If you're sending a high volume of emails from Planhat, then we suggest you use our Transactional Emails via SendGrid. This is typically deployed for use cases where you share information at scale - emails that are automated and non-personal in nature (such as a newsletter).
In this article, we'll cover:
Note that this is an add-on service that are not part of all plans, so talk to your CSM to understand if it makes sense for you to purchase.
What are Transactional Emails?
You can send emails from Planhat, either manually via the email dialog (OPT+C as shortcut to bring up) or as part of automated email sequences (via Workflows).
When you are sending out a high volume of emails you can send them via our Transactional Emails instead of the personal email client. This can be used to avoid breaking the technical Gmail/Outlook limits, but also to create a better customer experience by not spamming the customer with generic emails from the personal email account (which ultimately could reduce the open rates of "normal" personal emails).
We recommend using:
Personal emails (via our Gmail/Outlook integration) when it's of a personal nature, you expect to email back-and-forth, and the customer probably expects this email to have been sent manually
Transactional emails (via our SendGrid account) when you want to send a very high volume of emails (>2,000 per day is a technical limit for Gmail/Outlook, but even sending hundreds per day could erode the trust in your personal emails)
Using Transactional Emails means:
Email is sent via SendGrid, either from:
@planhatbot.com domain
Your own domain
You need to define a single email to receive replies to (👑 pro tip: set this email up as a Planhat user to sync back replies)
You have a higher daily limit of emails you can send
How do you set it up
All emails will go out via Planhat's SendGrid account, but you can decide whether the email domain will be ours or your own.
There are two set-up options:
Send using Planhat's domain (@planhatbot.com)
Send using your own domain (eg, @arrivato.com, or @apple.com)
1. Send using Planhat's domain
In this case, you only need to define the different Sender options. Each Sender will have a name (displayed in the inbox of the recipient) and a reply-email (where replies will be routed). The reply email can be any email, including personal (hannah@arrivato.com) or some central functional inbox (success@arrivato.com).
2. Send using your own domain
With this setup, emails will still be sent using Planhat's SendGrid account, but the domain will be yours. Therefore, for security purposes, you need to authenticate Planhat's usage of your domain by taking the DNS records and adding them to your domain's DNS settings.
Technical FAQ and recommendations
There are some limitations to the service if used at scale:
No dedicated IP address
No customisable bounce handling
The number of daily automated emails sent
In terms of email volumes, there are some practical limits to consider. First of all, you can configure two parameters here: the batch size (see screenshot below) for automated emails in general (Automations, Workflows) and daily limit specifically for Transactional Emails. The batch size should generally not be set to >500. Secondly, if you plan to send hundreds of thousands of emails, please consult your CSM before-hand to make sure you execute in the most scalable way (eg, choosing between sending from data module in bulk, or through Sequence Workflows, etc). On the daily limit for Transactional emails, we recommend no more than 50k.
If you go over the daily limit, emails will be queued up in "Sent" folder and sent over the coming days. Use the "Auto email Do not Disturb Hours" to ensure that queued-up emails aren't going out in the middle of the night!
