Ad Impression
Number of times an advertising banner is displayed on a website.

Affiliate
To accept as a member, to join. On the Internet, partner programs are referred to as affiliates. 

ASP
The Application Service Provider offers customers access to software such as Inxmail via the Internet. The customer does not have to install the software and therefore does not have to deal with back-up and administration.

Attachment
Files such as tables, graphics and other documents attached to e-mails.

Autoresponder
A program that automatically answers e-mail enquiries. A frequent application is to send standard texts such as pricelists.

Blog
See Weblog.

Bounces / Bounced E-Mails
"Bounces" describes e-mails which are returned to the sender due to a sending error. A distinction is made between soft bounces and hard bounces. Soft bounces are temporary causes which prevent correct delivery of an e-mail, for example configuration errors of the recipient. Hard bounces describe permanent delivery problems such as invalid e-mail addresses.

Bulk E-Mail
See Spamming.

Cleaning
Deletion of “dead” or double addresses from an address database. In Inxmail, dead addresses are removed by the error manager (see "Bounces" and "Doubles"). Double entries do not occur in Inxmail.

Confirmed Opt-In
With this method, the newsletter subscriber receives written confirmation of the subscription before the first newsletter is sent. This e-mail offers the possibility of immediate cancellation. 

CRM
Customer Relationship Management refers to handling of customers from acquisition to keeping the customer loyal to your own company as a regular customer with various marketing measures. 

CTR
Click-through rate is an important measure of the success of an e-mail campaign. It provides information on the number of clicks on a link. If, for example, 1,000 persons click on 10,000 e-mails sent, this represents a CTR of 10% (according to Forrester, the average is currently between 5 and 15 per cent).

Database Marketing
Marketing measure based on information from (customer) databases.

Digest
Summary. Digest refers to an e-mail which summarises several mails of a mailing list and sends it to the recipient on a defined date.

Direct Marketing
Marketing measures via direct communication with the target group, as opposed to indirect communication via posters, for example.

Disclaimer
Statement on exclusion of liability, frequently found on websites and at the end of newsletters.

Double Opt-In
The Double Opt-In is protection against subscribers being entered in a mailing list by persons other than the subscriber. Newly registered subscribers receive a registration message by e-mail. This e-mail asks the recipient to confirm the registration. This is done either by returning the e-mail or by clicking on a special link in the text.

Double Opt-Out
The Double Opt-Out is protection against subscribers being unsubscribed from mailing lists by persons other than the subscriber. Subscribers receive an unsubscription message by e-mail asking the recipient to confirm the unsubscription. This is done either by returning the e-mail or by clicking on a special link in the text.

Doubles
Addresses which appear twice or more in address lists. The result: increased advertising costs and annoyance of customers written to more than once. Inxmail does not generally permit doubles. 

Early Bird
Incentive for the recipient to send his reply quickly, e.g. limited period offers at a particularly low price or gifts in limited quantities. Tests have shown that an Early Bird not only reduces the reaction time but also increases the reaction rate. 

E-Marketing
The term E-Marketing describes marketing via channels such as the Internet and mobile phones. In addition to the currently most well known e-mail marketing, it also includes advertising, for example, via SMS, WAP messaging or also voice/text-to-speech marketing. 

E-Mail Spam
See Spamming.

Fax Broadcasting
Sending mass faxes to a certain target group. This direct marketing measure is greatly inferior to Permission Marketing by e-mail. 

Firewall
Software or hardware to protect against unauthorised access to data.

Flame
Emotionally charged e-mail or e-mail with malicious content.

Follow-up
All activities after sending the advertising: from sending of requested documents and products to analysis of results.

Forwarding
Refers to forwarding of e-mails received to others.

Free Mail
Free e-mail service, such as Hotmail or GMX.

Fulfillment
Systematic order processing, e.g. storage, packing, invoicing and processing of returns. 

Gateway
Computers used to bridge the gap between computer networks, for example between the Internet and the company network.

Individualisation
A method related to personalisation. Different variations of mass e-mailings can be added for target groups or specially defined recipients. 

Interactive Marketing
Online marketing via interactive channels such as e-mail and SMS marketing. With this type of marketing, one-to-one communication is established and wasted coverage minimised.

Interruption Marketing
Interruption of another activity the recipient by the advertising message sent. An example of such a marketing measure is telephone marketing.

Inxmail GmbH
One of the leading providers of software and services for professional e-mail marketing and newsletters. 

IP Address
Worldwide unique identification number of a computer in the Internet.

ISP
Internet Service Provider provides access to the Internet.

Java
Object-oriented programming language of SUN Microsystems. Applications in Java run without any changes on most platforms, for example on a PC with WindowsNT/XP, Mac with OS/X or on Linux.

Link Tracking
Analysis of the general user behaviour by automatic tracking and counting of the links clicked on in an e-mail.

List Broker
Professional address publishers who rent and lease addresses of others on order. The list broking service includes the production of address profiles which correspond to those of your own customers, for example.

Mail Client
A program for reading and writing e-mails. 

MIME
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extension is an e-mail format which enables attachments or e-mails to be sent as text and at the same time as HTML.

Microsite
Small website that can also be displayed offline on the screen. It consists of several interlinked web pages. As is usual on the Internet, navigation is via mouse click. The Microsite represents an analogy to the leaflet or brochure.

Offline HTML
An e-mail in Offline HTML mode contains all information necessary to display the e-mail, i.e. graphics and style sheets. The e-mails can therefore be read without there having to be a connection to the Internet during this time.

One-to-One Marketing
Direct, personal communication from one person to another as with e-mail marketing. In contrast to "One-to-Many", whereby one person communicates at random with many, as with poster advertising.

Opt-In
Describes the possibility to voluntarily be entered in a mailing list, usually by means of a “registration” form.

Opt-Out
Describes the possibility to voluntarily cancel an entry in a mailing list, usually by means of an "Opt-Out" e-mail to the newsletter distributor.

Personalisation
A method of sending a large amount of e-mails in such a way that the text varies according to the recipient. The text is only written once and divergent details are added from a database. 

Permission Marketing
Permission Marketing requires the permission of the customer to receive advertising mails. The customer defines his or her requirements and willingly agrees to receive for e-mails, SMS or newsletters. As Permission Marketing is only directed at volunteers, it ensures lower wasted coverage.

Profile data
Profile data is information which goes beyond normal member data, such as areas of interest, monthly income and profession.

Robinson List
Those who do not wish to receive any advertising enter themselves in Robinson Lists.

Soft Bounce
Temporary errors and faults trigger a so-called "Soft Bounce". One example of this is overflowing mailboxes. After several Soft Bounces, a Hard Bounce is triggered and no more mails are sent to the mail account involved.

Spamming
Refers to unwanted advertising mails. The official term is "unsolicited commercial e-mail" (UCE).

Template
Template refers to the template for an e-mail. This template corresponds to the e-mail text with place holders for personalised data.

Viral Marketing
This refers to strategies which ensure fast distribution of information. Elements of this strategy are, for example, giving away products or services, simple forwarding of information, use of existing or development of new communication channels, acquisition of opinion-makers and multipliers, use of existing resources and distribution channels.

Weblog
A Weblog is a constantly updated page of an individual. The latest entry is always at the top. The author decides on the subjects and quality of the entries. HTML knowledge is not absolutely necessary.