Salesforce Marketing Cloud offers multiple ways to achieve the same marketing outcomes, and sending emails is a prime example. Choosing the right method can be challenging, even for experienced users. This guide provides a detailed overview of various email sending methods in Marketing Cloud, focusing on “What Is Guided Send In Marketing Cloud” and its modern counterpart.
Email Studio
Salesforce Marketing Cloud Email Studio is the hub for creating, previewing, testing, and sending emails using Content Builder.
1. Send Flow
Send Flow allows you to send an email to various audience types, including lists, data extensions, Salesforce reports, and campaigns. It’s a popular and intuitive method, especially for Email Studio-centric accounts.
Send Flow is the evolution of the previous “Guided Send” in Email Studio. While the name has changed, the core functionality, user interface, and guided experience remain largely the same. Understanding what is guided send in Marketing Cloud essentially means understanding the foundation of Send Flow.
One significant advantage of Send Flow is its visual, step-by-step guidance, which reduces the risk of errors.
When to use it: For sending a single email, one time, to a specific audience stored in a List or Data Extension.
Send Flow also enables you to:
- Exclude audience types.
- Utilize suppression lists.
- Deduplicate subscribers by email address to prevent multiple sends to the same address.
Note: Email tracking data doesn’t sync back to Salesforce CRM unless the target Data Extension is saved in the Salesforce Data Extensions folder.
Navigate to: Email Studio → select the email → Click “Send”.
2. User-Initiated
User-Initiated emails are sent to multiple recipients in Data Extensions simultaneously.
These sends function as a Send Definition, allowing you to configure all email send elements, including email selection, send classification, audience, and CC/BCC recipients.
Located in the Interactions area of Email Studio, this feature is part of the legacy functionalities, reflected in its dated UI.
The send is performed manually, either immediately or scheduled for a specific date and time.
When to use it: For re-using the same audience and settings multiple times, such as a monthly newsletter sent to the same Data Extension.
Note: Be mindful of the cost implications of enabling CC/BCC functionality. If this feature is unavailable, contact your account executive for activation.
Navigate to: Email Studio → Interactions.
3. Salesforce Sends
Despite the name, Salesforce Sends are initiated from Email Studio.
The name stems from:
- Email sends to Salesforce Data Extensions, typically created by importing data from Salesforce Reports.
- Automatic synchronization of send and tracking data to the Salesforce core platform via Marketing Cloud Connect.
Note: CRM user integration is required to access this option.
4. Triggered Sends
Triggered Sends are sent to individual recipients in real-time based on actions or transactions, like a confirmation email after event registration.
The individual recipient sending distinguishes Triggered Sends from User-Initiated emails.
Triggered Sends consist of:
- Interaction: Controls when to start sending emails.
- Content: Defines the email, send classification, and subscriber management.
The trigger criteria are configured outside SFMC via API calls, using the information defined in the Triggered Send configuration.
Updates to email content require pausing the interaction, publishing changes, and restarting the interaction.
When to use it: To trigger automated emails based on events inside or outside the SFMC platform, such as webform submissions on a website (not a Marketing Cloud form).
5. Journey Builder Sends
This area provides a view of Journey Builder sends within Email Studio, allowing you to view, pause, start/restart, and publish changes.
The actual send isn’t performed here; it’s a management view for Journey Builder Sends.
Tip: Monitor emails sent via Journey Builder from this area for more accurate send status information.
6. A/B Testing
A/B Testing allows you to test different variables within emails.
You can test subject lines, preheaders, from names, send dates/times, content areas, or even two different emails.
During setup, you’ll select the target audience, the test percentage, the winning metric (clicks vs. open rates), and the evaluation time. For the time period, consider the audience size: the larger the audience, the larger the time window should be. Scheduling can be immediate or for a later date.
Want to go beyond A/B testing? Explore the Path Optimizer tool in Journey Builder.
Journey Builder
Marketing Cloud Journey Builder offers a visual campaign automation building experience to map out customer journeys.
7. Single Send Journey
Single Send Journeys send emails in three steps: select the email, choose the target audience Data Extension (add filters if needed), and schedule the send.
A key benefit is the automatic email tracking synchronization to Salesforce CRM.
When to use it: For a single email send using Journey Builder.
8. Multi-Step Journey
For scenarios requiring more than one email send, the multi-step journey is ideal. Design simple or complex multi-channel journeys with branching logic based on engagement and data. Set automated email sends at specific times.
Navigate to: Journey Builder → Create New Journey → Multi-Step Journey → Build.
When to use it: For sending multiple emails and leveraging Journey Builder’s paths and branching logic.
9. Transactional Send Journey
Specifically for transactional messages triggered by user actions like form submissions or purchases.
The transactional API message entry source is created via the Journey Builder UI, which is helpful for non-technical users. These sends are an advancement over classic Triggered Sends in Email Studio and are sent via REST APIs (asynchronous).
The trigger criteria are configured via APIs outside the platform and tied to a journey via an Event Definition Key.
When to use it: To trigger automated emails based on events inside or outside the SFMC platform.
READ MORE: Get Started with Transactional Messaging API
Automation Studio
Salesforce Marketing Cloud Automation Studio facilitates marketing automation and data management activities.
10. Send Email Activity
Configure a send email activity as part of a multi-step automation or independently.
Configuring a Send Email Activity creates a Send Definition for use in multiple automations, similar to User-Initiated sends. A use case is scheduling automated reports sent via email.
Note: Emails sent via Automation Studio are not tracked in CRM.
Final Thoughts
Understanding the various email sending methods in Salesforce Marketing Cloud is crucial for choosing the best option for each scenario. Knowing what is guided send in Marketing Cloud and its successor, Send Flow, is a fundamental step.
As Salesforce recommends:
“When considering which send method to use, keep in mind who you’re sending to and what’s driving your send—you or an action taken by the customer. Bottom line: If you let the goals of your message guide your decision, it’ll be smooth sending.”
