The Oxford Club Affiliate Guidelines
Pre-Requisites:
- Utilize a suppression list before sending out emails.
- Have opt-in records for every subscriber on file.
- Be able to segment subscribers by geographical location.
- If you market directly into Australia, EU, Canada, you need to suppress these subscribers
- Understand Can-Spam law and that violations can be as high as $41,484 per email.
- Be able QA any sends to make sure the email properly denotes the advertiser/sender and leverage the Advertisers unsubscribe link.
- List all sending domains that will be utilized when sending out the offer.
- Sending domains need to redirect to a website that identifies the sender of the email.
Creative:
Do not remove or alter Creative or subject lines provided by Advertiser or pre-approved by Advertiser in writing.
If running a space ad, no part of the creative should be placed in the From Line (this includes the Friendly From and Subject Line).
Suppression Files:
The suppression file should be downloaded and suppressed in all email sends. A new copy of the suppression file should be downloaded every 7 days.
If there are issue with utilizing a suppression file with your ESP, then you will be given access to a Mailer Access screen in Optizmo, where you can upload your list and scrub out any email addresses that are in the suppression file before you do a send.
Never try and leverage a suppression file for any other purposes then to suppress a send.
No plain text files of a suppression list will be given to any 3rd party.
Segmenting International Subscribers:
All email sends should suppress and email address corresponding to Canadians and European Union users.
Denoting the Advertiser and Sender of the email:
Please make sure that your email clearly denotes the advertiser and sender of the email. The email should clearly denote the following:
- Email is an advertisement
- Advertiser sent the ad
- Advertiser’s physical address
- Advertiser unsubscribe link
- The Affiliates name as sender
- The Affiliates physical address
- The Affiliates unsubscribe link
Below is an example of clearly denoting the sender and advertiser in the email:
This ad is sent on behalf of [Agora LLC name]. [Agora LLC address]. If you would like to optout from receiving offers from [Agora LLC name] please click here [link to unsubscribe link]
This offer is brought to you by [Affiliate name]. [Insert physical address of affiliate]. If you would like to unsubscribe from receiving offers brought to you by [Affiliate name] click here.
*Each email should clearly use language to state that the offer or email was sent by the 3rd Party and the Ad was sent on behalf of the Advertiser’s LLC. The language in the footer should not confuse the subscriber, each unsubscribe link should be clearly defined to the reader.
*If your ESP, doesn’t allow 2 unsubscribe links in the email, then all unsubs from the mailing must be sent back to the Advertiser’s LLC to be uploaded into the suppression file.
Privacy Page:
The privacy page should state the business entity and physical address of the company.
It should also mention that the company sends out 3rd party advertisements.
Opt-In Records:
The sender should not send email messages to email addresses that have been improperly obtained, including addressees harvested from the Internet without consent, through scripts or other automated means of registering for multiple email accounts, “scraping” of websites, or by harvesting addresses from the Internet. The sender is responsible for knowing the source of its email list.
Sending Domain of the Email:
The sending domain of the email should render to a functioning website that identifies the sender.
The website should clearly state the business entity and physical address of the company on the privacy page or footer of the website.
The domain should never be fraudulent to deceive the subscriber.
From line of the email:
Emails must have truthful, accurate, and non-misleading email header information (including source, destination, date and time, and routing information), subject lines and from lines. Emails shall not mask the email origin.
The From Line includes the Friendly From area of the email. This area is used to identify the origin/sender of the email. Please adhere to this policy to make sure each email correctly identifies the origin:
- The From line must relate to the newsletter the email is being sent out by.
- Friendly From can use a descriptive phrase, if it serves the purpose of letting the recipient know who the email is coming from, but should not Alarm the user or be false, if used, it should also contain the businesses name. This area can not be cut off to the subscriber by any character limitation in an ESP.
- If using an acronym to abbreviate your company name, it needs to be an acronym that has been used heavily with the mailing list. The purpose of this field is to identify the sender and should resonate with the subscriber to clearly understand who the sender is. Abbreviation's increase the risk in the send and if investigated should be able to prove that the acronym is used heavily with the mailing list.
- Celebrity names CAN NOT be used in any form of the from line.
- Editor Names should not be used, unless you are 100% certain and can prove that the person has authorized the email to be sent out in their name. (Agora Company editor names should never be used in a 3rd Party send)
- Do NOT use the recipient email address in the friendly from
- The domain in the from address needs to go the business website and reflect the sender
Violations:
It is solely Affiliate’s obligation to ensure that all emails comply with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations, and this Agreement. Affiliate agrees not to rely upon Advertiser’s approval of any email or portion thereof for compliance with applicable laws, rules, or regulations or assert any claim that Affiliate is in compliance with applicable laws, rules, and regulations based upon Advertiser’s approval or non-objection.
Any violation of the Affiliate agreement, engagement in fraud, or violations of any applicable state, federal, or local law, rule, or regulation may result in immediate termination and forfeiture of all Commissions.
