Publishing and Simulating Campaigns

Before a campaign starts processing real contacts, use the editor controls to validate the flow. Leadpush gives you two important actions in the campaign header:

• Simulate, to test the workflow without side effects
• Publish, to move the campaign from draft to running

Use simulation before publishing

The Simulate button is available from the Editor tab once the campaign has a valid trigger.

When you open simulation, Leadpush lets you:

• select a sample contact
• provide an optional JSON payload for event-triggered campaigns
• run the workflow without side effects
• switch between a workflow preview and an execution timeline

This is the safest way to confirm the campaign is wired correctly before it starts processing live activity.

What the simulation view shows

After a simulation runs, Leadpush shows:

• when the simulation started and ended
• the elapsed time
• which contact was used
• the workflow graph in readonly mode
• a timeline of executed and skipped steps
• branch handles and step output when available

For delay steps, the timeline also shows how long the workflow would wait in a real execution.

When to include an event payload

Only event-triggered campaigns use the optional simulation payload.

If the campaign starts from a named event, provide a JSON object that matches the kind of data the real event would send. This helps validate branching, update-contact steps, and send-event logic that depends on trigger data.

Publish the campaign

Use Publish when the workflow is ready to accept live entrants.

Publishing changes the campaign status from draft to running.

Once a campaign is live:

• contacts can enter the workflow when the trigger conditions are met
• the trigger definition is treated as locked
• the campaign header across Metrics, Messages, and Executions shows live status and stop controls

Stop a running campaign

When a campaign is already running, the header switches from a single Publish button to an Actions menu.

Use that menu to:

• Stop the campaign

Stopping is useful when the workflow needs to be paused, replaced, or corrected before more contacts enter.

Pre-publish checklist

Before publishing, confirm that:

• the trigger is configured correctly
• email steps have valid content and sender details
• delays, branches, and exits reflect the intended customer journey
• simulation runs cleanly for a representative contact
• any event-trigger payload assumptions have been tested

Best practices

• Simulate with a real sample contact whenever the workflow depends on contact attributes or segment logic.
• Test event-triggered campaigns with realistic payloads instead of empty JSON.
• Publish only after the trigger and send-email steps are complete.
• Stop a running campaign before making major workflow changes that could change how new entrants are processed.

Related guides

• Building Campaign Flows
• Campaign Reporting
• Reviewing Campaign Executions