Summary
The overwhelming consensus across email marketing experts, documentation, and community discussions is that emails highlighting exclusive membership benefits should be treated as promotional. This classification is primarily based on the email's purpose: if its main goal is to advertise or promote products/services (i.e., the benefits), it falls under the promotional category. This distinction is crucial for compliance with regulations like CAN-SPAM and GDPR, which necessitate explicit consent and unsubscribe options for promotional emails. Beyond compliance, prioritizing recipient satisfaction and engagement is vital, suggesting that erring on the side of treating such emails as promotional is a sound strategy. Supplementing email with alternative channels for accessing benefits and providing separate subscription options for transactional and promotional content are also recommended.
Key findings
- Purpose-Driven Classification: If the primary purpose is to promote benefits, classify as promotional.
- Regulatory Compliance: Promotional emails require explicit consent and unsubscribe options for CAN-SPAM/GDPR compliance.
- Recipient Satisfaction: Treating as promotional aligns with user expectations and preferences.
- Alternative Access: Offer alternative channels besides email for accessing benefit information.
- Separate Subscriptions: Provide separate subscriptions for transactional and promotional content.
Key considerations
- Audience Engagement: Prioritize audience engagement when classifying email types.
- Unsubscribe Feedback: Gather feedback from unsubscribed members to understand their reasons and improve retention.
- Resource Allocation: Relying solely on email may signal a need for improved development resources for alternative channels.
- Honour Unsubscribes: Always honour unsubscribe requests so customers don't mark your emails as spam.
What email marketers say
12 marketer opinions
The consensus is that emails highlighting exclusive membership benefits should be treated as promotional, even if they are triggered by a purchase or subscription. The primary purpose of the email dictates its classification: if the main goal is to promote deals and offers, it's promotional. This classification impacts compliance with regulations like CAN-SPAM and requires explicit consent and unsubscribe options. Several experts also suggest considering recipient satisfaction and engagement, which may be prioritized by treating the emails as promotional.
Key opinions
- Primary Purpose: If the email's main purpose is to advertise or promote membership benefits, it should be classified as promotional.
- CAN-SPAM Compliance: Classifying emails correctly is critical for adhering to CAN-SPAM regulations.
- Consent Required: Promotional emails require explicit consent from recipients.
- Unsubscribe Options: Promotional emails must include an unsubscribe option.
- Recipient Satisfaction: Prioritize recipient satisfaction and engagement by treating benefit emails as promotional.
Key considerations
- Alternative Channels: Consider providing alternative ways for members to access benefits information outside of email to avoid forcing a channel.
- Subscription Management: Offer separate subscription options for transactional and promotional emails to give members control over the content they receive.
- Unsubscribe Feedback: When members unsubscribe from benefit emails, consider contacting them to understand their reasons and potentially retain them.
- Engagement: It is more important to keep your audience engaged than risk annoying them.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Reddit highlights the importance of always honouring unsubscribe requests so customers don't mark your emails as spam.
18 Nov 2023 - Reddit
Marketer view
Email marketer from Campaign Monitor says that whether an email is transactional or promotional depends on its primary purpose, which affects compliance with laws like CAN-SPAM. Exclusive benefit announcements are likely promotional.
9 Jan 2023 - Campaign Monitor
What the experts say
3 expert opinions
Experts recommend treating emails with exclusive membership benefits as promotional, emphasizing the need for unsubscribe links and user control over promotional messages. Additionally, it's advised to offer alternative channels for accessing benefit information and consider separate subscriptions for different email types. Relying solely on email may indicate a lack of development resources and may not be the best business decision.
Key opinions
- Promotional Nature: Emails enticing recipients to use membership benefits should be treated as promotional.
- User Control: Recipients should have control over whether they receive promotional messages, even if they paid for a membership.
- Unsubscribe Links: Promotional emails require unsubscribe links.
Key considerations
- Alternative Channels: Provide alternative ways to access benefit information outside of email.
- Separate Subscriptions: Consider creating separate subscriptions for monthly benefits.
- Development Resources: Relying solely on email may indicate a lack of development resources and may not be the best business decision.
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks recommends having developers provide an alternative way to access the content other than email.
24 Oct 2022 - Email Geeks
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks recommends creating a separate subscription for monthly benefits and highlights that relying solely on email may indicate a lack of development resources, which isn't always the best business decision.
26 Oct 2022 - Email Geeks
What the documentation says
4 technical articles
Email documentation from SendGrid, Amazon SES, Mailchimp and SparkPost consistently indicates that emails detailing exclusive membership perks should be treated as marketing or promotional rather than transactional. Transactional emails facilitate a specific, agreed-upon transaction or update. In contrast, marketing emails promote a product or service, and this classification affects legal requirements and best practices. The primary purpose of the email determines the classification.
Key findings
- Marketing Focus: Emails detailing membership perks align more with marketing than transactional emails.
- Promotional Content: Benefit announcements are considered advertisements or solicitations.
- Legal Implications: Email type classification affects legal requirements.
- Primary Purpose: The primary purpose of the email determines its classification.
Key considerations
Technical article
Documentation from Amazon SES specifies that marketing emails contain advertisements or solicitations, and benefit announcements likely fit this description. Transactional emails facilitate a transaction or update an existing transaction.
20 Jan 2022 - Amazon Web Services
Technical article
Documentation from SparkPost outlines that marketing emails include promotions and announcements, whereas transactional emails facilitate an agreed upon transaction or provide updates to an ongoing transaction. The primary purpose of the email determines its classification.
10 Jan 2022 - SparkPost
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