Auto-sensing
Email technology that detects whether an addressee's computer is accepting HTML messages. If it is not, the system automatically sends a plain-text version to that recipient. Proximity Marketing's systems mark each record for their reception capabilities.

De-duping
The process of searching a mailing list for duplicate records and removing them. De-duping is particularly important when two or more lists have been combined. De-duping is standard on all Proximity Marketing projects based on unique fields.

DHTML (Dynamic HTML)
Collective term for a combination of Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) tags and options that make email more animated and more responsive to user interaction. Dynamic HTML can be used to make an email look and act like a desktop application or multimedia production.

Form validation
A feature that, when employed in an online or electronic form, does not allow the respondent to submit a reply until all required questions are completed properly. Also referred to as restriction or validation .

Hard bounce
In email delivery, a hard bounce occurs when an email is returned because the send-to address could not be found or the address is a bad address. In business-to-business emailing, common causes of a hard bounce are 1) incorrect address for the company or 2) the company or email address is no longer active.

HTML (HyperText Markup Language)
The set of markup symbols or codes inserted in a file intended for display on a World Wide Web browser page. The markup tells the Web browser how to display a Web page's words and images for the user.

HTML open rate
The HTML open rate is the percentage of successfully delivered emails that were opened in HTML rather than plain text. While delivery of plain-text emails can be tracked, their open rates cannot. Therefore, the HTML open rate should not be interpreted as a reflection of how many text messages were actually opened by their recipients. Also see also auto-sensing.

Live sample
A final test copy of a broadcast fax or email, complete with data fields pre-populated
from the database, provided to the client for approval before deployment. Also known as a proofing sample.

Merging
The insertion of data from a client's database into the appropriate fields in a fax, email
or survey form.

Multi-body email
A modular email format in which content is automatically chosen and assembled for each recipient based on a stored profile field - i.e.: One-To-One content.

Multi-branching
Survey structure wherein the participant's responses determine subsequent questions.
Also see skip logic.

Opt-in email
Email that recipients, by signing up at a Web site or special ad banner, have given explicit permission to receive. Typically, Web users are invited to sign up for promotional information about one or more categories of products or services. Those who sign up have thus "opted in."

Opt-out
When an individual requests to be removed from an email or fax database, s/he is said to be "opting out." Proximity Marketing maintains and scans all outgoing campaigns against a master opt-out list for that category to insure accurate adherence to opt-out rules and regulations.

Proofing sample
A final test version of a broadcast fax or email, complete with data fields pre-populated from the database, provided to the client for approval before deployment. Also known as a live sample .

Re-qualification
The process of contacting each subscriber of a controlled-circulation publication to confirm key information and verify their wish to maintain the subscription.

Response piping
Sometimes used in electronic surveys, response piping automatically configures a chosen question based on an earlier answer. Example: a magazine's subscriber survey may ask, "What are your three favorite sections of our magazine?" A response-piping-enabled survey can then ask, "Which do you generally read first?" as a multiple-choice question with the respondent's stated favorites as answer choices.

Response suppression
Tracking and removal of respondents from a delivery list, which allows earlier follow-up efforts to non-respondents. A greater number of efforts within the desired project time frame typically produces significantly higher overall response rates.

Restriction
A feature built into an email-based or online survey that does not allow the respondent to
submit their answers until all questions are completed or completed accurately. Also known as form validation.

Skip logic
Also known as multi-branching, skip logic enables an electronic survey to lead respondents
along specific paths based on their answers. Example: the first question in a magazine
subscriber survey might be, "Did you read our recent feature on this year's Industry Summit?"
If the respondent answers "yes," s/he might then be taken directly to questions about the feature article. If the respondent answers "no," that entire branch of questioning would be skipped, hence the term "skip logic."

Soft bounce
During email delivery, a soft bounce occurs when the message is not confirmed delivered to
the recipient, but it may be delivered at a later date. Proximity Marketing's systems continue to attempt delivery for 5 days from the launch date of a project. A soft-bounce is a valid email address, but for some reason up to that time, the email system cannot deliver the message.

Spam
Unsolicited bulk email. The term is highly ambiguous because there are several viewpoints as to what constitutes an individual's granting of permission to send un-requested email messages. Some contend that a recipient must explicitly agree at least once to be put on the sender's mailing list. At the other end of the spectrum is the opinion that, simply by providing an email address on an online form, the individual implicitly gives permission to mass-mail to him/her. NOTE: Proximity Marketing maintains a strict no-spam policy and does not engage in the practice of sending unsolicited bulk email.

Style sheet
A definition of a document's appearance in terms of such elements as default typeface, line spacing and margin widths. A style sheet is usually specified at the beginning of an electronic document. This specification applies to the entire document, except where it is overridden by special coding. This allows for maintaining brand style specifications, colors, fonts, etc. within
all products.

Tracking
When an active link (a selectable connection from one information object to another) is imbedded in an email, clicks on that link can be automatically traced and the respondent's record. Proximity Marketing tracks link activity by link, by person and by project, and that information is available to you on line through Campaign Central. You can also compare the activities of the same link across several email campaigns to test the effectiveness of different designs and lists.

XML (eXtensible Markup Language)
Unlike Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), which describes Web page content (mainly text and graphic images) only in terms of how it is to be displayed and interacted with, XML describes the content in terms of what data is being described. XML is the universal language of the Internet, and Proximity Marketing's systems can support real-time web services to relay XML data to your in-house databases.