How to add a follow up step to a live campaign
How-to guide Updated 12 July 2026
How do you add a follow up step to a live cold email campaign?
Ask Claude to pause the campaign, add a new step at the position and delay you want, then resume. HotHawk holds every lead in place while you edit, and once it is live again, leads who had finished the last step flow into your new one. You extend a campaign that is running out of road without starting over.
No credit card required.
Before you start
You need a HotHawk account and the HotHawk MCP server connected to Claude. It takes a couple of minutes and no code. Full setup is on the MCP server page.
Step by step
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1
You ask Claude
Pause my SaaS Q3 campaign so I can add a step.
Claude callsmcp__hothawk__campaigns_pause_createcampaignId SaaS Q3The campaign pauses. Nothing new goes out while you edit, and anyone mid-way through the existing steps holds their place instead of being reset.
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2
You ask Claude
Add a fourth step, four days after step three, with this short break up email.
Claude callsmcp__hothawk__campaign_steps_createcampaignId SaaS Q3 position after step 3 delayInDays 4 body break up emailThe new step slots in at the end. Claude reads the copy back so you can check it before anyone receives it.
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3
You ask Claude
Reads well. Resume the campaign.
Claude callsmcp__hothawk__campaigns_activate_createcampaignId SaaS Q3SaaS Q3 goes live again. Leads who had finished step three now flow into the new step four, and everyone else carries on where they were.
A campaign that stalls on the last touch
You look at the numbers and the first two steps are pulling replies, then it goes quiet. The campaign is not broken. It has just run out of road, and the leads who did not answer the early emails are sitting at the end of it with nothing more coming. Scrapping the whole thing and rebuilding is the wrong fix for that.
The right fix is one more step. A short break up email, or a different angle you have not tried yet, added onto the end of the campaign the leads are already in. HotHawk lets you do exactly that on a live campaign, without losing a single reply or position it has already earned.
Pause, add, resume
Run it from Claude and it is three moves. Ask it to pause and it calls campaigns_pause_create, which freezes the campaign so nothing goes out mid-edit. Add the step and it calls campaign_steps_create, dropping the new email in at the position and delay you name. Resume and it calls campaigns_activate_create, and the campaign picks up where it left off.
The pause matters. It means every lead holds their place while you work, so nobody gets a broken half-edit. And because Claude reads the new copy back before you resume, the step nobody has received yet still gets a check first.
Only the right leads get it
When you resume, the new step goes to the leads who reached the end and stayed quiet, once the delay you set has passed. That is the whole point: you are reaching back out to the people who did not answer, not spamming the ones who did. Anyone who already replied is out of the flow and stays out.
Nothing about the sending changes either. The new step goes across the same warmed, rotated mailboxes as the rest of the campaign, inside the same window, warmup still running underneath. You are giving a good campaign one more shot at the quiet leads, not rebuilding it and not risking what already works.
The HotHawk tools behind this
Every action here is a real endpoint. Claude reaches it over the MCP server, and you can hit the same endpoints directly from the REST API if you would rather build it into your own stack.
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mcp__hothawk__campaigns_pause_createPause a live campaign so it can be edited safely -
mcp__hothawk__campaign_steps_createAdd a new step at the position and delay you set -
mcp__hothawk__campaigns_activate_createResume the campaign and start the new step
Frequently asked
Do I have to pause the campaign to add a step?
Yes, and that is on purpose. Pausing first means the campaign holds steady while you edit, so nobody gets a half-finished change mid-send. Add the step, check it, then resume. The pause is a safety catch, not a hassle.
What happens to leads who already finished the last step?
They flow into the new step once you resume, as long as the delay you set has passed. So a lead who went quiet after step three gets your new step four, which is usually exactly who you added it for. Nobody who already replied gets pulled back in.
Why add a step instead of starting a fresh campaign?
Because the leads are already in motion. If a campaign is doing fine on the early touches but running out of road at the end, the fix is one more step, not a rebuild. You keep every reply and every position the campaign has already earned.
Do I need to write code to add a step to a live campaign?
No. The pause, the new step and the resume all run in plain language over the MCP server. The same endpoints are in the REST API if you want to build the edit into your own workflow.
Does editing a live campaign put my deliverability at risk?
No. Adding a step does not change how anything sends. The new email still goes across your warmed, rotated mailboxes inside the same window, with warmup running and open tracking off. You are extending the campaign, not loosening the protections around it.