> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://kbase.whitelabel-loyalty.com/product/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://kbase.whitelabel-loyalty.com/product/loyalty-engine/campaigns/getting-started-with-campaigns.md).
# Getting started with Campaigns
### What are campaigns?
**A campaign is a single, unified resource that represents an earning opportunity in the Loyalty Engine.** One campaign brings together what the opportunity is, who can see it, when it runs, what the user earns, and — where relevant — how far along they are toward a goal.
Campaigns are how you turn the events your systems report into rewards. They are managed as a unit, so you can activate, pause, or archive an entire earning opportunity in one place rather than wiring up separate resources by hand.
There are two types of campaign:
| Type | Description | Use for |
| -------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ | ------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Rule Based** | Responds to events immediately using reactors. Runs continuously with no completion state. | Earning rules, sign-up bonuses, promo codes, always-on earning logic |
| **Goal Based** | Tracks user progress toward a target using missions. Completes when the target is reached. | Stamp cards, spending milestones, engagement challenges, multi-step goals |
{% hint style="info" %}
**Campaigns respond to events—they don't create them.**
Campaigns act on the **events** your systems report. Before setting up a campaign, make sure the behaviours you want to reward are already being captured as events.
{% endhint %}
***
### Rule Based campaigns
**Rule Based campaigns are always-on earning rules.** They use **reactors** to respond to events the moment they're reported — awarding points, issuing rewards, granting badges, or calling a webhook. They run continuously and have no completion state.
A single Rule Based campaign can hold one or more reactors, letting you group related earning logic together (for example, "earn 1 point per £1 spent" alongside "double points on weekends").
See [Rule Based Campaigns](/product/loyalty-engine/campaigns/rule-based-campaigns.md) for a full guide.
### Goal Based campaigns
**Goal Based campaigns track progress toward a target using missions.** Each **mission** tracks real-time, per-user progress against a defined goal — count-based ("make 5 purchases"), value-based ("spend £100"), or boolean ("follow us on social media") — and can reward the user on completion.
Missions can run against a time window and support optional user opt-in. Each mission tracks real-time, per-user progress, which you can monitor in the Loyalty Console — see who's taking part and how far along each user is against the target.
Missions can be single goals or multi-step (nested) missions, and can be completed in parallel or in a set sequence.
See [Goal Based Campaigns](/product/loyalty-engine/campaigns/goal-based-campaigns.md) for a full guide.
### Campaign lifecycle
Every campaign has a **status** that reflects where it is in its lifecycle — from **Draft** while you set it up, to **Active** once it's live, through to **Paused**, **Ended**, or **Archived**. You manage this status to control when a campaign runs.
See [Managing Campaigns](/product/loyalty-engine/campaigns/managing-campaigns.md) for the full lifecycle and how to move between statuses.
---
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