In Mailcamp, campaigns and automations are both used to send emails, but they are designed for different jobs. A campaign is usually a one-time broadcast that you send to a chosen audience or segment. An automation is a workflow that runs in the background and sends emails or performs actions based on triggers, timing, and conditions.
What a campaign is
- A campaign is best for one-time sends such as announcements, promotions, newsletters, or updates.
- You choose the audience, set up the message, create the content, then send now or schedule it.
- Campaigns are ideal when you want direct control over a single send.
What an automation is
- An automation is a workflow that starts from a trigger and continues automatically.
- It can send emails, wait for a period of time, branch on conditions, or perform contact-related operations.
- Automations are ideal for repeatable journeys such as welcomes, birthdays, anniversaries, follow-ups, or recurring communication.
Main difference
- Campaigns are usually one-time broadcasts.
- Automations are ongoing rule-based workflows.
When to use campaigns
- When you want to send a newsletter to an audience.
- When you are launching a promotion or time-sensitive announcement.
- When you want to manually review, schedule, and confirm each send.
When to use automations
- When emails should be triggered automatically by an event or date.
- When you want a repeatable workflow instead of creating each send manually.
- When you need steps such as wait delays, conditions, updates, or branching paths.
How campaign creation works in Mailcamp
- Choose recipients from your audiences and segments.
- Complete the setup details such as campaign name, subject line, sender details, and reply-to address.
- Build the content, then send immediately or schedule it.
How automation creation works in Mailcamp
- Create an automation and choose a trigger type.
- Select the audience and configure trigger settings.
- Name the automation.
- Build the workflow on the automation canvas using actions, waits, conditions, and email steps.
Examples
- A weekly product update sent once to all active contacts is usually a campaign.
- A welcome sequence that starts automatically when a new contact joins an audience is an automation.
- A birthday message sent every year based on a date field is an automation.
Helpful tip
If the send is one planned broadcast, use a campaign. If the send should run automatically from a trigger or repeat as part of a workflow, use an automation.