---
title: "Your First Campaign in 15 Minutes | FirstSales"
description: "The fast path: source an audience with AI Leads, set your goal and content source, assign a sender, approve, and launch — a live autopilot campaign in one sitting."
canonical: "https://firstsales.io/tutorial/first-campaign-in-15-min/"
---

[Home](/)/[Tutorials](/tutorial/)/Your First Campaign in 15 Minutes

Getting Started

# Your First Campaign in 15 Minutes

The fast path: source an audience with AI Leads, set your goal and content source, assign a sender, approve, and launch — a live autopilot campaign in one sitting.

8 min read·Beginner·8 steps

1. 1  
## What you'll build  
A live autopilot campaign in about 15 minutes: audience → goal → content source → sender → approve → launch. Before you start, you'll want a connected (ideally warming) mailbox and some credits — see [Getting Started: Your First-Run Checklist](/tutorial/getting-started-checklist/) if you haven't done that yet.
2. 2  
## Create the campaign & name it  
Start a new campaign, pick **Autopilot**, and give it a **Campaign name**. The builder's progress indicator tracks which required and optional components are still missing as you go.
3. 3  
## Source your audience with AI Leads  
Open the **Contact Harvester** node and pick **AI Leads**. Save to a list and describe your ideal customer in plain language (up to 250 characters) — this fills the **Target audience** requirement. For the full deep dive see [How to Use AI Leads to Source Contacts](/tutorial/create-ai-leads-campaign/).  
![Source your audience with AI Leads](/tutorials/maps-scraper-01-harvester-tools.webp)
4. 4  
## Set the campaign goal  
Choose what a reply should achieve — for example, booking a meeting or simply getting a reply. This satisfies the **Campaign goal** requirement.
5. 5  
## Pick the email content source  
Choose how emails get written: AI SDR autopilot drafting, or a template you write yourself. This satisfies the **Email content source** requirement. Keep it to the fast default for your first run.
6. 6  
## Assign a sender email account  
Attach the warmed mailbox that will send this campaign. This satisfies the **Sender email account** requirement — one sender is enough to launch.
7. 7  
## Set the approval flow  
Choose review-then-send or auto-send so the **Approval flow** requirement is valid. For a first run, reviewing the first batch before it goes out is the safer choice.
8. 8  
## Save, Test, Launch  
Click **Save**, then **Test Workflow**, then the green **Launch** button. If launch is blocked you'll see a `Missing: …` message naming the unfinished required item — fix it and try again. Once live, the same button becomes **Pause**, and you can **Resume** anytime.

## Pro tips

Hard-won shortcuts that keep warm-up on track.

1

### Only six things gate a launch

Campaign name, goal, audience, content source, sender, and approval flow. Knowledge base, tracking domain, and timezone are optional — skip them for your first run.

2

### The button walks you through it

Save → Test Workflow → Launch, in that order. You can't launch until Test passes, so a failed test is the app telling you something's incomplete.

3

### Read the Missing label literally

A blocked launch shows Missing: <label> — that names the exact required component that's still empty.

4

### One warmed mailbox is enough

You don't need a big sender pool on day one. Add more mailboxes later to scale volume once this campaign is running.

## Frequently asked questions

What's the absolute minimum to launch a campaign?

Six required components: **Campaign name**, **Campaign goal**, **Target audience**, **Email content source**, **Sender email account**, and **Approval flow**.

Do I need a knowledge base or tracking domain first?

No — both are optional and non-blocking, though a knowledge base does improve draft quality.

Why is the Launch button disabled, or why did Launch fail?

A required component is missing — the `Missing: …` message names it — or **Test Workflow** hasn't passed yet.

What does Test Workflow do?

It validates the campaign before you go live. You must run it on a draft before Launch becomes usable.

Can I pause a running campaign?

Yes — the same action button becomes **Pause** once active, and **Resume** once paused.

How do I get an audience if I have no list?

Use **AI Leads** in the Contact Harvester node — see [How to Use AI Leads to Source Contacts](/tutorial/create-ai-leads-campaign/).

Do I need more than one mailbox?

No, one warmed sender is enough to launch. Add more mailboxes later to scale send volume.

How long until emails actually send?

After launch, sends follow the smart schedule — make sure the mailbox is warmed and the workspace has credits.

## Ready to put this into practice?

Start your FirstSales trial and launch a warmed, authenticated mailbox in minutes.

[Start for $1](https://app.firstsales.io)

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