Campaigns
Build target lists, write email templates, and send email campaigns with follow-ups.
Campaigns send marketing email to people on your target lists. Open Campaigns in the sidebar. It has four pages: All Campaigns, Templates, Targets, and Target Lists.
The usual order is: add targets, group them into a target list, write a template, then create a campaign for that list.
With the user role you see only the campaigns, templates, targets, and target lists you created. Managers and admins see everyone's.
Targets
A target is a person or company you want to reach. Targets are separate from CRM contacts until you convert them.
To add a target, open Targets and click + New Target. Fill in the fields you know (name, email, phone, company, position, websites, social profiles, city, country, and so on) and save.
To import targets from a file:
On Targets, click Import CSV / Excel and then Select file. Use a .csv or .xlsx file.
Map your file's columns to target fields. AI pre-fills suggestions; change any mapping or set it to skip. Click Next.
Check the preview and start the import. Each row needs at least a last name or a company. Rows without either are skipped and listed in the result.
To export targets, click Export and choose Export CSV or Export Excel. If you selected rows, only those are exported. Otherwise the export contains the rows that match your current filter.
Target detail
Click a target to open it. From there you can:
- Enrich with AI: start a background search that fills in missing details. See Enriching targets.
- Convert to deal: create a company account, a contact, and an opportunity from the target, then open the new opportunity. Converting the same target again reuses the records already created.
- Add Contact: add a person at the target's company (name, email, phone, LinkedIn URL).
Enriching targets
Enrichment looks up public information about a target on the web and fills in empty fields. It never overwrites data you already entered. A target needs an email or a company name before it can be enriched.
- One target: open it and click Enrich with AI. The job runs in the background.
- Several targets: select rows in the Targets table and click Enrich N targets. Pick the fields to fill and start. You can enrich up to 100 targets at once.
To follow progress, open /campaigns/targets/enrichment (the Target Enrichment Jobs page). It lists each job with its status, fields, start time, and who started it. Click Retry on a job that failed.
Enrichment needs an AI provider key. If no key is set for your organization, add your own under Profile → LLMs or ask an admin.
Target lists
A target list is the audience for a campaign.
- Open Target Lists and click + New List.
- Enter a Name and an optional Description, then click Create.
- Open the list and click + Add Target. Search by name, email, or company, tick the targets, and click Add Selected.
To take a target off a list, click the trash icon next to it. You can also export a list's targets with Export.
Templates
A template holds the subject line and body of an email so you can reuse it.
To create a template, open Templates and click + New Template. Enter a Template Name, an optional Description, and a Subject Line, then write the body under Email Body. Switch to Preview to see the rendered email. Click Save Template.
To draft the body with AI, describe the email under Generate with AI and click Generate. This uses an OpenAI key; if none is available, add one under Profile → LLMs.
You can personalise subject and body with merge tags. NextCRM replaces them with each recipient's data:
| Tag | Replaced with |
|---|---|
{{first_name}} | First name |
{{last_name}} | Last name |
{{email}} | |
{{company}} | Company |
{{position}} | Position |
Create a campaign
Open All Campaigns and click + New Campaign. The wizard has four steps.
Details. Enter a Campaign Name (required), and optionally a Description, From Name, and Reply-to Email.
Template. Either Generate with AI from a short description, or Choose Existing to pick a saved template. Check the Subject Line and Email Content.
Audience. Select one or more target lists. The step shows how many targets each list holds.
Schedule. Under When to send, pick Send now or Schedule for later and set the date and time. Optionally click + Add follow-up to add more emails (see below). Click Submit Campaign.
Only managers and admins can send or schedule a campaign. If you have the user role, ask a manager to send it for you.
Follow-up steps
Each follow-up has:
- Delay (days after previous): how long to wait after the previous email.
- Send to: All recipients or Non-openers only.
- Template and Subject for the follow-up email.
Follow-ups go only to recipients whose first email was sent and who have not unsubscribed.
Unsubscribes
Every campaign email contains an unsubscribe link. A target who unsubscribes is never emailed again by any campaign. If you import the same email address later, it stays unsubscribed.
Track a campaign
The All Campaigns table shows each campaign's status (draft, scheduled, sending, sent, paused), scheduled time, recipient count, and template. Filter by name or status.
Click a campaign to see:
- Totals for Sent, Delivered, Open Rate, Click Rate, and Bounced.
- Campaign Steps: each email in the sequence with its own sent and opened counts.
- Recipients: everyone the campaign was sent to. Search by name or email and filter by status.
To stop a scheduled or sending campaign, click Pause on its detail page.
To delete a campaign, open the row menu in All Campaigns and choose Delete.
For totals across all campaigns, see Reports.