Setting Up Adhoc Email Distribution
Updated
Email distribution allows you to send customizable survey invitation emails to your customers in real time. You can trigger these emails instantly, schedule them in advance, or set them to activate based on external events. In this article, you'll be able to learn how to send emails on-demand (ad hoc) whenever you'd like immediate feedback.
Business Use Cases
Quick Response Needs: Ad-hoc email distribution features help deliver customized survey emails to the right audience in real time, enabling the collection of immediate feedback to support informed decision-making.
Example: Marketing teams often need to send survey invitations quickly, particularly after product launches or events.
Survey Participation Rates: To improve the participation rate, placeholders help to automatically include customers' names and personalized NPS or CSAT questions within the email, which can significantly increase survey participation and engagement.
This update enables real-time, on-demand survey distribution to capture immediate customer feedback, ensuring you can act quickly on insights. It personalizes emails with customer details using placeholders for a more tailored experience, and increases participation by including embedded survey questions directly within the email. Additionally, it supports reminders and thank-you emails, helping you maintain engagement and build stronger connections with your recipients.
Prerequisites
In order to access the Email Distribution, you must have the following View and Edit Distribution permissions at the Survey Level.
Setting Up Adhoc Email Distribution
Following are the steps to access Email Distribution:
Open a Survey and navigate to the Distribution tab.
Click + Create Distribution and select Email and click Create Now.
Go to Details section and and fill the email :
Distribution Name: You can add the name of the distribution.
Distribution Description: You can add a description to the distribution.
Survey Type: You can choose either Standard or Conversational Surveys from the drop-down menu.
For conversational surveys, the link in the email will open the survey in a conversational format.
Click Next.
Distribution Email Setup:
Navigate to the "Body" section by clicking Save. A basic image and default content are automatically added. You have the ability to personalize every component, such as the Email Subject, Email Body text, Image, and Button text.
Subject : Add Subject manually or you can use AI to add subject line.
You can format email content using a variety of text elements, including headings (H1–H6) and paragraphs, while customizing its appearance with email-safe fonts, font sizes, and font colors. The editor also supports rich-text formatting options such as bold, italics, underline, strikethrough, bullet lists, and text alignment, giving you greater flexibility to create well-structured and visually engaging email communications.
Image: You can add an image to the email distribution. There is the capability to download, preview, and delete the image.
Note: Recommended image (banner) width- 600px. Height will be auto-adjusted. Body: Include the body of the email, and you can personalize the text using a rich text editor that allows for full customization of text elements.
Button Text: You can add button text by clicking on Button Text option. You can customize the survey button color for email invitations to match your branding. The selected color is reflected consistently in email previews, test emails, and sent emails. When a survey contains an embedded question, the survey button can be disabled automatically and is re-enabled if the question is removed or becomes ineligible. Existing custom button color configurations continue to be supported.
Thank You: You can add a thank you text to the Distribution Email section. You can customize the text using a rich text editor that allows you to fully customize the text elements..
Footer Text: You can add footer text and also add an unsubscription link. You can customize the text using a rich text editor that allows for full customization of text elements. Copilot said: You can easily add Survey and Unsubscribe links to your email content. If you want to include an additional survey link beyond the survey button or embedded question, navigate to Profile Fields → Standard Placeholders.
Insert the appropriate survey placeholder into the email. This gives recipients another way to access and complete the survey.
If you need to add an unsubscribe link, you can use the button as shown here.
Note: Personalization practices increase response rates and capture customer attention.Click Next.
Embedding a Survey Question in the Email
Only NPS, CSAT, Multiple Choice (MCQ), and Rating Scale questions can be embedded directly within the email body, allowing recipients to respond without leaving the email. Other question types are not supported for in-email embedding and must be accessed through the survey link.
These questions make the email interactive, redirecting recipients to the survey with their selection already pre-filled, providing a seamless experience.
Note: Only NPS, CSAT, MCQ, and Rating Scale questions are supported to be embedded in the mail body.
Embedded questions are not supported for conversational survey type.
Embedded Question Eligibility: A question is eligible for embedding only if all the following conditions are met:
The question is located on the first page of the survey.
