Marketing vs. Transactional Emails

How to pick between our different sending features depending on your number of recipients and the nature of the message.

Humanic enables you to send both Transactional and Marketing emails.

​What’s the difference between Transactional and Marketing emails?

​What is a Marketing email?

A Marketing email is any email that is not transactional. These can be promotional, informative, or general communication messages.Marketing emails are regulated by laws like CAN-SPAM (US) and CASL (Canada), and recipients must have the option to unsubscribe.Examples of marketing emails:

• Promotional offers and discounts

• Newsletters

• Product updates

Marketing emails can be 1-to-1 (e.g., abandoned cart reminders) or 1-to-many (e.g., newsletters).​

What is a Transactional email?

A Transactional email is a message triggered by a user action or required for legal compliance. These emails are essential communications that users cannot unsubscribe from. Common examples include:

• Order confirmations

• Password reset emails

• Account notifications

Typically, transactional emails are 1-to-1 messages sent in response to a specific event.

​Should I be sending a Transactional or a Marketing email?

While not exhaustive, here’s a table listing different examples of emails and the most appropriate type for each example.

Type of Message	Type of Recipient	Transactional	Marketing
Order confirmation	Single	✓	⨯
Password reset	Single	✓	⨯
Abandoned cart	Single	⨯	✓
Newsletter	Multiple	⨯	✓
Promotional offer	Multiple	⨯	✓

Humanic is built to send both Marketing and Transactional Emails