Creating a Campaign
A campaign is how DM Champ organizes your messaging. Think of it as a project that brings together your AI bot, your contacts, and your messages under one roof. Every message in DM Champ - whether it is an automatic reply to a customer question, a promotional broadcast, or a keyword-triggered deal - belongs to a campaign.
This guide walks you through creating a campaign, choosing the right type, and configuring each setting.
Choosing the Right Campaign Type
DM Champ has four campaign types. Each one is built for a different situation. Here is how to decide which one to use:
Incoming Campaign
Use this when: You want to automatically reply to customers who message you first.
An incoming campaign listens for new messages on your connected channels (WhatsApp, Instagram, Messenger, etc.) and uses your AI bot to respond. This is the best choice for:
Customer support - Answer questions about your business, hours, pricing, and policies.
Lead qualification - Automatically ask new contacts qualifying questions and tag them based on their answers.
Website chat - Respond to visitors who use the chat widget on your site.
Example: A dental clinic sets up an incoming campaign so that when anyone messages them on WhatsApp, the bot answers common questions, shares available time slots, and books appointments.
Outgoing Campaign
Use this when: You want to reach out to a list of contacts with a message.
An outgoing campaign sends messages to contacts you have already collected. It is the best choice for:
Promotions and announcements - Tell your customers about a new product, sale, or event.
Re-engagement - Reach out to contacts who have not interacted with you in a while.
Follow-up sequences - Send a series of messages over time.
Outgoing campaigns require a contact list and must be approved before they start sending.
Example: A clothing store creates an outgoing campaign to send a WhatsApp message about their weekend sale to 500 customers from their "Past Buyers" list.
Combined Campaign
Use this when: You want to send an initial message AND have the AI bot continue the conversation.
A combined campaign starts by sending a message to your contacts (like an outgoing campaign), then switches to AI-powered replies for any responses (like an incoming campaign). This is ideal for:
Opt-in funnels - A customer responds to your promotional message, and the bot takes over to answer questions and close the deal.
Two-way engagement - Start a conversation and let the AI keep it going.
Combined campaigns need at least a first name and phone number for each contact.
Example: A real estate agency sends a message about new listings to their contact list. When someone replies asking for more details, the AI bot takes over and shares pricing, schedules viewings, and books appointments.
Keyword Campaign
Use this when: You want to trigger a specific response based on a word or phrase someone sends you.
A keyword campaign watches for specific words in incoming messages and responds with a tailored message or kicks off an automation. Great for:
Social media promotions - Post "DM us 'DEAL' for 10% off" on Instagram and have DM Champ reply automatically to anyone who sends that keyword.
Lead magnets - "Send 'GUIDE' to get our free PDF."
Contest entries - "DM 'WIN' to enter the giveaway."
You can run keyword campaigns alongside incoming campaigns on the same channel.
Example: A fitness coach posts on Instagram: "DM me 'PLAN' to get a free workout plan." Anyone who sends the word "PLAN" gets an instant reply with a download link.
Creating a New Campaign Step by Step
Step 1: Start the Campaign
Click Campaigns in the left sidebar.
Click New Campaign in the top-right corner.
Enter a campaign name - use something descriptive so you can find it later (for example, "Summer Sale Outreach" or "Website Support Bot").
Select the campaign type: Incoming, Outgoing, Combined, or Keywords.
Choose the language your bot should respond in.
Turn on Bookings if you want the bot to be able to schedule appointments during conversations.
Note: When you first create your account, DM Champ automatically sets up a default incoming campaign. You can edit it or create new campaigns alongside it.
Guided Setup vs. Manual Configuration
DM Champ offers two ways to create a campaign:
Guided Setup - A step-by-step onboarding wizard that walks you through each setting one at a time. This is the recommended approach if you are new to DM Champ.
Manual Configuration - Create a campaign and configure each section at your own pace. Better for experienced users who want to jump straight to specific settings.
Both methods give you access to all the same options described below.
Configuring Your Campaign
After creating the campaign, you will configure each of the following settings. You do not need to do everything at once - save your progress and come back anytime.
