A B C D E F H I K L M O P R S T U W
A
A/B split Refers to a test in which a list is split equally and sent different emails. Through the A/B split you can determine the more successful creative, offer, image, etc.
Abandonment Abandonment can refer to an email, a website, or an online shopping cart. Abandonment involves the customer responding by clicking through an email, navigating through a website, adding contents to their shopping cart and leaving without finalizing the conversion. The conversion can include a lead, a specific path, or sale.
Above the Fold The part of the email message or web page that is viewable without requiring the user to scroll. Content in this area is considered more valuable since it is the first thing the user sees. Fold may be affected by the users’ preview pane, monitor-size, monitor resolution, and any headers created by the users email program.
Accreditation Sender accreditation is a third-party process of verifying email senders and requiring them to adhere to certain accreditee usage guidelines in exchange for being listed in a trusted listing that Internet Service Providers (ISPs) reference to allow certain emails to bypass email filters.
Alert Email that notifies a subscriber of a campaign or event that has urgency.
Analytics Used in marketing to refer to a technology that analyzes the performance of website, on¬line marketing campaign, or offline marketing campaign. Analytics often reviews not only the metrics associated with the campaign, but the user metrics as well.
AOV (average order value) The average order value is the typical size of an order. The metric is determined by calculating the number of orders versus the total sales generated.
Application Program Interface (API) How a program (application) accesses another to transmit data. A client may have an API connection to load database information to an email vendor automati¬cally and receive data back from the email.
Application Service Provider (ASP) Company that provides a Web-based service. Clients don’t have to install software on their own computers; all tasks are performed on (hosted on) the ASP’s servers.
Approved Sender To reduce your email being filtered from the inbox, request that your subscriber’s add your address to their safe list to ensure delivery.
Attachment A video, graphic, pdf or other document that accompanies and email message, but isn’t included in the body of the message. Attachments aren’t widely recommended for use with email campaigns since many ISP’s block them from being received.
Authentication An automated response that verifies an email senders address.
Automated Campaign Using trigger-based and automation rules, an automated campaign sends when a customer or prospect completes an action online or offline.
Autoresponder An automated email message response capability traditionally launched by trig¬gers. Triggers can include subscribes, unsubscribes, abandonment, or conversion.
B
Benchmark Report A report used to compare key performance indicators for your campaigns.
Benchmarking Identifying accurate historical data so that new email marketing initiatives can be measured. Benchmarks can include many different responders.
Behavior-based Segmentation One can include or exclude recipients based on their online or offline activity/behavior. By segmenting your audience this way, you create a more relevant experience. Behavior-based segmentation can include purchase, website, in-store, or preference behavior.
Blacklist A list of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses or domains that are perceived to be sources of email spam (unsolicted commercial email).
Blog A personal or corporate website in the form of an online journal, with new entries appearing in sequence as they are written, especially as dealing with reflections or opinion, and typically incorporating links to other articles
Block A refusal from an ISP or email server to not send your email to the recipient. This is more prevelant in senders who have been reported to send spam or viruses. Certain content may be blocked as well if determined to be inappropriate.
Bounce A email message that hasn’t delivered immediately. There are may reasons an email mes¬sage can bounce. A few include: a recipients mailbox is full, the account is closed, the account can’t be found, or it was bounced due to content.
Bounce Handling Process for dealing with the bounces received. Essential for list maintenance, list integrity and delivery.
Bounce Rate Number of hard/soft bounces divided by the number of emails sent.
Brand A name, slogan, or logo associated with a company, product, or service. A brand is the per¬sonification of all information connected with that company, product, or service that sets expecta¬tions. In email marketing it is key to always carry a consistent brand for recognition purposes.
B-to-B Business to business marketing. Targeting company services versus individualized services.
B-to-C Business to consumer marketing. Targeting consumers in a 1 to 1 relationship.
Budget Goals set to achieve the return on investment. The budget is traditionally set prior to the fis¬cal year and includes expenses as well as sales.
C
Call to action The link or body copy in an email message directing the customer to the action. Ac¬tions may include click, download, submit, or purchase.
Campaign Campaigns refer to specific inititatives meant to convert interest to a lead or sale. Cam¬paigns can include paid search, banner advertising, or print advertising.
Can-Spam Widely used term for the US law governing commercial email. A full copy can be viewed, by visiting http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/buspubs/canspam.shtm
Cascading Style Sheets Cascading Style Sheets, or CSS, are a series of instructions that specify how text should appear on a Web page. You can use CSS to set styles for text, borders, and other elements.
Click-Through When a link is included in an email, a clickthrough occurs when a recipient clicks on the link.
Click-Through Rate The number of clicks in an email versus the number of emails sent. Includes mul¬tipled clicks by a unique recipient.
Confirmation A message sent confirming the conversion whether a sale, download, subscription, etc.
Confirmed Opt-In When a subscribers responds to a verification of opt-in.
