iContact for Salesforce: Email Marketing Best …...Increase Click rates & Click to Open rates by Optimizing your message body IX. Glossary of Permission-Based Email Marketing terms

iContact for Salesforce:Email Marketing Best Practices{ {

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Copyright © 2010 iContact Corp. | www.iContact.com/Greenpapers

Please don’t print me!

{ iContact for Salesforce: Email Marketing Best Practices }

2Copyright © 2010 iContact Corp. | www.iContact.com/Greenpapers

Purpose:The purpose of this whitepaper is to provide you with permission-based email marketing best practices, designed to help you build effective iContact for Salesforce email campaigns that increase ROI by Engaging, Converting and Retaining your customers while minimizing their spam complaints.

This Paper is Your “Big Picture” Plan to Engage, Convert and Retain Your Salesforce Contacts and Leads

Table of Contents:

I. Modern-day spam defined, the types of spam complaints submitted by email recipients and the complaint levels you should maintain

II. Retain the trust of your Salesforce Contacts and Leads and maintain a low complaint rate

III. Email opt-in types required to align with iContact’s anti-spam policy

IV. Setting Email Expectations with quality Permission Statements at opt-in and restated in your messages

V. Save time and use the “Add to Campaign” button on your Contact and Lead Reports or Custom views when building your iContact Email Campaigns

VI. Develop relevant email messages aligned with the data criterion filters used to build your Campaign members list

VII. Increase Opens with optimized Envelope Fields and Subject Lines

VIII. Increase Click rates & Click to Open rates by Optimizing your message body

IX. Glossary of Permission-Based Email Marketing terms to help you digest this paper




I. Modern Day Spam Offenses & Types of Spam Complaints

Definition of Modern-Day SpamSpam is unrecognized, unexpected or unwanted email. The most important factor in determining spam is the person who labels the message as spam (which is the email recipient). Your message can be a targeted, permission-based email, but if a recipient thinks it is spam, then it will be reported as such. This can then damage your sender reputation and deliverability. These complaints can also negatively impact your ESP’s reputation and deliverability.

Key Points:

• Spam reporting is controlled 100% by your email recipients, their ISP/Mail box providers, and abuse networks.

• Modern-Day Spam includes any unrecognized, unexpected or unwanted email (even if the recipient provided explicit permission to receive the email through an opt-in opportunity).

Types of Spam Complaints (from low risk to high risk)

Marked or flagged by the recipient as spam or junkMost recipients unfortunately, do not realize the impact they have on sender reputation when they click the spam or junk buttons. These actions absolutely impact deliverability and reputation because ISPs such as AOL, Microsoft and Yahoo document complaints submitted by your email recipients.

Many ISPs have established complaint-rate thresholds (number of complaints per number of recipients allowed before email reputation is negatively affected). These thresholds can change and are rarely published by ISPs. A good rule of thumb is to keep the complaint ratio below 5 in 1000. If your complaint rate exceeds .5% from an ISP, you may be restricted by the ISP, or you may be required to re-confirm your email-recipient addresses.

Manual complaints submitted by recipients to ISP or ESP abuse departmentsManual complaints are treated as major offenses by both ISPs and ESPs. This is due to the fact that it takes significant effort for a recipient to file a manual complaint. The recipient must take the




time to find the abuse address and then write the email, which in most cases requires a detailed description of why the message has been classified as spam. If the recipient can prove he or she did not give the sender permission to send the message, an abuse@ email complaint is sent to the ISP and may result in a blacklist of your sending domain and IP addresses. This type of complaint can also result in account disablement or possibly termination by your ESP if the recipient’s email can prove violation of set anti-spam policies. A quality ESP will have a strict policy.

Complaint filed through 3rd-party abuse processing serviceAnti-abuse networks like MAAWG, SpamCop, Spamhaus, the ESPC, and others, have been created in the last decade to help email recipients, ISPs, and law-abiding email marketers combat spam. These networks aim to track known spammer gangs, hold senders of unsolicited bulk email accountable and continue to build and improve anti-spam legislation.

SpamCop, for example, allows any registered email recipient to post a spam complaint through the SpamCop website. They empower a user who receives spoofed/unsolicited email scams and spam to take action. Through SpamCop, users can report any email they perceive to be unsolicited.

