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

# Campaigns overview

> One-time email sends: newsletters, promotions, announcements, and product launches.

A campaign is a one-time email you send to a chosen audience — a newsletter, a sale announcement, a product launch. (For always-on emails that respond to customer behavior, see [Automations](/automations/overview).)

## Campaign lifecycle

Every campaign moves through a simple lifecycle:

1. **Draft** — you're still working on it. Nothing sends.
2. **Scheduled** — queued for a future date and time.
3. **Sending** — going out to your audience in batches.
4. **Sent** — done; analytics keep accumulating as people open and click.

You can **pause** a campaign mid-send and **resume** it later — useful if you spot a typo after hitting send.

## What you'll find on the Campaigns page

* A list of all your campaigns with status, audience size, and headline stats.
* **Create campaign** to start a new one from the template gallery.
* Click any sent campaign to open its [analytics](/campaigns/analytics) — opens, clicks, revenue, and the full recipient list.

## Guides in this section

<Columns cols={2}>
  <Card title="Create a campaign" icon="paper-plane" href="/campaigns/create-a-campaign">
    The full walkthrough — from template to send.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Email editor" icon="pen-ruler" href="/campaigns/email-editor">
    Design emails with drag-and-drop blocks, rich text, or raw HTML.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Personalization" icon="user-pen" href="/campaigns/personalization">
    Use merge tags to address every reader by name — and more.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Campaign analytics" icon="chart-line" href="/campaigns/analytics">
    Understand opens, clicks, bounces, and attributed revenue.
  </Card>
</Columns>

## A few principles that pay off

* **Send to segments, not your whole list.** Relevance drives opens; blanket sends drive unsubscribes. See [Segments](/audience/segments).
* **Always send a test email first.** Check it on your phone — most of your customers will read it there.
* **One clear call to action.** Emails with a single, obvious button outperform ones with five competing links.
* **Verify your domain before your first big send.** See [Sending domains](/email-setup/sending-domains).