Campaign Lifecycle

Updated Oct 16, 20259 min read

Understand and manage campaigns through every stage from creation to completion.

Lifecycle Overview

Campaigns move through distinct states:

draft ā†’ scheduled ā†’ sending ā†’ sent ā†’ archived
  ā†“        ā†“          ā†“
delete   unschedule  suspend/cancel

Campaign States

Draft

Description: Newly created, not yet scheduled

Available Actions:

  • Edit content, subject, list, sender
  • Send test emails
  • Schedule for delivery
  • Delete

Commands:

# Update draft
$ cakemail campaigns update 790 --subject "New Subject"

# Send test
$ cakemail campaigns test 790 -e test@example.com

# Schedule
$ cakemail campaigns schedule 790

# Delete if not needed
$ cakemail campaigns delete 790 --force

Scheduled

Description: Queued for future delivery

Available Actions:

  • Reschedule to different time
  • Unschedule (return to draft)
  • Send test emails
  • Cancel

Commands:

# Reschedule
$ cakemail campaigns reschedule 790 --when "2024-03-25 10:00:00"

# Unschedule (back to draft)
$ cakemail campaigns unschedule 790

# Cancel
$ cakemail campaigns cancel 790

Sending

Description: Currently being sent to recipients

Available Actions:

  • Suspend (pause sending)
  • View progress
  • Monitor statistics

Commands:

# Suspend sending
$ cakemail campaigns suspend 790

# Check progress
$ cakemail campaigns get 790 -f json | jq '{status, sent_count, total_recipients}'

# View real-time stats
$ cakemail reports campaign 790

Sent

Description: Completed successfully

Available Actions:

  • View analytics
  • Archive
  • Delete (removes from list)

Commands:

# View analytics
$ cakemail reports campaign 790

# View link clicks
$ cakemail reports campaign-links 790

# Archive
$ cakemail campaigns archive 790

# Delete
$ cakemail campaigns delete 790 --force

Suspended

Description: Paused during sending

Available Actions:

  • Resume sending
  • Cancel (stops permanently)
  • View partial statistics

Commands:

# Resume
$ cakemail campaigns resume 790

# Cancel permanently
$ cakemail campaigns cancel 790

# Check stats
$ cakemail reports campaign 790

Cancelled

Description: Cancelled before/during send

Available Actions:

  • View partial analytics
  • Archive
  • Delete

Commands:

# View what was sent
$ cakemail reports campaign 790

# Archive
$ cakemail campaigns archive 790

Archived

Description: Hidden from default views

Available Actions:

  • Unarchive (restore to view)
  • View analytics
  • Delete permanently

Commands:

# Unarchive
$ cakemail campaigns unarchive 790

# View
$ cakemail campaigns get 790

# Delete
$ cakemail campaigns delete 790 --force

Managing Active Campaigns

Suspending a Campaign

Pause campaign mid-send:

$ cakemail campaigns suspend 790

Output:

āœ“ Campaign 790 suspended

When to suspend:

  • Content error discovered
  • Wrong list selected
  • Need to make urgent changes
  • Technical issue with website/links

What happens:

  • Sending stops immediately
  • Emails already sent remain sent
  • Remaining recipients not contacted
  • Can resume or cancel later

Resuming a Campaign

Continue suspended campaign:

$ cakemail campaigns resume 790

Output:

āœ“ Campaign 790 resumed

Considerations:

  • Resumes from where it stopped
  • Already-sent contacts not re-contacted
  • Check time delay impact on results

Cancelling a Campaign

Permanently stop campaign:

$ cakemail campaigns cancel 790

Output:

āš  Cancel campaign 790?

