Avoiding Being Labeled as SPAM

Forsta allows users to send e-mails to invite respondents to participate in surveys, to send reminders and to thank them for their participation. However, sending an e-mail to a valid address is no guarantee that the message will be delivered.

To stop or minimize spam (unwanted commercial marketing e-mails), activities ranging from governmental regulations to local spam filters on the recipient computers are implemented.

For Forsta users, three key areas are of particular relevance:

• Legislation - Government bodies in most countries have introduced laws regulating permitted ways of e-mailing. All users of Forsta's SaaS Environment are required to abide by Forsta's AUP, and by any laws and regulations applicable in any country in which they are operating. Clients operating on their own servers are recommended to follow similar guidelines.
• Spam Filters - Most spam filters (such as SpamCop) rely on “black-lists”. By subscribing to a spam filter, a company can automatically screen away all incoming e-mails where the sending server is included in a black-list. The usual reason for a sending server being black listed is because a number of e-mail recipients over a short period of time have reported the e-mail as spam. At Forsta we monitor black-lists continually, and have observed that recipients of survey invitations sometimes cause the Forsta e-mailing servers to be listed for short periods of time. It is therefore important that e-mails from Forsta are written such that they do not resemble spam, and that all recipients have agreed to accept e-mails.

Another triggering factor for e-mails being stopped in spam filters is when the sender address does not match the sender domain. This is the typical situation where a Forsta SaaS client sends e-mails from his own sender address (for example [e-mail]), while the sending server address is a Forsta domain. This is considered as e-mail spoofing, a technique used by spammers, and can cause mails to be blocked. The solution is to send e-mails from domains that are registered on the Forsta servers. When sending e-mails and using correct domain names, Forsta may also support anti-spam solutions such as Sender ID and DomainKeys

• Compliance with Standards - E-mails should be sent in accordance with certain standards, and particularly relating to (1) e-mail format and (2) the technical setup.

Forsta addresses several of the issues relating to inconsistency between sender address and server domain. This is achieved by the introduction of the Activate sender domain/Email Delivery Report feature in Survey Designer, which helps ensure that emails are sent from domains registered on Forsta servers, thereby reducing the likelihood of emails being marked as spam due to domain mismatches and supporting anti-spam solutions like Sender ID and DomainKeys.

One Click Unsubscribe For Bulk Survey Email Invitations

About One Click Unsubscribe

To help maintain a high deliverability rate for bulk email invitations, there is header information to support one-click unsubscribe features in email client applications.

The one-click unsubscribe option is to become a requirement for emails delivered to Gmail or Ymail email systems from the start of June 2024.

Information included in the email header enables email client applications to serve up an easy to locate unsubscribe button/link (usually located in the email summary line within the inbox list or at the top of the email once opened).

If a recipient clicks on the unsubscribe button/link, their email address will be added to the email opt-out list collected in Forsta Plus (which can be viewed or managed in Survey Designer). When following the one-click unsubscribe process, there is no interim step to confirm the unsubscribe request.

Adding the one-click unsubscribe header

Forsta Plus currently provides three different opt-out list levels:

• Survey

• Company

• Panel

By default, all new bulk invitation emails will start to include the necessary header information for survey level opt-out. If the invitation email requires support for company or panel level opt-out then the email definition should be adjusted using the new one-click unsubscribe setting that is available in the email definition user interface of Survey Designer.

You should still include an unsubscribe link in the message body of the email because not all email clients currently support the one-click unsubscribe method, therefore it is essential that emails also include an unsubscribe link in the message body.

This is an important requirement of the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 in the US, or the European Directive 2002/58/CE of 12 July 2002 on privacy and electronic communications. This is also a requirement of the Forsta AUP (Acceptable Usage Policy).

Note: You can still send emails with Professional Authoring, although the setting to adjust the type of unsubscribe header which determines the opt-out level can only be adjusted by opening the email definition in Survey Designer.

Scripting Functions for Email Opt-Out Capability

There are scripting functions to support the email opt-out capability within surveys. These functions allow respondents to unsubscribe from receiving further emails while taking a survey.

The new functions are available under specific conditions and provide a streamlined way to handle opt-out requests.

Availability and Requirements

• The new functions are only available for use in surveys that have the JavaScript engine setting enabled.

• The new functions are supported only for clients who have the new email opt-out capability enabled.

Script Example

The following script example demonstrates how to use the functions to handle email opt-out requests based on respondent choices:

let optOutType = '';
switch (f('optOutTypeSelector').get()) {
case '1':
optOutType = 'PROJECT'; // opt out from the survey
break;
case '2':
optOutType = 'COMPANY'; // opt out from all company surveys
break;
case '3':
optOutType = 'PANEL'; // the survey must be attached to a panel; opt out from the panel and all surveys attached to it
break;
}
OptOutRespondent(optOutType);

Backward Compatibility

Existing scripts that use the previous Flex Extension for email opt-out will continue to function as before, ensuring backward compatibility.

Additional Info For the Respondent Table

Two columns are available for the respondent table within the “Data” tab. These can provide additional opt out information to the administrator.

These two columns are:

• OptOut - shows a numerical value that indicates when the respondent opted out relative to the current emailing batch task. The numerical values and their definitions are listed in the table below.

• OptOutDate - a date field showing the date on which the respondent opted out, or if the respondent opted out after the email was sent, the date of emailing.

Value	Description
1	The respondent existed in the company blacklist at the time the emailing batch task was initiated.
2	The respondent existed in the panel blacklist at the time the emailing batch task was initiated.
3	The respondent existed in the survey blacklist at the time the emailing batch task was initiated.
4	The respondent chose to opt out of all surveys for the company after receiving the survey invitation.
5	The respondent chose to opt out of all surveys for the panel after receiving the survey invitation.
6	The respondent chose to opt out of all surveys for the project after receiving the survey invitation.
7	The respondent's email domain existed in the Blacklisted Company Domain list when the emailing batch task was initiated.
8	The respondent's email domain existed in the Blacklisted Panel Domain list when the emailing batch task was initiated.
9	The respondent's email domain existed in the Blacklisted Project Domain list when the emailing batch task was initiated.