| Affirmative Consent |
The Senate Commerce Committee Report for the CAN-SPAM Act indicates that "affirmative consent" requires some active choice or selection by the recipient. Remaining passive, such as not un-checking a pre-checked box or other default Web form, is not sufficient. Source: Commerce Committee Report, CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 |
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| Bounced email |
A bounced email is an email that is returned to the server that sent it. A bounced email is usually classified as either a "hard bounce," which indicates a permanent failure due to a non-existent address or a blocking condition by the receiver. A "soft bounce" indicates that there is a temporary failure due to a full mailbox or an unavailable server. For the application, the difference between the two bounces is whether or not the message should be sent a second time. See article: User Not Found: Email Bounces Explained |
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| Bounce Rate |
The total number of emails that were returned as undeliverable divided by the total number of emails sent (multiply this number by 100 to express the result as a percentage). |
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| Calls to Action |
Words included in images or text that encourage the prospect to take a specific action. For example, "Click here to see a product tour" or "Add this product to your wish list." See article: 8 Tips for a Stronger Call to Action
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| Campaign |
A coordinated set of individual email marketing messages delivered at intervals and with an overall objective in mind. A campaign allows each new message to build on previous success. |
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| Click-Through |
When a customer takes an action by clicking on a link |
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| Click-Through Rate (CTR) |
The percentage of those clicking on a link out of the total number who see the link. To determine the click-through rate, divide the number of unique click-throughs by the number of emails delivered (multiply this number by 100 to express the result as a percentage). |
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| Click-to-Open Rate (CTOR) |
The ratio of unique clicks as a percentage of unique opens. The CTOR measures how effective your email message was in motivating recipients who opened it, to then click a link. In other words, the click-to-open rate expresses the measure of click-through rates as a percentage of messages opened, instead of messages delivered. To determine the click-to-open rate, divide the number of unique click-throughs by the number of unique emails opened (multiply this number by 100 to express the result as a percentage). See article: Click-to-Open Rate: A Better Metric? |
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| Commercial Email Message |
Any email message "the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service." Source: Commerce Committee Report, CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 |
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| Confirmed Opt In |
A Confirmed Opt In (also referred to as Double Opt In) is a two-step process that allows a user to join your mailing list. The user must initially sign up, and then respond to a follow-up email prior to receiving any further email. See article: Permission Email Marketing: "Permission" is Not Optional |
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| Demographic |
A demographic is a statistical characteristic of a human population (such as name, age, zip code or income) that can be used as merge fields in creative or to segment mailings for specific targets. |
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| Double Opt In |
See Confirmed Opt In |
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| Feedback Loop |
The process by which the email client (ISP) of the receiver forwards complaints of emails marked as spam by recipients for removal by the sender. Usually treated by senders as an unsubscribe request. (Also see Spam Complaint) |
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| Hard Bounce |
A hard bounce is the failed delivery of an email due to a permanent reason, such as a non-existent email address. Hard bounces indicate that the message should not be re-sent. |
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| Mailing List |
A group of email addresses (with or without additional information such as the subscribers' names) to which specific mailings are sent. |
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| Open |
"Opened" messages include HTML emails that have been viewed in a preview pane or fully opened in the email client, as long as images have been enabled. Opens are generally tracked by inserting a small clear image in an HTML message. When a message is opened and images are enabled, the image calls the server and the message is then counted as an open. Text messages cannot be tracked as opened because they cannot include images. (Within EmailLabs reporting, however, a user clicking on a link in a Text message is reported as an open.) |
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| Open Rate |
The total number of emails opened divided by the total number of emails delivered (multiply this number by 100 to express the result as a percentage). See article: Email Open Rates: 16 Factors to Get Better Email Open Rates |
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| Opt In |
The action a person takes when he or she actively and explicitly requests, by email or other means, to receive email communications. (Also see Double Opt In) |
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| Opt Out |
The action a person takes when he or she chooses not to receive email communications. It requires a Web-based mechanism by which people can ask to be removed reliably from an email list. This request must be honored within ten days. (Also see Unsubscribe Request) |
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| Personalization |
The practice of building an email such that the recipient feels it is a more personal experience. Personalization can include a number of things, such as mail merging a name into the body copy, referring to previous purchases, or more dynamic content insertions based on demographic fields. |
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| Privacy |
The quality or condition of being free from unsanctioned intrusion. Privacy in the email marketing world implies that a recipient's email address will not shared and that they will not receive email they did not request. It is a best practice to include a privacy policy for your email opt-in to explain the collection and use of personal information. |
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| Receiver |
The entity that handles the receipt of the email and delivery to the end recipient, usually identified by the domain at the end of the email address of the recipient in the ‘To’ line. (ie: aol.com) |
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| Recipient |
The end user who requested the email from the sender, usually identified by the email address in the ‘To’ line. |
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| Relevance |
Sending the right email marketing message to the right recipient at the right time. |
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| Reputation |
The estimation to which a sender is held by the community or the public as sending "good" or "bad" email. Many factors are used to determine a sender's reputation, though spam complaints are the main metric considered. See articles: Make the Most of a Good Reputation and Can You Pass an Email Reputation Audit? |
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| Sender |
The person or organization responsible for transmitting the email, usually identified by the email address in the ‘From’ line. |
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| Soft Bounce |
A soft bounce is the failed delivery of an email due to a non-permanent reason, such as a full mailbox or unavailable server. A soft bounce indicates that the sender should trying resending the email. |
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| Spam |
Unwanted email usually sent without the recipient's permission. (Also see UCE) |
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| Spam Complaint |
The receipt of a complaint from a recipient who has identified the message as spam. (Also see Feedback Loop) See articles: How Spam Complaints Affect Delivery and Tips for Collecting and Managing Spam Complaints |
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| Subject Line |
The title of the email communication. This is the first (and hopefully not last) element of the communication recipients will see when they access their email. It has to grab attention and be credible or the email will not get opened. See article: Email Subject Lines: 15 Rules to Write Them Right |
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| Targeting |
Selecting a portion of the mailing list with similar demographic values to send messages relevant to those demographics. |
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| Tracking |
Collecting and evaluating the statistics from which one can measure the effectiveness of an email or an email marketing campaign. |
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| Transactional or Relationship Email Message |
An email message that is primarily intended to facilitate, complete or confirm a commercial transaction that the recipient has previously agreed to enter in with the sender. Source: Commerce Committee Report, CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 |
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| UCE |
Unsolicited Commercial Email (also referred to as Spam). Commercial email sent without the recipient's express permission. |
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| Unique Click |
A unique click is a single click by a single user. When unique clicks are measured, it is an aggregate number of how many times that URL was clicked by individual users (not the complete total of all users, all clicks.)
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| Unsubscribe Request |
The action a person takes when he or she chooses not to receive email communications. It requires a Web-based mechanism by which people can ask to be removed reliably from an email list. This request must be honored within ten days. (Also see Opt Out) See article: Unsubscribing: Get More Out of "Goodbye" |
