Top 25 E-mail Marketing Terms You Should Know

Opt-out (or unsubscribe): To opt-out or unsubscribe from an e-mail list is to choose not to receive communications from the sender by requesting the removal of your e-mail address from their list.

Permission-based e-mail: E-mail sent to recipients who have opted-in or subscribed to receive e-mail communications from a particular company, Web site or individual. Permission is an absolute prerequisite for legitimate and profitable e-mail marketing.

Personalization: Addressing individual recipients by first name, last name or both dynamically in an e-mail. Personalization can also include a reference to previous purchases or other content unique to each recipient. Avoid using personalization in the subject line of your e-mails as this is a tactic widely used by spammers.

Privacy policy: A clear description of a Web site or company’s policy on the use of information collected from and about Web site visitors and what they do, and do not do, with the data. Your privacy policy builds trust, especially among those who opt-in to receive e-mail from you or those who register on your site. If subscribers, prospects and customers know their information is safe with you, they will likely share more information with you, making your relationship that much more valuable.

Rental list (or acquisition list): A list of prospects or a targeted group of recipients who have opted-in to receive information about certain subjects. Using permission-based rental lists, marketers can send e-mail messages to audiences targeted by interest category, profession, demographic information and more. Renting a list usually costs between 10 cents and 40 cents per name. Be sure your rental list is a true permission-based, opt-in list. Permission-based lists are rented, not sold. Don’t be fooled by a list offer that sounds too good to be true or by someone who tries to mislead you by calling their list “targeted” or “clean” without certifying that it is permission-based.