Create a campaign

Use this guide when your facility needs to send the same message to a group of customers—not a one-off reply in Inbox.

You will choose how customers receive the message (email, text, push, or social), create a campaign record your team can recognize later, and land on the campaign page where you finish the message and audience.

What you will accomplish

Pick the right message type (email, text, push, or social).
Create a campaign with a name your team understands.
Optionally set a send date and time on the calendar.
Land on the campaign page ready to write the customer-facing message and choose who receives it.

Expected result: The campaign appears on the Marketing & Events calendar, usually with a draft status until you finish the next steps.

When to use a campaign

Many customers need the same update (open house invite, storage reminder, holiday hours).
You are promoting a service, product, or facility news to a group.
You want the send date visible on the team calendar so two big messages do not land on the same day.

If you need…	Use this guide	Use something else
One customer texting back and forth	—	Inbox
Customers RSVP to an in-person event	—	Create a social event (pick In-Person Event from Create New)
Ongoing posts inside the customer portal	—	Manage community channels
Send the message after the campaign exists	Add campaign message, audience, and publish	—

Before you start

Know the goal in plain language (example: "Invite storage customers to our June open house").
Decide who should receive the message. Review tags or customer types in Contacts if you are unsure.
Have a rough idea of the words customers will see. Short and friendly works best.
For SMS Message, confirm texting is set up in Settings > Communications.
For Social Media Post, confirm your social connection is ready in Settings > Communications.

Step 1: Open Marketing & Events

Open Marketing & Events
From the dashboard sidebar, click Marketing & Events. You can also open Marketing & Events directly.
Why this matters: All planned emails, texts, pushes, social posts, and linked events show on one calendar so your team can see what is already scheduled.
Stay on the Calendar tab
Make sure Calendar is selected at the top of the page.
Expected result: You see the month view and an Upcoming schedule list. Use this view to avoid stacking two large sends on the same day.

Marketing and Events calendar with upcoming email and event items on the schedule — The Calendar tab shows planned campaigns and events together. Check what is already scheduled before you add a new campaign.

Step 2: Choose the message type

Click Create New
Click Create New in the top-right corner of the page. A menu opens with message types.
Pick how customers should receive the message
Choose the option that matches your goal:
- Email Campaign — send an email to a group of customers.
- SMS Message — send a text (only when texting is enabled for your facility).
- Push Notification — send a notice to customers who use your facility's mobile app (only when push notifications are enabled and customers have allowed alerts on their phones).
- Social Media Post — publish to a connected social account (finish social setup in Settings > Communications first).
- In-Person Event — create an event with RSVP and check-in (not a simple email blast).
Why this matters: The channel controls what you write next (subject line and body for email, short text for SMS, and so on).

Create New menu showing Social Media Post, Email Campaign, SMS Message, Push Notification, and In-Person Event — Choose the message type before you name the campaign. Pick In-Person Event only when customers need an RSVP page.

Expected result: A window titled Create New Campaign opens (unless you chose In-Person Event, which starts the event flow instead).

Step 3: Name the campaign and set an optional send time

Check the Channel
Near the top of the window, Channel shows the type you picked (for example Email). If it is wrong, close the window and choose again from Create New.
Enter the Name
In Name, type a label your team will recognize later. Customers usually do not see this exact name.
Good examples:
- June Open House Invitation
- Winter Storage Reminder
- Cars and Coffee Instagram Post
Avoid vague names like Email 1 or Blast—they are hard to find on the calendar later.
Set Schedule (optional)
Click Select date/time if you already know when the message should go out. You can leave this blank and set the time on the campaign page later.
Why this matters: A send time helps your team plan around other messages and gives the calendar a clear date to display.
Click Create Campaign
Click Create Campaign at the bottom of the window.
Expected result: The window closes and you land on the campaign detail page for the record you just created.

Create New Campaign dialog showing Channel, Name, optional Schedule, and Create Campaign button — Use a clear internal name. You will write what customers actually read on the next page.

Step 4: Confirm you are on the campaign page

After Create Campaign, you should see the campaign name at the top, a draft status, and buttons such as Schedule send and Publish Campaign.

Campaign detail page showing draft status, message preview area, and publish controls — A new campaign opens as a draft. Finish the message, audience, and publish steps before customers receive anything.

What happens next on the campaign page

You will complete three jobs before anyone receives the message. This guide stops after the campaign record exists; use the detailed guide for the rest.

Write what customers will see
Click Edit on the message card (for example Edit Email). Add a subject line and body for email, or the short text for SMS or push.
The internal campaign name is for staff. The subject and body are what customers see in their inbox.
Expected result: The preview on the campaign page shows your subject and message.
Choose the audience
Scroll to the Audience section and add the customers who should receive the campaign. Start with a smaller, accurate group when you are unsure.
Add only the customers who should receive this message. You can adjust the list before you publish.
Expected result: The audience list matches the customers you intend to reach (for example storage customers only).
Schedule or publish
Use Schedule send or Publish Campaign when the message and audience are correct.
Expected result: The campaign moves from draft to scheduled or published, and it appears on the Marketing & Events calendar on the send date.

For field-by-field help on message, audience, and publish, continue with Add campaign message, audience, and publish.

Common mistakes to avoid

Do not pick In-Person Event when you only need a simple email—use Email Campaign instead.
Do not use a vague campaign name your team cannot search for later.
Do not assume Create Campaign sent anything—always finish message, audience, and publish.
Do not send storage news to your entire contact list if only storage customers need it.

Troubleshooting

What to do next

Add campaign message, audience, and publish — finish and send the campaign.
Marketing & Events overview — see how campaigns fit with community and reviews.
If the message promotes an event with RSVP, read Create a social event and Review social event RSVPs and attendees.