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

# Campaigns

> Reaching out first — scheduled sends to a labelled audience, and triggers that fire on behaviour.

Everything else in Tied is reactive: a customer messages you and something happens. Campaigns are the other direction — you reach out first.

There are two kinds, and they are genuinely different tools rather than settings on the same thing.

## One-off and ongoing

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="One-off" icon="calendar-clock" href="/campaigns/one-off">
    A defined audience, a defined message, sent once at a time you choose. A product launch, a policy
    change, a seasonal promotion.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Ongoing" icon="repeat" href="/campaigns/ongoing">
    A trigger and a condition, running continuously. Fires for each person who meets the criteria, when
    they meet them.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

| | One-off | Ongoing |
| - | - | - |
| **Audience** | Contacts carrying one or more labels, resolved at send time | Whoever matches, whenever they match |
| **Timing** | You pick a moment | The customer's behaviour picks it |
| **Ends** | When it has sent | When you stop it |
| **State** | `active` → `completed` | Stays `active` |

The mental model: a one-off campaign is an event; an ongoing campaign is a standing instruction.

## Proactive outreach prevents tickets

A campaign that catches a problem before the customer notices — a failed payment before dunning, a delayed shipment before the "where is it?" message — prevents a ticket rather than closing one, and the customer never has a bad moment at all.

Ongoing campaigns are the main way that happens at scale.

## Consent is not a formality

<Warning>
  **Consent must be specific to what you are actually sending.** Someone who opted in to order updates
  has not opted in to marketing. On SMS this is a TCPA obligation; on WhatsApp, miscategorised sends
  damage the quality rating on your number, which throttles your messaging limits and can suspend it
  outright.
</Warning>

The practical rule: keep opt-in scoped to a category, and keep the record. If a complaint escalates you need to show when and how consent was given.

Channel-specific rules:

* **SMS** — TCPA and CTIA. STOP, HELP and opt-out handling are automatic, but the consent underneath them is yours. See [SMS and MMS](/channels/sms-mms).
* **WhatsApp** — outside the 24-hour service window you can only send an approved template, and category determines both approval bar and price. See [WhatsApp](/channels/whatsapp) and [Message templates](/channels/templates).
* **Email** — CAN-SPAM and GDPR where applicable.

## Cost

Campaigns are **outbound**, which means channel fees apply to every message and there is no inbound-is-free discount to lean on. A broadcast to 50,000 WhatsApp contacts is 50,000 chargeable template messages.

Two things materially reduce that:

<Steps>
  <Step title="Use utility categories where the content genuinely is utility">
    Utility templates are free inside WhatsApp's 24-hour service window; marketing templates never are.
  </Step>

  <Step title="Structure acquisition through Click-to-WhatsApp">
    It opens a 72-hour window in which everything is free. See
    [WhatsApp channel fees](/pricing/channel-fees/whatsapp).
  </Step>
</Steps>

Estimate the cost before you send. A campaign is the one place in Tied where you can spend a lot of money in a single action.

## In this section

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="One-off campaigns" icon="calendar-clock" href="/campaigns/one-off">
    Audience, message, scheduling and completion.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Ongoing campaigns" icon="repeat" href="/campaigns/ongoing">
    Triggers, conditions, and how they interact with live chat.
  </Card>

  <Card title="WhatsApp campaigns" icon="message-square-more" href="/campaigns/whatsapp">
    Template requirements, opt-in rules and per-message cost.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Labels" icon="tags" href="/inbox/labels">
    Campaign audiences are built from labels — this is how you apply them.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>

## Next

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="Message templates" icon="file-text" href="/channels/templates">
    What needs pre-approval, and how approval works.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Channel fees" icon="radio" href="/pricing/channel-fees">
    What outbound costs, per channel.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>


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