Learn · Channels & deliverability
One platform, every channel.
A customer-engagement platform is the system that reaches your customers across every channel — email, SMS, web push, and in-app — and keeps those messages landing. This track explains the channels, how they work together instead of in silos, and the deliverability and consent rules that decide whether a message is seen at all.
In this guide
- 01What is a customer-engagement platform (CEP)?A customer-engagement platform is software that manages customer profiles and events and reaches people across multiple channels — email, SMS, web push, in-app — from one place. It differs from an email service provider, which only sends email, and a customer data platform, which unifies data but does not send.Read
- 02Email deliverability for startupsDeliverability is whether your email reaches the inbox instead of the spam folder or a hard block. Three things drive it: authentication that proves you are who you say, sender reputation built over time, and list hygiene that keeps your audience engaged. Get those right and the inbox follows.Read
- 03Multi-channel vs omnichannelMulti-channel means using several channels that each run on their own; omnichannel means those channels are coordinated around one customer view, so timing, messaging, and suppression carry across them. The difference is coordination, not the number of channels you send from.Read
- 04SMS marketing basicsSMS marketing is sending promotional or lifecycle text messages to people who explicitly opted in. In the US it is governed by the TCPA and by carrier A2P 10DLC registration. Get consent, register your traffic, honor STOP, and reserve SMS for time-sensitive moments where its cost and intrusion are justified.Read
- 05Web push and in-app messagingWeb push notifications reach a user's device or browser even when they are off your site, after an explicit opt-in, while in-app messages appear only while the user is active inside your product. Different reach, different consent, and different jobs to be done.Read
- 06Journey orchestration across channelsJourney orchestration is coordinating messages across channels and time as one flow — deciding the next best step per person with branches, waits, wait-for-event, A/B splits, and cross-channel suppression, rather than firing each channel independently. It treats email, SMS, push, and in-app as one conversation, not separate campaigns.Read
- 07Transactional vs marketing emailA transactional email is triggered by a user action and carries information they need — a receipt, a password reset, a shipping update — while a marketing email promotes and requires consent plus an unsubscribe link. They differ in three ways: what triggers them, whether consent is needed, and which rules apply.Read
Related comparisons
- fromHello vs Customer.ioThe open-source alternative that brings the team, not just the tool.
- fromHello vs BrazeEnterprise-grade orchestration without the enterprise contract — or the team to run it.
- fromHello vs BrevoBrevo's cheap toolkit, plus native ad-audience sync, open-source ownership, and the eight specialists who run growth.
- fromHello vs KlaviyoKlaviyo's channels for any small team — not just ecommerce — plus the eight specialists who run growth.
- fromHello vs IterableEnterprise cross-channel orchestration — without the sales cycle, the annual contract, or the growth org to run it.
- fromHello vs OrttoOrtto's breadth, but with the eight specialists who run growth and open-source ownership — your data, not Canva's.
- fromHello vs OneSignalOneSignal's channels, run for you by eight specialists — plus ad-audience sync and open-source self-hosting.
- fromHello vs NovuNovu is the notification infrastructure; fromHello is the growth team that decides what to send.
- fromHello vs LoopsLoops' clean email, plus every other channel and the eight specialists who run growth — open source, self-hostable.
Early access
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Not ready to share an email? It's open source. Run it yourself today. View on GitHub