🎯 Campaign emails: choosing between Transactional and Marketing – Webmecanik

When you configure the sending of an email within an automated campaign, Webmecanik Automation asks you to define its type: Transactional or Marketing. This setting directly determines how often the same contact can receive this email and whether it respects the unsubscribe status (Do Not Contact).

⚠️ Scope of application: This distinction applies exclusively to campaign emails. Segment emails (standard newsletters, one-time sends) are automatically treated as marketing emails and can only be received once per contact.

⚖️ Comparison table of campaign email types

Criteria	⚡ Transactional Email	📢 Marketing Email
Multiple sends to the same contact	Yes (unlimited)	No (once by default)
Respect for the "Do Not Contact" status	No (the email is delivered)	Yes (the send is blocked)
Main use cases	Invoices, order confirmations, security alerts, account notifications	Nurturing, webinar invitations, promotions, sales follow-ups

⚡ Transactional campaign emails

A transactional email responds to a specific action taken by the user or provides essential operational information.

Key characteristics

Recurring sends possible: The contact can receive this message multiple times without restriction, whether through different campaigns or during successive entries into the same campaign (e.g., sending a monthly invoice notification).
Unaffected by unsubscribing: Transactional emails are not subject to the Do Not Contact (DNC) tag. Even if a contact has unsubscribed from your communication lists, they will still receive this email.

🚨 Compliance warning (GDPR): Never use the Transactional setting to circumvent an unsubscribe and distribute promotional content. A transactional email must remain strictly factual, contractual, or operational.

📢 Marketing campaign emails

Marketing emails are intended to promote your offers, engage your prospects, and support them through their decision-making cycle (lead nurturing).

The one-time send rule

By default, an email configured in marketing mode can only be sent once to the same contact, even if that contact is targeted by several different campaigns using the same email.

📝 Example:

A contact receives Email A in your Welcome Campaign.
Later, the same contact enters a Follow-up Campaign that also contains Email A configured as a marketing email.

The action is ignored: the contact will not receive Email A a second time.

Multiple-send option (strongly discouraged)

It is technically possible to enable an option that forces a marketing message to be sent multiple times to the same recipient.

Nevertheless, this practice should be used with caution to avoid harming your deliverability and annoying your recipients. Note that, even with this option enabled, the send remains strictly blocked if the contact has the Do Not Contact status.