When your ESP or ISP receives a recipient complaint from SpamCop, your ESP or ISP will certainly disable or sometimes terminate your account. Therefore, it is a good idea to use confirmed opt-in for all subscriptions in order to verify that the recipients are the legitimate owners of their email addresses and that they provide explicit permission to receive emails.

Hitting Spam Traps and Honey PotsSome anti-abuse networks post secret email addresses on websites in the attempt to catch known spammers. Email harvesting is a common spammer practice which utilizes computer-automated bots to scan and collect email addresses across the internet.

The spammers add any collected or “harvested” addresses to their email lists. When spammers collect email addresses from planted Spam Traps and Honey Pots (a member of the anti-abuse network), they later send unsolicited messages to those addresses without permission.

When the owner of the Spam Trap or Honey Pot receives the unsolicited message, the owner is actually catching the spammer in the act of harvesting. The owner can then process the message, determine the source of the email and take appropriate action by informing the ESP or ISP. When ISPs and ESPs receive complaints from Spam Traps or Honey Pots, the spammer’s sending privileges are usually terminated.




There are few instances where hitting Spam Traps can be legitimately excused. In rare cases, competitors and disgruntled customers or employees can submit known Spam Traps into your opt-in sign up form. If confirmation messages are not used to verify the email recipient’s desire to join your list, then anti-abuse networks are forced to report the hit.

Key Points:

• All spam complaints can negatively impact the sender’s reputation.

• Manualspamcomplaintshaveanimmediateandnegativeimpactonyour sending reputation, but you can avoid them by following a strict anti-spam policy (http://www.iContact.com/terms/antispam/).

• SpamTrapsandHoneyPotsmostseverelyimpactyoursendingreputation. An isolated hit can cause you to lose your ability to send to ISPs and mailbox providers and your ESP may be forced to disable or close your account.




II. Retain The Trust of Your Salesforce Contacts and Leads and Maintain a Low Complaint Rate

Understanding Email Acquisition as a Trust Relationship

Due to privacy trust issues and the increased volume of spam delivered to inboxes, recipients must trust your organization if they are to continue opening your email messages without marking them as spam or registering manual complaints.

The first place to build this trust relationship is on your email capture or opt-in page. An opt-in that builds trust requires that you answer the following subscriber questions:

• WhatwillIreceivefromthisorganizationinexchangeformyemailaddress?

• WhatexpectationsshouldIhaveintermsofthisorganizationabidingbythe statementsmadeontheiremailcapture/opt-inpage?

• Howdoestheorganizationensurethatmyemailaddresswillbekeptprivate?

• Beyondtheincentiveoffered,whatvaluewillIreceivethatinstantlyvalidates mydecisiontoentrustthisorganizationwithmyemailaddress?

To overcome this lack of trust, it is important to clearly state the nature of your emails, how frequently you will send them and what value your emails provide. Living up to the promises made on your email capture/opt-in page can build loyal client/customer relationships and help create engaged readers. This empowers your email marketing to directly impact ROI.

A final important statement on the trust relationship topic: “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” With that said, treat your existing customers as you would all potential email marketing opt-ins. New customers or potential customers should require direct opt-in before receiving your marketing emails. Provide an unchecked opt-in box during your online checkout process with a succinct permission statement. It is best to receive direct consent from your recipient before sending them marketing emails. Not doing so will lead to a high complaint rate which could harm your relationships with ISPs, ESPs and your valuable customers.




Complaint Levels Required to Use iContact and Maintain Your Trust Relationship with Salesforce Contacts and Leads

You should maintain an overall complaint level below .1% (1 per 1000 recipients) to keep a trustful and quality relationship with your Salesforce Contacts and Leads. This will also ensure that you keep your leads and contacts engaged, converted and retained.

Below are the different risk levels associated with complaints that exceed .1%, or in the event you receive a more serious manual complaint from a recipient or an abuse network. Following our permission based best practices should keep your company out of the following threat level categories.

Low Threat: .1 - .3% (1 per 1000/3 per 1000) but zero manual complaintsA low threat level indicates that the sender has had an issue with a specific ISP such as AOL or Yahoo, but has not received manual complaints.

Medium Threat: .4 - .5% (4 per 1000/5 per 1000) or a manual complaint receivedMedium threat scores imply sender conflicts with several ISPs (AOL, Yahoo, Comcast, Microsoft, uol, USA.net, etc.), and indicate the sender may have received a small number of manual or SpamCop complaints.