The following will happen:
  ā€¢ Campaign will be permanently cancelled
  ā€¢ Remaining recipients will not receive email
  ā€¢ Partial analytics available

Type 'yes' to confirm: yes

āœ“ Campaign 790 cancelled

When to cancel:

  • Major error in content
  • Wrong audience targeted
  • Business reason (product recall, etc.)
  • Regulatory/legal requirement

Archiving Campaigns

Archive Completed Campaigns

Remove from active view:

$ cakemail campaigns archive 790

Output:

āœ“ Campaign 790 archived

Benefits:

  • Cleaner campaign list
  • Organized historical data
  • Still accessible for analytics
  • Can be unarchived if needed

Bulk Archive

Archive multiple campaigns:

#!/bin/bash
# archive-old-campaigns.sh

# Archive all campaigns from Q1 2024
CAMPAIGNS=$(cakemail campaigns list \
  --filter "status==sent;delivered_at>=2024-01-01;delivered_at<2024-04-01" \
  -f json | jq -r '.data[].id')

for ID in $CAMPAIGNS; do
  echo "Archiving campaign $ID..."
  cakemail campaigns archive $ID
done

echo "Archived $(echo "$CAMPAIGNS" | wc -l) campaigns"

Archive by Age

#!/bin/bash
# archive-by-age.sh

# Archive campaigns older than 90 days
CUTOFF_DATE=$(date -d "90 days ago" +%Y-%m-%d)

CAMPAIGNS=$(cakemail campaigns list \
  --filter "status==sent;delivered_at<$CUTOFF_DATE" \
  -f json | jq -r '.data[].id')

for ID in $CAMPAIGNS; do
  NAME=$(cakemail campaigns get $ID -f json | jq -r '.name')
  echo "Archiving: $NAME (ID: $ID)"
  cakemail campaigns archive $ID
done

Unarchive Campaigns

Restore archived campaign to active view:

$ cakemail campaigns unarchive 790

Output:

āœ“ Campaign 790 unarchived

Monitoring Campaigns

Real-Time Status Check

#!/bin/bash
# monitor-campaign.sh

CAMPAIGN_ID=$1
INTERVAL=5  # seconds

while true; do
  clear
  echo "=== Campaign $CAMPAIGN_ID Status ==="
  echo ""

  STATUS=$(cakemail campaigns get $CAMPAIGN_ID -f json)

  echo "Status: $(echo "$STATUS" | jq -r '.status')"
  echo "Name: $(echo "$STATUS" | jq -r '.name')"
  echo ""

  # If sending, show progress
  if [ "$(echo "$STATUS" | jq -r '.status')" == "sending" ]; then
    SENT=$(echo "$STATUS" | jq -r '.sent_count // 0')
    TOTAL=$(echo "$STATUS" | jq -r '.total_recipients // 0')
    PERCENT=$(echo "scale=1; $SENT * 100 / $TOTAL" | bc)

    echo "Progress: $SENT / $TOTAL ($PERCENT%)"
    echo ""

    # Get stats
    STATS=$(cakemail reports campaign $CAMPAIGN_ID -f json)
    echo "Delivered: $(echo "$STATS" | jq -r '.delivered // 0')"
    echo "Opened: $(echo "$STATS" | jq -r '.unique_opens // 0')"
    echo "Clicked: $(echo "$STATS" | jq -r '.unique_clicks // 0')"
  fi

  echo ""
  echo "Press Ctrl+C to stop monitoring"
  sleep $INTERVAL
done

Dashboard View

#!/bin/bash
# campaign-dashboard.sh

echo "=== Campaign Dashboard ==="
echo ""

# Scheduled
SCHEDULED=$(cakemail campaigns list --filter "status==scheduled" -f json | jq '.count')
echo "Scheduled: $SCHEDULED"

# Sending
SENDING=$(cakemail campaigns list --filter "status==sending" -f json | jq '.count')
echo "Sending: $SENDING"

# Sent today
TODAY=$(date +%Y-%m-%d)
SENT_TODAY=$(cakemail campaigns list \
  --filter "status==sent;delivered_at>=$TODAY" \
  -f json | jq '.count')
echo "Sent Today: $SENT_TODAY"

# Drafts
DRAFTS=$(cakemail campaigns list --filter "status==draft" -f json | jq '.count')
echo "Drafts: $DRAFTS"

echo ""

