The Difference Between Transactional Emails & Triggered Emails

• by Dianna Dilworth , June 8, 2015

Transactional emails and triggered emails are not the same, but they go together like chocolate and peanut butter in a Resse's peanut butter cup or shrimp and grits in the South. "Two great tastes that taste great together," said Steve Dille, SVP, CMO at Message Systems, in a panel at the Email Insider Summit today.

"All transactional emails are triggered, but not all triggered emails are transactional," said Dille.

Transactional emails are an automation of customer service and include messages like receipts or a tracking updates such as a UPS shipping email.

 Triggered emails, on the other hand, are a direct response to a user request or site visit and are part of an automation flow. These emails are are highly personalized and have great open rates, often 2x the average.