Summary
The overwhelming consensus from marketers, experts, and documentation across various platforms (Email Geeks, Mailjet, Sendinblue, HubSpot, AWS, Google Workspace, Microsoft, Litmus, Validity, Stack Overflow, Reddit, Quora, Email on Acid, Word to the Wise, and Spamresource) is that separating transactional and marketing emails is a best practice for maintaining good sender reputation and deliverability. This separation allows for better tracking, optimization, and isolation of deliverability issues. Using separate IPs, subdomains, or sender addresses protects transactional emails (e.g., password resets, shipping notifications) from negative impacts caused by marketing campaigns, which often have lower engagement rates or a higher risk of being marked as spam. Key benefits include enhanced sender reputation, improved email deliverability for both transactional and marketing emails, better tracking and optimization of each email type, and more granular control over email configurations. However, a few sources suggest that combining these streams may be acceptable if the total sending volume is low and list hygiene is excellent.
Key findings
- Reputation Management: Separating email streams is crucial for maintaining and protecting sender reputation, a key factor in email deliverability.
- Deliverability Optimization: Segmentation helps prevent marketing emails from negatively impacting the deliverability of important transactional emails, ensuring critical notifications reach their intended recipients.
- Enhanced Control: Separate configurations enable granular control over settings like bounce handling, feedback loops, and dedicated IPs for each email type.
- Improved Tracking: Separation allows for better tracking and optimization of each email type, tailored to their specific goals and performance metrics.
Key considerations
- IP/Subdomain Separation: Consider using separate IPs or subdomains for transactional and marketing emails to fully isolate sending reputations and maximize deliverability.
- List Hygiene: If combining email types, ensure excellent list hygiene practices to minimize the risk of spam complaints and maintain deliverability rates.
- Email Volume: Consider total email volume when deciding whether to separate streams. Combining streams may be acceptable for low-volume senders, but is generally not advised.
- Platform Features: Leverage platform features offered by AWS, Google Workspace, and Microsoft to implement separate configurations and manage email settings for transactional and marketing emails independently.
- Engagement Rates: Pay attention to engagement rates; if marketing emails exhibit low engagement or are frequently marked as spam, separation becomes even more crucial to protect transactional deliverability.
What email marketers say
13 marketer opinions
The consensus among email marketers is that separating transactional and marketing emails is a best practice for maintaining good sender reputation and deliverability. This separation allows for better tracking, optimization, and isolation of deliverability issues. By using separate IPs, subdomains, or sender addresses, organizations can protect their transactional emails (like password resets and shipping notifications) from being negatively impacted by marketing campaigns, which may have lower engagement rates or be more likely to be marked as spam. However, some email senders note that combining them is acceptable as long as list hygiene is good.
Key opinions
- Sender Reputation: Separating email types helps maintain a positive sender reputation, which is crucial for deliverability.
- Deliverability Protection: Separation prevents marketing emails from negatively impacting the deliverability of important transactional emails.
- Tracking and Optimization: Separation allows for better tracking and optimization of each email type, tailored to their specific goals.
- Segmentation Benefits: Email list segmentation by email type boosts deliverability and keeps transactional messages out of spam filters.
Key considerations
- IP/Subdomain Separation: Consider using separate IPs or subdomains for transactional and marketing emails to fully isolate sending reputations.
- List Hygiene: If combining email types, ensure excellent list hygiene practices to minimize the risk of spam complaints.
- Volume: Some suggest that it is ok to combine if you have low total sending volume overall.
- Engagement Rates: Be mindful of engagement rates. If your marketing emails have low engagement or are frequently marked as spam, separation becomes even more critical.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Reddit recommends using separate subdomains, one for marketing and one for transactional, to isolate deliverability issues. This prevents marketing campaigns from impacting the delivery of critical transactional emails.
11 Jul 2023 - Reddit
Marketer view
Email marketer from Mailjet Blog explains that separating transactional and marketing emails is crucial for maintaining good sender reputation. By using separate IPs or subdomains, you can protect your transactional email deliverability from any negative impact caused by marketing campaigns.
9 Apr 2024 - Mailjet Blog
What the experts say
4 expert opinions
Experts generally recommend separating transactional and marketing email streams to maintain deliverability and sender reputation. Separating ensures that marketing emails with lower quality or engagement don't negatively impact the delivery of critical transactional messages. Dedicated IPs and domain segmentation are key strategies. One expert also notes that it is ok to combine streams if total volume is low.
Key opinions
- Reputation Protection: Separating email streams protects the reputation of transactional emails from the potential negative impact of marketing emails.
- Independent Management: Using dedicated IPs allows for independent reputation management and control over deliverability for each email type.
- Varying Needs: Marketing and transactional emails have different needs for inbox placement, supporting the separation strategy.
Key considerations
- Dedicated IPs: Consider using dedicated IP addresses for each email type to maximize deliverability control.
- Domain Segmentation: Segmenting sending domains can protect transactional mail reputation if marketing mail is of lower quality.
- Email Volume: Consider overall sending volume, as combining streams may be acceptable for low-volume senders.
Expert view
Expert from Spamresource recommends using dedicated IP addresses for marketing and transactional mail. This allows for independent reputation management and better control over deliverability for each email type.
25 May 2025 - Spamresource
Expert view
Expert from Word to the Wise explains that domain reputation applies to all mail coming from your domain. If marketing mail is of lower quality, it can impact the delivery of transactional messages. Segmenting sending domains protects transactional mail reputation.
11 May 2023 - Word to the Wise
What the documentation says
3 technical articles
Major email platforms like AWS, Google Workspace, and Microsoft recommend or support separating transactional and marketing emails. This separation enables granular control over settings like bounce handling and feedback loops, helps prevent domains from being flagged for exceeding sender limits, and ensures the delivery of important transactional emails by keeping them separate from bulk promotional mail.
Key findings
- Granular Control: Separate configurations allow for granular control over bounce handling, feedback loops, and dedicated IPs for each email type.
- Deliverability Assurance: Separating email types ensures the delivery of important transactional emails, protecting them from the potential negative impact of marketing emails.
- Prevention of Flagging: Separating email types and adhering to best practices for each prevents your domain from being flagged for exceeding sender limits.
Key considerations
- Separate Configurations: Utilize separate configurations within your email sending platform for transactional and marketing emails.
- Sender Limits: Adhere to sender limits to avoid being flagged by email providers, especially when sending both transactional and marketing emails.
- IP Addresses: Consider using different IP addresses for different purposes to implement segmentation as recommended by Google.
Technical article
Documentation from Microsoft Support explains that exceeding sender limits can impact your ability to send both transactional and marketing emails. Separating email types and adhering to best practices for each can prevent your domain from being flagged and improve overall deliverability within the Outlook ecosystem.
22 May 2024 - Microsoft Support
Technical article
Documentation from Google Workspace explains that Google recommends segmenting different types of email. For example, bulk promotional mail should be separated from transactional emails. This is to ensure the delivery of important email. This can be implemented by sending emails for different purposes from different IP addresses.
29 Sep 2023 - Google Workspace Admin Help
Are SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records necessary for transactional email servers not used for marketing?
How do Yahoogle (Yahoo and Google) distinguish between bulk marketing and transactional emails, and what are the requirements for unsubscribe links?
Should I use separate email subdomains for transactional and promotional emails, and how does engagement affect this?
Should I use separate IPs or domains for transactional vs marketing emails?
Should I use subdomains for transactional and promotional emails to protect my main domain reputation?
Should transactional and marketing emails be sent from separate domains or subdomains?
