Email marketing glossary

Multi-part MIME Email

Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard format for email. Almost all Internet e-mail is transmitted in MIME format.

Navigation

This is moving click by click -around the Internet- from website to website and from page to page in a single website, as well as within a single web page.

Notified Opt In

Notified opt-in a format in which, once an email address is subscribed to the list, a message is sent offering the subscriber a chance to be removed from the list. If the subscriber decides not to unsubscribe, his/her information remains in the list until he/she opts out. This method subscribes the account by default, so it does not require active confirmation by the subscriber.

Nth Sampling

A secondary mailing list that is produced based on every Nth address. For example, in a Tenth Testing, an email is sent to every record in the list that is a multiple of ten (10, 20, 30, 40.).

Open Rate

The number of recipients who actually opened your HTML email message -of the total messages sent or in a given marketing campaign. In either case, it is typically measured as a percentage of the total number of emails sent.
The open rate is considered a useful measurement of the response to an email marketing campaign. Open rates for messages in text cannot be calculated.
The rate is only valid when the message has actually been opened, but some email clients allow recipients to scan the content in their messages before opening them, which renders false opens.

Opt In (or subscribe)

This is the action of actively agreeing, via email or other means, to receive messages from an email marketer, thus giving the particular individual, website or company permission to send their messages to you.
Opt in or subscribe to formula often fans out an assortment of products, services, and areas of interest for the potential customer to choose from. It tends to render a higher response rate than the opt-out method.
There are different types of opt in practices, some more complex than others.
(See also: Double Opt in, Notified Opt in, Opt out, Single Opt in)

Opt Out (or unsubscribe)

This is the action of actively demanding, via email or other means, to be removed from an email marketing or membership list. The recipients will continue receiving messages unless they clearly state that they no longer want to remain in the list.
Usually, in order to opt-out or unsubscribe, the individual has either to click an "Unsubscribe" link placed in some conspicuous area of a website or email message, or reply to an email message after typing the word "Unsubscribe" in the subject field.
Opt out formula of building a list tends to render lower response rates than the opt in method.

Permission based email

This is the practice of only sending email marketing messages/newsletters to a list of recipients who have agreed (opted in, subscribed or requested) to receive them from an individual, a website or a company.
Legitimate, professional, reputable email individual or company marketers use this method to build their business.
(See also Acquisition list)

Personalization

The practice of writing the email messages in a way that makes the recipient feel that it was composed specifically for him/her.
Including the recipient's name in the salutation line, references to his/her message/purchase in the body, and suggestions based on previous business with the recipient, all contribute to the personalization of your message.

Phishing

A scam in which a spammer poses as a reputable third party -such as a bank, a government agency or an educational institution- that might be trusted by the recipients of an email designed to impel these recipients to disclose personal information (Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, bank account numbers) or to purchase illegal or counterfeit products or services.

Privacy policy

A thorough description of how a website or company uses the information collected from and about subscribers and/or visitors to the website.
When subscribers, customers and prospects trust you with their information, they expect that it will be safe. If you expressly state your privacy policy, subscribers, visitors and prospects will more readily share information that adds value to your relationship.

Rental list

This is a rented list of prospects or targeted (by interest category, demographics, profession, etc.) group of recipients who have opted in to receive information on chosen topics.
A rental list must be permission based, usually costs between $.10 and $.40 per address and is never sold.
Beware of inexpensive 'targeted' or 'clean' list offers that don't certify that they are opt in, permission based. This notion is not very easy to understand.

Salutation

This is in the first line in an email message, where you address the recipient. It can be a generic salutation ('Dear/Valued subscriber', 'Dear/Valued member') or a more personalized one ('Dear Jean', 'Hi, Peter.', 'Hello, Tom!')

Sender ID

An email industry initiative headed by Microsoft and other industry leaders to offer a technical solution against phishing/spoofing -a popular deceptive practice used by spammers.

Signature File

A short block of text automatically posted at the end of an email message identifying the sender and providing contact and other information on them.
It can be used as a means to communicate a message and/or add a call-to-action with a link.

