Outreach vs newsletter — when to use which

Updated May 22, 2026

Yaplet has two ways to send campaigns: Outreach (in-widget) and Newsletter (email). They look similar in the dashboard but serve fundamentally different purposes. Using the wrong one leads to campaigns that never reach their audience — or reach them at the wrong moment.

The core difference

Outreach Newsletter
Where it appears Inside the Yaplet widget, on the visitor's screen while they're on your site or app. In the visitor's email inbox, whether or not they're on your site.
Who receives it Active visitors — people currently browsing a page with your widget loaded. Subscribers — people who opted into your email list (or were imported).
Timing Real-time, triggered by behaviour (page view, session start, custom event). Sent at a scheduled time or delivered by an automated workflow.
Requires email? No. Works for anonymous visitors too. Yes. You must have a subscriber's email address.
Formats Triggered campaigns — banners, proactive chat messages, surveys (including NPS), product tours. Plus news posts (passive — visitors discover them in the widget's News tab, no trigger). Email campaigns, automated Workflows, newsletters.

When to use outreach

  • The person is on your site right now and you want to reach them in the moment.
  • You want to trigger based on behaviour — "show this banner only on the pricing page after 30 seconds".
  • You need to reach anonymous visitors who haven't given you their email.
  • You want real-time feedback — NPS after a specific action, or a CSAT survey triggered via a custom event when your app marks a conversation as resolved.
  • You're onboarding new users — product tours and welcome messages work while users are actively exploring your product.

When to use newsletter

  • You want to reach people who are not on your site — in their inbox, on their own schedule.
  • You're sending a scheduled broadcast — weekly updates, product digests, promotions.
  • You're running an automated email sequence — onboarding or re-engagement Workflows.
  • You need rich email formatting — multi-column layouts, HTML templates, tracked links.
  • You're targeting a specific segment of known subscribers.

Can I use both together?

Yes. A common pattern: send a newsletter email announcing a new feature, and also run a product tour as an outreach campaign for users who click through to the app. The email drives them back to the product; the tour greets them when they arrive.

What's next?

To set up an outreach campaign, start with Send a proactive chat message to visitors for the simplest format, or go directly to the format you need. To set up an email newsletter, see the Newsletter category.

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