How can I send an email template to a list of contacts? I am referring specifically to the 'one-to-one' email templates that can be created when clicking on the email icon from a contact record (or other activity feed), and clicking the 'insert, create, or update template' button at the bottom of the email editor. I have a number of templates saved here which I use regularly on a one-to-one basis, but I would like to be able to send those to a larger group of contacts.
If I view a list of contacts/leads/campaign members, check the box, and click 'send email', it opens a 'list sends' tab and an editor appears for me to create a marketing email with images, calls to actions etc. I'm not looking to create a marketing email, I just want to send the personalised looking email templates which I have already created and been using on a one-to-one basis.
Hi Tom,
Good news: what you're describing (selecting a list of contacts and sending one of your existing personalized one-to-one templates) is exactly what Salesforce's List Email feature is built for, you're just hitting a different feature than the one you want. What you're describing as opening a "list sends" tab with a marketing-style editor (images, CTAs) sounds like it's routing you into Marketing/Engagement email builder rather than the native List Email feature. Here's the correct path:
1. Confirm the List Email permission is enabled for your profile/permission set: Setup > Permission Sets (or Profiles) > System Permissions > "Send List Email" must be checked. If this isn't checked, some orgs default the "Send Email" bulk action to a different (marketing-style) email composer instead.
2. From a Contact/Lead list view (or Campaign Member list), select your records via checkboxes.
3. Click the dropdown next to the "New" button (top-left of the list view), and choose "Send List Email" specifically, not a generic "Send Email" option if your org has multiple email-related buttons available.
4. In the List Email compose window, you'll get an option to select an existing email template, including your Lightning email templates, the same ones you already built via the one-to-one "insert, create, or update template" button on individual Contact records. Per official documentation, List Email is explicitly designed to "use email templates with merge fields to customize each email," so it reuses the exact templates you're already using one-to-one, it does not force you into a marketing-style builder.
Official reference:
https://help.salesforce.com/s/articleView?id=email_list_email.htm&type=5Important distinction to keep in mind: List Email sends an individual, separately-generated email to each recipient (not one email to the whole group), which is exactly the personalized behavior you want, and it's explicitly NOT meant to replace marketing tools, so if your org is instead surfacing a Marketing Cloud Growth/Account Engagement-style editor when you click "Send Email," that confirms you're being routed to a different feature than List Email, worth checking with your admin whether a different "Send Email" action (tied to Marketing Cloud Growth or Pardot) has been layered on top of or instead of the standard List Email action on that specific list view.
One more limit to be aware of: List Email counts against your org's 5,000/day mass email cap, shared across all list sends, campaigns, and automated workflow emails, so this is meant for reasonably sized groups, not full database blasts.
