Create a Campaign
Walk through Owlat's three-step campaign wizard: Setup, Content, and Review & Send.
A campaign is a one-time or scheduled email send to a single topic or segment. Whether you're announcing a product launch, sharing a newsletter, or running a promotion, the campaign wizard walks you through three steps in a fixed order: Setup → Content → Review. A/B testing is an optional expander inside the Setup step, so a simple campaign never has to see it.
Prerequisites
Before you create a campaign, make sure you have the following in place:
- A verified sending domain in Settings > Domains (your From Email must use it, or sending is blocked)
- At least one topic with subscribers, or a saved segment to target
- Optionally, an existing marketing email template — or let the wizard create a new one for you
A campaign always targets exactly one audience: one topic or one segment. There is no "all subscribers" option and no way to combine audiences. To reach a broader group, build a segment first.
Step-by-Step
Start a new campaign
Open Campaigns in the dashboard sidebar and click New Campaign in the top-right corner. This opens the three-step wizard.
Setup
The wizard opens on the Setup step, which combines the sender details and the audience on one screen.
Fill in the sender details:
| Field | Required | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign Name | Yes | An internal reference only — recipients never see it (e.g., "Summer Newsletter 2026"). |
| From Name | Yes | The name recipients see in their inbox (e.g., "John from Acme Inc"). |
| From Email | Yes | The address the campaign sends from. Its domain must be verified. |
| Reply-to Email | No | Where replies go. Leave empty to use the From Email. |
As you type the From Email, Owlat checks the domain's verification status. If the domain isn't registered or verified, you'll see a warning — you can keep editing, but sending is disabled until the domain is verified in Settings > Domains.
Then choose exactly one audience:
- Specific Topic — send to contacts subscribed to a topic. Contacts with no email address, who have unsubscribed or been suppressed, or who haven't completed double opt-in are automatically excluded.
- Saved Segment — send to all contacts matching a saved segment's criteria.
Owlat shows an estimated eligible recipients count for your selection. For a topic, it also tells you how many contacts are excluded and why.
A segment targets all matching contacts regardless of topic subscription, and some may not have completed double opt-in. Because there's no specific topic to leave, segment sends omit the in-body unsubscribe footer link — but a List-Unsubscribe header is still added, so mail clients can offer one-click unsubscribe (which removes the contact across all topics). Prefer a topic audience when you need full opt-in and in-body unsubscribe handling.
Add an A/B test (optional). At the bottom of the Setup step, a quiet Add an A/B test link opens an inline configurator. Leave it closed to send a single version; open it to split-test your campaign:
| Setting | Options |
|---|---|
| Test type | Subject line (same content, different subjects) or Email content (two different templates). |
| Split percentage | 10–50% — each variant goes to that share of the audience; the winner is sent to the rest. |
| Winner criteria | Best open rate, best click rate, or manual selection. |
| Test duration | 1–24 hours before the winner is auto-selected (not shown when you pick manual selection). |
Variant A's subject line and template are the ones you set on the Content step, so you can add the test now and finish the email next.
Content
Pick the email this campaign sends, then set its subject:
- Use Existing Marketing Email — choose from your saved marketing templates (search by name or subject). The template is linked to the campaign; your original template is referenced, not copied.
- Create New Marketing Email Template — give it a name and Owlat creates a fresh draft marketing template, linked to this campaign, when you continue.
Then enter the Email Subject (required). Only marketing-type templates appear in this step — transactional templates are not listed.
You can edit the linked email's content after the campaign is created. The detailed visual design happens in the email editor, not in this wizard.
Review & Send
The final step summarizes everything — Campaign Name, From info, Audience, Email Content, and any A/B test setup. Each section has a pencil icon to jump back and edit.
Send a test first. Use Send Test Email to deliver a real copy of the campaign to one of your own team members' addresses before sending for real.
Then choose when to send:
- Send Now — delivery starts immediately to all eligible recipients.
- Schedule for Later — pick a date and time. Optionally enable Send at recipient's local time to deliver at the chosen clock time in each contact's timezone (contacts without a timezone get it at your selected time).
If the From Email's domain isn't verified, the send button is disabled and the reason is shown. Once you confirm, Owlat queues or schedules the campaign and returns you to the Campaigns list.
Send a test email
On the Review step, click Send Test and enter the address. Owlat sends a real, fully rendered copy of the campaign email — the same engine used for the live send — so you can check links, images, and personalization in your own inbox.
For security, test emails can only be sent to addresses belonging to your organization's own team members — not arbitrary external addresses. Test sends are also rate-limited per user.
Always send yourself a test before the real send. The campaign wizard has no in-app rendering preview; the test email is how you confirm how it looks. Detailed visual editing happens in the email editor.
Tips for better campaigns
- Personalize the subject — variables like
{{firstName}}in the Email Subject can lift open rates. - Keep subjects short — under ~50 characters reads better on mobile.
- A/B test deliberately — start with subject-line tests; they're the easiest to interpret.
- Segment for relevance — sending targeted content to a focused group beats blasting everyone.
Next Steps
- A/B Testing -- learn how to split-test subject lines and content
- Deliverability -- make sure your emails land in the inbox
- Send & Monitor a Campaign -- send your campaign and track results