Research shows that almost 60% of US consumers shop online every week, which means they're constantly in touch with transactional emails from different companies.
Still, many businesses underestimate the importance of transactional emails for building trust and customer relationships, and they focus only on promotional emails.
That's your chance to stand out!
We've created this guide on transactional email best practices to help you ensure your emails get delivered to your customers' inboxes and achieve the desired results.
11 transactional email best practices to grow your business
Here's a list of proven tips for optimizing your transactional emails.
Choose a good ESP and email analytics tool
First, you need to choose a reliable email service provider. Here's what to look for in a transactional ESP:
- High deliverability
- Advanced automation
- Scalability
- Ease of integration
- Security and compliance
- Easy email campaign management
Apart from a reliable email service provider, you also need an email analytics tool to test and optimize your transactional emails, maximizing their performance.
SEINō is a tool that can help you increase your productivity by 90% while being super user-friendly and intuitive. You don't need to be a transactional email guru to analyze your emails with our software and get valuable insights.
Our delivery statistics help you understand whether some email elements cause your transactional emails to end up in spam or be completely lost. Some elements that can trigger this are salesy and promotional words, excessive use of images, low domain reputation and suspicious links and attachments.
You can also track all the important email marketing KPIs, such as open rate, bounce rate, CTR and conversion rate.
SEINō is one of the rare tools with a special section dedicated to transactional email metrics, for example, revenue per email, average order value and total revenue generated from a particular email marketing campaign, making it easier to track your revenue goals.
Moreover, you can benchmark and compare different emails in the same email campaign report, for example, to see which version of an abandoned cart email performs better and has a higher conversion rate.
The good news is that SEINō integrates with most marketing automation and transactional email services, so if you're already using some ESP, you won't have to switch, just upgrade and add SEINō.
We support the following integrations: Klaviyo, Deployteq, Braze, Mailchimp, Seligent, Salesforce Marketing Cloud and many more. You can get a full list on our website, and if you don't see your desired ESP, you can send us a request to add it, as we're constantly looking to expand the base of our clients and partners and improve customer experience.
Schedule a demo to see SEINō in action!
Write a clear and compelling subject line and pre-header
Subject lines and pre-headers are the first things that pop up when your subscriber receives an email, so it's essential to make them both clear and concise. They should contain all the relevant information, such as order number, invoice number or time and date if we’re talking about an appointment confirmation or other time-sensitive event.
You can’t go wrong with simple and straightforward subject lines, but if you want to increase your open and click-through rate, you can spice things up a bit:
- Shipping confirmation: ”Great news! Your order is on its way – track it 📦”
- Password reset: ”Oops! Reset your password with just one click! 🔄🔒”
- Abandoned cart: ”Almost there! Finish your cart for a surprise 🎁"
Pre-headers, on the other hand, can be used either to reinforce the most important information from the subject line or to evoke curiosity and urgency. You can also add a CTA and urge clients to open your email.
If you're just starting with transactional emails, check out this article for transactional email examples.
Use separate addresses for marketing and transactional emails
One of the most important tips is using separate addresses for marketing and transactional emails. Now, you might wonder why.
Marketing emails serve to promote products and services. Still, many companies overdo it with the frequency of their email campaigns, which may lead to an increased number of people who unsubscribe or, even worse, the activation of spam triggers.
Since they may end up in your recipients' spam folders, you wouldn't want your order confirmation or password reset emails to be grouped into the same category, would you?
That's why we advise using separate IP addresses for transactional emails and different domains or subdomains to improve transactional email deliverability and analyze them in a separate email marketing report.
Additionally, pay attention to your "From" address, as it can be helpful for users filtering their emails. Use the name of your company or your app (if you have a famous product) instead of the name of a specific person who works in your company. Although some marketing experts claim that first names feel more personal, it's often not the case, as the recipients are unlikely to associate that person's name with your company, unless it's a CEO's name or something like that.
Don’t use a ‘no-reply’ address
Although using a ‘no-reply’ address might appear standard, we strongly recommend avoiding this practice as it may negatively affect your customer relationships.
When you send transactional emails from a ‘no-reply’ email address, you essentially prevent your clients from being able to get in touch with you, which shows a lack of interest in engagement and their feedback.
But not only that! Many resources claim that getting responses from clients can improve overall email deliverability as it's a sign of a good sender reputation. Therefore, it can be a good idea to encourage customers to reply to you, especially if we're talking about the welcome email.
Brand your emails to stand out
Although transactional emails tend to be simpler than promotional ones, they don't have to be a plain text version of an email. You should create a recognizable template that matches your brand voice, colors and style and use it consistently in both your transactional and marketing emails.
