TL;DR
Create a new campaign in lemlist to start reaching out to leads via email, LinkedIn, or calls. You can create it manually, or start from templates. Once your sequence is ready, import leads and launch. The whole setup usually takes 5–10 minutes.
Who Should Use This
New users setting up their first outreach campaign
Teams launching a new prospecting initiative
Anyone ready to import leads and start sending sequences
Users switching from other cold email tools to lemlist
Why This Matters
Campaigns are the foundation of your outreach. Without a campaign, you cannot send emails, track engagement, or manage leads. Setting up your first campaign correctly ensures:
Your leads receive personalized, multi-step sequences
You can track opens, clicks, and replies in one place
You can scale outreach without manual follow‑ups
This guide walks you through the fastest way to get started, so you can launch in minutes.
Key Concept: Campaign Structure
Every lemlist campaign has three core sections you will see at the top of the page:
Sequence
Build your workflow with steps such as emails, LinkedIn messages, calls, tasks, and delays.
Add conditions to create logic (for example, “if lead clicks, send Step 5”).
Access campaign Settings to control schedules, tracking, senders, sharing, and CRM integrations.
Lead list
Import your leads stored in your Contact section.
Import leads via CSV, CRM, LinkedIn, Signals, manual entry, existing campaign, API or Zapier
Launch
Preview how the sequence will run for each lead.
Confirm sending schedules, stop conditions, and other launch settings.
Start sending the campaign once everything looks good.
Think of it like this: Sequence = what you say, Lead list = who you say it to, Launch = when you say it.
Step‑by‑Step: How to Create a Campaign
Step 1: Start creating a campaign
Start a new campaign from the Campaigns section.
From the left‑hand menu, click Campaigns to open your campaigns list.
On the Campaigns page, click the Create campaign button in the top‑right corner.
After clicking Create campaign, you land on the Sequence tab of your new campaign.
Step 2: Choose how you want to build the campaign
On the Sequence tab, choose how you want to create your campaign.
Create manually
Add steps (emails, LinkedIn, calls, WhatsApp, manual tasks, delays) and leads manually.
Write outbound messages using
#for personalisation.{{variables}}Create complex, condition‑based sequences with full control over timing and logic.
Best when you want full control over every detail.
Start with templates
Choose from ready‑made sequences for cold outreach, re‑engagement, event invites, and more.
Start from a proven structure designed around specific goals and channels.
Customise steps, delays, and messaging after you load a template.
Best when you want a solid starting point that you can quickly adapt.
You can also duplicate an existing campaign from the Campaigns page by using the actions menu (…) next to a campaign. This is useful when running similar campaigns.
Step 3: Name your campaign
At the top left of the page, enter a descriptive name for your campaign.
Naming best practices:
Use names that describe the goal or audience, such as “SaaS Cold Outreach – Q1 2025” or “Re‑engagement – Inactive Leads”
Avoid vague names like “Campaign 1” or “Test”
Step 4: Build and configure your sequence
If you chose Create manually or Start with templates, you can now edit your sequence and configure how the campaign behaves.
Add and edit steps
Choose your first step from the manual builder, then edit that step in the right-side panel.
You can add email, LinkedIn, call, WhatsApp, API call, or manual task steps.
Edit the content of each step so it fits your audience and goal.
Add a follow‑up step
Click the + button under an existing step.
Select the type of follow‑up you want to add (Email, LinkedIn, Call, WhatsApp, Task, etc.).
Then write your follow‑up message or task instructions.
Edit wait times between steps
Click the pencil icon on a wait step.
Change the number of days before the next step is sent.
Select senders for each step
Click the step you want to edit, then use the Sender for email steps dropdown in the right-side panel to choose the sender for that step.
What “Force a specific sender for this step” means
Enable Force a specific sender for this step if that step must always be sent from the selected sender.
This is useful when you need strict continuity, for example making sure a specific person always sends a particular message.
Configure campaign settings
You can adjust campaign settings at any time to control automation, sender behaviour, schedules, sharing, unsubscribes, and CRM options.
Click the Settings (gear) icon at the top of the campaign to open the Settings panel.
Inside the Settings panel, you’ll find the main sections such as GAutomation, Tracking, Senders, Schedules & launch, CRM integration and General settings.
Automation
When people click on a link: choose whether to Create a new task and define the Campaign progress behaviour.
When people reply: choose whether to Create a new task and define the Campaign progress behaviour.
Also pause contacts from the same company: when enabled, leads from the same company will also stop or pause according to your reply automation.