High Threat: .6 - .7% (6 per 1000/7 per 1000) or multiple manual complaints receivedA high threat indicates the sender has had issues with several ISPs (AOL, Yahoo, Comcast, Microsoft, uol, USA.net, etc.), and that at least a few manual or SpamCop complaints have been filed.

Very High Threat: >.7% (greater than 7 per 1000 overall complaint rate) and frequent manual complaints receivedVery high threat means that the sender has had issues with several ISPs (AOL, Yahoo, Comcast, Microsoft, uol, USA.net, etc.), and has received multiple manual complaints and SpamCop complaints. This threat level requires immediate opt-in content changes. The sender will, most likely, be prohibited from using iContact until opt-in changes are agreed upon and made.




Key Points:

• A trust relationship between your organization and your current and future recipients is critical to permission-based email marketing. Recipients must trust you before they will give you access to their email address, and even more so after they give you access.

• ThreatLevelratingsarebasedonoverallcomplaintrates,andthetypesofcomplaints received(markedasspam,manual,SpamCop,SpamTrapshit).

• ComplaintRatethresholdsaresubjecttochangebasedonISPandanti-abuse network requirements.




III. Email Opt-In Types and Their Alignment With iContact’s Anti-Spam Policy

Types of Opt-insWhat category do you fall into?

(Please note: Opt-in types are listed in order of compliance. Explicit and Clear opt-ins are recommended for optimum email marketing results, while Forced opt-in/outs and lower compliant methods are only acceptable if the sender’s complaint rate is below .2% and no manual complaints have been processed).

1. Explicit Opt-in: This occurs when a recipient directly chooses to receive marketing emails by checking a box or clicking a link that includes a confirmation message for receiving these marketing emails. If a sender is high risk, iContact requires that the sender utilize this method.

Sample of Explicit Opt-in below:

2. Clear Opt-in: This type of sign up form should clearly indicate the type of message the individual is choosing to regularly receive, include a permission statement, but does not require selecting a checkbox. iContact’s policy requires this method if your recipients are submitting email addresses for a newsletter or promotion. In this case, the specific nature and frequency of emails the recipient will receive in exchange for submitting an email address




must be made clear. If client does not agree to upgrade their permission statement to Clear Opt-in, and is a medium to high-threat level account, then client may be terminated by iContact.

Sample of Clear Opt-in below:

3. Forced Opt-in/Opt-out (A): This opt-in type includes a permission statement near the email field, but does not require user behavior. Unless individuals clearly read the permission statement on these sign up forms, they will likely be unaware that they are signing up to receive frequent marketing emails. A Forced opt-in page does clearly identify the nature and frequency of the emails the subscriber is opting in to receive.

***iContact requires that the sender upgrade to a Clear or Explicit Opt-in if the sender:

1. Has exceeded our complaint thresholds on multiple occasions with AOL (.5%), Yahoo (.3%), or Microsoft (.5%)

2. Has a complaint ratio of .2% or greater, or has received a manual or SpamCop complaint

Sample of Forced Opt-in/Opt-out (A) below:




4. Forced Opt-in/Opt-out (B): This method does not include a permission statement and does not mention the nature or frequency of emails sent. This method might utilize a pre-checked checkbox or auto-fill the email address field.

***iContact requires that the sender upgrade to a Clear or Explicit opt-in if the sender:


2. Has a complaint ratio of .2% or greater, or has received a manual or SpamCop complaint Sample of Forced Opt-in/Opt-out (B) below:

5. Prior Business Relationship: This opt-in indicates that the email recipient has purchased a product or service in the past, thus establishing a business relationship with the sender, but has never directly provided an email address or granted permission to receive marketing emails from your company.

***iContact requires that the sender upgrade to a Clear or Explicit opt-in if the sender:






Sample of Prior Business Relationship below:

6. Email Field with No Permission: This indicates that the sender provided an email Opt-in field, but did not include a permission statement or a description of the nature/frequency of the sender emails.

iContact requires that these senders upgrade to a Clear or Explicit Opt-in if they meet the following criteria:



3. Has hit a Spam Trap address

Sample of Prior Email Field with No Permissions below:




Key Points:

• It’s not always easy for businesses or individuals to maintain a healthy sending relationship with their email recipients.

• Mindfulsendersmuststayuptodatewithspam-complianceproceduresandspecific ISP and ESP spam policies.