Sales Pages (Let the AI Learn About Your Business)
Paste up to 5 links to your website, pricing page, sales page, or product pages. DM Champ reads the content from these pages and uses it to:
Understand what your business offers.
Automatically write bot instructions tailored to your products and services.
Inform the AI so it can answer customer questions accurately.
Best links to add: Your homepage, a pricing or services page, and an FAQ page.
Tip: After adding your links, DM Champ can auto-generate your bot instructions. This saves a lot of setup time - you can always edit them later.
Bot Instructions (Tell the AI How to Behave)
Bot instructions are the rules you give your AI bot for this campaign. You can write them from scratch or start with the auto-generated instructions from your sales pages.
Here is what to include:
Tone and personality - Should the bot be formal and professional, or friendly and casual?
Goals - What should the bot try to achieve? For example: answer questions, book appointments, qualify leads, or collect contact information.
Boundaries - What should the bot avoid? For example: do not discuss competitor products, do not give medical advice, do not offer discounts without approval.
Response timing - Set a minimum and maximum reply delay so the bot does not respond instantly (which can feel unnatural). For example, wait 5-15 seconds before replying.
Active hours - Choose whether the bot runs 24/7 or only during specific hours (for example, 9 AM to 6 PM on weekdays).
For more detail, see Setting Up Your AI Bot.
Opening Message (The First Thing Contacts See)
The opening message is the first message a contact receives from your campaign:
In an outgoing campaign, this is the broadcast message sent to your contact list.
In an incoming campaign, this is the greeting when a new contact messages you for the first time.
To personalize the message, use {{firstName}} where you want the contact's name to appear. The opening message must include the contact's first name.
Example: "Hi {{firstName}}, thanks for reaching out! How can I help you today?"
FAQs (Give Your Bot Ready-Made Answers)
FAQs are question-and-answer pairs that help your bot respond accurately to common customer questions. Instead of guessing, the bot finds the matching FAQ and gives the answer you wrote.
Add as many FAQs as you can - the more you provide, the better the bot performs.
You can add, edit, and remove FAQs at any time.
Start with the questions your customers ask most often.
Example FAQ:
Question: "What are your shipping costs?"
Answer: "We offer free shipping on orders over $50. For orders under $50, shipping is $5.99."
For tips on writing great FAQs, see Managing FAQs.
Uploaded Files (Give the AI Extra Context)
You can upload documents (PDFs, text files, etc.) directly to your campaign. The AI uses the content of these files as additional context when answering questions - useful for product catalogs, price lists, policy documents, or anything else you want the bot to know about that is not on your website.
Web Search (Let the Bot Check Your Website in Real Time)
Toggle Web Search on to let the AI search specific pages on your website during live conversations. This is useful for information that changes frequently, like product availability, pricing, or inventory.
When you enable web search, you will also add Dynamic URLs - the specific web pages the bot can search. These are different from Sales Page URLs (which are read once during setup). Dynamic URLs are checked in real time whenever a customer asks a relevant question.
For details, see Real-Time Web Search.
Note: Web search is available on Growth, Scale, and Agency plans. Each search costs 1 AI credit (free for BYOK users).
AI Speed (Choose Response Quality vs. Speed)
Select how the AI generates responses for this campaign:
Fast - Quicker replies, best for simple Q&A and high-volume campaigns.
Balanced - A good mix of speed and quality for most use cases.
Thorough - The AI takes more time to craft detailed, nuanced responses. Best for complex sales conversations or technical support.
Custom Functions (Advanced: Let Your Bot Take Actions)
Custom functions let your bot do more than just reply with text. They allow the bot to connect to your other business tools - for example, looking up an order status, checking inventory, or generating a price quote.
Custom functions are created in Settings > Custom Functions and can be assigned to any campaign.
Each function connects to an external service and runs when a specific condition is met during a conversation.
This is an advanced feature. If you are just getting started, you can skip this for now. See Custom Functions when you are ready.
Tags (Automatically Label Contacts Based on Conversations)
Tags let you label contacts based on what happens during a conversation. Here is how they work:
Create a tag - for example, "Booked," "Interested," or "Not Interested."
Set a trigger condition - tell the AI when to apply the tag. For example: "Apply the 'Booked' tag when the contact confirms an appointment."
