diff --git a/src/Http/Requests/CampaignStoreRequest.php b/src/Http/Requests/CampaignStoreRequest.php
index 5782a9d5..f88446fe 100644
--- a/src/Http/Requests/CampaignStoreRequest.php
+++ b/src/Http/Requests/CampaignStoreRequest.php
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 namespace Sendportal\Base\Http\Requests;
 
 use Illuminate\Foundation\Http\FormRequest;
+use Illuminate\Validation\Rule;
 
 class CampaignStoreRequest extends FormRequest
 {
@@ -38,14 +39,12 @@ public function rules(): array
                 'exists:templates,id',
             ],
             'content' => [
-                'nullable',
+                Rule::requiredIf($this->template_id === null),
             ],
-
             'is_open_tracking' => [
                 'boolean',
                 'nullable'
             ],
-
             'is_click_tracking' => [
                 'boolean',
                 'nullable'
diff --git a/src/Services/Content/MergeContent.php b/src/Services/Content/MergeContent.php
index b1e842db..764afd72 100644
--- a/src/Services/Content/MergeContent.php
+++ b/src/Services/Content/MergeContent.php
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ protected function mergeAutomationContent(Message $message): string
         return $this->mergeContent($content, $template->content);
     }
 
-    protected function mergeContent(string $customContent, string $templateContent): string
+    protected function mergeContent(?string $customContent, string $templateContent): string
     {
         return str_ireplace(['{{content}}', '{{ content }}'], $customContent, $templateContent);
     }
diff --git a/tests/Feature/Campaigns/CampaignControllerTest.php b/tests/Feature/Campaigns/CampaignControllerTest.php
index 03300275..844fca36 100644
--- a/tests/Feature/Campaigns/CampaignControllerTest.php
+++ b/tests/Feature/Campaigns/CampaignControllerTest.php
@@ -204,12 +204,43 @@ function campaigns_can_be_set_to_track_clicks()
         ]);
     }
 
-    private function generateCampaignStoreData(Workspace $workspace): array
+    /** @test */
+    function campaign_content_is_required_if_no_template_is_selected()
+    {
+        [$workspace, $user] = $this->createUserAndWorkspace();
+
+        $campaignStoreData = $this->generateCampaignStoreData($workspace, [
+            'template_id' => null,
+            'content' => null,
+        ]);
+
+        $response = $this->actingAs($user)
+            ->post(route('sendportal.campaigns.store'), $campaignStoreData);
+
+        $response->assertSessionHasErrors('content');
+    }
+
+    /** @test */
+    function campaign_content_is_not_required_if_a_template_is_selected()
+    {
+        [$workspace, $user] = $this->createUserAndWorkspace();
+
+        $campaignStoreData = $this->generateCampaignStoreData($workspace, [
+            'content' => null,
+        ]);
+
+        $response = $this->actingAs($user)
+            ->post(route('sendportal.campaigns.store'), $campaignStoreData);
+
+        $response->assertSessionHasNoErrors();
+    }
+
+    private function generateCampaignStoreData(Workspace $workspace, array $overrides = []): array
     {
         $emailService = factory(EmailService::class)->create(['workspace_id' => $workspace->id]);
         $template = factory(Template::class)->create(['workspace_id' => $workspace->id]);
 
-        return [
+        return array_merge([
             'name' => $this->faker->word,
             'subject' => $this->faker->sentence,
             'from_name' => $this->faker->name,
@@ -217,6 +248,6 @@ private function generateCampaignStoreData(Workspace $workspace): array
             'email_service_id' => $emailService->id,
             'template_id' => $template->id,
             'content' => $this->faker->paragraph
-        ];
+        ], $overrides);
     }
 }
diff --git a/tests/Feature/Content/MergeContentTest.php b/tests/Feature/Content/MergeContentTest.php
index 143fd168..01a3471e 100644
--- a/tests/Feature/Content/MergeContentTest.php
+++ b/tests/Feature/Content/MergeContentTest.php
@@ -36,14 +36,28 @@ function campaign_content_can_be_merged()
         $this->assertEquals($expectedHtml, $mergedContent);
     }
 
-    private function generateCampaignMessage(string $campaignContent): Message
+    /** @test */
+    function it_can_handle_a_null_value_for_campaign_content()
+    {
+        $content = null;
+        $message = $this->generateCampaignMessage(null, '<p>Hello this is some {{content}}</p>');
+
+        $mergedContent = $this->mergeContent($message);
+
+        $expectedHtml = '<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd">
+<html><body><p>Hello this is some </p></body></html>';
+
+        $this->assertEquals($expectedHtml, $mergedContent);
+    }
+
+    private function generateCampaignMessage(?string $campaignContent, ?string $templateContent = null): Message
     {
         /** @var Workspace $workspace */
         $workspace = factory(Workspace::class)->create();
 
         /** @var Template $template */
         $template = factory(Template::class)->create([
-            'content' => '<p>{{content}}</p>',
+            'content' => $templateContent ?? '<p>{{content}}</p>',
             'workspace_id' => $workspace->id
         ]);