TL;DR
Open Campaigns from the left sidebar and click Create Campaign.
Complete 4 steps: Campaign Details → Create Sequence → Campaign Setup → Review & Publish.
Select connected inboxes before launching.
Campaigns start sending on your selected start date.
Why this matters
The Campaigns tab is where you build and launch cold email campaigns.
Your sending behavior, scheduling, follow-ups, and inbox allocation are all controlled here.
Before you start: open Campaigns
Go to next.listkit.io
Click Campaigns in the left sidebar
Click the blue Create Campaign button
You’ll enter the 4-step campaign creation flow.
Step 1 of 4: Campaign name & lead import
1. Name your campaign
Enter a clear, descriptive name.
Examples:
US SaaS – February Outreach
Real Estate – Series A Funded
This helps you organize and track performance later.
2. Import leads
You must import leads before continuing.
You have two options:
Option A: Upload CSV
Use this if your leads are external.
Click Download CSV Sample
Match your file format exactly
Click Upload CSV
Select your file
Confirm upload
Option B: Import from Order History (Recommended)
Use this if you purchased leads through ListKit.
Click Import from Order History
Select the order
Click Select
Click Import Leads
Before confirming, you can choose:
✔ Import leads even if they are in the global blacklist
✔ Import leads even if they are unsubscribed
Leave both boxes unchecked unless you have a specific reason. Contacting people who unsubscribed creates compliance risk.
After import, leads will appear on screen.
Click Next (bottom right).
Step 2 of 4: Create your email sequence
This is where you build your outreach flow.
Option 1: Generate your sequence with AI (recommended)
Instead of writing your emails from scratch, use the AI Script Writer to generate a full 3-step sequence with A/B variants automatically.
Click Generate with AI · 100 credits at the top of the sequence builder.
Fill in the panel (what you sell, who you sell to, a case study and your call to action) and click Generate sequence. You get a 3-step sequence: 4 variants of the first email and 2 variants of each follow-up. Each generation costs 100 credits. Full guide: How do I use the AI Script Writer to write my cold email sequence?
Option 2: Write your sequence manually
On the panel:
Add your Subject line
Write your Email body
Insert Variables (First Name, Company Name, etc.)
You can also vary your wording with spintax, for example {Hi|Hey|Hello}. See How do I use spintax in ListKit?
You don't need to add a signature to your sequence. Each email goes out with the signature of the inbox it is sent from, added at send time, even though the preview doesn't show it. See How do I update my email signature in Email Engine?
Add personalization variables
Click the Variable dropdown
Select a variable (e.g., First Name)
It inserts automatically into your email
Add variants (A/B testing)
You can add a variant to test:
Different subject lines
Different messaging angles
Variants appear next to the first variant.
Add follow-ups
Click Add follow-up below your email
A follow-up will be created (default: 3 days delay)
To change timing:
Click “3 days”
Adjust delay in the panel
You can:
Add multiple follow-ups
Add variants to follow-ups
Customize timing for each step
Once finished, click Next: Set up campaign (Bottom right).
Step 3 of 4: Campaign setup
This controls how your campaign sends.
1. Lead list selection
You’ll see your Campaign, and the selected lead list.
To change it:
Click Manage (returns to Step 1)
2. Select email accounts
Choose which inboxes will send this campaign.
3. Schedule settings
Configure when emails are sent.
You can adjust:
Time Zone
Campaign Start Date
Sending Days
Sending days: Monday to Friday. Make sure Saturday and Sunday are turned off.
Sending Hours
Recommended: 9 AM to 5 PM in your prospects' time zone
Minutes Between Emails
Example: Every 20 minutes
Maximum New Leads Per Day (Per Campaign)
These settings control campaign pacing and deliverability.
4. Sending priority (Follow-ups vs new leads)
Set how sending capacity is split.
Example:
70% New Leads
30% Follow-Ups
This ensures fresh outreach while maintaining follow-up consistency.
5. Auto-pause for same domain
Recommended: on. Check that the toggle is turned on before you publish.
Enable this to automatically pause sending when:
Someone from the same company domain replies
This prevents over-emailing one company.
6. AI lead categorization
Enable AI to categorize replies as:
Interested
Meeting Booked
Not Interested
Out of Office
Unsubscribed
Bounced
Uncategorized
These are the labels you see in Master Inbox.
Additional AI options
You can choose to:
Exclude Out-of-Office replies from reply rate calculation
Re-engage Out of Office leads after a set number of days
These settings help maintain accurate reporting and reply rates.
After configuring everything:
Click Next: Review & Publish
Step 4 of 4: Review & launch
This is your final summary screen.
You’ll see:
Campaign summary
Campaign name
Total leads
Credit usage
Email sequence
Subjects
Follow-up timing
Variants
Sending settings
Selected inboxes
Daily limits
Start date
Schedule configuration
Publish your campaign
If everything looks correct:
Click Publish Campaign (top right).
Your campaign will begin sending on the selected start date.
Expected outcome
You should now see your campaign listed in the Campaigns tab.
It will:
Begin sending automatically
Follow your schedule
Respect inbox limits
Track replies
Final pre-launch checklist
Before publishing:
✅ Confirm inbox selection
✅ Review sending limits
✅ Check follow-up timing
✅ Verify start date
✅ Inboxes are ready: pre-warmed inboxes can be used right away and ramp up automatically from 1 to 25 emails a day over 7 days. New branded domains need to finish their warmup first (14 days of warmup, plus up to 72 hours to register domains and start warmup, about 2 to 3 weeks from signup).
Troubleshooting / FAQs
Can I add more leads to a campaign that is already running?
Yes. Pause the campaign, add the new leads without removing your existing list, and republish. The campaign resumes automatically. Step-by-step: How do I add more leads to an existing campaign?
Why can’t I select inboxes?
Your inboxes must be connected and listed on the Inboxes page. Bundle inboxes appear there automatically after setup. To add your own, see How do I connect my own inboxes to Email Engine?
Why isn’t my campaign sending?
Check start date, schedule, and daily sending limits.
Can I edit a campaign after publishing?
Yes, but changes may affect sending timing.
Click the campaign name, or choose Edit from the row menu, to reopen the 4-step editor. The row menu also has Pause, Stop, Duplicate and Delete. Pause stops sending right away and you can resume at any time while your subscription is active. Stop is permanent: the campaign can't be resumed and becomes read-only. See What do all campaign settings mean in Email Engine?
Should I remove weekends?
Recommended for B2B outreach to improve reply rates.
Related: