practice
To keep dynamic content:
Reinsert variables (e.g.,
#{{firstName}}) during the review process if you need to save a draftTest variables before launching (send a test email to yourself)
Step 5: Launch Leads
Once you've previewed and personalized:
Select the leads you want to launch
Click Launch to start sending for the selected leads
The campaign goes live for those leads. Emails start sending based on your schedule and lemlist sending algorithm.
⚠️ Remember: Once launched, the lead enters the sequence.
What Happens After Launch
Changes to the Sequence
⚠️ Changes made to the sequence after launch apply only to leads who haven't reached that step yet.
Example:
You launch 50 leads
Lead A is on Step 2
You edit Step 3
Lead A will receive the updated Step 3
Leads who already passed Step 3 won't see the change
To make sequence-wide edits: Go to the Sequence section (not Launch).
To edit lead details: Go to the Lead list section.
How You'll Know It Worked
✓ Preview shows correct content (variables replaced, images loaded, links working)
✓ Lead-specific edits saved for high-value prospects
✓ Variables display correctly in test emails
✓ Leads launched and start receiving emails based on your schedule
✓ No errors or typos in sent emails
Troubleshooting
Issue: Variables not replaced in preview
Fix: Variables are replaced during actual sending. Send a test email to yourself to verify they work correctly.
Issue: Changes don't appear after editing in Launch Stage
Fix: Changes in the Launch Stage apply only to that specific lead. To change the sequence for all leads, edit in the Sequence section.
Issue: Draft variables keep converting to static text
Fix: Don't reopen drafts. Finalize edits in one session, or manually reinsert variables each time you reopen.
Issue: Lead already launched but needs changes
Fix: You can't undo a launch. Pause the lead, make changes, and resume. Or let the sequence continue and adjust future steps.
Optimization Tips
Preview at least 3 leads: Check different leads to ensure variables work for everyone (not just one example).
Personalize VIP leads: Use the Launch Stage to add custom sentences for high-value prospects. it dramatically increases reply rates.
Test variables before launching: Send test emails to yourself to verify #{{firstName}}, #{{companyName}}, and Liquid syntax works correctly.
Use drafts sparingly: If using variables, finalize edits in one session to avoid repeatedly reinserting variables.
Launch in small batches: Launch 10–20 leads first, monitor results, then launch the rest. This lets you catch issues early.
Check links and CTAs: Click every link in the preview to ensure they're tracked and lead to the correct pages.