Conversion Path The influence and experiences that lead to a conversion. A path can include mul¬tiple touches in both online and offline marketing.
Conversion Rate The percentage of recepients that take the desired action in an email campaign.
Conversions An email recipient performs the desired action based on an email received. A conver¬sion can be defined as a lead, a sale, or a download.
Cost-Per-Acquisition Email marketing ROI model in which a return is based solely on the qualifying actions such as sales or registrations. The actions are then measured against the associated costs.
Creative The message within an email. The creative can include the copy, the support graphics, or video.
CRM Customer Relationship Management This technology allows a company to track their cus¬tomers from acquisition to win-back as well as the multiple campaign touches that they interact with throughout the customer life cycle.
Cross-Selling A sales promotion technique used to sell the recipient products related to a product or products the user has purchased. It can be applied immediately during a purchase or can be used in a campaign after purchase.
Customer Life Cycle The progression of stages a customer goes through when considering, purchas¬ing, using, and maintaining loyalty to a product or service.
Customer-Centric Aligning the resources of your company to effectively respond to your customers changing needs, while building relationships.
D
Dedicated IP Address Dedicated Server An email server used by only one sender. A dedicated server has a higher cost since the server usage can’t be spread among many users. Having a dedicated server eliminates the possibility of your messages being blacklisted due to another sender.
Deduplication (deduping) The process of removing identical recipients from two or more data sets. It’s application is often used when eliminating multiple deliveries in a given time period to one recipient.
Direct email marketing Email-based campaigns sent to a targeted list of recipients. The sender may use customer segmentation techniques to ensure that the message is appropriate for the group it’s sent to, and use personalization techniques so the recipient is addressed as an individual.
Domain A group of networked computers that share a common communications address.
Double Opt-In Process by which a customer receives, via email, a confirmation of their opt-in re¬quest. The receipient must complete the necessary steps designated by the receipient prior to receiv¬ing the email. Considered a best practice.
Dynamic Content Content that changes from one recipient to the next according to a set of prede¬termined rules or variables. Content can be variable based on purchase history, subscribe preferences, geography, or any targeted filter.
E
ECOA Email Change of Address. A service that tracks email address changes and updates.
Email address The combination of a unique user name and a sender domain. Email addresses com¬prise the recipient lists used for email distribution.
Email marketing. The promotion of products or services via email.
Email Spoofing is a term used to describe fraudulent e-mail activity in which the sender address and other parts of the e-mail header are altered to appear as though the e-mail originated from a different source.
Engagement Marketing A form of marketing that interacts with the customer or prospect during the right time with the right message based on their engagement level with the organization.
ESP (Email Service Provider) offers email marketing or bulk email services. Most recently also offers services and solutions to optimize email marketing.
F
Filter Categorize, sort or block email messages based on pre-determined fields.
Footer Area at the end of an email message or newsletter that contains content including contact information, senders postal address, or unsubscribe options.
Forward (also Forward to a Friend) A recipient forwards an email message to a colleague or friend based on general interest or an incentive. Forwarding may be sent through the recipient’s own email client, or by positioning a link to click within the email that allows them to give his/her name and email address and the name/email address of the colleague or friend.
From Line The visible “from” name that arrives in the recipients inbox. The “from” name is chosen by the sender and can be an email address, a name, or brand. It should be chosen based on recoginition by the recipient.
Full-service provider An email provider that provides email transmission as well as full creative services and consultation.
H
Hard Bounce Message sent to an email address that is closed or no longer exists.
Header Routing and program data at the start of an email message, including the sender’s name and email address, originating email server IP address, recipient IP address and any transfers in the process.
House list A list of addresses that a company collects through its own outlets.
HTML HyperText Markup Language - The source code for displaying web content and html emails.
HTML message An email message built using HTML (rather than plain text)
I
Images Any graphic object used in a message
IMAP Internet Message Access Protocol - Method to access and edit email stored on a server
ISP Internet Service Provider - Describes providers of email clients, such as Google, Hotmail, MSN, etc.
K
Key Performance Indicators Commonly referred to as KPI’s, key performance indicators help organi¬zations achieve organizational goals through the definition and measurement of progress. A company will establish multiple goals that are highly measurable. An example includes increasing the spend on single transactions through your website. Once the goal is set, you can align sales and marketing to accomplish those goals.
L
Landing Page A specific page designed to receive visitors from online marketing. A landing page may be used for lead acquisition or for sales acquisition. Also may be called a microsite, splash page, bounce page, or click page.
Lead Identifying a person or entity potentially interested in purchasing a product or service, and represents the first stage of the customer life cycle.
Lead Generation A marketing term that refers to the creation of prospective consumer interest into a business’ products or services. Often lead generation is associated with marketing activities targeted at generating sales opportunities.
Lead Nurture Lead nurture is communicating consistent and meaningful touches with viable pros¬pects regardless of their timing to buy.
