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How does sending internal system notifications affect transactional email deliverability when using the same ESP?

Summary

Using a single Email Service Provider (ESP), like Mailgun, for both internal system notifications and external transactional emails can raise concerns about deliverability. While transactional emails generally enjoy high inbox placement due to user expectation and engagement, the quality and engagement (or lack thereof) of internal system notifications can potentially impact the shared sender reputation, especially if both mailstreams originate from the same domain and IP address. Issues like high bounce rates from inactive employee email addresses or low engagement on internal alerts could subtly degrade the overall sending reputation, affecting the deliverability of critical transactional emails.

What email marketers say

Email marketers often face the challenge of managing diverse email streams within a single ESP. When it comes to internal system notifications alongside critical transactional emails, a common concern is whether poor engagement or outdated lists for the former can compromise the deliverability of the latter. Marketers generally agree that while it's not ideal, it's manageable if proper hygiene and monitoring practices are in place, but outright separation is the safest bet for protecting transactional mail.

Marketer view

Email marketer from Email Geeks notes that their operations team uses the same ESP for both transactional emails to users and internal system notifications to employees. They are concerned that low engagement or sending to inactive internal addresses might negatively affect the deliverability of the transactional emails. This setup is heavily concentrated on the Gmail domain, as internal email addresses are GSuite-based. The marketer highlighted that both types of email have significant send volumes, raising the stakes for potential deliverability impacts. They questioned whether this shared infrastructure approach is considered a bad practice within the industry.

13 Mar 2024 - Email Geeks

Marketer view

Email marketer from Shopify emphasizes that transactional emails are distinct from marketing emails. They highlight that transactional emails are automated, triggered by specific customer actions, and are expected communications like order confirmations, shipping updates, or password resets. These emails typically have high open rates due to their immediate relevance and necessity for the recipient. Therefore, maintaining excellent deliverability for these messages is paramount for customer satisfaction and business operations. Mixing them with less engaged internal notifications could introduce risks.

22 Jun 2024 - Shopify

What the experts say

Deliverability experts generally agree that while combining transactional and internal notification email streams on the same ESP (and especially the same IP and domain) is not an immediate catastrophic error, it introduces significant risks. The primary concern revolves around how email service providers (like Gmail) perceive and score sender reputation based on engagement and bounce rates across all mail sent from a given infrastructure. If internal notifications suffer from low engagement or high bounces, these negative signals can spill over and adversely affect the highly critical transactional emails.

Expert view

Deliverability expert from Email Geeks suggests that deliverability depends on whether Google recognizes transactional and internal notification emails as different mailstreams. They propose that using different DKIM `d=` parameters would be one way to explicitly signal to Google that these are distinct types of email. This approach helps in managing sender reputation more granularly, preventing issues from one stream affecting the other.

13 Mar 2024 - Email Geeks

Expert view

Deliverability expert from Word to the Wise frequently advises that high bounce rates, particularly from non-existent addresses, are detrimental to sender reputation. They highlight that such bounces signal to ISPs that the sender's list hygiene is poor, which can lead to increased filtering or even blacklisting for all mail from that sender. Therefore, regularly cleaning internal lists, even for seemingly less critical communications, is a fundamental deliverability best practice.

05 Nov 2023 - wordtothewise.com

What the documentation says

Official documentation from various Email Service Providers and email deliverability resources often provides best practices for managing different types of email streams. While direct guidance on internal system notifications specifically affecting transactional email on the same ESP might be limited, the underlying principles of sender reputation, list hygiene, and stream segregation are universally applicable. Documentation typically highlights that positive user engagement and low complaint/bounce rates are paramount for maintaining good standing with Internet Service Providers (ISPs), irrespective of the email's purpose. Any activity that negatively impacts these metrics, even from internal sends, can indirectly affect overall deliverability.

Technical article

Documentation from Bloomreach Engagement outlines strategies for transactional email deliverability, emphasizing high availability through multiple ESP integrations. They suggest that using two ESPs evenly for sending transactional emails helps ensure reliability. This strategy implicitly supports segregating critical email streams to prevent a single point of failure or reputation issues from affecting all communications.

10 Apr 2024 - Bloomreach Documentation

Technical article

The Twilio (SendGrid) documentation on marketing and transactional email dives into the nuances between transactional content, promotional emails, and hybrid types. It differentiates these email categories based on their purpose and audience expectation. This distinction highlights that different content types are processed differently by ISPs, reinforcing the idea that mixing them on the same sending infrastructure can complicate deliverability.

05 Mar 2024 - Twilio (SendGrid)

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