# Email campaigns

> Create an email campaign for an audience, design it, send it now or schedule it, and find out why it reached fewer clients than you expected.

Source: https://heylilo.co/help/marketing/campaigns

A campaign is an email you send to a group of clients at once, like a seasonal offer or a newsletter. You choose who gets it with an [audience](https://heylilo.co/help/marketing/audiences), design the email, then send it right away or schedule it.

## Create a campaign

**Applies to:** Everyone except service providers

Every campaign goes to one audience. [Create an audience](https://heylilo.co/help/marketing/audiences) first if you don't have one yet.

1. Go to [**Marketing** → **Campaigns**](https://app.heylilo.co/dashboard/marketing/campaigns) and select **New Campaign**.
2. Enter a **Campaign Name**. Your clients don't see it.
3. Enter a **Subject Line**. Add **Preview Text** if you like. Inboxes show it after the subject.
4. Choose an **Audience**. Lilo shows how many clients are in it.
5. If you want a ready-made design, select **Start from blank** under **Template**. Choose a template, then select **Use Template**.
6. Select **Create Campaign**. The email editor opens.

## Design your email

**Applies to:** Everyone except service providers

1. Drag a layout, like **1 Column**, from the left side onto the email.
2. Drag content into it, like **Text**, **Image** or **Button**.
3. Select anything in the email to change it under **Properties**. **Design** sets the fonts and colors for the whole email.
4. To personalize it, place your cursor in some text and select a variable under **Variables**, like **First Name** or **Booking Link**. Lilo fills it in for each client.

Lilo saves as you go and shows **Saved** at the top. **Preview** shows the email on a computer and on a phone, filled in with a sample client.

A blank email starts with a footer that shows your business address and an **Unsubscribe** link. Keep it. It's how clients opt out of your marketing emails.

- **Settings** changes the subject line, preview text or audience. Select **Save Settings** when you're done.
- **Save as Template** saves the design so you can reuse it. Choose **Create New**, or **Overwrite** to replace one you saved before. It shows under **Your Templates** next time. To delete a saved template there, hover over it and select the trash icon.
- **Templates** swaps in a different design. It replaces everything in the email.

To start over with a blank email, create a new campaign. **Start from Blank** in **Templates** removes the footer too, and you can't add it back.

You can't edit campaigns on a phone. Use a computer or a tablet.

## Send or schedule a campaign

**Applies to:** Everyone except service providers

1. In the editor, select **Send**.
2. Check the number of **Recipients**. If some clients in the audience can't get marketing emails, Lilo says how many aren't opted in.
3. Under **When to send**, choose **Send immediately** or **Schedule for later**. To schedule, choose a **Date** and **Time**. Times are in your computer's time zone.
4. Select **Send Now** or **Schedule**.

Lilo starts sending within a few minutes. Until then, the campaign shows **Sending shortly**, or **Scheduled for** with the date and time.

If something's missing, like the subject line or the audience, Lilo lists it under **Cannot send campaign**. Fix it, then select **Send** again.

## Stop a scheduled campaign

**Applies to:** Everyone except service providers

On **Campaigns**, select **⋯** next to the campaign and choose **Cancel schedule**. You can also select **Cancel schedule** at the top of the editor. The campaign goes back to your drafts, so you can change it and send it again.

Once a campaign shows **Sending**, you can't stop it.

## Copy a campaign

**Applies to:** Everyone except service providers

On **Campaigns**, select **⋯** next to the campaign and choose **Duplicate**. Lilo makes a draft copy with "(Copy)" after the name and opens it. Use it to send a campaign again, or to start from one you liked.

## Delete a campaign

**Applies to:** Owners, admins and location managers

1. On **Campaigns**, select **⋯** next to the campaign and choose **Delete**.
2. Select **Delete** to confirm. You can't undo it.

You can't delete a campaign while it's sending.

## How it works

### Who gets a campaign

- Lilo works out who gets a campaign when it goes out, not when you schedule it. Clients who match the audience by then are included.
- Emails go to clients in the audience who have an email address and **Email marketing** turned on. You can turn it on in a client's **Edit Details** once they've agreed to hear from you (see [The client profile](https://heylilo.co/help/clients/client-profile)).
- Lilo skips clients who are blocked or archived, whose emails bounced, or who reported your emails as spam.
- When a client selects **Unsubscribe**, Lilo stops sending them marketing emails. They still get appointment confirmations and reminders.
- Campaigns belong to your whole business, not to one location. Everyone with **Campaigns** in their menu sees all of them.

**Applies to:** Lilo Pro

Booth renters in your business can't send campaigns. They can ask you for one instead (see [Campaign requests from booth renters](https://heylilo.co/help/marketing/campaign-requests)).

### Email credits

- Each email uses one email credit, from the same balance as your confirmations and reminders.
- Lilo checks your credits when the campaign goes out. If **Auto-Replenish** is on for email credits, Lilo tries a top-up first. If there still aren't enough for every recipient, it sends nothing and marks the campaign **No Credits**.
- To try again, get more credits, open the campaign and select **Send**. The account owner buys credits in **Settings** → **Credits** (see [Message and AI credits](https://heylilo.co/help/messages/credits)).

### Campaign statuses

| Status | What it means |
|---|---|
| **Draft** | Not sent yet. You can change it. |
| **Scheduled for** | Lilo sends it at the date and time shown. |
| **Sending shortly** | Lilo starts sending it within a few minutes. |
| **Sending** | Lilo is sending it now. |
| **Sent** | Lilo has finished sending it. |
| **No Credits** | Lilo didn't send it because there weren't enough email credits. You can send it again. |
| **Failed** | Lilo couldn't send it. Duplicate it to try again. |

## Common questions

### Why does my campaign say 0 recipients?

Nobody in the audience can get marketing emails yet. Recipients need an email address and **Email marketing** turned on. The **Send Campaign** box shows how many clients in the audience aren't opted in.

### Why did fewer clients get my campaign than my audience shows?

Usually it's one of these:

- Some clients in the audience don't have an email address or **Email marketing** turned on.
- Lilo skipped blocked or archived clients, emails that bounced, and clients who reported your emails as spam.
- The audience's count is from when it was last saved (see [Audiences](https://heylilo.co/help/marketing/audiences)).

### Why didn't my campaign go out?

- It shows **No Credits**. There weren't enough email credits when it was due (see **Email credits** above).
- It's still **Scheduled for** a later time.
- Messages to your clients are paused while you move from another platform. The account owner sees **Client messages are paused until you go live.** at the top of Lilo. Until then, nothing reaches your clients, even when a campaign shows **Sent**. See [Switch to Lilo](https://heylilo.co/help/getting-started/switch-to-lilo).

### Can I send a test email to myself?

No. Select **Preview** to check the email with a sample client's details.

### Can I change a campaign after it's sent?

No. Once a campaign is sending or sent, you can't change it. Select **Duplicate** to make a copy you can edit. A scheduled campaign can't be changed either until you cancel its schedule.

### Why can't I find an older campaign?

**Campaigns** shows the 20 campaigns you changed or sent most recently. Older ones don't show, on the web or in the Lilo app.

### Can I see who opened my email?

No. Lilo doesn't show who opened or clicked a campaign. **Campaigns** shows how many recipients each one had.

### Can I make campaigns in the Lilo app?

No. In the app, tap **More**, then **Campaigns** to see your campaigns and their status. You create and send them on the web.