# Show active campaigns
echo "=== Active Campaigns ==="
cakemail campaigns list --filter "status==sending" -f compact

Lifecycle Workflows

Workflow 1: Emergency Stop

#!/bin/bash
# emergency-stop.sh

CAMPAIGN_ID=$1

if [ -z "$CAMPAIGN_ID" ]; then
  echo "Usage: $0 <campaign-id>"
  exit 1
fi

echo "āš ļø  EMERGENCY STOP for Campaign $CAMPAIGN_ID"
echo ""

# Check current status
STATUS=$(cakemail campaigns get $CAMPAIGN_ID -f json | jq -r '.status')
echo "Current status: $STATUS"

case $STATUS in
  "scheduled")
    echo "Unscheduling..."
    cakemail campaigns unschedule $CAMPAIGN_ID
    ;;
  "sending")
    echo "Suspending..."
    cakemail campaigns suspend $CAMPAIGN_ID
    ;;
  *)
    echo "Campaign is $STATUS - no action needed"
    ;;
esac

echo ""
echo "āœ… Emergency stop complete"

Workflow 2: Scheduled Maintenance

#!/bin/bash
# scheduled-maintenance.sh

echo "=== Pre-Maintenance: Suspend Active Campaigns ==="

# Get all sending campaigns
SENDING=$(cakemail campaigns list --filter "status==sending" -f json)
SENDING_IDS=$(echo "$SENDING" | jq -r '.data[].id')

# Suspend each
for ID in $SENDING_IDS; do
  echo "Suspending campaign $ID..."
  cakemail campaigns suspend $ID
done

echo ""
echo "Suspended $(echo "$SENDING_IDS" | wc -l) campaigns"
echo "IDs: $SENDING_IDS"
echo ""
echo "Save these IDs to resume after maintenance!"

Resume after maintenance:

#!/bin/bash
# resume-after-maintenance.sh

# IDs from previous script
CAMPAIGN_IDS="790 791 792"

echo "=== Post-Maintenance: Resume Campaigns ==="

for ID in $CAMPAIGN_IDS; do
  echo "Resuming campaign $ID..."
  cakemail campaigns resume $ID
done

echo ""
echo "āœ… All campaigns resumed"

Workflow 3: Quarterly Archival

#!/bin/bash
# quarterly-archive.sh

YEAR=$1
QUARTER=$2

if [ -z "$YEAR" ] || [ -z "$QUARTER" ]; then
  echo "Usage: $0 <year> <quarter>"
  echo "Example: $0 2024 1"
  exit 1
fi

# Calculate date range
case $QUARTER in
  1) START="$YEAR-01-01"; END="$YEAR-03-31" ;;
  2) START="$YEAR-04-01"; END="$YEAR-06-30" ;;
  3) START="$YEAR-07-01"; END="$YEAR-09-30" ;;
  4) START="$YEAR-10-01"; END="$YEAR-12-31" ;;
  *) echo "Invalid quarter"; exit 1 ;;
esac

echo "Archiving Q$QUARTER $YEAR campaigns ($START to $END)..."

# Get campaigns
CAMPAIGNS=$(cakemail campaigns list \
  --filter "status==sent;delivered_at>=$START;delivered_at<=$END" \
  -f json | jq -r '.data[].id')

COUNT=0
for ID in $CAMPAIGNS; do
  cakemail campaigns archive $ID
  ((COUNT++))
done

echo ""
echo "āœ… Archived $COUNT campaigns from Q$QUARTER $YEAR"

Workflow 4: Campaign Health Check

#!/bin/bash
# health-check.sh

echo "=== Campaign Health Check ==="
echo ""

# Check for stuck campaigns
echo "Checking for stuck campaigns..."
SENDING=$(cakemail campaigns list --filter "status==sending" -f json)
SENDING_COUNT=$(echo "$SENDING" | jq '.count')

if [ "$SENDING_COUNT" -gt 0 ]; then
  echo "$SENDING" | jq -r '.data[] | "  ID: \(.id) - Started: \(.sending_started_at // "unknown")"'

