E-mail marketing can be carried out through different types of e-mails:
Transactional e-mails: Transactional e-mails are usually triggered based on a customer's action with a company. Triggered transactional messages include dropped basket messages, purchase or order confirmation e-mails and e-mail receipts.
The primary purpose of a transactional e-mail is to convey information regarding the action that triggered it. But due to its high open rates (51.3% compared to 36.6% for email newsletters) transactional e-mails are a golden opportunity to engage customers; to introduce or extend the email relationship with customers or subscribers, to anticipate and answer questions or to cross-sell or up-sell products or services.
Many e-mail newsletter software vendors offer transactional e-mail support, which gives companies the ability to include promotional messages within the body of transactional e-mails. There are also software vendors that offer specialized transactional e-mail marketing services, which include providing targeted and personalized transactional e-mail messages and running specific marketing campaigns (such as customer referral programs).
Direct e-mails: Direct e-mail involves sending an e-mail solely to communicate a promotional message (for example, an announcement of a special offer or a catalog of products). Companies usually collect a list of customer or prospect e-mail addresses to send direct promotional messages to, or they can also rent a list of e-mail addresses from service companies.
