How to Use Transactional Emails to Send Relationship-Based Emails in HubSpot

Summary

Send transactional emails from HubSpot using a dedicated IP address with the Transactional Email add-on. Transactional emails help to manage your domain reputation for inbox placement and deliverability.

Before getting started, understand the differences between transactional and marketing emails. Then, create and send transactional emails directly from your HubSpot account. 

Alternatively, you can also send transactional emails using the SMTP API. When doing so, you will need to generate and manage SMTP API tokens.

Please note: to purchase the Transactional Email add-on, contact your HubSpot Customer Success Manager or sales representative.

What's the difference between transactional and marketing emails?

Marketing emails are defined as outreach to people who have opted in to communication from your company, and require an unsubscribe link.

Transactional emails are relationship-based and are generally triggered by an action taken by the recipient (e.g., an account signup, purchase receipt, invoice, or password change). Consequently, they can be sent to contacts regardless of subscription preferences, as well as sent to non-marketing contacts. 

Depending on the laws of the recipient's country, it's possible you may be allowed to include marketing information in a transactional email, such as a list of related items in an email receipt. It's recommended, however, that you limit the content of a transactional email to focus on an already agreed upon transaction or updates on an ongoing transaction. Your legal team is the best resource to give you compliance advice for your specific situation.

How do I create and send transactional emails in HubSpot?

To send a transactional email through HubSpot or via the single-send API:

1. In your HubSpot account, navigate to Marketing > Email.
2. In the top right, click Create email.
3. In the right panel, select Regular or Automated. 
4. Hover over a template and click Choose template. 
5. In the email editor, draft your email. 
6. In the left sidebar, click the send icon.
7. Click the Subscription type dropdown menu and select Transactional. Because transactional emails bypass subscription preferences, your email will not include a subscription link.
8. To send the email directly to contacts or use it in a workflow: 
   • In the top right, click Review and send, Review and publish, or Review and schedule, depending on the configuration of your email. 
   • Review your email's information, then click Send, Publish, or Schedule. 
9. To send the email using single-send API:
   • In the left sidebar, click the send icon.

1. • Click the Send method dropdown menu and select Through an API. 
   • In the top right, click Review and publish. 
   • Review any warnings and suggestions, then click Publish. 
   • In the dialog box, click Publish.
   • On the email performance page, copy the email ID in the Performance section.

• • Send the email via single-send API using HubSpot's developer documentation. 

Please note: HubSpot will deliver a transactional email to a contact regardless of their quarantine status, subscription status, or double opt-in status. If a contact marks a transactional email as spam and a spam report is generated, it may appear as an unsubscribe event in HubSpot.

How do I send transactional emails using the SMTP API?

If you want to integrate with a third party or internal system to trigger your transactional email and incorporate data stored outside of HubSpot, you can generate a token to send transactional emails via the SMTP API. These emails will include the HubSpot tracking code that allows full engagement tracking and measurement.

You can generate and manage your tokens directly in HubSpot, or you can use the transactional email API. Learn more in HubSpot's developer documentation. 

How do I generate an SMTP API token?

1. In your HubSpot account, click the settings settings icon in the top navigation bar.
2. In the left sidebar menu, navigate to Marketing > Email.
3. Click the SMTP tab.
4. In the top right, click Generate token.
5. In the dialog box, enter a name for your token. If you want to create contacts for each new recipient of your emails, you can optionally select the Automatically create contacts for recipients of email checkbox.
6. Click Generate token.
7. HubSpot will generate a username and password associated with your token, which you can use to make SMTP API calls. Tokens that you create within the SMTP settings of your HubSpot account do not expire automatically. Learn more about how to send a transactional email with your token in HubSpot's developer documentation. 

How do I view, reset, or delete SMTP API tokens?

You can use the username and password associated with an SMTP API token to send transactional emails from your own internal system or a third party integration.

After you start sending emails using the token, you can analyze certain metrics like open rate and click-through rate in your HubSpot account. If you misplaced the token's password, you can also reset or delete it.

1. In your HubSpot account, click the settings settings icon in the top navigation bar.
2. In the left sidebar menu, navigate to Marketing > Email.
3. Click the SMTP tab.
4. Hover over the token and click the Actions dropdown menu:
   • To view the performance of all emails sent using the token, select View details.
   • To reset the password associated with the token, select Reset password. In the dialog box, confirm that you'll no longer be sending transactional emails using the current password, then click Reset password.
   • If you no longer want to send emails using the token, you can delete the token's password by selecting Delete. In the dialog box, click Delete.