What is a transactional email?
Transactional emails are triggered when a recipient requests a specific action -- like a password reset – and an automated email is sent in response. These automated emails are sent programmatically and contain important information customers need to complete an action, like an order confirmation, customer service response, or account notification.
Mailgun’s robust email API can handle any type of transactional message:
Abandoned cart reminders
Registration emails
Order confirmation emails
Welcome emails
Reminder emails
Customer feedback request emails
Billing notifications
Transactional email use cases
Using transactional emails in your business
Account creation emails
Initiate a customer relationship at this critical touchpoint. Confirm a new account and offer the option to receive other important communication.
Verification emails
Confirm new users and activate accounts securely across any of your channels -- email, SMS, voice, or push notifications.
Password reset emails
Respond immediately with a secure and personalized recovery email that doesn’t land in spam.
Purchase receipt emails
Send immediate and accurate transaction details after a purchase to reassure customers and build brand trust.
Shipping confirmation emails
Reassure customers by letting them know when their products ship. Include important details like tracking numbers and delivery dates.
Identity and authentication emails
Keep brands and users safe from spam and phishing efforts through verification codes and secure authentication processes.
How transactional emails improve customer experience
Unlike email marketing campaigns -- or commercial emails -- which are sent to a large group of subscribers, transactional emails are anticipated, personal, and relevant. That’s why they lead to better open rates, engagement rates and deliverability than most marketing emails. Transactional emails are an integral part of the customer journey and are vital for completing workflows quickly. They also keep customers safe, with security alerts, new device notifications, and other built-in reminders that protect accounts and prevent fraud. That’s probably why 71% of consumers are willing to search spam folders for transactional emails.
Transactional email vs. marketing email
Transactional messages are triggered in real-time by a specific user action, and they’re sent on a one-off, individual basis. Email marketing campaigns, on the other hand, are one-to-many communications promotional emails that promote a product, service, sale, or other events. Although a user has opted-in to receive this communication as subscribers, these marketing emails are usually not user-driven in the same way transactional emails are. Since the best transactional emails contain information a user specifically requested, they tend to have much higher open rates than email marketing campaigns, and thus have better email deliverability.
Why you need a transactional email service
From account creation to customer support and password resets to order confirmations, customers have come to expect a real-time inbox delivery almost every time they interact with an online brand. When a customer’s action triggers a brand’s site to send email, those emails are known as transactional emails. Unlike other types of email marketing and marketing email campaigns, transactional emails have incredibly high open rates — for a reason. The customer is expecting this kind of correspondence, and missing a popular transactional email may even confuse and frustrate them.
Finding a transactional email service
Sending transactional emails shouldn’t be hard with the right transaction email service. With an email service provider or simple email service like Mailgun, you can easily send and track emails like these. Mailgun gives you insight into analytics and mailbox provider performance, so you can see how Google’s Gmail, Yahoo, and other providers handle your messages. Our goal is to help you achieve high delivery rates and keep your transactional emails out of the spam folder. Try Mailgun and see what you can accomplish with the world's best email delivery platform.
How to send transactional emails
If transactional emails establish and guide the customer relationship, developers must do everything in their power to make sure that email delivery doesn’t get snagged in a spam folder or thwarted by the email delivery send limits set by Google and other email hosts. Building and maintaining your own SMTP server is one option, but most developers would rather avoid the hassle, expense and security risk. Instead, they send emails by SMTP relay or API through a cloud-based, third-party email service. Mailgun’s transactional email service allows you to send emails in real time with the highest delivery rates and lowest fear of spam folders or send limits.
Improve your sending reputation
Wondering whether your transactional email messages are getting through to targeted email addresses? See whether or not your emails have been delivered through API or within the control panel. Take proactive steps to build a positive reputation with a dedicated IP address and email validation service.
Integrate with your application
Worried about sending one-size-fits-all email campaigns? With a single API call, you can send more than 1,000 personalized emails. Mailgun supports streamlined integration with better functionality, so you can send emails directly from your web application with ease. Connect with MBPs like Gmail, Yahoo, and Outlook over TLS or SSL. Or connect transactional email templates to your entire sales tech stack to automate new leads, confirm orders and automate important email events.
Get help when you need it
Need immediate assistance? With 24/7 support, help is always available. Mailgun offers world-class ticket, chat, and phone support to solve your tricky problems. For customers looking for more proactive help, Mailgun’s Deliverability Service provides account monitoring, ongoing deliverability consulting, and expert guidance on best practices for your specific use case.
A transactional email API for consistent communication
The average number of business emails sent and received per user each day numbers upwards of 122 emails. Yet transactional emails are initiated by user actions. As opposed to other forms of email marketing and bulk email campaigns, transactional emails have a distinct advantage in capturing a reader’s attention. Your customers are waiting to hear from you; don’t miss your opportunity to stand out.
Powerful API and features
To ensure high open rates for transactional email, a dedicated email service is essential. Mailgun offers:
dedicated IP addresses to isolate your reputation and make sure your transactional emails land in an inbox, not a spam folder
advanced analytics to track email sends in real-time, report changes in your email lists, and run A/B tests
flexible APIs including a robust email validation service and message events
a 24/7 support team available by chat, phone, or email
Start sending your transactional emails today
Your business needs an email service provider that successfully reaches users, and Mailgun delivers via its cloud-based transactional email service. Using an email provider like Mailgun can boost the reach of your marketing platform and increase your email open rates, which in turn will increase sales and customer loyalty.
Sending over 100,000 messages per month? Check out our plans to bundle together features for better deliverability.
Explore beyond transactional email
Mailgun has a variety of features for companies in need of Transactional Email.
Products
Solutions
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