Difference between salesforce sends, user initiated sends and Triggered sends
In Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC), there are three main types of email sends in Email Studio:
- Salesforce Sends
- User-Initiated Sends
- Triggered Sends
Each serves a different purpose depending on how emails need to be sent. Here’s a breakdown of the differences:
- Salesforce Sends
- Used for sending emails to Salesforce CRM Contacts, Leads, or Campaign Members directly from Salesforce Sales or Service Cloud.
- Uses Marketing Cloud Connect to send emails.
- Can be initiated from Salesforce (e.g., Campaigns, Reports, or List Views).
- Often used for one-time batch sends (e.g., newsletters, event invitations).
- Send tracking data is written back to Salesforce.
Example Use Case:
A sales team wants to send a promotional email to all members of a Salesforce Campaign.
- User-Initiated Sends
- Used for batch email sends that need to be manually scheduled or sent immediately from Email Studio.
- Works with Data Extensions rather than Salesforce CRM objects.
- Can be configured with a specific audience, send classification, and suppression lists.
- Provides detailed tracking within SFMC.
Example Use Case:
- A marketing team manually schedules a promotional email campaign for a customer segment stored in a Data Extension.
- Triggered Sends
- Used for real-time, automated email sends that are triggered by an event or action (e.g., form submission, purchase confirmation).
- Uses APIs or event-driven automation to send emails instantly.
- Can be set up via Triggered Email in Email Studio or Journeys in Journey Builder.
- Ideal for transactional emails like welcome emails, password resets, and order confirmations.
Example Use Case:
- A customer fills out a form to download an eBook, and they receive an automated email with the download link.
Key Differences at a Glance
Feature | Salesforce Sends | User-Initiated Sends | Triggered Sends |
Purpose | Send to Salesforce Campaigns, Leads, or Contacts | Manual or scheduled batch sends from Data Extensions | Event-based, automated sends |
Data Source | Salesforce Objects (Leads, Contacts, Campaigns) | Data Extensions in SFMC | Data Extensions, API events |
Send Type | One-time bulk sends | Manual or scheduled bulk sends | Real-time, transactional sends |
Trigger | Manual from Salesforce | Manual from Email Studio | API call, user action, or event |
Tracking | Synced back to Salesforce | Available in SFMC | Available in SFMC |
Which One Should You Use?
- Use Salesforce Sends if you need to send emails directly from Salesforce CRM to Contacts, Leads, or Campaign Members.
- Use User-Initiated Sends if you are sending manual or scheduled bulk emails from Marketing Cloud Email Studio.
- Use Triggered Sends if you need automated, event-driven emails for real-time transactional communications.