• Youcanestablishorre-establishamutuallybeneficialrelationshipbyupgradingyour opt-in methods to Explicit or Clear Opt-n to avoid the “spammer” label, and continuouslyreaptheincrediblebenefitsofemailmarketing.




IV. Set Email Expectations with a Quality Permission Statement At Opt-In, and Restate the Value in All of Your Emails

Set clear expectations at the opt-in stage by using a permission statement that describes the nature, frequency and value of your emails. This will ultimately improve your trust relationship with your subscribers. Keep in mind that the clarity of your permission statement is much more important than its persuasiveness.

Restate the value, nature and frequency of your emails in every message in order to lower recipient anxieties regarding email. Restating these elements will help your recipients recall why or how they signed up to receive your emails, thus mitigating complaints. Before creating permission statements for your opt-in email-capture page, it is critical to have a strategic plan for your email content.

The content must live up to the value proposition proposed on your capture page, as it is imperative that you meet your email subscribers’ expectations. To do so, you can create a succinct value proposition statement for your email campaign and ensure that all of your content is aligned with the value proposition. Then, restate the value proposition in all of your messages, and provide a call to action for the recipient that helps them realize your proposed value. Overall, if you state that you will send emails of a certain nature and frequency, be absolutely certain to deliver on those promises. Other core best practices to follow as it relates to setting and exceeding subscriber expectations:

• Bepreparedforyourreaderstoforgetthattheysignedupforyouremail • Alwaysrestateyouremail’svalueproposition • Consistentlyidentifyyourbrand • Makesurethatthenameofyourcompany,orofsomeonewellknownfromyour company, is included in the envelope fields. Envelope fields include the from-name, from-email address, subject line, and the preview pane (the top 250-400 pixels of your message) - Instantly verify who you are • Makesureyourrecipientsunderstandwhytheyarereceivingyourmessage • Makeitobvioustotherecipientwhyyou’resendingthemaspecificmessage (provide a goal that elicits value to your subscriber) Key Points:

• Defineandsetemailmarketingexpectationsatopt-inwithaclearpermission-based statement and then live up to the statement by providing messages that meet or exceed the value expectations set.




V. Save Time and Use the “Add To Campaign” Button On Your Contact and Lead Reports or Custom Views When Building Your iContact Email Campaigns

When you have decided upon the target audience of your iContact for Salesforce email campaign, you should consider using the “Add to Campaign” button to quickly add Contacts and Leads as Campaign members to your iContact email campaign.

ReportsStep 1: Build your Report. Create a new report that meets the criterion of your target audience using Contacts, Leads, Contacts and Accounts report type (or do the same in the Contacts or Lead View section).

Step 2: Click the “Add to Campaign” button at the top of the Report results. This button will add all results from your report without requiring the Salesforce user to select multiple Contacts or Leads. This is especially helpful if you are adding over 200 Contacts or Leads to an iContact email campaign.

Lead and Contact Tab ViewStep 1: Build your Contact or Lead View. Create a new Contact or Lead view by clicking the Contact or Lead tab and click new view, or use existing view.

Step 2: Select the Contacts and Leads from your view that you wish to add as Campaign members to your iContact Email Campaign.

Step 3: Click the “Add to Campaign” button. This button will add all results from your view which you selected in step 2 above. If you are adding over 200 Contacts or Leads, please use the Report method noted above.

Key Points:

• Usethe“AddtoCampaign”buttontoquicklyaddyourContactandLeadReports and Views as Campaign members to your iContact email campaigns.




VI. Develop Relevant Email Messages Aligned with the Data Criterion Filters Used To Build Your Campaign Member List

One of the core components of an effective email marketing campaign is Relevancy.

Relevancy, in terms of email marketing, is the compatibility of an email message to the message recipient’s motivations.

iContact for Salesforce is the perfect tool to build relevant email campaigns. Salesforce provides you with all of the specific data captured about your contacts and leads without leaving Salesforce. You can quickly generate Contact/Lead reports, views or filters, and add them to campaigns.

Finally, just build a custom or HTML Salesforce email template that is aligned with the criterion filters you used to build your campaign member list. The alignment of your email message goal(s) and filter criterion used to build your campaign member list will determine the effectiveness/relevancy of your iContact for Salesforce email campaign.

Key Points:

• SendingrelevantemailcampaignswithiContactforSalesforceisaseasyas1,2,3 1. UseyourspecificdatacriteriaalreadycapturedinSalesforcetobuildareport, view,orfilteronContactsandLeads.

