Are follow-up surveys considered transactional emails and what are the best practices?

Marketer from Email Geeks shares an end-user perspective, stating that customers generally don't want surveys unless they are very satisfied or dissatisfied, and they should always have an option to unsubscribe. Sending surveys without an opt-out may lead to customers marking the sender as spam.

Marketer from Email Geeks advises getting own legal counsel if the client's lawyers insist surveys are transactional, and potentially seeking a tight indemnity agreement. Also, he points out insurance companies usually exclude themselves from TCPA claims, and likely CAN-SPAM too.

Email marketer from HubSpot classifies transactional emails as those triggered by a customer's action, such as order confirmations or password resets. They differentiate these from marketing emails. For surveys, they suggest considering the purpose: If it's to improve the customer's experience with a specific transaction, it leans toward transactional; if it's general market research, it's more likely marketing.

Email marketer from Reddit recommends always including an unsubscribe link in all emails, even if you believe they are transactional. Customer perception matters and can heavily influence them marking you as spam and damaging your sender reputation.

Marketer from Email Geeks shares that unless a survey offers money or discounts in exchange for opinions, users generally don't want it and may report it as spam if there's no opt-out. The end user cares about the benefit to themselves.

Marketer from Email Geeks explains that if a survey is sent to everyone with the same wording, it's not transactional. However, if it's highly personalized and specific to the recipient's purchase, it might be.

Email marketer from Litmus shares that email marketing best practices for surveys includes making sure they are mobile-friendly and that you provide the users with an incentive such as discounts for completing them. They also must be relevant to the user based on the actions they took.

Email marketer from Reddit advises that you should always prioritize customer experience above all else. If you are unsure whether they want to receive the survey, offer them an unsubscribe link or ideally a choice to not receive any surveys at the point of purchase.

Email marketer from StackExchange explains that the key to following email best practices for transactional messages is to be relevant and concise. A survey is only appropriate if the user needs to provide additional information to complete the transaction or if the business needs additional information to fulfil the purchase.

Email marketer from StackExchange recommends always including an unsubscribe link, regardless of whether you think the message is transactional. Users are more likely to flag your email as spam if they don't want to receive it and cannot easily unsubscribe.

Marketer from Email Geeks advises to consider the ESP's take on whether surveys are transactional or not.

Email marketer from Neil Patel highlights the importance of personalization and segmentation in email marketing. While not directly addressing transactional emails or surveys, he suggests that all communications should be relevant to the recipient and offer value. Applying this to surveys means ensuring they are targeted and offer a clear benefit to the customer.

Email marketer from StackExchange advises it's generally better to err on the side of caution. If there's any doubt about whether a survey is truly transactional, include an unsubscribe link. The small risk of including it outweighs the much larger risk of being marked as spam.

Email marketer from ActiveCampaign emphasizes that even transactional emails must comply with CAN-SPAM. This means including a physical address, a clear and conspicuous unsubscribe link, and honoring opt-out requests promptly. They don't directly address surveys, but the core principles of CAN-SPAM apply regardless of email type.

Email marketer from Mailchimp explains that transactional emails are triggered by a specific action a customer takes, like making a purchase or requesting a password reset. Marketing emails, on the other hand, are promotional and sent to a large audience. Follow-up surveys could potentially be considered transactional if they directly relate to a recent purchase and are personalized to that transaction.

Expert from Word to the Wise emphasises that even if an email appears transactional, you need to consider your legal obligations, especially concerning CAN-SPAM, which mandates that all commercial messages have a functioning unsubscribe link. It's about respecting the recipient's choice, regardless of the email's primary classification.

Expert from Email Geeks suggests that it's more about doing the right thing for the user than strictly adhering to the legal definition of transactional email, and that customer experience should be prioritized.

Expert from Email Geeks shares that people should always be able to opt out of any mail, and there's zero harm in adding an "opt out of future product followup messages" option.

Expert from Spamresource explains the difference between marketing and transactional emails, clarifying that marketing emails are for promoting a product and transactional emails contain information about an action the user took. Best practice is to mark your email based on its primary intent. If the user's main goal is to provide feedback, then it's marketing, but if its critical feedback that lets you deliver the service or product requested, its transactional.

Documentation from Klaviyo emphasizes that transactional emails are one-to-one communications triggered by a customer action or event, providing essential information to the customer. A follow-up survey can qualify as transactional if it's directly tied to a specific purchase and seeks feedback on that particular experience.

Documentation from SendGrid explains that transactional emails facilitate an agreed-upon transaction between the sender and recipient. They include order confirmations, shipping notifications, and password resets. While surveys aren't explicitly listed, the key is whether the survey directly relates to completing or confirming a previous transaction.

Documentation from the FTC (CAN-SPAM Act) explains that transactional or relationship messages primarily facilitate an already agreed-upon transaction or update a customer about an ongoing relationship. This could include confirming a purchase, providing shipping information, or delivering product updates. The document does not specifically mention surveys.

Documentation from Postmark defines transactional emails as those containing information needed to complete a transaction the recipient initiated. Examples are purchase receipts and shipping updates. A survey asking about a recent transaction might be considered transactional if its primary purpose is to improve that specific transaction's experience.