The question has no display logic (including at the statement/choice level).
The question does not contain media, media attachments, or text variants.
For MCQ questions specifically: no images in question options, no default choices, and no choice randomisation.
If an embedded question becomes ineligible (e.g., it is deleted, moved to another page, or display logic is added in the survey builder), it will be automatically removed from the email/reminder, and the survey button will be re-enabled if it was disabled.
Preview and Test Options
A real-time preview of how the email will look is accessible on the email builder interface to help you with the customization.
For additional assurance, users can send a test email to check the email’s look and feel on an actual email platform. This can be done by selecting a sender account and entering their own email address.
The test email will always be sent in the base language.
Placeholders will remain unresolved and will display as placeholder names instead of actual values.
Any response submitted through this survey will be recorded as a Test Response, with distribution channel set to Email.
Test Responses will be excluded from distribution metrics and dashboard data by default. Users can still view them from the custom dashboard.
Quarantine rules, unsubscription, and quotas will not apply to test emails.
Note: Existing placeholders can be used in embedded questions. Placeholders are not resolved in Test Emails due to the absence of a profile. Expect "FIRST_NAME" instead of the actual name.
Thank You Email Setup:
Go to Thank you Template section to create a Thank You Email.
Toggle Enable or Disable Thank You Email. By default, the thank you email will be enabled.
Note: To prevent spamming, respondents who submit the survey more than once in a 24-hour period will only receive one Thank You email.Subject: You can add subject and also use Sprinklr AI to create the subject.
Image: You can add an image that will suit your Thank You template.
There is capability to Download, Preview and Delete image.
Body: The Email Body section includes a rich text editor that allows you to fully customize the main content of your email. You can format your email content using a variety of text elements, including headings (H1–H6) and paragraphs, to create clear and engaging communications. You can also customize the appearance of your content by selecting from supported email-safe fonts, adjusting font size and color, and applying formatting options such as bold, italics, underline, strikethrough, bullet lists, and text alignment. These options give you greater control over the structure and visual presentation of your emails.
Thank You Text : The Thank You section provides a rich text editor for designing the message displayed after a recipient completes the desired action. You can format the content using headings and paragraphs, customize font style, size, and color, and use text formatting options such as bold, italics, underline, strikethrough, bullet lists, and alignment to deliver a polished and personalized thank-you experience.
For additional customizations, you can consult the Text Modifications included in the Distribution Email.
Footer Text: The Footer section includes a rich text editor that allows you to customize footer content such as disclaimers, contact information, or additional links. You can use headings and paragraphs, select from supported email-safe fonts, adjust font size and color, and apply formatting options including bold, italics, underline, strikethrough, bullet lists, and text alignment for consistent branding and presentation. You can easily add a survey link or an unsubscribe link to the email.
Placeholder Support: To personalize the email, you can insert placeholders that automatically update for each recipient, supported placeholders include:
Profile Fields: Use audience profile attributes to personalize messages for each recipient.
Transaction Fields: Insert contextual data related to survey-linked transactions.
Distribution Metadata: Use system-generated placeholders such as the Survey Expiry Date.
Current Distribution Date to dynamically display date and time information in distribution content.
Survey and Unsubscribe Link: You can easily add a survey link or an unsubscribe link to the email.
Note: To prevent spamming, respondents who submit the survey more than once in a 24 hour period will only receive one Thank You email.
Please note that the “Survey Link” option or the button will not be included in this email.
Click Send Text Email( In the preview section).
Sender: You can select the accounts.
Email: You can enter the email address.
Click Send.
Click Next.
Reminder Email Setup
Visit the Reminder Template to personalize the reminder email. You also have the option to configure reminder emails to be sent to those customers who have participated in the survey. These reminder emails will be activated according to the frequency and criteria you establish, making sure that recipients are prompted to finish the survey.
Toggle to enable reminder email template.
Subject: You can add a subject to the reminder template and also use Sprinklr AI to create the subject.
Image: You can add an image that will suit your reminder template.
There is capability to Download, Preview and Delete image.
