When and Why You Need Different Campaign Types
Choosing the right campaign type depends on your marketing goals. Use one-time campaigns for announcements and promotions, automated campaigns for nurturing leads over time, and testing campaigns to optimize your messaging. Understanding each type helps you select the best approach for every situation.
1. Newsletter Campaigns
Newsletter campaigns are one-time broadcast emails sent to your subscribers all at once.
Best for:
Product launches and announcements
Promotional offers and sales
Company updates and news
Event invitations
Monthly or weekly content roundups
Key Features:
Send immediately or schedule for a specific date and time
Smart Send: SendX optimizes sending time based on when each contact typically engages
Geo Send: Deliver emails based on contact time zones for global audiences
Send in Contact's Timezone: Ensure emails arrive at the optimal local time
Resend to Unopened: Automatically resend to contacts who didn't open, with an option to change the subject line
Can be used with Auto warmup & Spread sending addons to maximize your delivearbility.
How to Create:
Go to Campaigns and click Create Campaign
Select Newsletter Campaign
Design your email using the drag-and-drop editor
Choose your recipient list or segment
Select your scheduling option (Send Now, Schedule for Later, Smart Send, or Geo Send)
Review and send or schedule your campaign
Important Notes:
Resend to Unopened is a feature within Newsletter campaigns, not a separate campaign type
Smart Send and Geo Send help maximize engagement by timing delivery strategically. However these need data to work, so you should avoid using the feature for the first few campaigns.
2. A/B Test Campaigns
A/B Test campaigns let you test different subject lines to see which performs better before sending to your entire list.
Best for:
Optimizing email subject lines
Learning what resonates with your audience
Improving open rates over time
Important campaigns where performance matters most
How It Works:
SendX sends your email with different subject lines to a test portion of your audience. After the test period, the winning subject line (based on open rates) automatically goes to the remaining contacts.
How to Create:
Go to Campaigns and click Create Campaign
Select A/B Test Campaign
Create two different subject lines (Subject A and Subject B)
Design your email content (same for both versions)
Set your test parameters:
Test audience size (up to 40% of your list)
Test duration (up to 30 days)
Choose your recipient list
Schedule or send your campaign
Important Notes:
Only subject lines can be tested, not email content or sender details
You can customize the test split up to 40% of your total audience
The test can run for up to 30 days before declaring a winner
The version with the highest open rate wins and sends to the remaining audience
Minimum list size recommendations apply for statistically significant results
3. Drip Campaigns
Drip campaigns are a series of automated emails sent over time based on specific time intervals.
Best for:
Welcome series for new subscribers
Onboarding sequences for new customers
Educational email courses
Lead nurturing over time
Re-engagement campaigns
How They Work:
Drip campaigns send pre-written emails in a specific order with time delays between each message. For example: Email 1 sends immediately when someone subscribes, Email 2 sends 3 days later, Email 3 sends 7 days after that.
How to Create:
Go to Automation and select Drip Campaigns
Click Create Drip Sequence
Name your sequence
Add your first email and set when it should send
Add subsequent emails with time delays between each
Set your enrollment triggers (who gets added to this sequence)
Activate your drip sequence
Important Notes:
Drip campaigns are purely time-based sequences of emails
They cannot include conditional logic or branching paths
Contacts move through the sequence automatically once enrolled
For more complex automation needs, consider using Workflows instead
Existing Drip campaigns cannot be converted to Workflows but can be included within a Workflow
A Drip will not send the same email to the same email more than once.
When to Use Drips vs Workflows:
Use Drips when you simply need to send a series of interconnected emails without additional actions
Use Workflows when you need conditional logic, branching, tagging, or other automation actions
4. Auto Trigger Campaigns
Auto Trigger campaigns are automated emails sent based on specific automation rules and contact actions.
Best for:
Welcome emails when someone subscribes
Birthday or anniversary emails
Event-based communications
Sending PDFs or resources based on triggers
Repeated reminder emails
Important: Auto Trigger is a legacy feature. While it still works and is available in SendX, we recommend using Workflows for new automation projects as they offer more flexibility and control.
How They Work:
Auto Trigger campaigns use automation rules (trigger + action) to send emails automatically when specific conditions are met.
How to Create:
First, create your email campaign
Go to Automation and click New Automation
Set your trigger (what event starts the automation)
Set your action (send the campaign you created)
Activate the automation
Important Notes:
This is a legacy feature; Workflows offer more capabilities
Still functional and supported
Cannot be converted to Workflows
Best suited for simple, single-email automations
For complex automation flows, use Workflows instead
5. RSS Campaigns
RSS campaigns automatically send your blog posts or website updates to subscribers on a recurring schedule.
