Transactional or relationship message
transactional email / CAN-SPAM primary purpose test / can a receipt include a promotion
A transactional or relationship message is an email whose content fits one of five CAN-SPAM categories, such as a purchase confirmation or account statement. It is exempt from most of the law, but an ad-like subject line or a promotion leading the body makes it commercial email, with penalties up to $53,088 per violating email.
CAN-SPAM, the federal law on commercial email, covers any message whose primary purpose is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service. The statute states that this definition does not include a transactional or relationship message. The Federal Trade Commission says such a message may not carry false or misleading routing information, and is otherwise exempt from most provisions of the Act.
The statute sets out five categories. A message may complete, confirm or help carry out a transaction the recipient already agreed to. It may give warranty, recall, safety or security information about a product or service the recipient bought or uses. It may report a change in the terms, features or standing of an ongoing account, subscription, membership or loan, or send periodic account statements. It may cover a current job or benefit plan, or deliver goods or services owed under an earlier transaction. The FTC rule treats a message made up exclusively of that content as transactional or relationship.
The FTC notes that business email commonly mixes commercial content with transactional or relationship content, and its rule decides those cases. A mixed message is commercial if a recipient reasonably reading the subject line would likely conclude it advertises something. It is also commercial if the transactional or relationship content does not appear, in whole or in substantial part, at the beginning of the body.
The FTC also says the law views the categories narrowly. A message does not qualify merely because it goes to a customer, subscriber or member. Subscribers and members keep the right to opt out of marketing email. In the other direction, the statute says a mention of a company or a link to its website does not, by itself, make a message commercial. That holds when the contents of the message show another primary purpose.
In practice
The FTC guide compares two emails from a distributor, both with the subject line Your Account Statement. The first opens with shipping and payment details for the order and ends with one line promoting a new product. The FTC calls it most likely a transactional or relationship message. The second opens with discounts and a price match offer and puts the order update at the end. The FTC calls that one most likely commercial. The same test applies to a booking confirmation from a clinic or an order confirmation from an online store. If a sale promotion leads the body and the booking or order details sit further down, the email fails that test and becomes commercial.
Not the same as
- Commercial email
- A commercial message is one whose primary purpose is advertising or promoting a commercial product or service. It must say it is an advertisement, carry a valid postal address and explain how to opt out.
Why it matters to you
Once an email is commercial, the full set of CAN-SPAM duties applies. It must disclose clearly that it is an advertisement, include a valid physical postal address, and explain how to opt out of future marketing email. Each separate email in violation can draw a penalty of up to $53,088. Hiring another company to handle the email does not remove that responsibility. Both the company promoted in the message and the company that sends it may be held legally responsible.
What to ask or check
- 01Which of your automated emails, such as receipts, booking confirmations and account notices, carry any promotional content?
- 02In those emails, does your transactional content sit at the beginning of the body, above any promotion?
- 03Would a reader of your subject lines conclude that the message is an advertisement?
- 04Do the emails the business sends to members or subscribers without an unsubscribe link fit one of the five categories?
What people get wrong
That every email to an existing customer, subscriber or member counts as transactional. The FTC says the law views the five categories narrowly, and subscribers and members keep the right to opt out of marketing email.
Red flags
- A receipt or account notice whose subject line or opening lines advertise a sale.
- Marketing sent to members or subscribers with no unsubscribe link because they are already customers.