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E-mail marketing terms A through Z
A/B split testing: A test in which a list is split into two parts and sent different creative, so that the sender can see which performs better.
Alt text: Text that appears in place of an image before its downloaded in the inbox. (This is the description when uploading an image in your account.)
API (Application Programming Interface): An interface that allows communication between two different applications via software.
Bounce: An e-mail message that doesn't get delivered to a recipients inbox. There are two types of bounces:
- Soft bounce: An e-mail sent to an active e-mail address, but then is turned away before being delivered. Often, the problem is temporary -- the server is down or the recipients mailbox is full. The e-mail might be held at the recipients server to be delivered later, or the senders e-mail program may attempt to deliver it again.
- Hard bounce: An e-mail sent to an invalid, closed or nonexistent e-mail account (no connection is made to the recipients server).
Best practices: Guidelines for e-mail marketers and designers to follow that will ensure the most effective results in an inbox.
CAN-SPAM: The U.S. law regulating commercial e-mail -- requiring a truthful subject and from address, an opt out link and a physical mailing address.
Deliverability: An ESPs ability to deliver e-mails to various recipient servers.
e-mail client: The software recipients use to read e-mail. (Example: Gmail, Yahoo!, Hotmail, Outlook, MacMail, AOL, etc...)
e-mail marketing: The use of e-mail for commercial messaging.
ESP (e-mail service provider): A service that companies use for e-mail marketing, allowing them to manage lists, create and send e-mails and then track the results. All of those services are hosted on the ESPs server.
Filter: A software tool that categorises, sorts or blocks incoming e-mail. Filters may be applied at the recipient level, the e-mail client level or by the ISP.
Footer: The area at the bottom of an e-mail that contains information such as company or contact name and the senders postal address. Below the footer is the preference panel.
Header: The image (or "banner") at the top of an e-mail, usually containing branding.
HTML messages (Hyper Text Markup Language): e-mail message which contains any type of formatting other than text, including any images, logos and colors.
IP address ( Internet Protocol address): A unique number assigned to each device connected to the internet.
ISP (internet service provider): A service that offers customers access to the internet. (Example: Comcast, Charter, AT&T, etc...)
Layout: The content area of a campaign, generally a mix of image placeholders and text boxes.
List hygiene: The process of examining and maintaining a list so that it complies with permission standards.
Manage preferences: Options provided by an ESP where audience members can update their personal information. (A recipient can click on the manage preferences link in the preference panel of an dkkma e-mail.)
Online version (public): The online version of the campaign which can be archived on your website or posted online. This is a public version, and any identifying info about the recipient + the preference panel are stripped out. This varies slightly from the web view. You can access the online version URL by clicking on the name of your mailing on the main response page, then clicking on the online version link in the left sidebar of the next page.
Permissions-based sending: Sending relevant content to targeted lists of people who have signed up to receive e-mails from a certain company or brand.
Personalisation: Pulling individual recipient information into the body of an e-mail automatically. (Example: Dear [member_name_first],)
Plaintext e-mail: An e-mail message that includes only the text of an e-mails content, excluding any type of formatting (images, font, or text color).
Pre-header: A few words about the e-mail that appear above the header. Often, the pre-header provides a link to the online version of the e-mail.
Preference panel: Content below the footer of the campaign that often includes the e-mail address the recipient used to subscribe to mailings, a manage preferences link, an opt out link, signup link.
Preview pane: The screen in your e-mail client that allows you to see the beginning of an e-mail message without displaying the whole e-mail.
Segment: The ability to target specific recipients based on specific member information. (You can segment your audience using our search feature.)
Signup screen/form: The online form someone fills out when they want to start receiving e-mail from a company or brand.
Social sharing: A function handled by an ESP that allows recipients to forward a campaign to the e-mail inboxes of their friends, colleagues or anyone that might be interested in the campaigns content, or share the campaign directly on social networks (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn).
Spam: Any e-mails that come to a recipients inbox that they didn't sign up to receive. (Even if they have signed up to receive an e-mail, those e-mails could end up in the spam folder, until they've added the senders from address to their address book or trusted senders list.)
Stationery: The design that frames the content of an e-mail, including the header, border and footer.
Subject line: Copy that identifies what an e-mail message is about. It is often designed to entice the recipient into opening the message. (Its also the first thing the recipient sees in the inbox.)
Subscribe/opt in: The process of joining a mailing list, meaning an individual has agreed to receive e-mails from a particular company or sender.
Test group: An audience group in an dkkma account that contains up to 10 e-mail addresses for the purpose of testing e-mail campaigns before they're sent. (Our customers can deliver to this group at no charge.)
Trigger/auto-responder e-mail: Messages sent automatically based on individual actions (like clicking on a link) or dates (like someones birthday).
Unsubscribe/opt out: The process of removing oneself from an e-mail list, meaning the brand is no longer legally allowed to send that individual e-mails. A person can opt out at any time by clicking the opt-out link at the bottom of an dkkma campaign.
Web-view (private): The online version of an e-mail, which a person can access by clicking on the see it online link at the top of a campaign in their inbox. This varies slightly from the online version (public).
Whitelist: Adding an ESPs domain (such as dunkelkammer domain, e2ma.net) to a customers server which allows e-mail messages to be delivered regardless of spam filters.
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