Also, consider implementing BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification) that allows your brand logo to automatically display alongside your emails, helping your emails stand out and encourage more clicks.
That being said, transactional emails should maintain a clear and minimalistic design without too many necessary details and distractions.
Remember to add a strong CTA, explaining to your clients the next steps they need to take to complete their action, whether it's order confirmation or password reset.
Authenticate your email
Source: Freepik.com
Implementing authentication protocols prevents potential email breaches and loss of your customers' trust. At the same time, it additionally secures your transactional emails.
Here are the three protocols you should use:
- Sender policy framework (SPF): It is an email authentication standard designed to protect you from phishing, spoofing and spam.
- Domain keys identified mail signature (DKIM): It functions as an email security standard that ensures messages remain unchanged during their journey between the sender and recipient servers.
- Domain-based message, authentication, reporting and conformance (DMARC): It's a protocol that increases the security of your domain against fraudulent emails by building on DKIM and SPF.
If you're still struggling with the high unsubscribe rate, consider switching to double opt-in emails to reduce the chances of people clicking by accident.
Make emails mobile-responsive
In 2023, 95.8% of global users accessed the internet through their mobile phones, so it's essential to format your emails in a way that makes them easy to read on all devices.
When choosing an email template, opt for one that automatically adapts to various screen sizes and devices. It’s often a good idea to go for a simpler email layout because there’s less room for formatting to go wrong.
Even though the template might seem super responsive and adaptable, you should never send an email campaign before you test what it looks like on different devices. You can use the Preview feature in your email tool or send a test email to your own email address and check it from your phone.
Personalize your transactional emails
While transactional messages often include personal data like order numbers and shipping addresses, we advise you to incorporate the customer's first name and additional personal details such as their tier (premium, VIP, platinum etc.) to make them feel special and valued. This not only gives them a human touch but also contributes to building trust, which is essential when shopping online.
Other ways to personalize transactional emails include adding pictures of the purchased products together with tips on how to get the most out of them, video tutorials, how-to guides and answers to frequently asked questions.
Allow users to manage their notification preferences
While transactional messaging doesn't have to include unsubscribe links, it's a good idea to enable recipients to manage their notification preferences on their own. For example, you can allow them to opt out of specific categories.
Managing preferences becomes more difficult when your product involves various email categories, such as onboarding emails, invoice receipts and account notifications.
For onboarding emails, you can opt for one-click unsubscribe links, but for shipping instructions, you likely want to avoid unintentional opt-outs.
Make the format reader-friendly
Apart from avoiding complex email templates and layouts, you should:
- Keep it concise and simple
- Write using short paragraphs with a lot of white space in between
- Choose a font that's clear and easy to read
- Bold or underline the most important information
- Don't add too many pictures, as they're often not shown
Add your social media links
Source: Freepik.com
You can expand the purpose of your transactional emails beyond mere confirmation and acknowledgment of user interactions. Smart email marketers combine promotional and transactional emails by adding subtle upsells, cross-sells or other touch points like social media.
Including social media icons in a transactional email invites customers to deepen their relationship with the brand and engage on other channels.
Even without a clear CTA, customers can explore your social media profiles for additional deals and pricing information.
Plus, if the recipient is uninterested in the current offerings and receiving your promotional emails, they may choose to follow your social media accounts to stay informed about similar deals in the future.
For more inspiration, click here to discover additional email campaign ideas or check out our other guides:
Conclusion
Transactional emails serve as a bridge between businesses and customers, ensuring effective communication and strengthening relationships.
However, their importance goes beyond mere confirmation as they can contribute to user experience, add value to the customer journey and even boost sales.
If you have never created transactional emails before, we hope this guide will help you come up with your own templates.
If you already have some transactional emails (whether you like them or not), you’re sitting on a gold mine of information. You can analyze them to uncover valuable insights that can help you optimize your future emails.
Book a free demo to see how SEINō can help you boost your ROI and take transactional emails to the next level.
Transactional email best practices: FAQ
What is the best service for managing transactional emails? Klaviyo and Mailjet are among the best transactional email service providers, but choosing the right one will depend on your budget and the amount and type of emails you want to send.
What is considered a transactional email? It's an automated email triggered by a particular user's action on your website or webshop. They're sometimes also called notification emails as they can include various types of notifications such as order confirmation, account activation or password reset emails.
Why use transactional emails? Transactional emails provide real-time information such as order confirmation, billing, shipping updates and next steps required from the user. They reassure customers that everything is okay with their order or account and serve to build trust and relationships.