Body: The Email Body text editor allows you to fully customize the content of your email. You can structure content using headings (H1–H6) and paragraphs, choose from six email-safe fonts, adjust font size and color, and apply formatting options such as bold, italics, underline, strikethrough, bullet lists, and text alignment to create visually engaging email communications.
Button Text : You can add a button text. You can customize the survey button color for reminder emails to match your branding. The selected color is reflected consistently in email previews, test emails, and sent emails. When a survey contains an embedded question, the survey button can be disabled automatically and is re-enabled if the question is removed or becomes ineligible. Existing custom button color configurations continue to be supported.
Thank You Text: The Thank You text editor enables you to customize the message shown after a recipient completes the survey. You can use headings and paragraphs to structure content, select from supported email-safe fonts, modify font size and color, and apply formatting options such as bold, italics, underline, strikethrough, bullet lists, and text alignment to deliver a personalized post-submission experience.
Footer Text: The Footer text editor allows you to customize additional information displayed at the bottom of the email, such as disclaimers, contact details, or supporting content. You can format text using headings and paragraphs, choose from six email-safe fonts, adjust font size and color, and apply styling options including bold, italics, underline, strikethrough, bullet lists, and text alignment for consistent branding and presentation.
Placeholder Support: To personalize the email, you can insert placeholders that automatically update for each recipient, supported placeholders include:
Profile Fields: Use audience profile attributes to personalize messages for each recipient.
Transaction Fields: Insert contextual data related to survey-linked transactions.
Distribution Metadata: Use system-generated placeholders such as the Survey Expiry Date and Current Distribution Date to dynamically display date and time information in distribution content.
Survey and Unsubscribe Link: You can easily add a survey link or an unsubscribe link to the email.
Go to Reminder Frequency and configure how often the reminder emails will be sent to recipients who haven't responded yet.
You can set up multiple reminder emails for recipients who have not yet responded to the survey.
Repeats: You can select Daily, Weekly, Monthly(Mandatory).
Repeat Every: You can set the number of days between each reminder (Mandatory).
End After (Occurrences): You can define the maximum number of reminders to be sent (Mandatory).
You can set up the frequency with which the reminder emails would be sent.
Example: We have configured the system to send a reminder email every 3 days, with a maximum of 2 reminders per recipient.
Note: You can change the frequency unit while setting up, they can also use the does not repeat option if they wish to send the reminder email only once.
Click Next.
Translation Setup:
You can set up translated versions of the email to customize the language in which recipients receive the email based on specific profile conditions. By setting up translation conditions, you can ensure that the right version of the email is sent to each recipient, depending on their profile information, such as location or custom fields.
This feature is particularly useful for multi-language campaigns, ensuring that recipients get the most relevant content in their preferred language.
Note: When translation conditions resolve to a specific language, the survey link opens in the same language as the invite.
If no language is resolved via translation conditions, the invite is sent in the base language and the survey opens in the browser language.
If the browser language cannot be determined and no translation conditions are defined, both the invite and the survey open in the base language.
Follow the steps to set up translation:
Translation Condition Setup:
By default the language dropdown menu shows all the languages available as translations for the survey to indicate the languages in which translation need to be setup for distribution in an ideal world. But you can always add another language making the distribution setup independent from survey setup. As you select the languages, you can now setup translation logic by defining.
Language: Select the language you want to assign for the recipient.
Controlling fields: Select amongst the Case, Transaction or Case Custom Fields and respective operator and the value to define the language of the distribution.
Configure Translations for the Email content:
Once the translation conditions are defined, you can proceed onto creating translations for the email content by clicking on “Configure Translation“ option.
In this section, you will have the opportunity to set up translations for all three potential messages: Invite Message, Reminder Message, and Thank You Message.
You can configure the translations for the language added while setting up distribution conditions.
You can also use the option of “Auto Translate” to add translations for your content in 1 click.
Note: You can create a condition so that if the custom field "Location" has the value "Spain," the Spanish version of the email will be sent. If no match is found, the email will be sent in the base language of the survey.
Note: If no matching condition is found, the email will be sent in the survey's base language. Please make sure to configure translations before sending the email.
