Before exploring the difference between marketing and transactional emails, let’s break down the definitions.
A transactional email is sent automatically after a user performs a specific predefined action like subscribing to a newsletter, completing an order, or logging on from a new device. This kind of email usually has higher deliverability (don’t mistake it for delivery rates) because people anticipate receiving them. Also, they tend to have higher open and click-through rates since they are highly personalized.
Companies typically use such emails to optimize resources by automating essential communications with customers. Promotional content is not very common in this type of email, though it is possible to add some promotional elements.
A marketing, or commercial, email promotes a product or service or encourages a customer to perform an action such as adding more items to their shopping cart. Marketing emails may include a discount or another valuable offer to stimulate a customer, in which case they are considered promotional emails.
Newsletters also belong to this type. Unlike promotional emails, newsletters don’t intend to sell here and now but rather aim at building trusting relationships with customers. Commercial emails tend to have a lower deliverability rate than transactional emails, but it can be enhanced by making content as relevant to your subscribers as possible.
Now, let’s zoom in on the difference between transactional and marketing emails. Here are the main factors that separate them.
You send transactional emails when a customer takes a particular action, so the recipients of such emails are people who interacted with your brand. These people don’t necessarily have to be subscribed to your newsletter: the important thing here is the previous interaction that works as permission for sending transactional emails to them.
On the other hand, marketing emails can only be sent to those who have given consent to receiving them. These recipients are the ones who are currently in your marketing funnel, no matter if they are only getting to know the brand or are already loyal customers.
As the primary goal of sending transactional emails is to make sure the customer receives important information and updates from your brand, you would want to make their content simple and straightforward. Conversely, commercial messages are normally promotional, so they can include more creative visual elements and use complicated email templates.
Marketing emails cannot be sent without consent from your subscriber to receive them. Transactional emails, on the other hand, serve only as notifications and don’t normally promote anything, so you can send them to recipients who aren’t necessarily your subscribers. However, you’ll still need to add an unsubscribe button if you do include some elements of promotion in transactional emails.
Transactional emails tend to have higher deliverability rates since they are often expected by the recipients. Would you mark an email confirming your order and not asking you for any further actions as spam? Probably not. This is the reason transactional emails rarely end up in the spam folder. Marketing emails, on the other hand, typically promote a product or service, so they have more chances to end up in the junk folder.
Transactional emails are highly personalized because they are triggered by a subscriber’s specific action. Marketing emails are made for a broader audience, so they can be more general. However, it might be worthwhile to add some personalization elements to your marketing messages too. To do so, you can segment your mailing list to enhance email targeting or add dynamic content for some personal touch.
Messages such as welcome emails, abandoned cart, or order confirmation emails belong to the transactional email type. Here are some outstanding examples.
Imagine subscribing to a new brand that you are not quite familiar with. How can the brand motivate you to make your first purchase or just make you want to get to know it more? That is when welcome emails come in clutch. These emails serve as a tool to establish contact with your subscribers, leave a good first impression, and present your value. By including a special offer in your welcome email, you can motivate a new subscriber to make their first purchase.
In the email below, Brightland offers its new customers a discount for their first order along with some product recommendations. Such an email is a good way to introduce new subscribers to the brand’s products and encourage them to buy something from you for the first time. You can also see some of the brand’s products in the email which makes it easier for the new subscribers to get to know the brand better.
Sending an order confirmation email helps improve customer experience and your brand image.
In the example below, you can see how Urth handles its order confirmations. The brand keeps its customers updated on the status of their order with an email that provides all the necessary order information. This email will assure the subscriber that their order is taken care of and help build trusting relationships.
Security check emails are sent when a user logs in from a different device or location to ensure the account has not been hijacked. Such emails help prevent malicious attacks and keep user data safe.
Here, DoorDash confirms the new login and gives all the necessary data, like login time and device to make sure the recipient’s account is secure.
One more example is a password reset email. Sending it is also a security measure to make sure the user’s account is safe. A password reset email may be sent after a user requests to change their password or is prompted to do so to secure their account.
In this example by Patreon, the platform sends a link to create a new password following the request sent by the user. This is necessary to make sure the initial request was actually sent by the recipient themselves and not a potential hacker.
Cart abandonment emails are sent automatically after a customer adds a product to their shopping cart but doesn’t proceed to checkout. Here, the goal is to remind a customer about their incomplete order and persuade them to finalize the purchase.
In the email below, Lego reminds the recipient about the product they were interested in and also mentions free shipping on orders exceeding a certain sum. This is a great way to motivate the customer to complete the order, and it can also encourage them to order something else to get free shipping.
Emails asking customers for their feedback are also transactional. They are usually sent after a customer purchases a product or interacts with a brand in some other way — for example, by visiting a store. Gathering customer feedback helps companies correct their flaws and better leverage their strengths.
In the example below, Hearth Display asks the recipient to share the reasons they didn’t finalize the checkout process. The survey is embedded in the email, increasing the probability of getting more answers because the recipient won’t have to leave their inbox to participate.
Commercial marketing email type includes discount emails and upsells/cross-sells. Let’s take a look at some examples.
Marketing emails often contain discounts, coupons, promo codes, and other valuable offers to motivate customers to make a purchase.
In this example, Recess offers its subscribers a promo code for a 10% discount. By doing this, the brand makes the email more valuable for recipients and ensures they will look forward to more emails from the brand. However, sending discounts too often can dilute the value instead of increasing it, so make sure you use this tactic sparingly.
Upsell and cross-sell emails are supposed to make a customer add more products to their order, upgrade their plan, or simply spend more money.
In the email below, Canva offers its users a free trial. The brand also includes a list of features available with the paid plans, so the user can better understand the value. Although the email is quite lengthy, a clearly structured layout makes it attractive and easy to follow.
It is essential to separate the emails the right way to maintain high deliverability and engagement rates. One of the best practices to do so is to use different subdomains for each email type. For example, you can use “notification” as a subdomain for your transactional emails and “promo” — for marketing ones.
In addition to improving deliverability rates, this will also help you maintain a good domain reputation, since every subdomain has a separate reputation rate. It means that even if your marketing emails go into the spam folder, your transactional emails won’t meet the same fate.
| Transactional emails | Marketing emails | |
| Recipients | Anyone who has previously interacted with the brand (visited a store, ordered something, etc.). | Subscribers who have opted to receive your marketing communications. |
| Content | Notifications about previous transactions and providing important relevant information. | Typically promotional. Marketing emails may contain discounts, promo codes, product updates, and information aimed at strengthening brand-customer relationships. |
| Regulations | Can be sent to any recipient who has interacted with the brand, but should contain an unsubscribe link if the email includes promotional content. | Cannot be sent to people who are not on your mailing list and should always contain an unsubscribe link. |
| Deliverability | Tends to be higher because people expect to receive these emails. | Tends to be lower, especially if the emails are not personalized. |
| Personalization | Always highly personalized | Typically aimed at a general audience, but can be personalized to a certain degree. |