Best for:
Sharing new blog posts with subscribers
Keeping your audience updated on website content
Automating content distribution
Consistent communication without manual effort
How They Work:
Connect your blog's RSS feed to SendX, and the platform automatically checks for new content and emails it to your subscribers based on your chosen schedule (daily, weekly, or monthly).
Scheduling Options:
Send Daily:
Set your time zone and preferred send time
Option to exclude specific days
Example: Send at 10 AM daily, but skip Tuesday through Thursday
On excluded days, no email is sent; posts accumulate and send on the next scheduled day
Send Weekly:
Choose your time zone
Select preferred send time
Pick the day of the week (e.g., every Monday at 9 AM)
Send Monthly:
Choose your time zone
Select preferred send time
Pick the date of the month (e.g., 15th of every month)
Note: If you select the 29th, 30th, or 31st, be aware these dates don't exist in all months
How to Create:
Go to Campaigns and click Create Campaign
Select RSS Campaign
Enter your RSS feed URL
Design your email template (this template will be used for all future sends)
Choose your scheduling option (Daily, Weekly, or Monthly)
Set your time zone and send time
Select your recipient list
Activate your RSS campaign
Important Notes:
If there are no new blog posts at the scheduled time, SendX sends the campaign with the latest available data
RSS campaigns run automatically once activated
You only need to set up the campaign once; it continues sending based on your schedule
The same email template is used for each send, with content pulled dynamically from your RSS feed
You can pause or edit RSS campaigns at any time
6. Workflows
Workflows are visual automation sequences that combine emails, conditions, actions, and triggers to create sophisticated customer journeys.
Best for:
Complex automation scenarios
Conditional email sequences based on behavior
Combining emails with tagging, segmentation, and other actions
Advanced lead nurturing
Customer lifecycle management
Any automation that needs branching logic
How They Work:
Workflows use a visual drag-and-drop builder where you create automation flows that can include email sends, delays, conditions (if/then logic), tagging, list management, and more. You can even include Drip campaigns within a Workflow.
Why Choose Workflows:
Most powerful automation option in SendX
Can do everything Drip campaigns do, plus much more
Visual interface makes complex automations easy to understand
Recommended for new users learning SendX automation
Can incorporate multiple actions beyond just sending emails
Key Capabilities:
Send emails based on contact behavior
Add or remove tags automatically
Move contacts between lists
Create conditional branches (if opened, do this; if not, do that)
Include time delays between actions
Trigger actions based on website events or purchases
Combine multiple automation elements in one flow
How to Create:
Go to Automation and select Workflows
Click Create New Workflow
Use the visual builder to drag and drop elements
Set your entry trigger (how contacts enter the workflow)
Add emails, delays, conditions, and actions
Connect the elements to create your automation flow
Test your workflow
Activate when ready
Important Notes:
Workflows cannot be converted back to Drip campaigns
Existing Drip campaigns can be included as elements within Workflows
More complex than Drips but much more powerful
Best suited for users who need conditional logic and multi-step automations
Can replace both Auto Trigger and Drip functionality
Choosing the Right Campaign Type
For one-time sends: Use Newsletter Campaigns
To test subjects: Use A/B Test Campaigns
For simple email sequences: Use Drip Campaigns
For basic automation: Use Auto Trigger Campaigns (but consider Workflows instead)
To automate blog updates: Use RSS Campaigns
For complex automation: Use Workflows
Common Questions
Can I convert a campaign from one type to another after creation?
No. Once you create a campaign and select its type, you cannot convert it to a different type. You would need to create a new campaign of the desired type.
What's the difference between Drip campaigns and Workflows?
Drip campaigns are simple time-based email sequences. Workflows are advanced automations that can include emails plus conditional logic, tagging, list management, and behavior-based triggers. Workflows can do everything Drips do and more.
Should I use Auto Trigger or Workflows for automation?
We recommend using Workflows for new automation projects. Auto Trigger is a legacy feature that still works but Workflows offer much more flexibility and power.
What happens if my RSS feed has no new posts?
The RSS campaign will still send at the scheduled time using the latest available data from your feed.
Can I run multiple campaign types at the same time?
Yes. You can have active Newsletter campaigns, running Drip sequences, live Workflows, and scheduled RSS campaigns all operating simultaneously.
How do I know which campaign type performed best?
Each campaign type has its own analytics dashboard showing opens, clicks, bounces, and other metrics. Navigate to your campaign reports to compare performance across different campaign types.
Need more help? Contact our support team or explore our Help Center for detailed guides on each campaign type.