2. Addthefilter,report,orviewofContactsandLeadstoyouremailcampaign as members.

3. BuildaSalesforceHTMLorcustomemailtemplatealignedwiththecriteria used to build your campaign member list and send it to your email campaign members.




VII. Increase Opens By Optimizing Your Envelope Fields, Subject Lines and Preview Pane (Above the Fold)

Don’t hide your identity. Build the trust of your recipients by making your identity obvious. Brand either your from name or subject line. Brand the top portion of your message. Include a text message above your image header that restates the nature and call to action of the email. Seventy-three percent of recipients make the decision to click on the “report as spam” button or “junk mail” button based on the From line (From Name, From Email Address, and Subject Line). Jupiter Research found that 35% of email users open messages because of what’s contained in the subject line.

Good From Name, From Email Address Should: • Identifywhoyouare • Displayanemailaddresswithadomainrelatedtoyourwebsite • Useaemailprefix(beforethe@)thatisrelatedtothenatureofyouremail

Good Subject Line Should: o Contain no more than 30-50 characters o Create a sense of urgency o Clearly state the nature of your email o Be informative and relevant o Invoke curiosity and interest o Highlight your email’s call to action and offer/value proposition o Speak to the needs/wants/expectations of your recipient




What Kinds of Subject Lines Most Attract Your Attention?

o 55.2% - Clearly State the Offer o 49.6% - Discount or free shipping o 48.8% - Brand name or sender o 33.8% - Curious o 30.3% - Promise immediate answers (download or survey) o 18.7% - Short o 15.2% - Promise to solve a specific problem o 14.1% - Funny o 11.0% - Has my name in it

*ReturnPathsurveyevaluatingHolidaySubjectLines

Key Points:

• Theenvelopefields(FromName,FromEmailAddress,SubjectLine,Preview Pane-above the fold) and the trust established by your brand drive your open rates.




VIII. Increase Click Rates & Click-To-Open Rates By Optimizing Your Message Body

Providing Email Subscribers with Clear Value is the Key

Value is the primary reason an ideal prospect would respond to you or click on a link in your message.

The first step to designing a successful email message body is to create a clear goal that creates value for your recipients.

You should not send an email unless the message has a clear goal for its recipient, and this should be expressed through a call to action for the recipient. Put yourself in your recipients shoes and ask yourself,“Isthecalltoactionclear,andisitworthmytimetotakeaction?”

Sample Call to Action

• Callaspecificphonenumber • Clickalinktoregisterforanevent • Clicktopurchaseaproductthatmeetsyourneeds • Clickcompleteasurveytohelpimproveyourcustomerservice

After the goal and value are clear, you should then work on your message’s look and feel.

The message should have a similar look and feel as your website or the landing page of your message. The message should also be congruent with your email landing page (the link or web address that your message drives users to).

Congruence is having every element of the message body either state the unique value of the offer, or support the unique value of the offer that is on your landing page or website.

The message body should support and strengthen the expression of the offer that was mentioned in the envelope fields. This will help achieve the click through.

Use IncentivesIt is also recommended to create a strong incentive within your message body which is different that the offer itself. The goal of the incentive is to increase the likelihood that a user will click through to your website or perform the designated call to action.




Sample Incentives • Freeshippingwhenyouspend$20ormore • Receive$15offwhenyouspend$50ormore • Receiveafreexwhenyouorderytoday • Calltodayandreceive25%off

Components of a Successful Email Message • Copy-clear,concise,easyontheeye • Format,DesignandImagery-branded,audience&messagerelevance • CalltoAction-clearandconcise • LandingPage-linkthatrecipientsclickwithinyouremail

Email Copy • Clear,concisemessage;simpleandtothepoint • Makeitpersonalizedandfeel1-to-1 • Makerelevanttoyouraudience • Avoid“scrollers” • Sticktolessthanthreetypefacesandcolors • Useafontsizethatcanbeeasilyreadbyall • Keepyourmainmessageandcalltoaction“abovethefold”(abovethetop200 pixels of your message) • 62%ofmarketerstestcopy-MarketingSherpa • 64%ofmarketerskeepkeypointsofcontenthighupinthebodyofthe message - Internet Retailer

