Summary
The overwhelming consensus from experts, marketers, and documentation is that operational (transactional) emails should be separated from marketing emails to maintain good deliverability and protect sender reputation. Using distinct subdomains or dedicated IP addresses is a highly recommended practice for achieving this separation. This isolates the reputation of each email type, preventing deliverability issues with marketing emails (like spam complaints) from negatively affecting the delivery of critical transactional emails. While some suggest that the main domain might be acceptable for low-volume transactional emails, a dedicated setup is crucial for high volumes. It's also vital to implement a separate IP warming strategy for transactional IPs, ensure proper email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC), and actively monitor for and avoid blocklists. Furthermore, the reputation isn't just tied to the domain; the reply-to domain, the specific email address, and the domain in the 'from' line all play a role in the sender's overall reputation.
Key findings
- Separate Streams: Separating transactional and marketing emails is crucial for maintaining deliverability.
- Isolate Reputation: Using distinct subdomains or dedicated IPs isolates the reputation of each email type, protecting critical transactional emails.
- Volume Matters: For low-volume transactional emails, the main domain *might* be acceptable, but a dedicated setup is vital for high volumes.
- Warming: Dedicated transactional IPs require a separate and carefully managed IP warming strategy.
- Authentication: Proper email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is essential for improving deliverability and avoiding spam folders.
- Reputation is Multi-Faceted: The entire email address, including the subdomain and the reply-to, affect reputation.
Key considerations
- Infrastructure Setup: Plan and implement a clear infrastructure for separating email streams, including distinct subdomains or dedicated IPs.
- Volume Assessment: Assess the volume of transactional emails to determine the necessity of a dedicated setup.
- Warming Plan: Develop a separate IP warming plan for any newly dedicated IPs.
- Authentication Protocols: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC for all email sending domains and subdomains.
- Blocklist Monitoring: Regularly check IPs and domains against blocklists and take immediate action if listed.
- Reply-to Management: Carefully manage and monitor the reputation of the reply-to address as it also impacts deliverability.
- Engagement Evaluation: Before choosing to use a marketing subdomain, carefully evaluate its existing engagement and reputation, especially if you are already warming a domain.
What email marketers say
10 marketer opinions
The general consensus is that operational emails should be separated from marketing emails to maintain deliverability and protect sender reputation. Using separate subdomains or dedicated IPs for transactional emails is a recommended practice. This isolates the reputation of each email type, preventing deliverability issues with marketing emails from impacting transactional emails. Some suggest that for low-volume transactional emails, the main domain might be acceptable, but a dedicated setup is crucial for high volumes. It's also highlighted that a separate IP warming strategy is needed for transactional IPs and that consistent authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is vital.
Key opinions
- Separate Streams: Separating transactional and marketing emails is vital for maintaining good deliverability.
- Isolate Reputation: Using separate subdomains or IPs isolates the reputation of each email type.
- Volume Matters: For low-volume transactional emails, the main domain might be acceptable; high volume requires a dedicated setup.
- Warming: Dedicated transactional IPs require a separate IP warming strategy.
- Authentication: Proper email authentication (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) is crucial for improving deliverability.
Key considerations
- Volume Assessment: Assess the volume of transactional emails to determine if a dedicated setup is necessary.
- Existing Warmup: If using a marketing subdomain, consider its existing warmup status and sender reputation.
- Employee Handling: Configure a reply-to address for operational emails to ensure proper employee handling.
- List Segmentation: Evaluate the email list for engagement status to manage deliverability effectively.
- IP Warming Strategy: Implement a separate IP warming strategy for dedicated transactional IPs.
Marketer view
Email marketer from Mailjet shares that transactional email should be sent from a dedicated IP to ensure deliverability is prioritised. Sending both email types from one server could impact your sender reputation.
26 Dec 2022 - Mailjet
Marketer view
Email marketer from SendGrid shares that separating the types of emails you are sending is key to good deliverability. Having a seperate IP for each email type ensures that if marketing email is marked as spam the transactional emails are still delivered.
2 Jul 2021 - SendGrid
What the experts say
3 expert opinions
The experts emphasize the importance of separating email streams based on type (transactional vs. marketing) to maintain distinct sender reputations. Using different subdomains and IPs helps isolate these reputations, preventing deliverability issues in one stream from impacting the other. Moreover, the reply-to domain, the specific email address, and the domain in the 'from' line all contribute to the sender's overall reputation.
Key opinions
- Separate Streams: Transactional and marketing emails should be treated as separate streams.
- Isolated Reputation: Different subdomains and IPs isolate the reputation of each email stream.
- Reputation Factors: Reply-to domain, the specific email address, and the domain in the 'from' line contribute to the sender's overall reputation.
Key considerations
- Infrastructure: Set up distinct subdomains and IPs for transactional and marketing emails.
- Monitoring: Monitor the reputation of each email stream independently.
- Reputation impact: Be aware that all parts of your email address may have some kind of reputational impact.
Expert view
Expert from Word to the Wise, Laura Atkins, shares that the reputation of transactional and marketing streams are separate. She responds that if the same IP and From address is used for both then it can be hard to have different email delivery results.
26 Jun 2023 - Word to the Wise
Expert view
Expert from Email Geeks explains that the reply-to domain and email address will have a reputation. The e.company.example will have a reputation and the whole email address in the from: line will have a reputation.
29 Nov 2023 - Email Geeks
What the documentation says
5 technical articles
Email service documentation consistently recommends separating transactional and marketing emails by using distinct subdomains or dedicated IP addresses. This separation helps protect sender reputation and ensures that deliverability issues in one stream don't negatively impact the other. The documents highlight the importance of proper authentication and avoiding blocklists for improved deliverability.
Key findings
- Separate Streams: Separating transactional and marketing email streams is crucial for maintaining deliverability.
- Subdomains/IPs: Using separate subdomains or dedicated IP addresses is a recommended practice.
- Protect Reputation: Separation helps protect overall sender reputation.
- Authentication: Proper authentication is essential for improved deliverability.
- Avoid Blocklists: Ensure IP addresses are not on any blocklists.
Key considerations
- Infrastructure Setup: Set up separate subdomains or dedicated IPs for transactional and marketing emails.
- Authentication Protocols: Implement SPF, DKIM, and DMARC for authentication.
- Blocklist Monitoring: Regularly check IP addresses against blocklists.
- Email type identification: Clearly distinguish between transactional and marketing emails.
Technical article
Documentation from Postmark explains that transactional emails, such as password resets or purchase receipts, should be sent from a separate subdomain or dedicated IP address than marketing emails to maintain a good sender reputation.
26 Jun 2023 - Postmark
Technical article
Documentation from Microsoft answers questions on how to maintain distinct IPs for each type of email delivery and how that provides benefits for sender reputation and deliverability.
17 Oct 2023 - Microsoft
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