On day one, a campaign and an initiative look the same. You pick who, you write the message, it goes out. The difference shows up on day two, when new people arrive who also match what you defined.
In Boom they are two different things on purpose:
- A campaign sends a message to a group of people once. When the conversations end, it closes and gives you its report.
- An initiative keeps enrolling whoever qualifies, with waits, reminders or branches, until you stop it.
(There is a third one, transactional, for sending a message every time an event happens: a payment, an order. Today is about the first two.)
The question
Before you create anything, ask yourself:
If someone qualifies tomorrow, should they get this message?
- No → it's a campaign. The message makes sense for whoever is on your list today and stops making sense later.
- Yes → it's an initiative. The message is part of how you treat anyone who reaches that point.
Examples
Almost always a campaign:
- An invitation to a webinar or an event with a date.
- A Black Friday or Buen Fin promotion.
- A notice about a price or terms change.
- An announcement of a new feature to your current customers.
Almost always an initiative:
- A welcome for every new lead.
- A follow-up to anyone who asked for a quote and didn't reply.
- A win-back for anyone who hasn't bought in 30 days.
- A survey after every delivery.
If you're unsure, picture one specific person who joins your list two weeks from now. Does the message help them? Does it arrive on time, or late?
What picking wrong costs
An initiative used as a campaign keeps sending when it shouldn't. The most common case: a webinar invitation built on a segment that keeps filling up. The webinar happens, people keep registering, and they keep getting "see you tomorrow" days after the event. Nobody noticed, because the first send went out perfectly.
A campaign used as an initiative leaves new people out. You send the welcome to this month's 800 leads, and the 40 who arrive next week never get it. Nothing breaks. Nothing happens for them either.
Both mistakes are silent. Neither shows up in the day-one report.
How you read each one
- A campaign is read when it closes. It sent, people replied, it closed: the report tells you how that send did.
- An initiative is read every week. It never "ends", so look at the trend: how many come in, how many reply, what's changing.
To compare two Black Friday sends, compare campaigns. To know whether your welcome works better than last month, look at the initiative over time.
In short
- Ask the question: if someone qualifies tomorrow, should they get it?
- No: create a campaign from Campaigns. It sends once and closes on its own.
- Yes: create an initiative from Initiatives. It keeps working until you stop it.
The full campaigns guide is in our documentation, and the initiatives one is on this page.