Format Design and Imagery Tips • HostimagesonyourwebserveroryourESP’sservers;embeddedimagescan cause filtering • Keepemail500-650pixelswide.Widermessagescanforcetherecipientto scroll horizontally to see the entire message • Sincemanyemailclientsaresetbydefaulttohaveimagesturnedoff,make sure to place your key messages in text at the top or upper left hand • AbsolutelyNOJavaScriptinemail • Flash,audioandvideoinemailisnotsupportedbymostclients • Security,filteringandfirewallspreventtheproperrenderingofrichmedia email messages • BestpracticetoovercomethisissueistosendHTMLemailwithaclearcalltoaction to view the rich media within a browser - use a screen shot of the media and make the image clickable to the video on your website




Call to Action • Clear,conciseandtothepoint • Placeyourkeycalltoactionabovethefoldasoftenasyoucan • Linkbothtextandimagerytoyourcalltoaction • Conductyourowninternal“5secondtest”- can your test group quickly tell what yourcampaign’skeycalltoactionis?

Email Imagery • Putyourlogointheupperleft-handcorner- this is where the eye goes first and will help with brand recognition • Userelevantimageryforyouraudienceandyourmessage • LifestylephotosworkbestinB2Ccampaigns • Linkkeyimagerytoyourmaincalltoaction • Keepinmindthedisablingofimages • Balanceyourtextandimage

Landing Pages • Anoftenneglectedcomponentofemailmarketingisthelandingpage

• Yourlandingpageshouldbe: o closely tied to the email creative o have a clear and concise “call to action” o be trackable (track your conversions such as purchases/registrations using a tool like Google Analytics or Omniture)

Key Points:

• Themessagebodyisresponsiblefordrivingrecipientstoperformyourcallto action which is usually a click through to your website.

• Youshouldknowthegoalofyourmessagebeforeyoustartdesigningit.

• Yourcalltoactionshouldprovideaspecificvalueinreturnfortherecipient’saction.

• Thevalueinyourmessageshouldbealignedwiththegoalsofyourrecipients.

• Keycomponentsofanemailmessageinclude:copy,format-design-imagery, call to action, and a landing page.

• Includeastrongincentiveinyourmessagesthatmotivatesuserstoperform your ”call to action.”




IX. Glossary Of Permission-Based Email Marketing Terms to Help You Digest This Paper

Permission-Based Email Marketing: The practice of sending marketing email only to recipients who have requested to receive the emails. Email marketing that builds the value of a business’ brand, increases sales and strengthens the relationship with the business’ clients and subscribers. ROI: Return on Investment. The amount of return you receive per dollar spent on your investment. Forexample,emailmarketinggenerated$43.62foreverydollarspentin2009.Theexpectedfigurefor2010is$42.08. Engage or Engaging: Acting to draw favorable attention or interest.

Convert or Converting: Altering for more effective utilization, or turning a prospective or trial customer into a paying customer.

Retain or Retaining: To keep in one’s pay or server, or to keep in mind or memory.

Spam: Unrecognized, unexpected or unwanted email.

Email Recipient: Person to whom an email message is sent, and the decision maker to label your message as spam.

Spam Complaint: The act performed by an email recipient in which they report your message as spam either to their ISP, your ESP’s abuse department, or an anti-abuse network such as Spam Cop or Spamhaus.

Complaint Rate: The percentage of email recipients who mark or report your email message as spam, divided by the total number of email recipients who received your message.

ISP Complaint Rate: Specific percentage of complaints for one ISP. For example, Yahoo complaint rate would be the total number of your Yahoo recipients who complained, divided by total number of your Yahoo recipients.

Trust: Assurance or reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something.

Email Opt-in: The act performed by the owner of an email address in which they explicitly give their permission to a person or company to send them email of a specific nature and frequency.




iContact’s Anti-Spam Policy: iContact has a no tolerance spam policy. The strict measures we take to enforce our policy include, but are not limited to: • Wereviewandmonitorlargelistimports.Thisincludesareviewofthelistsource, list age, collection methods, and confirmation practices. • WeutilizeanMD5hashrecordtoscreenforcharacteristicsofcommonly harvested lists. • Amemberofourstaffreviewseachmessagesenttomorethan5000recipients and either will approve or reject it. This threshold is 500 recipients for clients that have been with us less than two months. • Weutilizeacontent-checkingutilitytoscreenandflaganymessagethat contains words common to unsolicited emails. • Werequireausertoinitialthefollowingstatementpriortoeachsend:“Icertifywith my initials that all recipients granted their permission to be sent this message.” • Arecordissavedofeveryemailthatissentthroughthesystem. • AnycustomerfoundtobeusingiContactforspamwillbeimmediatelycutofffrom use of the product. • WemaintaintheIPaddressanddatesubscribedforeverynewsubscriber. • Everyemail,whethertextorHTML,containsamandatoryunsubscribe/opt-outlinkat the bottom of the message. This unsubscribe link cannot be removed.

