Smart Blast vs Promotional Blast

A Smart Blast or a Promo Blast? How do I decide which to use? This is a common question, particularly since a Smart Blast is unique to Cortex in the email marketing world.

Smart Blasts puts control in the hands of Cortex AI. It ensures that all users receive a Cortex email, but allows Cortex to prioritize messaging based on the user's position in the customer lifecycle – choosing different templates as it sees fit. This means that while most users will receive your Smart Blast email, some will not, and will instead receive lifecycle messages like Cart Abandon or At Risk of Leaving. Smart Blast is best used for non-critical messaging like a regular newsletter or new seasonal launch announcement.

Promo Blasts puts you in control of the send, and overrides any Cortex prioritization. Promo Blast is best used for delivery-critical messaging that must reach certain users. Promo Blast is best used for single-day sales or niche cases such as a product recall where the email must reach everyone on the targeted list.

The following chart will help you understand the similarities and differences between the two types of sends.

Smart Blast	Promo Blast
All users receive an email from Cortex	All users receive the same Promo Blast email
Allows Cortex to target users with different emails	Overrides all other Cortex emails
Resets Cortex send interval	Does not reset Cortex send interval
Can be sent across multiple days	Sends in a single batch
Can be edited while sending	Cannot be changed after sends begin
Works with Smart Segments	Works with Smart Segments
Always uses Timing Optimization	Does Not Support Timing Optimization
Allows dynamic product recommendations	Allows dynamic product recommendations
Works with multiple subject lines	Works with multiple subject lines
Works with multiple incentives	Works with multiple incentives
Works with Cortex Template Builder	Works with Cortex Template Builder
Subject lines are only optimized across multiple days (unless recycled)	Subject lines are not optimized (unless recycled)

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