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

# Send a campaign

> Use the Send campaign wizard to choose the audience, UTM tracking, data feeds, an optional A/B test and when the campaign goes out.

The campaign page decides **what** is sent: the emails, the sender and the subject. The **Send campaign** wizard decides **who** gets it and **when**. Before you open the wizard, complete the campaign's checklist (see [Create a campaign](/guides/audience-and-campaigns/create-campaign)).

The wizard has five steps: **Audience**, **Tracking**, **Data feeds**, **A/B test** and **Review & send**. Use **Next** and **Previous** to move between them.

## 1. Audience

A campaign can go to any number of lists and segments at once. A contact who is on more than one of them gets the email once.

The step has two sides. On the left, the explorer shows your lists and segments on two tabs, **Lists** and **Segments**, in the same folders as on the Lists and Segments pages. Type in the search box to find one by name or folder. On the right are three areas:

| Area                           | Who it affects                                                                                         |
| ------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Target audience**            | Everyone on any list here, and everyone in any segment here. At least one list or segment is required. |
| **Only if also in** (optional) | Keeps only the targeted contacts who are also in at least one of these segments. Segments only.        |
| **Exclude** (optional)         | Leaves out anyone on these lists or in these segments, even if the target audience includes them.      |

To add a list or segment to **Target audience**, drag it across or click **+** next to it. Double-clicking it works too. For the other two areas, drag it into the area or pick it from the dropdown underneath. Click **✕** on an entry to remove it.

A list or segment can't be in **Target audience** and **Exclude** at the same time. The wizard refuses the second one and tells you where it already is.

Anyone with an entry on an excluded list is left out, whatever their status on that list. So excluding a "Do not email" list also covers people who have since unsubscribed from it.

The wizard shows a live count of **sendable contacts**: the people the send will actually go to. Under it you'll see how many contacts were in more than one of your choices and get one email, and how many your exclusions left out. Bounced, complained and pending contacts are always left out, and so are unsubscribed contacts unless the send policy is transactional. Contacts whose email address isn't valid are left out as well, because the send skips them. Contacts whose subscription to a targeted list isn't active are left out too.

Segments are checked against their rules at the moment you count and at the moment the campaign is sent, so you don't need to recompute them first.

The wizard starts with the audience from the campaign's last send, including its exclusions.

<Note>
  If an excluded list or segment is deleted before a scheduled send goes out, that send reaches nobody. This is deliberate, so the people you meant to leave out aren't emailed. Open the send wizard again and choose the exclusions again.
</Note>

<Tip>
  Build your lists and segments first. See [Lists](/guides/audience-and-campaigns/lists) and [Segments](/guides/audience-and-campaigns/segments).
</Tip>

## 2. Tracking

Switch on **Append UTM parameters** to add `utm_source`, `utm_medium` and `utm_campaign` to every tracked link in this send. Web analytics tools can then attribute the traffic to this campaign.

* `utm_source` defaults to your workspace website's domain, or to `instantcampaign` if no website is set.
* `utm_medium` defaults to `email`.
* `utm_campaign` defaults to a slug of the campaign name.

If **Automatic UTM tagging** is on for your workspace, this switch starts on. The values you enter here apply to this send only. See [Campaign safety](/guides/audience-and-campaigns/campaign-safety#automatic-utm-tagging).

## 3. Data feeds

Data feeds let the email pull live content from your own URL when it's sent:

* **Global data feed**: fetched once. Every recipient can use it as `global_feed`.
* **Per-recipient data feed**: fetched for each recipient before their email is sent. The URL can use Liquid, for example `{{ contact.email }}`. Under **If the feed fails**, choose **Skip the recipient** or **Send with an empty recipient\_feed**.

If you turn a feed on, click **Preview with a sample contact** and get a successful preview before you can continue. Skip this step to send without feeds.

## 4. A/B test

Switch on **Enable A/B test** to test up to five variations of the subject line, sender name or content against each other. The best one is then sent to the rest of the audience. See [A/B testing and scheduling](/guides/audience-and-campaigns/ab-testing-and-scheduling).

## 5. Review & send

Choose when the campaign goes out:

* **Schedule for later**: pick a date and time.
* **Send at each contact's local time**: send at the same local hour in every time zone.
* **Send-time optimisation**: send to each contact at the hour they usually open.

The summary shows the **From**, **Policy**, **Subject**, **Audience**, **UTM**, **Data feeds**, **Content** and **When** lines. The sender and policy are read-only here. To change them, close the wizard and edit **Sender & Subject** on the campaign page.

Click **Send now**, **Schedule** or **Start A/B test** to finish.

## Follow a send

Each send appears under **Send History** on the campaign page, with:

* its status: `QUEUED`, `SENDING`, `SENT`, `PAUSED`, `CANCELLED` or `FAILED`
* the targeted lists and segments joined with **+**, a **∩ segment** chip for each **Only if also in** segment, and a **− name** chip for each exclusion
* the A/B variation label (**Variation A · winner** for the winning send) and any template override
* the UTM values used
* sent, failed and skipped counts

While a send is queued or sending, you can **Pause** or **Cancel** it. See [Campaign safety](/guides/audience-and-campaigns/campaign-safety).

## Troubleshooting

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="The send is refused with &#x22;No subject line&#x22;">
    The email has no subject. Set one under **Sender & Subject** on the campaign and send again. A send that was already scheduled fails with the same reason if its subject is cleared before it goes out; nothing is sent with a placeholder subject.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Some contacts didn't receive the email">
    When a send has failed or skipped recipients, open **Why didn't everyone receive this?** on the send row. It shows the reason for each recipient, such as a suppressed address or a provider rejection.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="The send says it will not start or is running late">
    A warning above the history means the background send worker hasn't run recently. Queued sends aren't lost, and nothing goes out until the worker runs again. If it doesn't clear, contact support.
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Blocked by deliverability checks">
    Your sending domain failed a pre-send check, for example it's on a blocklist or its DNS records have changed. See [Campaign safety](/guides/audience-and-campaigns/campaign-safety#pre-send-deliverability-checks).
  </Accordion>

  <Accordion title="Not enough emails left this month">
    If the audience is bigger than your remaining monthly email allowance, the send is refused and you're offered an upgrade. Campaign and automation emails share the same allowance.
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

<Note>
  You can also send campaigns from your own systems. See the [API reference](/api-reference/introduction).
</Note>