> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://herd-security.gitbook.io/herd-security-docs/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://herd-security.gitbook.io/herd-security-docs/simulations/phishing-simulations/create-campaign.md).

# Create Campaign

Create and manage phishing campaigns to schedule, target, and track simulations across your organization.

## Overview of Campaigns Creation

Campaigns allow you to launch and manage phishing simulations across your organization, giving you full control over timing, audience, and delivery. Whether you want to run a one-time phishing test, schedule recurring simulations, or target specific groups, campaigns make it easy to organize and track your simulations at scale.

Campaigns are ideal when you need to:

* Deliver **organization-wide phishing tests** on a scheduled basis.
* Run **targeted campaigns** for specific teams, roles, or departments.
* Track results over time to **measure improvements in awareness and response**.

## Exploring the Campaigns List

**Step 1: Open the Campaigns tab**\
Open **Simulations**; the email **Campaigns** tab is the default view. It lists every phishing campaign in one table.

**Step 2: Review Campaign Details**\
The list shows one row per campaign with the following columns:

* **Campaign**: the name, whether it is **Ongoing** (a rolling schedule) or **One time** (a single send), and any tags on the campaign.
* **Status**: the campaign's current state (see below).
* **Audience**: how many people are in the campaign.
* **Templates**: how many templates are in its pool (or the template name for a single-template campaign).
* **When**: the one date that matters for its state, for example **Scheduled for**, **Sending since** (with "day 1 of 3" for a spread send), **Sent**, **Next send**, **Paused**, **Ended**, or **Draft · edited**.
* **Clicked** and **Reported**: the campaign's click and report rates.

Click **Campaign**, **Status**, or **When** to sort. Click anywhere on a row to open the campaign.

A row of **status chips** under the filters shows how many campaigns are in each state and filters the list with one click: **All**, **Draft**, **Scheduled**, **Sending**, **Ongoing**, **Paused**, **Blocked**, and **Sent** (plus **Ended** and **Cancelled** whenever a campaign is in that state).

* **Draft**: created but not yet launched.
* **Scheduled**: set to send at a future date and time.
* **Sending**: actively handing messages off for delivery.
* **Sent**: all messages have been sent.
* **Ongoing** / **Paused**: for rolling campaigns, whether the schedule is currently running.
* **Blocked**: a template in the pool is awaiting review, so sending is held until a reviewer approves it.
* **Ended**: an ongoing campaign that reached its end date.
* **Cancelled**: the campaign was stopped before completion.

**Step 3: Filter and search**\
Use the **Search campaigns** box, or click **Filters** to narrow by type (**All**, **One time**, **Ongoing**), by template, or by tag. **Clear filters** resets everything. Your filters and sort are remembered per organization.

## Building a New Campaign

**Step 1:** On the **Campaigns** tab, click **New campaign** in the section header. A dialog opens over the list.

**Step 2: Name the campaign**\
Enter a clear, descriptive **Name**.

**Step 3: Choose where the templates come from**\
Pick one of three sources:

* **Pick from library**: tick the exact templates this campaign rotates through. The picker offers the same search and filters as the template library (collection, source, difficulty, tags), and a live count shows how many you have selected.
* **Everything in a collection**: choose one of your collections. Every usable template in it becomes the pool. The pool is built from the collection when the campaign is created; later edits to the collection don't move the campaign until you re-sync it (see below).
* **Everything with a tag**: select one or more tag chips. Every usable template carrying any of those tags (your own and Herd's catalog templates) becomes the pool.

A campaign can hold up to 20 templates. When more than one is in the pool, each send draws a template from the pool, so every person in an ongoing campaign receives a different lure over time.

**Step 4: Pick the type**\
**One time** sends once, now or at a time you schedule. **Ongoing** keeps sending on a cadence you set on the campaign page.

**Step 5:** Click **Create**. The campaign is saved as a **Draft** and its page opens. Everything else (audience, schedule, delivery options) lives on the campaign page.

***

## The Campaign Page

The campaign page has an editable title and description, a tag editor, a status pill, and a summary line (templates, people, type and cadence, the date that matters, and when it was created). Below that are three tabs:

* **Templates**: the campaign's template pool.
* **Audience**: who receives it and how it is delivered.
* **Results**: per-person outcomes, available once the campaign has started sending. See [Campaign Results](/herd-security-docs/simulations/phishing-simulations/campaign-results.md).

The actions on the breadcrumb row depend on the campaign's state. Across the lifecycle you will see **Send now** (drafts), **Unschedule**, **Pause** and **Resume**, **Retry failed** (with the number of retryable deliveries), **Rerun** (sent campaigns), **Preview**, **Duplicate**, **Export CSV**, **Review templates** (blocked campaigns), and a **More** menu with **Share for whitelisting**, **Cancel campaign** or **End campaign**, and **Delete**. A view-only admin can still **Preview** and **Export CSV**.

