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

# Launch a campaign

> Add contacts, check everything, and start.

Before anything is sent, Kerux checks the campaign and the contacts (**Preflight**) and tells you when the first actions will happen (**Forecast**). Before you launch, open **Review** in the Builder to check that the campaign can actually get you replies and meetings ([Review your campaign](/help/campaigns/review.md)).

![Launching a campaign](https://mintcdn.com/kerux-f37add41/hxXnH5J2aAMkPLq4/images/launch.png?fit=max\&auto=format\&n=hxXnH5J2aAMkPLq4\&q=85\&s=b8d0d24e24a79440ab3ae7d667640932)

**1. Open the launch screen**

In the campaign's **Builder**, click **+ Add contacts** on the start box (the **Contacts** half), or click **Add contacts** at the top of the **Contacts** tab. The panel opens beside the campaign.

**2. Choose who enters**

* **From a list**: a list you imported or saved (lists a signal made for itself come in through that signal, the campaign's trigger)
* **From a segment**: everyone in a saved filter now. Tick **Also add people who match later** to keep adding new matches, once each (see [Smart segments](/help/leads/segments.md))
* **Pick contacts** one by one
* **Add contacts by hand**: paste a LinkedIn profile URL per row (name and company are optional)
* **All my contacts**: everyone not in this campaign yet
* **Upload a new file** (goes through the import, then comes back here)

A list, a segment, **All my contacts** or the people you tick are checked as soon as you pick them, with no button to press. Contacts who already went through the campaign show a **Went through** mark; the check counts them (**2 already went through**) and **Let them go again** turns on **Allow re-entry** for the campaign right there. With re-entry on, someone can go again once their last run ended and the minimum gap passed (**Too soon** says when). When you type contacts by hand, click **Continue** once you have entered them. Kerux then says how many will enter, for example **12 contacts will enter the campaign.**

**3. Read the Preflight**

It's a checklist, one line per check: a red cross blocks the launch, a gold mark is worth a look (the launch is still allowed), a green check means that part is ready (LinkedIn accounts, steps and messages, connections, sending days), and **Good to know** lines are just information. Lines with something to fix have a **Fix** button that takes you there, and a shortened line has an **(i)** with the full explanation (hover it on a computer, tap it on a phone). For example: a LinkedIn account needs to reconnect, an invitation note is longer than 300 characters, a variable is empty for some contacts, or a campaign with an email step while your postal address in **Settings > Sending rules** is empty (**Who sends is missing: a postal address**). A campaign with a **Send SMS** step shows **Text messages: coming soon**: text messages aren't available yet, so remove the step (contacts who reach it wait there, with nothing sent or charged, until texting opens). Warnings say, for example, how many contacts still need their consent for texts or WhatsApp confirmed: Kerux can't know who agreed, so click **They agreed** on that line to record it for the contacts you're adding, in one click (only if they really agreed; contacts without a phone or on your do-not-contact list are left out and the message says how many). If every contact your workspace adds agreed, an owner or admin can turn on **Contacts' consent** in **Settings > Sending rules** instead. Until it's recorded they wait at that step. Warnings also say how many are on your do-not-contact list (they won't be contacted). See [Sending rules and consent](/help/campaigns/sending-rules-and-consent.md). After fixing, click **Check again**.

**4. Check the Forecast**

A small timeline: the **First action** on the left, **Everyone reached** (every contact got a first touch) on the right, and how long it takes in between. Under it, one bar per LinkedIn account shows its share of the contacts on the same timeline; its **(i)** gives the exact first and last dates. It's an estimate from your accounts' limits, the campaign's schedule and time zones.

**5. Launch**

Click **Launch**. The campaign turns **Active** and contacts start at its first step. In a campaign that is already live, the button is **Add contacts**.

## Suggested for your business

When your [business profile](/help/account/business-profile.md) names competitors with their LinkedIn page, or your ideal
customer has roles, **Add contacts** starts with **Suggested for your business**:

* **People who react to your competitors' posts**: click **Watch posts** next to a competitor. Kerux watches its
  LinkedIn company page and adds the people who react or comment on its posts to this campaign. It reads with your
  first connected LinkedIn account, within that account's daily signal limit (up to 5 watches per account). A
  watched competitor says **Watching**. Without a connected account, the card links to **Connect accounts**.
* **People like your ideal customer**: **Find them** opens **Find people** with those roles already in the title
  filter. Each page of results is one search from your account.

Nothing is read on LinkedIn until you click.

## Test with one contact

Try a launched campaign on one contact before (or while) it runs for real. Use yourself or a colleague: add them as a contact first.

**1. Open the test**

In the campaign's **Builder**, click **Test** in the tools row above the canvas. Or click a step and pick **Test this step** or **Test from here** in the **Test and run** card of its panel. The **Test on one contact** window opens.

**2. Choose what to test**

* **The whole campaign**: the contact goes through every step from the start.
* **From a step to the end**: the contact starts at the step you pick.
* **Only one step**: the contact does that step and the test ends.

For the last two, pick the step in **Step**.

**3. Pick the contact and start**

In **Test contact**, search your contacts and pick one, then click **Start test**. Click **Open the contact** to follow it: every step it goes through is in the contact's history.

Two options, both on by default:

* **Rehearsal: don't send anything on LinkedIn, by email or on WhatsApp**: LinkedIn, email and WhatsApp steps are gone through and logged, but nothing is sent. Webhooks, integrations (for example Sendspark or Slack), tags and AI steps run for real, so you can check them. Turn it off to really send invitations, messages, emails and WhatsApp messages to the test contact.
* **Fast: a day of waiting becomes 24 minutes**: every wait is divided by 60. Turn it off to wait in real time.

Limits, working hours and safety rules still apply. A test uses the launched version: before the first launch the window says **Available once the campaign is launched**, and a step you added since the last launch shows **This step isn't in the launched version yet. Launch the changes first.** Starting a new test on the same contact replaces the previous one; a contact that is really in the campaign can't be used for a test. The **Test** buttons show only to people who can edit the campaign.

You can also start a test from the campaigns list (**...** menu, **Test with one contact**). That one always runs the whole campaign, fast, and really sends: there is no rehearsal, so use yourself or a colleague. Developers can start a test through the API (`POST /v1/workflows/{id}/test-runs`).

## Pause and resume

Use the **Active** switch at the top of the campaign. While it's off, nothing is sent; contacts keep their place.

A campaign that was never launched can also be turned on with this switch, without adding contacts: Kerux runs the same checks first and shows anything that blocks it. People found by its [automations](/help/campaigns/automations.md) while it was off wait under **Waiting for launch** in the **Contacts** tab and enter it now.

## Common problems

> [accordion] The forecast has no date
>
> A LinkedIn account has no working hours or budget left in the coming weeks. Check the campaign's sending schedule and the account's limits.

> [accordion] No new contacts to add
>
> Everyone you picked is already in this campaign. A contact is never added twice to the same campaign.


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