Do you have a receipt or shipping notification from an online store in your inbox? Or an email that gives you a password reset link? These are all examples of transactional emails.
Transactional emails are messages sent to recipients as a response to a specific action they’ve taken. These messages are usually automated.
In this post, you’ll learn nine best practices for transactional emails.
1. Use a recognizable from name
The first thing a recipient sees when they receive an email is the from name. If they don’t recognize the from name, they’ll likely question the email’s legitimacy and may even mark it as spam.
It’s important to make sure your from name is recognizable. If you’re sending a welcome email, you could use your company name or the name of the person who signed up. If you’re sending a shipping confirmation email, you could use the name of the shipping carrier.
Here’s an example of a shipping confirmation email from UPS with a recognizable from name:
2. Make sure your subject line is clear
While you can get creative with your subject lines in promotional emails, it’s best to keep your subject line simple and clear in transactional emails.
This is because transactional emails often include important information that your recipients need to know. A clear subject line can help them identify your email in their inbox and quickly find the information they need.
In the example below, you can see how the subject line clearly communicates the purpose of the email. This makes it easy for the recipient to identify and access the information in the email.
If you are using a marketing automation tool like HubSpot, telecrm, you can use personalization tokens to automatically populate the subject line with the order number or other important information.
3. Get straight to the point
Transactional emails are not the place for long-windedness. If anything, you should try and keep your email as short as possible.
This is because, more often than not, the recipient is looking for a specific piece of information. Like in the example above, the recipient may be looking for a confirmation of their purchase.
In other cases, the recipient may be looking for a specific piece of information, like an email with a password reset link. In these cases, it’s important to keep the email short and to the point.
4. Transactional emails should be sent from a noreply email
While you want to make your marketing emails as conversational as possible, your transactional emails should come from a noreply email address.
This is because transactional emails are meant to inform. Users can always reply to a marketing or regular email with questions or comments. But, with a transactional email, the user doesn’t need to take any action. It’s just meant to inform them of something.
So, if you send a transactional email from an email address that allows users to reply, you may be overwhelmed with responses. And, because transactional emails are automated, you may not be able to respond to them.
In most cases, users won’t need to respond to a transactional email. But, if you want to give them the option, you can always add a link to your website or a contact form in the email copy.
5. Use brand colors and logos
Your email template should be an extension of your website and the rest of your marketing materials.
Use your brand’s color scheme and add your logo to the email. This will help recipients recognize your brand and create a consistent customer experience.
If you’re using a service like HubSpot’s transactional email tool, you can easily add your logo to your email templates.
6. Add a call to action
The primary purpose of a transactional email is to provide the recipient with information about a specific action they took. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t include a call to action.
Adding a CTA to your transactional emails is a great way to encourage additional engagement with your brand. For example, you could include a “Shop Similar Products” CTA in your order confirmation email.
Just be sure that any CTAs you include in your transactional emails are relevant to the action the recipient took. In other words, don’t include a “Shop Similar Products” CTA in your shipping confirmation email.
Instead, save that CTA for your order confirmation email, and use a “Track Your Order” CTA in your shipping confirmation email.
7. Use dynamic content
You can use dynamic content in your transactional emails to personalize the content. This can help you increase customer engagement and build trust with your audience.
For example, you could use a customer’s name in the email to make it feel more personal. You could also use dynamic content to recommend products based on their previous purchases.
Using dynamic content in your transactional emails can help you increase your average order value and drive repeat purchases.
8. Make it responsive
You already know that most emails should be mobile-responsive, but it’s worth mentioning again.
Transactional emails are no exception.
With so many people shopping on mobile devices, you want to make sure your order and shipping confirmations look good and are easy to read on mobile.
If they’re not, you could miss out on a valuable opportunity to engage with your customers.
9. Get creative
Just because transactional emails are automated doesn’t mean they have to be boring. You can still get creative with your design, copy, and calls-to-action.
For example, if you’re sending a customer a receipt, you could include a section that recommends other products they might like based on their purchase. You could also include a discount code to encourage them to make another purchase.
The bottom line is, you shouldn’t miss out on the opportunity to build a relationship with your customers just because an email is transactional.
10. Use transactional emails to activate referrals
Transactional emails have some of the highest open rates of any email type, which makes them an ideal place to introduce referral opportunities—when done thoughtfully.
After a successful action like a purchase, signup, or account upgrade, customers are often at a moment of high satisfaction. Adding a subtle referral message—such as inviting them to share with a friend in exchange for a reward—can turn that positive moment into additional growth.
Tools like ReferralCandy make it easy to embed referral links or referral CTAs into transactional emails automatically, while tracking referrals and handling rewards behind the scenes. By keeping the referral message secondary to the email’s primary purpose, you can drive word-of-mouth growth without disrupting the transactional experience.
Conclusion
Transactional emails are a critical component of a customer retention strategy. They provide value to the customer, build a relationship with your brand, and keep your product top-of-mind. By following the best practices in this article, you’ll ensure your transactional emails are well-received and effective.