Email Expectations: The description of the value offered to an email recipient before an email recipient subscribes to their email program. Best practice is to set expectations that are either met or exceeded by the emails that will be sent to the email recipient.

Permission Statement: A succinct, written sentence or paragraph that describes the nature and frequency of the email content that a recipient will receive in exchange for their email address. Best practice is to place this in close proximity of the email address field. Deliverablity: The percentage of email delivered by an ISP to an email recipient that reaches the inbox.

Relevant or Relevancy: Email message goals and content having a significant, logical connection with the email recipient relating to the email expectations set at email opt-in.

ESP - Email Service Provider: A company providing email services such as email marketing or bulk email services. Email marketing and bulk email services are not synonymous with spam.




Open: The act of an email recipient opening your email message. The open is counted when a 1-pixel image is downloaded by an email recipient which requires a recipient to unblock images which most ISPs block by default. Recipients can also add a sender’s from email address to their trusted senders list, or the sender can use a service such a Goodmail™ for images to render automatically.

Open Rate: Percentage of email recipients who opened an email message (measure using a 1-pixel image that must be unblocked by an email recipient), or the number of email recipient opens, divided by the total number of email recipients that received a particular message. Typically identifies the effectiveness of your email envelope fields (From Name, From Email Address, Subject Line, and top of fold (top 400 pixels) content to motivate a user to open your message.

Click Rate: Percentage of email recipients who clicked a link in an email message, or the number of email recipients who clicked a link in your message, divided by the total number of email recipients that received a particular message. Typically identifies the effectiveness of your email message content to motivate a user to perform a call to action.

Click to Open Rate: Percentage of email recipients who opened a particular email message and proceeded to click a link in the same message, or the number of email recipients who opened a particular message, divided by the number of email recipients who clicked a link in the same email message. Typically identifies the effectiveness of your email message content to motivate a user to perform a “call to action”.

Email Capture Opt-in Page: A web-based or paper-based form used to collect email addresses from website visitors or store front visitors who wish to receive emails related to product updates, special announcements or promotional offers exclusive to emails. Sender Reputation: An anti-spam functionality used to measure the likelihood of a recipient’s messages to be deemed as spam. This measurement is determined in many different ways by many different entities (mailbox providers, email servers, email filters, ISPs). Most common elements of measurement include data related to the senders complaint rates, “Spam Trap” hit rate, bounce rate, and open rate (engagement rate).

Spam Traps: Usually email addresses that are created to lure spammers and published in a way that only spammers using harvesting methods will find the email address. Since no email is solicited by the owner of this email address, any email messages sent to this “Spam Trap” are considered unsolicited.




Envelope Fields: The From Name, From Email Address, Subject Line, and preview pane (or top 400 pixes of an email message) of an email. The envelope fields are the first elements of an email viewed by an email recipient and most strongly influence whether or not the recipient will open the message.

Subject Line: A key envelope field of an email message that strongly influences the email recipient to open an email message.

Offer: The value you promise in exchange for your email recipient to perform your call to action (such as a purchase, registration or phone call).

Incentive: An element, different than the offer, of a message that will increase the likelihood of a recipient to perform the call to action of your message. Value Proposition: What makes your business, service, product or offer unique and instantly credible to your email recipient.

Landing Page: A URL or link placed within your email message that is directly related to the goal of your message. This page is where your recipient typically performs your message “call to action” (where they purchase, register or complete survey).

Salesforce “Add to Campaign” Button: A standard Salesforce button available on Salesforce Contact, Account and Contact, and Lead Reports as well as Contact and Lead custom views that allows you to build a report or view using relevant criteria and to quickly add your Contacts or Leads as Campaign members to an iContact Email Campaign.

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iContact for Salesforce: Email Marketing Best …...Increase Click rates & Click to Open rates by Optimizing your message body IX. Glossary of Permission-Based Email Marketing terms