Link Analysis Analyzing the performance of links in message, assessing which placement and text performed best.
Links Also referred to as a hyperlink, a link is a clickable reference to another web resource.
List List of email addresses, often containing other demographic information collected at the time the address was provided.
List fatigue A condition where your list has diminishing returns due to frequency of sends or too many of the same offers, in too short a period of time.
List hygiene Maintaining a “clean” list by removing hard bounces and unsubscribed names from mailings.
List Management Mailing list set up, administration, and maintenance. Can include processing sub¬scribes, unsubscribes, bounce management, and list hygience.
List rental The process in which an advertiser pays a list owner to send its messages to that list. Usu¬ally involves the list owner sending the message’s on the advertiser’s behalf. (Avoid list owners that are willing to give you the list as this isn’t a best practice.)
M
Microsite A web page or cluster of pages kept separate from the main site, often with a different URL. Content is often editorial or commercial in nature.
Multi-part MIME Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions, allows email to support different character sets and multipart message bodies.
O
Offline Opt-In When a customer provides their email address and consent on paper or other non-electronic media.
Open Rate The percentage of html recipients to open your email. See http://bronto.com/stats to see how your industry is performing.
Opens Any instance of a recipient’s email client requesting a tiny, transparent tracking image or clicking a link within the message.
Opt-In A specific request by an individual email recipient to have their own email address placed on a mailing list.
Opt-Out Similar to unsubscribe, it is when a customer chooses to be taken off a mailing list.
P
Personalization A targeting method utilizing dynamic elements of a message to personalize the con¬tent for an individual recipient. Techniques include purchasing, link clicking, or transaction history.
Permission-Based Marketing Sending to a group of recipients who have explicitly requested to receive email marketing from a company or organization.
POP Also known as POP3, Post Office Protocol. Similar to IMAP, but messages stored on the user’s machine are considered authoritative rather than those on the server.
Preferences Options a user can set to determine receipt of messages (html or text), messages they want to receive, frequency of messages, or specific content they would like to receive.
Preview pane A preview window used by certain email clients to provide a view of the message prior to it being opened. This is considered prime real estate for your marketing message.
Privacy policy Your organization’s stated policy on maintaing customer privacy, including the sale, rental, or sharing of customer email addresses.
R
Relationship email An action message such as a purchase, complaint, service agreement, or war¬ranty information. Generally are not covered by CAN-SPAM requirements. Sometimes referred to as transactional messages.
Re-mail One of Bronto’s best practices: re-sending a message to those who didn’t open your original message, changing the subject line to better attract their attention.
Reply-to The email address specified to pre-populate when a recipient clicks “reply”.
Retention The ability to prevent a customer from unsubscribing or opting-out by sending relevant, timely messages. Can also refer to the sales cycle.
ROI “Return On Investment.” Refers to the perecentage of profit or revenue generated by a specific activity.
S
Seed List A list of email addresses of individuals, who are part of the senders organization, who will receive the live launch.
Segmentation Filtering your list by customer profile information or past behaviour (ie. who lives in a specific zip code or who clicked a certain link).
Soft Bounce Email returned due to a temporary error, such as an overloaded system or a user over their email storage quota. These messages are typically re-tried several times.
Spam Abusing electronic messaging systems (email, fax, forums, etc) to send large batches of unso¬licited messages.
Subject Lines Copy that identifies the email messages content. The subject line is often designed to entice recipients to open the message.
Suppression File A list of email addresses to be excluded from communications due to the unsubscribe request of a customer.
T
Test Verifying the look and performance of your message by sending sample messages to yourself and/or a test list
Text Any words or type not part of a graphic
Text Version Alternate version of your message with all graphics removed, leaving only the text.
Thank-you page Dedicated page that is displayed after someone completes a transaction or survey. May include a receipt.
Transactional Email generated as a result of a transaction, such as a receipt for an online purchase.
U
UBE Unsolicited Bulk Email Email sent, without permission, to a mass number of recipients. Also referred to as SPAM.
Unsubscribe Choosing to be removed from an email list.
Up-Sell A procedure designed to increase the purchase at the point of sale. Designed to offer the cus¬tomer an upgraded product or related item. May also happen post sale in an effort to retain customers through the transactional email.
URL (Uniform Resource Locator) The address used to identify the location of web resources. More plainly, the web address for a website.
W
Welcome Email A message sent to a customer to inform them of their addition to a list and what to expect from future emails.
Win-Back The process of targeting customers that haven’t purchased within a designated timeframe, and sending them offers that entice them to purchase again. An example is sending a customer that hasn’t purchased in twenty months (the lifecyle of your customer is nineteen) a message that they act upon, you’ve won them back.
“We count on Bronto to help execute our great ideas. We’ve had a lot of email partners in the past, but none who can deliver on their promises like Bronto.”
Joe Schmidt
President,
Canvas On Demand