When something needs your attention, a notice appears under the summary line: **Blocked** names the templates awaiting review and links to **Reviews**; **Paused** explains that consecutive runs failed and sending stopped; **Ended** shows the end date and how to keep the campaign going.

### Templates tab

The **Templates in this campaign** card lists every template in the pool with its landing page. From each row you can preview the email, preview its landing page, or open the template. With more than one template in the pool, a weight slider per row controls how often it is chosen relative to the others. Remove a template from its row, or click **Add from library** to open the picker in a drawer: ticked templates are already in the pool, unticking one removes it, and the footer summarizes the change before you click **Update pool**.

If the campaign was built from a collection or tag, the card shows a **Collection ·** or **Tags ·** chip with when it was last synced. When the source has changed since then, a **Re-sync** button appears with the number of templates to add; nothing moves until you click it.

The pool can be edited on drafts and ongoing campaigns. Once a one-time campaign starts sending, its pool is locked.

Herd's rotation avoids sending a person a template they have seen recently; the window is set in [Simulation settings](/herd-security-docs/simulations/phishing-simulations/navigating-phishing-simulations-page.md#simulation-settings).

On ongoing campaigns, a **Keep the pool fresh** card offers **Auto-add generated templates**. When it is on, Herd adds newly generated templates to this campaign each night, up to the number you set with the **Up to N a night** slider (1 to 10). See [Auto-generated Simulations](/herd-security-docs/simulations/phishing-simulations/auto-generated-simulations.md).

### Audience tab (one-time campaigns)

While the campaign is a draft, the Audience tab is where you build the recipient list and set delivery:

* Use the **Add people or groups...** search to add individuals or whole groups. Quick-set chips add an audience in one click: **Everyone**, **Never phished**, **Clicked in the last 90 days**, and **New joiners**.
* The selection table shows each person with their delivery state and lets you remove people one at a time or in bulk. People without a usable email address, or who will be skipped for another reason, are marked so the send count is accurate.
* The **Delivery settings** rail on the right holds:
  * **Timing**: **Send now** or **Schedule** with a **Send at (your timezone)** picker. **Spread over N business days** (1 to 3) staggers a large send; with a spread of more than one day, choose **Even**, **Random**, or **Front-loaded**. Admins who may bypass business hours also see **Ignore business hours**.
  * **On failure**: **Send a follow-up phish** re-phishes anyone who fails with a different template, **After N days** (1 to 30). **Failure page** picks the page shown after a failure, or **Org default**.
* The summary card reports how many people the campaign **Sends to** (and how many it skips), plus the predicted send window. Click **Send to N** to launch now, or **Schedule campaign** when you chose a schedule.

Once sending starts, the audience is locked. The tab becomes a read-only roster; duplicate the campaign to send to more people.

### Audience tab (ongoing campaigns)

Ongoing campaigns have two views:

* **Members** shows who is enrolled with tiles for **Members**, **Sent this period**, **Expected this period**, and **Next send**.
* **Add** offers the same people and group search and quick sets as a one-time campaign, plus the **Delivery settings** rail:
  * **Cadence**: **Weekly**, **Every 2 weeks**, **Monthly**, or **Quarterly**.
  * **Ends on (optional)**: set a date and the campaign pauses itself after it passes, useful for "test this group for a quarter". Leave it blank and the campaign runs until you pause it. To restart an ended campaign, extend or clear the end date and resume.
  * **Test high-risk people more often**: members with a **High** risk score receive simulations twice as often as the base cadence, and **Critical** members three times as often. Risk scores are recalculated nightly. This only ever accelerates; nobody is phished less often than the cadence you set.
  * **On failure**: the same follow-up and failure-page options as a one-time campaign. Click **Add N to the campaign** to enrol the people you have staged.

Group membership is kept in sync: the campaign picks up new group members and stops phishing people who leave.

***

## Honoring Business Hours

By default, campaign delivery is held to your organization's business hours. If your organization has business hours configured, scheduled sends are released only inside that window (timezone-aware), and any messages that come due outside it stay scheduled and are re-evaluated on the next delivery tick.

If you need a campaign to send at any time, including evenings and weekends, tick **Ignore business hours** in the **Timing** section of the Delivery settings rail.

{% hint style="info" %}
**Ignore business hours** only appears for admins who are allowed to bypass business hours. If you don't see it, your campaigns automatically follow your organization's business hours.
{% endhint %}

You can configure your organization's business hours window and timezone on the **Business hours** card in **Settings → General** (see [General & Security](/herd-security-docs/settings/settings/general-and-approvals.md#business-hours-beta)).

***

Click into the next page to learn how to analyze your campaign results.