Single Opt In

It is the most widely used method of winning subscribers, compiling email addresses and obtaining permission -through the subscriber's proactive participation and after an acknowledgement email.
A single opt in list is created by inviting visitors and customers to subscribe to your email list through a sign up tag on your Website. The subscriber immediately receives a message from you acknowledging the subscription, and should state what the subscriber signed up for and indicate how he/she can edit his/her interests or opt out.
However, single opt in email practices are susceptible to spam traps -email addresses or domains that have not registered to receive any email. Sometimes people deliberately or inadvertently subscribe spam trap addresses to their lists, and are then blacklisted by the ISP or the organization operating the spam trap.

Soft bounce

It is the failed delivery of an email message that is rejected for a temporary reason -such as full mailbox on the recipients end- or because the receiving server is unavailable due to maintenance or repair.

Spam

Spam, the common reference to UCE (Unsolicited Commercial Email) refers specifically to email of a commercial nature that a recipient has not subscribed to or actively requested.
Spam is unwanted, unexpected email from a sender unknown to the recipient.
Sending emails to people who have not requested your messages will likely result in spam complaints.

Spoofing

Spoofing is a scam in which malicious individuals forge a sender's address on email messages in order to impel the recipient to read and respond to deceptive mail.
'Spoofed' mail often involves phishing scams, damages the reputation of the individuals or companies whose names are used to send the messages, and threatens the online privacy of consumers.

Subheadings

Subheadings (also referred to as 'subheads') are lines of text in the copy that serve as subtitles for the content that follows. In a layout, subheads break up columns of type and render a page more dynamic, appealing, and easier to read.

Subject Line

This is the field in an email message where the sender indicates the topic of the message. In email marketing, it is often used to motivate the recipient to open the message and read its content.

Targeting

It is delivering your emails to those recipients who are most likely to be receptive to your message, according to geographic, demographic, psychological and behavioral criteria.

Teaser

A short, enticing text or compelling image in a message designed with the purpose of causing the reader to explore further into the message or website before the actual offer or promotion is revealed.

Timing

This is Scheduling the delivery of email so that it reaches the recipient at the best time.
Timing might be seasonal (spring break, summer vacation, back to school), dependent on holidays (Christmas, Easter, Independence Day), etc. or on a standard schedule (Monday mornings, Friday evenings, every two weeks).
The day of the week and the time of day when a mailing goes out are important. Mailing out messages on a Friday afternoon can be great for a retailer, but Monday mornings are best for business to business, for example.

Tracking

Identifying, collecting and evaluating data that reveal the effectiveness of an email, a mail out or an email campaign.

Type

It is a size or style of typewritten or printed character. For example, a serif typeface, a sans-serif typeface, a bold type, a 12-point type, 14-point type.

Unique Forwarders

It is the number of unique individuals who forward an email. Each person that forwards a particular email counts as one individual, no matter how many times they forwarded that particular email message.

Up Selling / Cross Selling

Offering existing customers the opportunity to purchase products or services related to items in which they have shown interest or purchased previously.

Usability

A measure of how easy it is for a user to complete a task on a software or online. In the context of email marketing, it refers to how easy a subscriber or prospect can opt in and opt out of a list, and how easy it is to find and use the resources they are offered.

Value

The overall appeal and usefulness prospects and customers find in a product or service.

Viral Design

Elements, functions and content included in a communication that render the message 'contagious' in the sense that recipients feel impelled to pass it on to others, thus leveraging the marketing effort.

Viral Forwards

The number of referrals sent.

Viral Responses

It is the number of recipients who actually opened a forwarded message and clicked on a link.

Viral Marketing

It is a method of marketing in which a company's customers participate voluntarily. It is often referred to as word of mouth (or WOM) advertising. With tools that motivate people to refer or recommend a product, service or specific offer to others (lines such as "send this to a friend"), this method is very popular for email marketing.

White list

The opposite of a blacklist, this is a list of commercial emailers (individuals, companies and ESPs) who have been approved to send mail through a certain ISP. Each must provide the ISP with a list of the IP addresses from which email will be sent, and sometimes must also complete a test period after which each will be approved or rejected.
An IP address included in a white list is authorized to deliver email even when blocking measures are in place.
When an email service provider states that they are 'white listed', this means that their IP addresses are registered with and authorized by specific ISPs, which is a guarantee that the messages sent through this provider will be delivered.

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