# What are campaigns? — Reachlee Docs

> Send a DM sequence to the contacts you choose, and let their replies decide what each person gets next.

# What are campaigns?

Send a DM sequence to the contacts you choose, and let their replies decide what each person gets next.

A **campaign** is a sequence of DMs you send to a group of your contacts. You choose who gets it, build the messages on a canvas, then send it now or schedule it. Each person moves through the sequence on their own: a question waits for their answer, a link waits for their click, and each answer can lead to a different next message.

![The campaign editor: audience on the left, the sequence on the canvas](/_next/static/media/editor-overview.0llx8bk_6ma9f.webp)

## [Campaigns and automations](#campaigns-and-automations)Copy Anchor Link

Both send DMs from your connected account. The difference is who starts.

|             | Automations                                           | Campaigns                                                                  |
| ----------- | ----------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| Starts when | Someone comments, sends a keyword, replies to a story | You click **Send campaign**, or at the time you schedule                   |
| Who gets it | Whoever triggers it, one person at a time             | The audience you pick: all contacts, folders or segments                   |
| Runs        | Always on, until you pause it                         | Once, then stays open for latecomers if you choose                         |
| Typical use | Send a link to everyone who comments "GUIDE"          | Tell your existing contacts about a launch, collect emails, ask a question |

Use an automation to respond. Use a campaign to reach out to people who already know you.

## [What you can do with a campaign](#what-you-can-do-with-a-campaign)Copy Anchor Link

* **Announce something.** A launch, a new product, a drop or an event, with a tracked link and a reminder for people who didn't click.
* **Collect emails or phone numbers.** Ask in the DM; Reachlee checks the reply and saves it to the contact.
* **Ask a question.** Quick-reply answers branch the conversation and every answer is saved.
* **Grow your following.** Ask people who don't follow you yet, and check they did.
* **Sort your audience.** File people into folders based on what they answer.
* **Let Reachlee AI write it.** A personal message for each person, written from your knowledge base, then AI replies from there.

## [The 24-hour rule](#the-24-hour-rule)Copy Anchor Link

Meta lets a business DM someone only within **24 hours of that person's last message to you**. Every tool on Meta's official API follows this. For a campaign, it means:

* **Active** contacts, who messaged you in the last 24 hours, get the campaign as soon as you send it.
* **Inactive** contacts get it the moment they next message you, as long as the campaign is still open. This is what **Keep it open** controls.
* **Pending** contacts, who never sent you a DM, can't be messaged by a campaign at all.
* **Opted out** contacts are never messaged.

The send dialog tells you how many people get it right away before you confirm. See [Contact statuses](/docs/contacts/#contact-statuses).

Growing the reachable audience

Comment-to-DM automations, story replies and keyword DMs start conversations. Every conversation makes that person Active for 24 hours and reachable by later campaigns while the campaign is open. A campaign works best on an account that already runs automations.

## [How a campaign works, start to finish](#how-a-campaign-works-start-to-finish)Copy Anchor Link

### [Create it](#create-it)Copy Anchor Link

Start from a template or a blank canvas. The name is optional. [Create a campaign](/docs/campaigns/create/)

### [Choose the audience and rules](#choose-the-audience-and-rules)Copy Anchor Link

All contacts, specific folders or segments, or people you picked on the Contacts page. Exclude anyone you don't want to reach. [Audience and rules](/docs/campaigns/audience/)

### [Build the sequence](#build-the-sequence)Copy Anchor Link

Add steps such as messages, questions, links, waits and folders, and connect them into branches. [Every step explained](/docs/campaigns/steps/)

### [Preview, test and send](#preview-test-and-send)Copy Anchor Link

Walk through it in the phone preview, send a test to yourself, then send now or schedule it. [Test, send and schedule](/docs/campaigns/send/)

### [Read the results](#read-the-results)Copy Anchor Link

See who was reached, who replied and clicked, every answer, and file the people who replied into a folder. [Results](/docs/campaigns/results/)

## [Channels](#channels)Copy Anchor Link

Campaigns send from whichever connected account is selected at the top of the sidebar: an Instagram professional account or a Facebook Page. Each campaign belongs to one account. The **Ask for a follow** step only applies on Instagram; on a Facebook Page everyone continues as if they follow.

## [Plans](#plans)Copy Anchor Link

Every plan can create campaigns, build any sequence, preview it and send tests. A few steps and settings need a paid plan when you send.

| Feature                                                                         | Free | Pro | Growth | Business |
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---- | --- | ------ | -------- |
| Messages, questions, links, email capture, media, waits, folders                | ✓    | ✓   | ✓      | ✓        |
| Send now                                                                        | ✓    | ✓   | ✓      | ✓        |
| Schedule a send                                                                 |      | ✓   | ✓      | ✓        |
| Keep it open for people who message later                                       |      | ✓   | ✓      | ✓        |
| Contact filter, A/B split, Ask for a follow, Email me                           |      | ✓   | ✓      | ✓        |
| Export answers as CSV                                                           |      | ✓   | ✓      | ✓        |
| AI message, AI condition, Hand over to Reachlee AI, understanding typed replies |      |     | ✓      | ✓        |
| Add to Google Sheet                                                             |      |     |        | ✓        |

Steps your plan doesn't include show a small plan badge. You can still add, edit and test them; the upgrade prompt appears when you send. Campaign DMs count toward your plan's monthly DM limit.

[SegmentsSaved filters that always show who matches right now, with examples, every filter explained, and how to use them in campaigns.](/docs/contacts/segments/)[Create a campaignStart a campaign from a template or a blank canvas, and find your way around the editor.](/docs/campaigns/create/)

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Source: https://www.reachlee.co/docs/campaigns