Campaigns vs. Email Sends: Which One Should You Use?
5 min read
Marketing automation platforms typically offer two ways to send email: a campaign (sometimes called a broadcast or mass email) and an individual send within an automation flow. The right choice depends on the nature of the communication and how you want to track and report on it.
What a Campaign Does
A campaign is a scheduled or immediate send to a defined segment or list. You choose the audience, write the email, set the send time, and the platform delivers it to everyone who qualifies. Campaigns are best for newsletters, announcements, promotions, and any communication that is relevant to a group at a specific moment in time.
What an Automation Email Does
An automation email is triggered for individual contacts based on their behavior or state. It sends automatically when a specific condition is met - a form submission, a tag applied, a score threshold reached. The email content may be personalized with dynamic fields, and it is part of a broader workflow that includes conditions, waits, and branching logic.
Reporting Differences
- Campaigns: report shows aggregate metrics for all recipients at once - total opens, total clicks, unsubscribes
- Automation emails: report shows cumulative metrics over time as contacts enter the flow
- Campaigns are point-in-time snapshots. Automation reports are rolling.
- For A/B testing, campaigns offer the cleaner test environment
Common Mistakes
Using a campaign to send what should be an automation email - for example, a welcome email sent manually each time someone signs up - is inefficient and inconsistent. Conversely, using an automation to send what is effectively a broadcast (a company-wide newsletter) makes it harder to track and manage as a coherent campaign.
The Decision Rule
If the email is the same for everyone and timing is event-based (a date, a promotion, a news event), use a campaign. If the email is triggered by what an individual contact did and timing depends on their actions, use automation. When in doubt, ask: 'Would I want to send this differently to different people at different times?' If yes, automation.