Salesforce Marketing Cloud is a powerful tool for creating great emails and advancing marketing efforts, but it shouldn't be used for every email we send at IU. In fact, because training is required and a great understanding of the platform is essential to be successful, there may be some folks who don't need to use it for their emails.
When to use Marketing Cloud
You should use Marketing Cloud when:
- You're engaging in high-impact activities like student recruitment or retention
- Your email needs to be designed (rather than text only) and IU branded
- You need to track the analytics (opens, clicks, etc.) of the email you're sending
When to not use Marketing Cloud
You don't have to use Marketing Cloud when:
- You're communicating exclusively within your own unit for things such as staff announcements
- Your content is simple enough to warrant a text-based email
- The email's performance isn't something you care about
For simple email sends, you can use Outlook. If you need to create a mailing list (or listserv) you can use IU Lists to do so with Outlook.
Some examples of emails that are fine to send using Outlook:
- Event invitations for people in your own department
- Department-level announcements such as HR information, staffing changes, etc.
If you're not sure if you should use Marketing Cloud, you can either ask your unit's marketing and communications folks or reach out to the CX Marketing team.