When people reply, use AI to:
Score the reply based on the tone
Manage Out-Of-Office replies automatically
Mark lead as interested
Mark lead as not interested
When people book a meeting: set the Campaign progress behaviour and choose whether to Also pause contacts from the same company.
Senders
Sender configuration: define how senders are assigned across your campaign.
Dynamically match sender with ownership: when available, lemlist can align the sender with lead ownership.
Matching email service provider: use provider-based sender matching to improve sending consistency.
Deliverability boost: Email provider matchmaker lets lemlist match your recipient’s email provider and send from the same one (if you’ve set it up) for better inbox placement and to minimize spam risks.
General
Add tags (Optional): add tags to better organize your campaigns.
Share your campaign: create a sharable link so only people with the link can view your campaign steps and duplicate them in their account.
Activate the campaign’s sharable link to enable sharing.
Unsubscribe contact: select the system behavior when the contact clicks on the unsubscribe link.
Delete campaign: permanently remove the campaign from lemlist.
Tracking
Enable or disable reply tracking.
Enable or disable open tracking.
Enable or disable link click tracking.
Schedules & launch
Set which days and times emails can be sent.
Set the minute delay between sending the first step to different leads.
Avoid weekends or off‑hours if you want higher open rates.
CRM integration
Connect your CRM to sync campaign activity (HubSpot, Pipedrive, Salesforce).
Step 5: Import your leads
Next, import leads to the campaign from the Lead list tab.
Open your campaign and go to the Lead list tab at the top of the page.
Click Import new leads in the middle of the screen (or when you already have contacts in your campaign, open the Actions dropdown and select Import new leads).
When you click Import new leads, a toolbar appears at the top of the page with multiple import options. Use these to import leads into lemlist:
People database – lemlist's database with over 450m people to search and import targeted leads. To refine searches, use filters like "not already in a campaign." Select leads and click "Push [X] leads to campaign" to integrate them.
CSV import – Upload a CSV file with lead data exported from a spreadsheet or other tool.
LinkedIn import – Add people directly from LinkedIn using the lemlist browser extension.
CRM import – Sync contacts from your CRM (for example, HubSpot, Salesforce, or Pipedrive).
Signals import – Import leads based on buying signals and intent detected by lemlist.
Manual import – Create new contacts one by one inside lemlist.
Advanced imports – Import leads from an existing campaign or via Zapier or API.
Step 6: Review and launch
When your sequence and Lead list are ready, go to the Launch tab.
Here you can:
See how many leads are ready to launch
Preview the sequence for each lead
Confirm the sending schedule and conditions
When everything looks correct, click Launch for X leads.
A launch recap window appears with key details such as:
Number of leads that will be contacted
Time between each lead
Conditions that stop the campaign for a lead (for example, when they reply)
Sending schedule (days and times)
Click Launch campaign for X leads to confirm and start sending.
How You’ll Know It Worked
Your campaign appears in the Campaigns list with status “In Progress”.
Leads show status like “In progress” in the campaign’s Lead list.
You see scheduled sends and activity in your Outreach queue or campaign statistics.
First emails start sending according to your schedule and lemlist sending algorithm (check campaign stats for “Sent” messages).
If you do not see these, go back and verify you completed the launch step and that leads were added to the campaign.
Troubleshooting
Issue: Can’t find the “Create campaign” button
Root cause: You may be on the wrong page or not have the right permissions.
Fix:
Open the Campaigns page from the left‑hand menu and check the top‑right corner.
If you are on a team account, confirm with your admin that you can create campaigns.
Refresh the page or log out and back in if the button still does not appear.
Issue: Campaign created but no leads imported
Root cause: You skipped the import step or the import failed.
Fix:
Go to your campaign, lead section, and check that your leads are imported.
If not, click one of the import options (CSV, CRM, LinkedIn, etc.) and re‑import.
Add the imported leads to your campaign’s Lead list.
Verify your CSV format follows lemlist requirements.
Import leads from a CSV
Issue: Campaign will not launch
Root cause: Leads aren't in "Reviewed" status, required data is missing, or the email sender is misconfigured.
Fix:
Go to campaign’s Lead list and check lead status.
If leads show "To Launch," click Launch to move them to "Launched"
Ensure each lead has mandatory fields such as email and first name.
Double-check the DNS setup and the email configuration of the sender.
If you see error messages in the Launch recap, follow the suggestions shown there.
Issue: Created with AI but want to change the sequence
Root cause: You want to customise the AI‑generated content.
Fix:
AI campaigns are not editable. You can't change or delete steps
Make sure to create a manual campaign in case you want to customise it.
Video Tutorial
Need extra help? Watch our video guide to see how to create a campaign step by step.