  # Flag campaigns sending > 2 hours
  CUTOFF=$(date -d "2 hours ago" --iso-8601=seconds)
  STUCK=$(echo "$SENDING" | jq --arg cutoff "$CUTOFF" '
    .data[] | select(.sending_started_at < $cutoff)
  ')

  if [ -n "$STUCK" ]; then
    echo ""
    echo "āš ļø  Warning: Campaigns sending > 2 hours:"
    echo "$STUCK" | jq -r '"  ID: \(.id) - \(.name)"'
  fi
else
  echo "  āœ… No campaigns currently sending"
fi

echo ""

# Check for scheduled campaigns in past
echo "Checking for past-due scheduled campaigns..."
NOW=$(date --iso-8601=seconds)
PAST_DUE=$(cakemail campaigns list --filter "status==scheduled" -f json | \
  jq --arg now "$NOW" '.data[] | select(.scheduled_for < $now)')

if [ -n "$PAST_DUE" ]; then
  echo "āš ļø  Warning: Past-due scheduled campaigns:"
  echo "$PAST_DUE" | jq -r '"  ID: \(.id) - Scheduled: \(.scheduled_for)"'
else
  echo "  āœ… No past-due campaigns"
fi

echo ""

# Check for old drafts
echo "Checking for old drafts (> 30 days)..."
OLD_CUTOFF=$(date -d "30 days ago" +%Y-%m-%d)
OLD_DRAFTS=$(cakemail campaigns list \
  --filter "status==draft;created_on<$OLD_CUTOFF" \
  -f json | jq '.count')

echo "  Old drafts: $OLD_DRAFTS"

if [ "$OLD_DRAFTS" -gt 0 ]; then
  echo "  Consider cleaning up old drafts"
fi

echo ""
echo "āœ… Health check complete"

Best Practices

1. Monitor Active Campaigns

Set up automated monitoring:

# Add to crontab: every 5 minutes
*/5 * * * * /path/to/monitor-campaigns.sh >> /var/log/campaign-monitor.log 2>&1

2. Archive Regularly

Monthly archival routine:

# First day of each month
0 0 1 * * /path/to/monthly-archive.sh

3. Emergency Procedures

Document emergency contacts and procedures:

#!/bin/bash
# EMERGENCY.sh

echo "=== EMERGENCY CAMPAIGN PROCEDURES ==="
echo ""
echo "1. Suspend all sending: ./emergency-stop-all.sh"
echo "2. Contact: support@cakemail.com"
echo "3. Escalation: +1-XXX-XXX-XXXX"
echo ""
echo "Campaign ID to stop:"
read CAMPAIGN_ID

./emergency-stop.sh $CAMPAIGN_ID

4. Document State Changes

Log important actions:

# Log state changes
log_action() {
  echo "$(date --iso-8601=seconds) | $1 | $2" >> campaign-actions.log
}

# Usage
log_action "SUSPEND" "Campaign 790 suspended due to content error"

5. Review Before Archiving

Ensure analytics captured:

#!/bin/bash
# safe-archive.sh

CAMPAIGN_ID=$1

# Get final stats
STATS=$(cakemail reports campaign $CAMPAIGN_ID -f json)

# Save to file
echo "$STATS" > "campaign-$CAMPAIGN_ID-stats.json"

# Now archive
cakemail campaigns archive $CAMPAIGN_ID

echo "Stats saved and campaign archived"

Troubleshooting

Campaign Stuck in "Sending"

Problem: Campaign status "sending" for extended period

Investigation:

# Check how long it's been sending
$ cakemail campaigns get 790 -f json | jq '{status, sending_started_at, sent_count, total_recipients}'

Solutions:

  • Large lists take time (normal for 10k+ contacts)
  • Contact support if > 4 hours with no progress
  • Check account status for issues

Cannot Suspend Campaign

Error: "Campaign cannot be suspended"

Possible reasons:

  • Campaign already completed
  • Campaign not in "sending" status
  • Too close to completion

Check status:

$ cakemail campaigns get 790 -f json | jq '.status'

Suspended Campaign Won't Resume

Problem: Resume command fails

Solutions:

# Check if campaign cancelled
$ cakemail campaigns get 790 -f json | jq '.status'

# If cancelled, cannot resume (create new campaign)

# If suspended, try again
$ cakemail campaigns resume 790