In general there are 3 kind of emails:

1. Newsletter: this is the most traditional email. Newsletter are send to customers for example to announce a new promotion. In most cases, newsletters are sales-driven e-mails
2. Transaction email: these emails are sent automatically when a customer or user has performed a certain action on a website. E.g. placing an order. In that case, the customer receives an order confirmation, which is a transactional email.
3. (Marketing) Automation: an automation is an email that you set up once and determine when the customer should receive the email. For example: a customer registers and receives a welcome email immediately after registration. You decide whether this email will be sent immediately after registration or whether we will wait one or two hours after registration.

There are more advantages than disadvantages to having marketing automations. The advantages are:

• Time saving
• Building a relationship with your customer
• Increased customer loyalty
• Possibility of more relevance of your emails for customers
• Increases sales

To get a high(er) open rate or click rate, it is important to test a number of elements in your email now and then. In this case you have to do an A/B test.

By testing some elements of your email you know what your customers respond to. For example, does an orange call to action attract more than a green call to action? Every target group is different and expects different things. So do A/B testing and you know a bit more how your audience reacts on different elements.