A campaign is a DM you send to a chosen group of your contacts. You pick who gets it, build the message (or a multi-step sequence), and either send it now or schedule it. This guide gets you through your first campaign as fast as possible, with links to deeper articles where you want more.
Step 1: Create the campaign
Go to Campaigns in the left sidebar and click + New campaign. Give it a name, then choose a template or pick Empty campaign to start from scratch.
The built-in templates are a good starting point, with options such as:
Personalised campaign: a simple text DM tailored to each contact with variables like
{{contact.name}}.Launch announcement: set up for announcing a product, event, or offer.
Send a survey: sends a survey link and tracks who completes it.
Ask for Follow: asks contacts to follow you, with automatic follow detection.
Audio campaign: sends a voice message to your list.
Step 2: Select your audience
In the left panel of the campaign editor, choose who receives it:
All reachable contacts: everyone who can currently receive a DM from you.
Specific folder(s) or segment(s): a narrower group, picked from your saved folders or segments.
You can expand Don't send campaign to to exclude certain folders or segments. The contact count at the bottom updates as you change things. Click View contacts to preview exactly who's included before you commit.
Only contacts Inrō can reach will receive a campaign. If your count looks smaller than expected, that's usually why. See Understanding Contact Status for what makes a contact reachable.
Step 3: Build the message flow
Click Add a step in the canvas on the right. The step picker shows the same categories as the scenario flow builder: Messages, Conversions, Contacts, Logic, AI, and Integrations.
For a first campaign, a single Send message step is enough. Type your message, use the insert-variable button to drop in fields like {{contact.name}}, and you're done.
Step 4: Test it
Before sending to everyone, click the arrow next to Send campaign and choose Send a test. Search for a contact (or yourself), and the campaign goes to only that person so you can check how it looks in Instagram.
Step 5: Send or schedule
When the test looks right:
Send campaign: goes out immediately to your full audience.
Schedule campaign: opens a date and time picker.
Save as draft: saves your work without sending.
Larger campaigns go out in batches of 1,000 contacts, so a big send takes a little time to finish. If a campaign stalls or some contacts don't receive it, see My Campaign Is Stuck or Not Sending: How to Fix It.
🐾 Netsuke's Tips
Always test before sending. It takes 30 seconds and saves you from a typo or a broken link going out to hundreds of people.
Use View contacts before you hit send. It catches a folder you didn't mean to include before anything goes out.
Keep your first campaign simple: one message, a clear offer or question, one call to action. Once you've seen how people respond, add more steps.
What's next?
Learn the bigger picture in What Are DM Campaigns?, build branching sequences with Multi-Step Campaigns & Branching Logic, or see all your timing options in Scheduling, Sending & Managing Campaigns.