Email Marketing and List Building Terms

We provide regular support to several clients for their monthly (or for some more often) email marketing; ezines, newsletters and autoresponders. As I was going over the email reports with one client today I used a few terms that she was not familiar with, so I thought it would be a good idea to post a list here of the most common words and phrases about list building, and their definitions.

List building is one of the most important Internet Marketing strategies a business can do when marketing their business online.  It is a way to communicate with potential and existing clients and deliver news, information and much more. Beginners can find it daunting to even get started because of all the unfamiliar terms about list building.  Below is the list that should help explain some aspects of list building, ezines and newsletters.  And … don’t forget to always check your reports! You can learn a lot from them as well as clean up your list and improve your content too.

Autoresponder -  An autoresponder is an Email service that allows you to send messages to a number of Email addresses automatically and at a pre-determined schedule. For example, you could send a “Thank You” message to each new subscriber. An autoresponder also allows you to send a series of Emails: Message 1 will be sent 2 days after the “Thank You” message; Message 2 will be sent 2 days after Message 3, and so on.  Autoresponders are used to automate an E-course.  Ones we use with our clients are: 1 Shopping Cart,  Aweber, and Constant Contact.

Black List – Black list is the act of blocking an Email sender from your Email program.

Bounce - Bounce is when an Email is not delivered successfully. This could occur for several reasons, such as when the Email address is no longer valid.

Broadcast – A broadcast is a message that is sent to all list members at the same time. This is used for time-sensitive campaigns, such as special sales, or offers made specially for particular holidays.

Call To Action - The call to action is a specific behavior that you want your reader to perform as a result of reading your Email. Common calls to action are clicking on links, replying to the Email, or calling a telephone number.

Campaign – A campaign is a special effort to increase sales to a particular product or service for a specified length of time. A Black Friday sale is an example of a campaign.

Click-Thru – Click thru is when the reader clicks on a link in an Email.

Click-Thru Rate – The click-thru rate is the percentage of Email readers (meaning they received and opened the Email) who click on a link in your message.

Confirmation - Confirmation is when a person verifies that he or she has indeed chosen to become part of somebody’s mailing list. After a person submits his Email address (and other required information, usually a name) to an opt-in form, a confirmation Email is sent to that address. By clicking on a confirmation link, the person verifies that he wants to be in the mailing list.

Conversion Rate - The conversion rate is the percentage of list members who bought a product or service as a result of receiving and receiving Email messages.

Delivery – Delivery is the electronic arrival of an Email message from the sender to the intended receiver.

Demographic – Demographic refers to characteristics of list members, such as age, gender, ethnic origin, geographic location, and others.

Offer – An offer is a seller’s proposition to a prospective buyer. An example: “Try Widget A for free for 30 days. If you like it, then I’ll charge you $99. If you don’t like it, you don’t pay a cent.”

Open Rate – The percentage of Emails delivered that were opened (and presumably, read).

Opt-in Page – This is a web page that contains an opt-in form, or a form where a person submits his or her Email address and name. Some opt-in pages require other information, but the name and Email address are the most common. Your opt-in page should specific the major benefit of subscribing to your list (usually a free product), some bullet points highlighting additional benefits, and the opt-in form. Here is an example of our opt – in page that we use for our Free Social Media Setup Guide

Permission – Permission is what your list members give to you when they submit their Email address and confirm that they have opted into your list. By doing these actions, they have given you permission to send them messages, including marketing messages.

Personalization - Personalization means adding specific details in an Email so that it sounds like you are speaking to that specific person. A common way of personalizing a message is by putting the recipient’s first name in the subject line and in the message itself. For example, “Lisa, I’ve got bad news”. Most Email marketing service providers will allow you to personalize messages automatically.

Squeeze Page – A squeeze page is the same as an opt-in page. Its purpose is to motivate readers to opt into a mailing list in exchange for additional information or freebies. Not all marketers agree on the definition of a squeeze page.

Subject Line – The subject line is the set of words in the “subject” field of an Email. Writing attention-grabbing subject lines is an essential skill in Email marketing.

Targeting – Targeting means sending messages to lists or list members belonging to a particular demographic, such as those who live in the United States. The ability to target depends on the amount of information you collect from your subscribers. Otherwise, targeting is done before prospects opt in, by driving specific types of prospects to the opt-in page.

Unique Click – A unique click is when one person clicks on a link in an Email message. A unique click counts such person only once, even if he or she may have clicked on the link several times.

White List - A white list is the opposite of a black list. It’s the act of allowing an Email address to send messages to your Email. This is usually done by adding the sender’s Email address in your address book. It’s important to ask your list members to white list you, because sometimes, your messages end up in their spam box even after they have confirmed your Email.

I hope this list of terms helps you navigate your away around email list tasks and building. Did I miss some terms? Or do you have a different definition for some terms? Please let me know!

Related posts:

1. Email Marketing – Why you need an Email List
2. Article Marketing – Some How to’s from an Expert
3. Social Media Marketing Strategy – Why you need one