When you buy an item online, you expect to receive an email confirming your purchase. This is a perfect example of a transactional email.
A specific event has occurred, so you receive a message informing you of this. It’s different to bulk email, because it’s triggered by your actions or an action relating to you. For example - an order confirmation, a notice of renewal, or a donation receipt.
‘Transactional’ does not solely refer to a monetary exchange. Any change to your information can trigger an automatic email, such as a password reset, a newsletter subscription, or a change of address. There are literally hundreds of examples of what transactional email can cover.
"Messages sent as transactional email are 3 times more likely to generate a click thru (Click Thru Rate – CTR) than a corresponding marketing email." Silverpop "2014 Silverpop Email Marketing Metrics Benchmark Study" (2014))
"Enhanced e-receipts providing up-sell and cross-sell opportunities compared to basic e-receipts generated better results: (1) Up to 600% increase in clicks - 0.18% basic to 1.26% enhanced, (2) Up to 125% increase in transactions - 0.04% basic to 0.09% enhanced, (3) Up to 360% increase in revenue per email - $0.05 basic to $0.23 enhanced". Experian "Q1 2013 Quarterly Benchmark Study" (2013) "
"The average revenue per email is two to five times greater and can be up to six times greater than the all-industry average of $0.13." (Experian Marketing Services, “The transactional email report” White Paper, 2010)
Transactional messages … achieved a median click-through rate of 4.2% and click-to-open rate of 15.1%, compared with non-transactional messages at 1.5% and 9.9%, respectively. Silverpop, “Email Marketing Metrics Study”, 2014.
Meeting your customer's expectations by delivering every email in real time.
Send emails that are personally addressed to the recipient, and that thank them for their transaction.
Inboxes are big! Make your email easy to find with the use of clever and consistent terminology and taxonomy.