Carrot gives you two ways to message your customers: Blasts and Automations. They can use the same audiences (including your saved segments), but they work differently. This article explains the difference so you can choose the right one for each campaign.
In short: a blast is a single message sent to a group at a time you choose. An automation is a rule that runs on its own and messages each customer individually when they meet the trigger.
What is a Blast?
A blast is a one-time marketing message. You write the content, pick who gets it, and send it now or schedule it for later. Everyone in your audience receives it at the same time.
• Channels: send as a mobile app push notification, a text (SMS/MMS), or both at once. Every blast is also saved to your store’s notification center.
• Audience: all customers, custom filters, or one of your saved segments. The blast goes to whoever matches at send time.
• Billing: blasts are pay-as-you-go. Your card is charged after each send and an invoice is available immediately on the blast.
• Good to know: texts must follow 10DLC carrier rules (carrier-approved template content and an age gate), while push notifications have no content restrictions. Always send yourself a test text before sending to your customer base.
Typical blasts: a new product drop, a weekend sale, holiday hours, an event announcement.
A blast’s Recipients step: pick all customers, custom filters, or a saved segment
For the full walkthrough, see Blasts Overview.
What is an Automation?
An automation is a rule you configure once. After you launch it, Carrot watches for customers who meet the trigger and messages each of them automatically.
• Triggers: Win Back (a customer hasn’t purchased for a set number of days) and Customer Birthday (sends on or around their birthday).
• Channel: automations send emails from your store’s sending domain. If you haven’t connected one yet, see Adding an email domain to Carrot. This is a one-time setup.
• Audience: the trigger decides when someone qualifies, and you can narrow who qualifies with a filter: all customers, custom filters, or a saved segment. A matching customer is only messaged when they also hit the trigger.
• Timing: emails go out at your store’s scheduled send time, not the instant a customer matches, so customers aren’t notified at odd hours.
• Extras: include a generic or unique discount code, built right inside the automation builder. Customers can unsubscribe from any email.
Typical automations: a birthday discount, a “we miss you” offer after 60 quiet days.
An automation combining a trigger (Customer Birthday) with a saved segment as the filter
For the full walkthrough, see Creating an Automation.
Side by side
| Blasts | Automations |
What it is | A one-time message you write and send yourself | A rule you set up once that keeps sending on its own |
When it sends | The moment you hit Send, or at a date and time you schedule | Whenever an individual customer hits the trigger (their birthday, or a set number of days since their last purchase) |
Who receives it | Everyone in your audience at once | Each customer individually, when they qualify |
Channels | Push notification, text (SMS/MMS), or both | Email, sent from your store’s sending domain |
Audience options | All customers, custom filters, or a saved segment | The trigger, plus all customers, custom filters, or a saved segment |
How often | Once per send. Sending again is a new blast. | Runs continuously until you turn it off |
Billing | Pay-as-you-go. Your card is charged after each blast, with an invoice per send. | No per-send charge. Emails send from your connected domain. |
Best for | Anything tied to a date: product drops, weekend sales, holiday hours, events | Evergreen lifecycle messages: birthday offers, win-back campaigns |
Which one should I use?
Ask yourself: is this message about a date, or about a customer?
• If it’s about a date, like a Friday product drop, a 4/20 sale, or new store hours, use a blast. You control exactly when it goes out, and everyone hears about it at once.
• If it’s about the customer, like their birthday or how long they’ve been away, use an automation. Every customer reaches those milestones at a different time, and the automation catches each one.
If you would need to re-send the same message every week to keep it working, it should be an automation.
Using them together
Blasts and automations share the same audience tools, so they work well as a pair. Saved segments connect the two: build a segment once and use it in both. See Customer Segments for how to build them.
For example, to promote a new brand launch:
• Send a blast to your “Brand X buyers” segment announcing launch day.
• Keep a Win Back automation running with a “Lifetime spend $100+” segment, so your best customers automatically receive an offer whenever they go quiet.
FAQ
Can an automation send a push notification or text?
Automations send emails. If you want to reach customers by push or text, use a blast.
Can a blast send itself on a schedule every week?
A blast can be scheduled for a specific date and time, but each send is one blast. It does not repeat automatically. For recurring, customer-triggered messages, use an automation.
Do they use the same segments?
Yes. Any saved segment can be the audience for a blast and the filter on an automation at the same time. Keep in mind that segments update on their own, so both always use the segment’s current members.
Why did a customer get my automation but not my blast (or the other way around)?
The two use different channels. A customer with no app installed and no text opt-in can’t receive a blast, but can still receive automation emails. The reverse is also true. Check the reach estimate shown when you pick your recipients.
Where do I see what was sent?
Each blast keeps its own summary and invoice on the blast itself. Automations can be opened at any time to review or edit, and send at your store’s scheduled send time.