Click + Translation.
Go to the Add Translation page, select languages from the dropdown, and click Add.
Click Add Language to add specific language.
Go to the Language Condition Section (The profile-level conditions will control the language in which the recipient receives the email.
Translation Condition Setup: By default, the language dropdown menu shows all the languages available as translations for the survey to indicate the languages in which translations need to be set up for distribution in an ideal world. However, you can always add another language, making the distribution setup independent from the survey setup. As you select the languages, you can now set up translation logic by defining.
Language: Select the language you want to assign for the recipient.
Controlling fields: Select among the Case, Transaction, or Case Custom Fields and the respective operator and value to define the language of the distribution. Multiple conditions can be added. Click Configure Translation to edit the template.
Example: You can create a condition so that if the custom field "Location" has the value "Spain," the Spanish version of the email will be sent. If no match is found, the email will be sent in the base language of the survey.
Configure Translations for the Email content:
Once the translation conditions are defined, you can proceed to create translations for the email content by clicking on the “Configure Translation” option.
Here you would have the option to configure translations for all three possible messages, i.e., Invite Message, Reminder Message, and Thank You Message.
You can configure the translations for the language added while setting up distribution conditions
You can also use the option of “Auto Translate” to add translations for your content in 1 click.
Example: You can create a condition so that if the custom field "Location" has the value "Spain," the Spanish version of the email will be sent. If no match is found, the email will be sent in the base language of the survey.
Note: You can create a condition so that if the custom field "Location" has the value "Spain," the Spanish version of the email will be sent. If no match is found, the email will be sent in the base language of the survey.
Click Next.
Note: Fonts supported for your Email Body, Thank You message, Button text, and Footer text include Arial, Courier New, Georgia, Times New Roman, Trebuchet, and Verdana, and you can choose your preferred font size and color. When you select a font for your base‑language email, that same font will automatically be applied to any new translated version unless it isn’t supported in the target language, in that case, it will fall back to that language’s default font. You can still change the font type for each language independently.
Schedule Settings
Sending Adhoc Emails Setup:
After you have prepared your email content, thank-you or reminder messages, settings, and survey, you can move on to the 'Schedule Distribution' page to dispatch emails to your clients.
Note: You can preserve your progress at any moment by selecting the “Save as Draft” feature.Select the type of Schedule.
There are 2 ways in which you can send Adhoc Emails:
Schedule: You can specify a particular date, time, and time zone for dispatching emails.
Send Now: You can send emails immediately once you click “Create”.
The steps are listed below:
Go to Schedule Distribution page and select Type as Schedule from the dropdown.
Type: Select Schedule from the dropdown.
Date and Time: Select Date and Time.
Sender Account: Select the email account through which you want to send the emails. To add an account:
Navigate to CFM Persona App → Global Settings → Accounts → Add Account → Choose ‘Email Marketing’.
Note: The "Email Marketing" account type is supported for Email Distribution. The "Email" account type is not supported.Recipient Section: Select your recipients from profiles, profile lists, segments, or samples as required. For further information on how to choose recipients, please consult the linked article. The system automatically checks for duplicate profiles from the selected sources and skips them by default. Additionally, you can hover over the number of unique accounts to see a breakdown between active and unsubscribed accounts.
Recepient Type: Select recepient type from the dropdown.
You can send email distributions to both profiles and transactions.
When using Profiles, you can select, Individual profiles, Profile Lists, and Profile Samples. Any combination of these is also supported.
When using Transactions, you can select a Transaction Group that has been shared with the survey, and optionally apply filters to narrow down which transactions should receive the survey.
The details are mentoned below:
Profile Based: Choose the Profile Type from the dropdown menu, which consists of Profiles, Profile Lists, and choose Profile Based on the recipient type Include any combination of
In addition to selecting profiles from the dropdown, users can use the Advanced Profile Search option to open the audience manager overlay page where users can apply additional filters (e.g., custom fields, profile attributes) to narrow down the search results.
Profile Samples
The system aggregates all selected profiles and removes duplicates automatically.
