Create a transactional email

  • Updated
If you had access to campaigns prior to April 2023, Optimizely updated the tab name from Campaigns to Activation. All functionality remains the same.

The transactional email add-on enables an account to send emails for business transactions such as order receipts, account updates, and shipping confirmations. Transactional emails are for relationship-based interactions, whereas marketing emails are used for promotion.

Transactional email is an optional platform add-on. Contact your Customer Success Manager for more details.

Marketing and transactional email

Marketing email is any email that primarily contains a commercial message or content. This type usually targets a particular group of recipients, such as trying to move a lead down your funnel. You should use an unsubscribe link to keep your emails out of the junk folder and ensure compliance with common privacy laws, such as CAN-SPAM. A few examples of marketing emails include:

  • Newsletters
  • Welcome series
  • Seasonal promotions

Transactional email is any email that is triggered through an event that happened within an application or website. This type is usually sent to individual recipients and completes a transaction or process. You do not need to include an unsubscribe link as a recipient should always receive the information contained in these messages. A few examples of transactional emails include:

  • Order confirmation and receipt
  • Shipping information
  • Password reset

Transactional best practices

The differences between marketing and transactional email are not always obvious. Because the rules and regulations can vary by region, you should know the laws of the regions in which you operate. Avoid including unnecessary information in your transactional emails and follow these best practices:

  • Use an easy to understand “From Address”.
  • Communicate all critical information in the subject line.
  • Align the design of your transactional emails with your brand.
  • Identify the reason the recipient is receiving the email.
  • Ensure that the content of your email is informational and not promotional.

Create a transactional email

  1. Go to Activation > Engage > Create New Campaign > Transactional.
  2. Select a transactional email recipe if you have integrations with a compatible third-party app, or select Create From Scratch.
  3. Select the event to trigger the campaign in the Filter drop-down list.
  4. Configure the Touchpoints section as desired.
  5. Click Save.
  6. Click Go Live.