The bot applies the tag automatically when the condition is met during a conversation.
Tags help you track results and can also trigger actions in other tools through webhooks (automatic notifications sent to external apps when a tag is applied).
For more on creating tags, see Using Tags to Label Contacts. For connecting tags to other tools, see Webhooks.
Follow-Up Messages (Remind Contacts Who Have Not Replied)
If a contact does not respond, you can set up automatic follow-up messages to nudge them:
Set follow-up intervals - for example, send a follow-up after 1 day, then another after 3 days, and a final one after 7 days.
Write the follow-up messages - customize what each reminder says.
Set a maximum - decide how many follow-ups to send before stopping.
For details, see Automated Follow-Ups.
Connecting Messaging Channels
Each campaign can use one or more messaging channels. Before assigning a channel to a campaign, make sure you have already connected it in your account settings.
Send and receive messages through the WhatsApp Business platform. Supports message templates.
WhatsApp Web
Connect your personal or business WhatsApp by scanning a QR code. Quick to set up.
SMS
Send text messages to any phone number.
Reply to Instagram Direct Messages automatically.
Messenger
Reply to Facebook Messenger messages automatically.
Chat Widget
A chat window you embed on your website so visitors can message you.
Custom
Connect other messaging tools through a custom integration.
To assign a channel: Open your campaign settings, go to the channel section, and select the channel(s) you want this campaign to use.
Additional Settings for Outgoing Campaigns
Outgoing campaigns have a few extra options to configure before sending:
Choose Your Contact List
Select which contacts will receive your message. You can:
Pick an existing list from your contacts.
Create a new list and import contacts into it.
Use a list that was automatically populated by another feature (for example, Facebook Lead Forms).
Drip Mode (Send Messages Gradually)
Instead of blasting all messages at once, drip mode sends them in small batches over time. This is better because:
It feels more natural to recipients.
It avoids overwhelming your inbox with replies all at once.
It protects your sender reputation with WhatsApp and SMS providers (sending too many messages too fast can get your number flagged).
When to Send
Choose when the campaign starts sending:
Immediately - Messages go out as soon as the campaign is approved.
Scheduled - Pick a specific date and time for messages to start sending.
AI Replies to Responses
Decide what happens when contacts reply to your outgoing messages:
AI on - Your bot automatically replies, turning the broadcast into a conversation.
AI off - Replies show up in your inbox for you to answer manually.
Getting Approval
Outgoing campaigns must be approved before they start sending. This is required to comply with messaging platform rules (especially WhatsApp's policies).
Review your campaign settings to make sure everything looks right.
Click Submit for Approval.
Wait for approval. Timing varies - if you have a verified Meta Business Manager account, approvals are faster.
Once approved, messages send on your chosen schedule (or immediately).
If your campaign is rejected, you will get a notification explaining why. Fix the issue and resubmit.
Updating a Live Campaign
Need to make changes after your campaign is already running? Use the Optimize Campaign feature:
Open your campaign from the Campaigns page.
Click Optimize Campaign.
Make your changes - update bot instructions, add new FAQs, adjust tags, change follow-up settings, etc.
Click Save.
Changes take about 1-2 minutes to go live. This is useful for updating promotions, adding seasonal information, or improving your bot based on real conversations you have observed.
Tracking Your Campaign's Performance
You can see how your campaign is doing from the campaign detail page or your main Dashboard:
Messages Sent
Total messages your campaign has sent.
Delivered
Messages that successfully reached the recipient.
Read
Messages the recipient opened (on channels that show read receipts, like WhatsApp).
Replies
How many contacts responded.
Bookings
Appointments booked through this campaign (if you enabled bookings).
Credits Used
Total credits this campaign has consumed.
Use these numbers to see what is working. If delivery rates are low, check your contact list for bad numbers. If replies are low, try adjusting your opening message or bot instructions.
Next Steps
Campaign Types & Channels - Learn more about each campaign type in detail.
Automated Follow-Ups - Set up reminder sequences.
Setting Up Your AI Bot - Fine-tune how your bot responds.
Managing FAQs - Improve your bot's answers.
Your Dashboard - Monitor all your campaigns in one place.
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