What’s the difference between transactional and marketing messages?

Transactional messages are emails triggered by and directly related to a specific transaction or relationship that the recipient has with the sender. These include order confirmations, shipping notifications, password resets, account alerts, appointment reminders, and receipts. The defining characteristic is that the email exists because of something the recipient did or a service they're actively using-it's fulfilling an expected communication need rather than promoting something new.

Marketing messages are emails sent to promote products, services, or the sender's brand, regardless of any specific triggering action by the recipient. Newsletters, promotional campaigns, sales announcements, product launches, and re-engagement campaigns are all marketing messages. Even if sent to people who've previously purchased or engaged, the purpose is promotional-encouraging future action rather than facilitating an existing transaction or providing necessary service information.

The distinction matters because transactional and marketing emails face different rules. Transactional messages generally don't require prior consent (people who order products implicitly need order confirmations) and are exempt from many anti-spam requirements like unsubscribe links. Marketing messages require consent in many jurisdictions, must include unsubscribe mechanisms, and must comply with identification and disclosure requirements. Misclassifying marketing messages as transactional to avoid consent requirements is a compliance violation. The test is purpose: if the message primarily serves the recipient's needs related to an existing relationship, it's transactional; if it primarily serves your promotional goals, it's marketing.