SFMC Triggered Sends vs. Transactional Journeys: A Comprehensive Comparison

While Triggered Sends are a classic method, Transactional Journeys emerged to empower non-technical users in configuring Transactional API entry sources without the need for developer assistance. Both solutions are integrated into the SFMC UI and can be triggered via API to facilitate real-time communications. This article delves into a detailed comparison of these two features.

FEATURE	Triggered Sends	Transactional Journeys
Classification	Commercial and transactional sends	Only transactional
Override Options	Offers flexibility to override sender and delivery profiles.	sender and delivery profiles are determined by classification.
Priority	High: Queued immediately. Medium: Queued up to 3 minutes by default. It then takes up to 1 minute to send the email. Low: Queued every 5 minutes. It then takes up to 5 minutes to send the email.	By default, sends emails as fast as possible, even faster than triggered sends with high priority.
API Processing	Synchronous and asynchronous. Details below.	Defaults to fast-as-possible
Send Throttling	Supported for controlled delivery.	Not supported; emails are sent as fast as possible.
ENS Integration	Not supported	Integrated seamlessly with ENS for real-time updates.
Target Email Address	Emails are sent to those specified in the payload.	Emails are sent to those specified in the payload.
Add and Update Subscriber’s Options	Supported	Supported
Exclusions, Exclusion Script, and Suppressions	Supported	Not available; auto-suppression lists still apply.
Queue Processing Time	Influenced by priority settings; can vary.	Consistently processes in under 5 seconds.
Send Logging	Is supported.	Only applicable if your account is configured for auto send logging.

Triggered send Sync and Async Processing of API Calls:

Asynchronous: The Marketing Cloud checks the structure of the API call, places the request in a processing queue, and responds. The system doesn't try to process the call or evaluate if the provided data result in a successful email before sending an initial response. An async API call isn’t fully processed before responding, which may lead to an initial successful response, but the email fails to be sent due to incorrect or missing data in the API call. The default value when not defined is ASYNC, determining if the request is processed asynchronously.

Synchronous: Processes and responds to the request in a single transaction. Review the API response provided by the Marketing Cloud endpoint to determine why an API call failed to send the Triggered Send Email.

Event Notification service for Transactional API:

Utilize the Event Notification Service (ENS) API to receive timely notifications when specific events unfold in the context of transactional sends. This functionality proves instrumental when actions based on send status, engagement, or real-time analytics in an external system are imperative.

For instance, one might opt to send an SMS to a customer promptly upon detecting an email bounce.

The Event Notification Service functions by delivering the message status through a webhook to an external system.

Supported Events:

• EmailSent
• EmailNotSent
• EmailBounced
• EmailOpen
• EmailClick
• EmailUnsubscribe
• SmsSent
• SmsNotSent
• SmsTransient — Indicates the most recent transmission status between Salesforce and the mobile device. Note that this is not the final disposition; it provides information from delivery partners and mobile carriers but may not be available in all locales. No specific actions are required.
• SmsBounced
• SmsDelivered