Transactional emails are a common term used for important emails that relate to a purchase or booking event. Examples are; “Your package has shipped”, “Important information about your booking” or “Your flight has changed”.
Transactional emails have a significantly higher open rate than Bulk emails.
Source: Experian : The transactional email report
These emails are an opportunity for marketing departments to up-sell ancillary products, but there’s a new trend which I’ve been noticing. The trend is to disguise a bulk mailing email as a transactional one. Making the user think its important when in fact it isn’t.
As this trend gains traction, the end result will just reduce the impact of transactional emails, much like the Boy who cried wolf!
Transactional emails are an effective way to engage with customers and at the same time to up-sell, but keep the messaging to the point, as intended and precise. The focus should be what the customer expects, not just a marketing message.