Definition of Single-Flow and Multi-Flow

Single-flow means that the campaign flow is executed per customer.

With multi-flow, there is a selection of multiple customers. Most objects are suitable for both single-flow and multi-flow. There are exceptions that are only suitable for single-flow. This means that if a campaign is started in single-flow, only objects that support single-flow can be executed. The same applies to multi-flow.

If the sending process sends one email content to a single customer record, it is a single-mail. In this case, the deliverability properties of a customer are ignored. The reason for this is that typical single-mails, such as order confirmations, password reset emails, or registration confirmations, must always be sent. Single-mails are usually sent ad-hoc, meaning at the moment the customer initiates an action, and therefore, they are not scheduled in large numbers in advance. The email then does not include an unsubscribe header and is sent regardless of the mailable status of the record.

Read more about the mailable status here.

Objects that behave differently in single-flow or multi-flow

Campaign objects that always function in multi-flow include the 'Select Customers' object, the 'Start with Webhook' object, and the 'CVS Trigger' object. If you use the 'Select Customers' object, it always creates a multi-flow, regardless of how many customers are in your selection.

The 'Lookup Customer' object is always single-flow; this search query results in a single customer record. If more records meet the search criteria, one customer record is leading. This is the one with the oldest Clang ID. This record is forwarded to the next object in the campaign.

'Send Email' Object

If a 'Send Email' object is placed after these objects, it will act according to what it receives. An example:

• If the (multi-flow) 'Start with Webhook' object provides only one customer to the 'Send Email' object, the email is treated as a single-mail.

  • The email is considered transactional, does not include an unsubscribe header, and is sent regardless of the deliverability status of the record.

• If the (multi-flow) 'Start with Webhook' object provides multiple customers to the 'Send Email' object, the email is treated as a multi-flow mail.

  • These emails do include an unsubscribe header and are not sent if the customer does not meet the 'is deliverable' criteria.

Within this object, you have the option to set an override for the email being sent. This means the email does not go to the customer record but to another email address. When the object sends emails in bulk, there is a maximum of 50 emails. So, if your customer selection contains 51 or more customer records, no more than 50 emails will be sent to the target email address. Good to know: when the object is called in single-flow, there is no limit to the override functionality of the "Send Email" object.

'Delete Customer(s)' Object

This object allows a relationship to be removed from the database. This action cannot be undone. By default, this object only deletes customers in a single-flow. Through the settings, it is possible to choose to delete multiple customers at once, thus multi-flow.

'Get Datamodel Record'-Object

This object only accepts single-flow. It selects a row from the data model. Only the selected relationship from the flow is used as a source. This object looks at all the Datamodel rows of that relationship and does not consider the rows that may have been selected earlier in the flow. Therefore, this object will not work with a bulk selection of customers.

'Load Remote Attachment'-Object

Load Remote Attachment (part of the Email Attachments app) only accepts single-flow. The attachment can only be retrieved for one customer at a time. Therefore, this object will not work with a bulk selection of customers.

Testing

It often happens during testing that a bulk mailing is tested (for example, sending a newsletter), but a test profile is selected where only one customer is included. The email that is then sent will be handled as a single-mail and will not include an unsubscribe header, causing the test to appear unsuccessful. So, pay close attention to this when testing!