Understanding Campaigns

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What is a Campaign?

• Email Sequences: Multiple follow-up emails with automated timing
• Lead List: Your target prospects with custom fields for personalization
• Email Accounts: Rotating sender accounts for better deliverability
• Schedule: When and how often to send emails
• Tracking: Open, click, and reply monitoring
• Settings: Advanced options for delivery and behavior

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Campaign Lifecycle

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Campaign Status

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Key Features

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Multi-Sequence Campaigns

Day 0:  Initial outreach
Day 3:  First follow-up
Day 7:  Second follow-up
Day 14: Final follow-up

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Personalization Variables

• {{first_name}} - Lead’s first name
• {{last_name}} - Lead’s last name
• {{company_name}} - Company name
• {{job_title}} - Custom field: job title
• Any custom field you define

Hi {{first_name}},

I noticed {{company_name}} is in the {{industry}} space...

Best,
Your Name

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Account Rotation

• Distribute sending load
• Improve deliverability
• Build sender reputation
• Avoid ESP limits

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AI ESP Matching

• Lead’s email provider
• Account deliverability scores
• Sending patterns
• Historical performance

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Campaign Settings Explained

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Track Settings

• Email Opens: Track when leads open your emails
• Link Clicks: Track when leads click links
• Privacy Mode: Disable tracking for privacy-focused outreach

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Scheduler Settings

{
  "timezone": "America/New_York",
  "days": [1,2,3,4,5], // Monday-Friday
  "start_hour": "09:00",
  "end_hour": "17:00"
}

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Sending Limits

• Max Leads Per Day: Daily sending cap
• Min Time Between Emails: Delay between consecutive sends
• Follow-up Percentage: What % of leads get follow-ups

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Stop Lead Settings

• REPLY_TO_AN_EMAIL: Stop on any reply
• OPENED_EMAIL: Stop after opens
• CLICKED_LINK: Stop after link click
• NEVER: Complete full sequence

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Best Practices

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Campaign Structure

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Email Sequence Design

1. First Email (Day 0)
   • Keep it short and value-focused
   • Clear call-to-action
   • Personalize with custom fields
2. Follow-up 1 (Day 3-5)
   • Reference previous email
   • Add additional value
   • Different angle/benefit
3. Follow-up 2 (Day 7-10)
   • Case study or social proof
   • Address potential objections
   • Softer CTA
4. Final Follow-up (Day 14-21)
   • Permission-based (“Should I stop emailing?”)
   • Last chance offer
   • Easy opt-out

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Deliverability Tips

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Campaign Analytics

• Open Rate: % of leads who opened your email
• Click Rate: % of leads who clicked links
• Reply Rate: % of leads who replied (most important)
• Bounce Rate: % of undeliverable emails
• Unsubscribe Rate: % who opted out

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Good Benchmarks

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Common Campaign Types

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1. Basic Cold Outreach

• 3-4 email sequence
• General value proposition
• Broad targeting

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2. Warm Introduction

• 2-3 email sequence
• Reference to mutual connection
• Relationship-based

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3. Content/Value First

• Lead with free resource
• Educational approach
• Longer sequence (5-7 emails)

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4. Event Invitation

• Short sequence (1-2 emails)
• Time-sensitive
• Clear event details

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API Integration Examples

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Create and Launch Campaign

import requests

API_KEY = "YOUR_API_KEY"
BASE_URL = "https://server.smartlead.ai/api/v1"

# 1. Create campaign
campaign_response = requests.post(
    f"{BASE_URL}/campaigns/new",
    params={"api_key": API_KEY},
    json={"name": "Q1 2024 Outreach"}
)
campaign_id = campaign_response.json()['campaign']['id']

# 2. Add sequences
sequences_response = requests.post(
    f"{BASE_URL}/campaigns/{campaign_id}/sequences",
    params={"api_key": API_KEY},
    json={
        "sequences": [
            {
                "seq_number": 1,
                "subject": "Quick question",
                "email_body": "Hi {{first_name}},...",
                "seq_delay_details": {"delay_in_days": 0}
            }
        ]
    }
)

# 3. Add email accounts
accounts_response = requests.post(
    f"{BASE_URL}/campaigns/{campaign_id}/email-accounts",
    params={"api_key": API_KEY},
    json={"email_account_ids": [456, 457]}
)

# 4. Add leads
leads_response = requests.post(
    f"{BASE_URL}/campaigns/{campaign_id}/leads",
    params={"api_key": API_KEY},
    json={
        "lead_list": [
            {
                "email": "prospect@example.com",
                "first_name": "John",
                "company_name": "Acme Corp"
            }
        ]
    }
)

# 5. Start campaign
start_response = requests.patch(
    f"{BASE_URL}/campaigns/{campaign_id}/status",
    params={"api_key": API_KEY},
    json={"status": "ACTIVE"}
)

print(f"Campaign {campaign_id} is now ACTIVE!")

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Troubleshooting

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Campaign Not Sending

1. Campaign status is ACTIVE
2. At least one email account connected
3. Leads are in STARTED or INPROGRESS status
4. Schedule allows sending at current time
5. Email accounts have remaining daily quota

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Low Reply Rates

1. Improve subject lines
2. Shorten email copy
3. Better personalization
4. Clear call-to-action
5. Check deliverability (opens/spam)

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High Bounce Rate

1. Verify emails before adding
2. Remove invalid emails
3. Check email account configuration
4. Review sending patterns
5. Warm up accounts properly

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Related Resources

• Create Campaign API
• Add Leads API
• Campaign Settings API
• Campaign Analytics