Transaction Based (Applicable only if Transaction Based distribution is chosen):
You have the ability to distribute surveys that are associated with transaction records tied to user profiles. Additionally, you can choose the transaction group. While utilizing Transactions, you can pick a Transaction Group that has been shared with the survey and, if desired, apply filters to specify which transactions should be targeted to receive the survey.
Select Transaction Based as the recipient type
Choose the Transaction Group from which transactions should be picked
The transaction group must be associated with the survey
Narrow down the scope of transactions using filters such as:
Transaction Created Time
Define the time window from which qualifying transactions should be pickedTransaction Custom Fields
For example:Transaction group: Support Cases
Send only when Region = India and Support Channel = Email
Additional field-based conditions to refine the eligible transactions
Understanding the Recipient Summary
The panel on the right shows:
The total number of unique recipients
Suppressed recipients who have opted out
Any duplicates identified
Due to platform policy, the same email cannot be sent to a customer more than once within a 24-hour period.
This means, if a customer is included through both a profile list and an individual profile, the duplicate will be ignored; or customer appears in multiple transactions, only one email will be sent.
Link Expiry Details:
Choose how long the survey link should remain active after it is sent. You can now select between:
Static Expiry (Default): If you are using “Send Now“ or “Schedule“ distribution type
Define a fixed start date/time to define the start of survey response collection. If the field is left empty, survey collection will start from the moment survey is sent out
Define a fixed end date/time for the survey link to expire after which survey responses will not be accepted.
Dynamic Expiry: Available only for trigger-based distributions. With this setting, the expiration is calculated dynamically based on when the link is sent to each respondent.
For example, if dynamic expiry is set to 1 day and a user receives the link at 10 AM on June 4, their link will expire at 10 AM on June 5 — regardless of when the distribution was created.
You can configure dynamic expiry in:
Hours (1–24)
Days (1+)
Note: This setting overrides any fixed end date. It ensures all respondents get an equal window to respond, based on their interaction time.
Start Date and Time: You can select a start date and time.
Note: If a specific time is not chosen, the survey will gather responses as soon as the distribution is set up.End Date and Time: You can select an end date and time.
Limit submissions per respondent: You can adjust the limit on submissions for each respondent. Choose the maximum number of submissions permitted and also toggle to reset the limit after a specified time period.
Example: Adjust the limit to "a value" on a daily, weekly, or monthly schedule.
Reset Limit After Interval (Optional): Choose whether to reset the aforementioned submission limit at a daily, weekly, or monthly time interval.
Example: The survey will allow 1 submission per respondent, per week. This means a respondent could submit their response on January 24th and then submit again on January 31st or later, but only once per week.The “reset limit” option is optional, meaning you could also limit submissions to a maximum of 1 response only, preventing any further submissions after the first one.
Distribution Tagging: You have the ability to set up custom tags for reporting associated with this distribution. You can select the custom field and its value. Each custom field you create will result in a new column appearing in the Responses Tab and then click Done.
Example: The responses coming in via emails sent from this distribution will be tagged with the custom field "Event Name = CXUnifiers Day 1," allowing you to filter and analyze the responses arising from this specific event.
Note: Creating a workflow immediately is optional, and workflows can be created independently of the distributions. All trigger-based distributions will be available in the workflow events.
Key points to note
EMAIL Channel Support: Only profiles with "Social Network" set to "Email" will be eligible to receive email surveys. The email ID used for distribution will be pulled from the Profile’s User ID, not from any other standard or custom fields.
Limitation on Number of Emails per User: In order to avoid spamming, we restrict the sending of more than one message of the same kind to the same recipient within a 24-hour timeframe. This restriction applies to the same distribution, subject, and message type (POST, THANK YOU, REMINDER). Consequently, only one message is permitted to be sent to each respondent within a 24-hour period for each distribution.
Note: This restriction primarily affects Thank You messages. If a respondent completes the survey multiple times within 24 hours (depending on survey settings), the second Thank You message will not be sent due to the 24-hour rule.Exclusions:
Survey emails are not impacted by this issue, since they are dispatched just a single time.
Reminder messages that follow a "days" format are not influenced by overlapping situations.