# Marketing vs. transactional messages

When sending messages via Push, Email, In-App, SMS, WhatsApp, or Viber, you choose whether the message is **marketing** or **transactional**. This choice determines how Pushwoosh applies user preferences, frequency limits, and the [global control group](/product/audience-data-and-segmentation/global-control-group/).


## Choosing the right message type

<Aside type="tip">

Use **marketing** for campaigns that can respect user choices and limits. Reserve **transactional** for essential, user-triggered or system-required communications. Using it for promotional content can lead to compliance issues and user complaints.
</Aside>

| Message type | Marketing message | Transactional message |
| ----- | ----- | ----- |
| **User preferences** | Respects subscription preferences. Only sent to users who opted in to the [subscription category](/product/messaging-channels/emails/email-preferences/#how-email-categories-and-message-delivery-work) you choose in the campaign. | Bypasses user preferences. Sent to all users, including those who unsubscribed from marketing messages. |
| **Frequency capping** | [Global frequency capping](/product/messaging-channels/global-frequency-capping/) and [silence periods](/product/customer-journey/journey-settings/#silence-period) apply. | Frequency capping and silence periods do not apply. |
| **Control group** | Excludes users in the [global control group](/product/audience-data-and-segmentation/global-control-group/). | Includes users in the global control group. |
| **Typical use cases** | Promotions and offers, newsletters, product and feature updates, re-engagement, lifecycle campaigns, announcements. | Account and security, orders and payments, critical notifications, verification. |

## Where to set the message type
The message type is set in the channel-specific settings: either in a journey element or in the one-time message form.

* **Email**: The message type is available in Customer Journey and when sending a one-time message. In a journey, set it in the [Email element](/product/customer-journey/journey-elements/channels/email/#set-message-type). For one-time emails, set it in the [campaign setup](/product/messaging-channels/emails/sending-emails/send-one-time-emails/#select-message-type).
* **Push**: The message type is available in Customer Journey and when sending a one-time push. In a journey, set it in the [Push element](/product/customer-journey/journey-elements/channels/push/#set-message-type). For one-time push, set it in the [campaign setup](/product/messaging-channels/push-notifications/one-time-push/).
* **In-app**: The message type is available only in Customer Journey. Set it in the [In-app element](/product/customer-journey/journey-elements/channels/in-app/#set-message-type) when building a [Customer Journey](/product/messaging-channels/in-apps/send-in-apps/send-in-apps-via-customer-journey/).
* **SMS**: Set it in the [SMS element](/product/customer-journey/journey-elements/channels/sms/#set-message-type) when building a [Customer Journey](/product/customer-journey/pushwoosh-journey-overview/).
* **WhatsApp**:  Set it in the [WhatsApp element](/product/customer-journey/journey-elements/channels/whatsapp/#set-message-type) when building a [Customer Journey](/product/customer-journey/pushwoosh-journey-overview/).
* **Viber**: Set it in the [Viber element](/product/customer-journey/journey-elements/channels/viber/#set-message-type) when building a [Customer Journey](/product/customer-journey/pushwoosh-journey-overview/). This is separate from the Template/Freeform content choice, which only affects pricing.

## API requests and message type

Use the same **marketing** and **transactional** values in the API as in the Control Panel. 

For push, see [`/createMessage` parameters](/developer/api-reference/messages-api/api-prerequisites/#message_type). For email, see [`createEmailMessage`](/developer/api-reference/email-api/#createemailmessage).