How do I do email marketing in Salesforce?

Multiple approaches exist depending on volume and sophistication needs. Standard Salesforce email allows sending to 5,000 contacts per 24 hours using basic templates—sufficient for small-scale communications. For greater volume or advanced capabilities, organizations implement Marketing Cloud ($36K-$600K annually), Pardot ($15K-$50K annually), external ESPs requiring Salesforce integration like Mailchimp, or native solutions like MassMailer providing unlimited sends within the Salesforce environment. Complete setup instructions in our ultimate guide.

Can I send unlimited emails from Salesforce?

Standard Salesforce limits email sends to 5,000 external addresses per 24-hour period across the entire organization—inadequate for regular newsletter programs or customer communications at scale. Marketing Cloud and Pardot provide unlimited sending but require $15,000-$600,000+ annual investments. External ESPs like Mailchimp offer unlimited sends but create integration complexity—duplicate databases, sync delays, fragmented tracking. Native solutions like MassMailer eliminate daily send limits while operating entirely within Salesforce at $3,600-$9,600 annually.

What's better for Salesforce email marketing: native solutions or external ESPs?

Depends on priorities. External ESPs like Mailchimp and Constant Contact offer familiar interfaces and pre-built templates but require integration management—duplicate contact databases, 15-60 minute sync delays, ongoing field mapping, and fragmented engagement data. Native solutions operate entirely within Salesforce—single customer database, instant CRM updates, all engagement in Activity Timeline, no external platform complexity. Choose native Salesforce email for unified data architecture and simplified operations.

How much does Salesforce email marketing cost?

Costs vary dramatically by approach. Standard Salesforce email: included with licenses but limited to 5,000 daily sends. Marketing Cloud: $3,000-$50,000/month ($36K-$600K annually) + $100K-$300K implementation. Pardot: $1,250-$4,000/month ($15K-$50K annually) + $50K-$150K implementation. Mailchimp: $20-$350/month for 500-50,000 contacts. Native solutions: $300-$800/month ($3.6K-$9.6K annually) flat rate regardless of contact volume.

Does Salesforce track email opens and clicks?

Yes, but capabilities vary by implementation. Standard Salesforce email provides basic tracking—sent confirmation, but limited open/click visibility. Marketing Cloud and Pardot provide sophisticated engagement analytics—opens, clicks, bounces, unsubscribes, heat maps, and device types. External ESPs track engagement, but data fragments between platforms. Native solutions record all engagement directly in Salesforce Activity Timeline—opens, clicks, bounces visible on contact records alongside sales calls and meetings.

Salesforce Email Marketing: Native vs External Platforms

Core Content

Salesforce email marketing enables organizations to communicate with customers, prospects, and partners using contact data stored in CRM—eliminating duplicate databases while ensuring sales and marketing teams share a unified customer view. Rather than managing separate email platforms disconnected from sales activities, Salesforce email marketing integrates campaign execution with opportunity tracking, lead management, and customer service history.

Why Organizations Use Salesforce for Email Marketing:

Unified Customer Data: CRM contains comprehensive contact information—demographics, firmographics, purchase history, support tickets, opportunity stages, and engagement scores. Email campaigns leverage this data for sophisticated segmentation and personalization, which is impossible with standalone email platforms. Financial advisors segment by account value and investment preferences. Educational institutions segment by program interest and application status. Professional associations segment by membership level and event attendance history.

Consolidated Activity Tracking: Email engagement (opens, clicks, bounces, unsubscribes) records directly in Salesforce Activity Timeline alongside sales calls, meetings, support cases, and opportunity changes. Sales representatives see the complete interaction history when contacting prospects. Customer success teams reference email engagement when addressing member inquiries. Marketing teams attribute revenue to specific campaigns using Campaign Influence reports.

Simplified Workflow: Marketing and sales teams work within a single platform rather than switching between CRM and an external email system. Campaign creation, contact segmentation, and performance analysis occur in the familiar Salesforce interface. Organizations eliminate user adoption challenges associated with training staff on separate marketing platforms.

Salesforce Email Marketing Implementation Options:

Standard Salesforce Email (Limited): Free native email functionality sends individual emails or mass emails to campaigns containing up to 5,000 contacts per 24-hour period. Sufficient for small-scale communications but inadequate for organizations needing regular newsletter sends, event promotions, or customer outreach exceeding daily limits. Text-based templates lack visual design flexibility. No deliverability optimization, suppression list management, or detailed engagement analytics.

Salesforce Marketing Cloud: Enterprise email marketing platform providing sophisticated journey orchestration, AI-powered send-time optimization, mobile messaging integration, and social advertising coordination. Requires $36,000-$600,000+ annual investment, 4-9 month implementations, technical specialists, operates as a separate application requiring Marketing Cloud Connect synchronization with Sales Cloud. Appropriate for enterprises needing multi-channel orchestration, but represents overinvestment for organizations primarily requiring email marketing capabilities.

Marketing Cloud Account Engagement (Pardot): B2B-focused email marketing platform integrated with Salesforce, providing email design tools, A/B testing, drip campaigns, and form tracking. Costs $15,000-$50,000+ annually with a separate interface requiring a certified administrator. More accessible than Marketing Cloud, but maintains a distinct platform architecture.

External Email Service Providers: Mailchimp, Constant Contact, Campaign Monitor, and ActiveCampaign offer user-friendly email design and automation. However, integration with Salesforce creates architectural complexity—duplicate contact databases, sync delays (typically 15-60 minutes), field mapping maintenance, and fragmented engagement tracking requiring data consolidation across platforms. For a detailed comparison, see Mailchimp vs Salesforce.

Native Salesforce Email Solutions: MassMailer eliminates Salesforce's 5,000 daily email limit while operating entirely within the Salesforce environment—no external platforms, no sync delays, no duplicate databases. Organizations send unlimited volume using visual template builders, dynamic segmentation, automated drip campaigns, and comprehensive deliverability management. All engagement data records in the Activity Timeline provide a unified customer view. Annual investment ($3,600-$9,600) represents a fraction of Marketing Cloud or external ESP costs.

Real-World Email Marketing Examples:

RPOA sends monthly retirement planning newsletters to 5,000+ advisor contacts, educational drip sequences to prospective clients, event promotions to regional member segments—all exceeding standard Salesforce limits without external platform integration.

Amerigo Education communicates with international students across the enrollment journey—application guidance, visa information, housing assignments, and orientation schedules—maintaining all student interactions in a unified Salesforce student information system.

Key Takeaways

Salesforce email marketing leverages CRM data for personalized campaigns while maintaining a unified customer communication history in the Activity Timeline
Standard Salesforce email limits 5,000 daily sends—insufficient for organizations needing regular newsletters, event promotions, customer outreach at scale
Implementation options include Marketing Cloud ($36K-$600K annually), Pardot ($15K-$50K annually), external ESPs (Mailchimp, Constant Contact), and native solutions
External ESP integration creates duplicate databases—separate contact records, sync delays, field mapping maintenance, and fragmented engagement tracking
Native solutions eliminate daily send limits while operating entirely within Salesforce—no external platforms, unified data architecture

Execute email marketing entirely within Salesforce—unlimited sends, visual templates, sophisticated segmentation, unified engagement tracking. No external platforms, no integration complexity. Get started with native email →