Transactional vs Marketing Emails

Transactional emails are messages triggered by user actions (purchases, password resets, order confirmations). They have higher deliverability rates and stricter requirements than marketing emails.

Key differences:

Transactional: Sent after a specific user action, contains order details, required for service completion
Marketing: Promotional content, newsletters, announcements, requires unsubscribe link

Writing Transactional Emails That Don't Go to Spam

Email Template Example


  <div>
    <p>Hi {first_name},</p>

    <p>Thank you for purchasing a {project.title} subscription! Your subscription is now active.</p>

    <div style="background-color: #f8f9fa; padding: 16px; margin: 16px 0;">
      <strong>Order Details</strong><br>
      Plan: {subscription.plan_name}<br>
      Amount: {subscription.amount} {subscription.currency}<br>
      Purchase Date: {subscription.created_at}<br>
      Order ID: #{subscription.id}
    </div>

    <p>Download the app to start using your subscription:</p>

    <a href="{download_link}">Download the app</a>

    <div style="background-color: #fff3cd; padding: 12px; margin: 16px 0;">
      <strong>Activation Instructions:</strong> After installing the app,
      please tap the download link again to activate your subscription.
    </div>

    <p>Questions about your order? Contact us at {project.support_email}</p>
  </div>

If your emails are going to spam:

Check DNS records: Verify SPF, DKIM, DMARC are correctly configured
Review email content: Remove spam trigger words and aggressive marketing language
Monitor blacklists: Check if your domain/IP is blacklisted at https://mxtoolbox.com/blacklists.aspx
Verify email authentication: All emails should pass SPF, DKIM, and DMARC checks