List Management

Opt-in / Subscribe – when a user takes an action to add themselves to your email list.
 

Opt-out / Unsubscribe / Suppress – when a user takes an action to remove themselves from your email list. “Opt-out” is also used to describe a type of email list acquisition where users are added automatically, assuming that they’ll opt-out if they don’t want it. (This is not considered best practice.)
 

Permission-Based Email – a type of email list acquisition where people can only get on your list if they take an action to do so. This means that if opt-in is an option on a registration form for something other than email, it is an un-checked checkbox that users can check if they’d also like to subscribe. This is considered best practice in email acquisition.
 

Single Opt-in – a user fills out your signup form and is immediately added to your email list.
 

Confirmed Opt-In – a user fills out your signup form and is immediately added to your email list. They receive a (usually) immediate confirmation email or welcome email alerting them that they’re subscribed.
 

Double Opt-In – a user fills out your signup form but isn’t added to your email list until they click the confirmation link in their confirmation email. This helps validate new email addresses immediately and keep those who didn’t actually sign up from ending up on the list. This type of acquisition will result in the cleanest, most active list possible, because recipients have proven they receive and want your emails.
 

House List – your company’s owned list of subscribers.
 

Held List – those email contacts that have bounced and are considered unmailable.
 

Suppression List – those email contacts that have taken an action to remove themselves from your email list. Also called a “Do Not Mail” email list.
 

Rented (or Purchased) List – a list provided by a list broker for either one-time or ongoing use of email addresses, usually based on demographic or psychographic information. It’s not considered best practices to purchase these names/emails as recipients will likely be surprised to see email from you, even if the list broker declares themselves “opt-in only.”
 

API (Application Programming Interface) – the plug-in from one database to another, for example from SalesForce to the emfluence Marketing Platform, that allows for regularly syncing data between the two.