Understanding Email Types: Transactional/Operational vs. Promotional
- Transactional/Operational Email: Facilitating Transactions and Providing Updates
- Transactional/operational emails support agreed-upon transactions or update prospects on ongoing transactions.
- Examples include password reset emails, contract redline updates, purchase receipts, and notifications.
- Typically sent individually rather than as part of an email campaign.
- Contains information specifically requested by the prospect.
- Promotional Email: Advertising Products or Services
- Promotional emails have the primary purpose of advertising or promoting a commercial product or service.
- Includes sales emails, product announcements, newsletters, and re-engagement emails.
- Aims to encourage prospects to take a favorable action, such as making a purchase or downloading content.
- Subject to legal requirements like the CAN-SPAM Act, CASL, and GDPR.
Legal Considerations for Promotional Emails: Unsubscribe Links
- Unsubscribe Mechanism: Unsubscribe links serve as a means for prospects to indicate their preference not to receive further emails.
- Compliance and Best Practice: In line with legal requirements and as a best practice to maintain the sender's reputation, include an unsubscribe or opt-out link.
- Prospect Communication: Providing an unsubscribe link ensures that you respect the wishes of prospects who no longer wish to receive emails.
- Reducing Complaints:Clear and user-friendly unsubscribe links help limit prospects' complaints to your ISP and mitigate the risk of being marked as spam.