Bulk emails vs transactional emails
Communication with your contacts is not an easy thing. You have to stay in contact with them but not too much, send a relevant content and adapt of their needs.
Email is the preferred type of communication for the brand and the most used. It is a simple, cheap, fast and non-intrusive solution.
There are several types of emails:
Bulk emails
Bulk email is used to send mass of more or less identical emails to a recipient list. The email is not expected in inbox for your recipient. There are a variety of ways to use bulk emails:
- Marketing emails: promotions, new products, …
- Newsletter : new articles, contests
- Greetings cards emails
- etc
Bulk emails are subject to the laws or other authorities: American like CAN-SPAM or European. You must respect rules:
- Ask permission to your clients to send marketing emails through a subscribe management
- Add an unsubscribe link on each email
- Relevant subject lines and inform if this is advert
- etc
For more details, you can read the can spam act according the countries where you want to send emails.
Transactional emails
Unlike bulk email, transactional email is expected and should reach as soon as possible in mailbox. Non deliverability this email type may impact your recipients and especially your business.
Imagine a customer, having lost his password, decides to renew via the link “Forgot password” present on your e-commerce platform. If this email does not arrive as soon as possible, then your customer will take his order on another e-commerce website.
Transactional emails are often the first step to start communications with your recipients. You send an email to welcome your new client, send his credential, ..
Transactional emails referred to as automatic, triggered, personalized and one-to-one email. Here examples of transactional emails:
- Order confirmation
- New emails following an abandoned cart
- Email confirmation following a subscription
- Send new credentials
- Welcome email
- Survey following an order
- etc
Transactional emails can be used from e-commerce platforms, banks, software vendors or any website wanting to have a strong relationship with its subscribers.
Luckily for you, transactional emails is easier to manage and haven’t to respect the same rules than marketing emails. You don’t have to add an unsubscribe link for example.
Make the difference between these emails
According the law, the primary role of your emails and how recipients understand your email determine the type of email.
For example, you send an email following an order on your website. You way try to add commercial contents or offers in the same message. The primary role of your email can be changed. So keep in mind to highlight the reason of this email.