Here at Moxie Tonic I believe in pulling back the curtain on all the email mumbo-jumbo and crazy industry jargon. Feeling a bit lost? Look no further than this list for a clear explanation of terms. If there is one missing, please let me know in the comments and I will add it to the list.
CAN-Spam – The 2003 law set to control the amounts of unwanted email and text messages. All email marketing campaigns must adhere to the guidelines established by that law. They include – clearly identifying yourself as the sender for who you really are, offering an easy unsubscribe method, including a legitimate email address and the sender’s postal address and accurate subject lines. For more on the CAN-Spam Law visit the FCC website.
CTR – Click Through Rate The percentage of subscribers that follow your call to action and click the link.
Deliverability – The ability to deliver an email message into an inbox and render it correctly.
Double Opt-in – A person gives his permission two times to be put on your list – the first time when he submits his information on the form, the second time when he receives a confirmation email, opens it and confirms the email relationship.
Email Client – The platform used to read an email. Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo are all email clients. So is Microsoft Outlook. Each client renders the html code differently and will cause variations in the final appearance of the email.
Email Service Provider – Often shortened as ESP. An Email Service Provider is a third party service that sends html based bulk emails. An ESP may provide templates and WYSIWYG editors, social media integration options, tracking data and other necessary tools for creating professional-looking emails.
Open-Rate – The number of emails that were opened and images downloaded by recipients. This is the most unreliable email statistic, as many messages are read with the images turned off.
Opt-in – A person giving personal information gives their permission to receive your marketing emails. (Be sure to also read the definition for double opt-in.)
Opt-out – The unsubscribe option. To comply with the CAN-Spam act, this must be on every email you send. It must be accessible, clearly worded and easy to do.
Permission reminder - A short sentence or two reminding email recipients why they are getting your email or how they got on your list. It is good to remind them that they opted in for the message and should you get reported as spam, the permission reminder can protect you and your ESP.
ROI – Return on Investment. In email marketing, ROI is measured in terms of CTRs and a customer’s further interaction on your site.
Segmentation – An essential tool for staying relevant – using customer data, break down your email list into several groups and send them targeted messages (For example – a loyalty coupon to top customers).
Spam – Officially spam is any email marketing communication where the recipient has not given explicit permission to send to them. Unofficially – spam is any email you don’t want, whether you’ve opted-in or not.
Webmail – A web-hosted email service for sending and receiving email such as Hotmail, Gmail and Yahoo.
WYSIWYG Editors – What You See Is What You Get. A WYSIWYG editor allows you to create email messages in a way similar to using a word processing program. You don’t have to know any html code to create beautiful looking emails.
