Marketing tools require contact lists
Newsletter platforms are built around syncing and segmenting contacts. A transactional email triggered by a Stripe webhook should not require a CRM sync first.
Product emails are not newsletters
Treating transactional product emails like marketing campaigns — or routing them through a newsletter tool — creates the wrong abstractions and the wrong tradeoffs.
Why the wrong tool for the job creates real pain
Marketing automation is the wrong mental model
A payment failed email is not a campaign. It is a direct response to a domain event. Campaign-centric tools add unnecessary complexity.
GDPR and consent requirements differ
Marketing emails require opt-in and unsubscribe handling. Product emails (password resets, invoices) are legally different — but many tools treat them the same.
Deliverability rules differ
Marketing emails go through different sending pools than transactional emails. Mixing them damages deliverability for both.
else.events is built for product emails — not marketing emails
The distinction matters for architecture, compliance and deliverability.
No contact lists required
Recipient data comes from your event payload at send time. No sync, no import, no contact database.
Event-driven, not campaign-driven
Emails are triggered by domain events (user.signed_up, invoice.payment_failed), not by scheduled campaigns or segments.
One-to-one by design
Each event sends to one recipient (or a small set). No broadcast mechanics, no subscriber counts, no engagement scoring.
Designed for transactional deliverability
else.events routes through providers like Postmark that specialise in transactional email deliverability.
Product emails vs marketing emails at a glance
| Characteristic | Product emails | Marketing emails |
|---|---|---|
| Trigger | Domain event (user action, system state) | Scheduled campaign or segment |
| Recipients | One user per event | Subscriber list or segment |
| Contact list required | No | Yes |
| Opt-in required (GDPR) | No (transactional) | Yes |
| Examples | Password reset, invoice, trial reminder | Newsletter, product announcement, promotion |
| Right tool | else.events | Mailchimp, Loops, Customer.io |
Using a marketing tool for product emails — or vice versa — creates compliance, deliverability and architectural friction.
Frequently asked questions
- Can I send both product and marketing emails from else.events?
- else.events is optimised for product and transactional emails. For marketing campaigns and newsletters, a dedicated marketing platform is a better fit.
- Do product emails need unsubscribe links?
- Strictly transactional emails (password resets, invoices, security alerts) generally do not require unsubscribe links under GDPR and CAN-SPAM. Lifecycle and onboarding emails are a grey area — consult your legal team.
- What counts as a product email?
- Any email triggered by a specific user action or system event: password reset, email verification, payment confirmation, trial expiry, team invitation, subscription update.
- Does else.events integrate with marketing tools?
- else.events focuses on product emails. Marketing tools like Mailchimp or Loops handle newsletter and campaign emails. They serve different purposes and work well in parallel.
The right tool for product emails
else.events is built for event-driven product emails — not newsletters, not campaigns.
- No contact lists
- Event-driven by default
- Transactional deliverability