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.
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.
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
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.
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
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.
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?