Glossary | Your Site

Glossary

A/B Split Test: An email marketing testing technique, where two equal groups from the same list are sent two altered versions of an email. The responses from the recipients to the different parts of the campaign are then recorded.

Above-the-fold: The top part of an email message which is visible without scrolling down the screen.

Attachment: An additional file sent with an email message.

Authentication: This is an automated practice verifying the sender’s identity with email administrators.

Auto Responder: An automated responder allows you to send pre-designed email messages, such as welcome messages sent automatically to new subscribers.

Below-the-fold: The part of an email that is visible when scrolling the down screen with the mouse or arrow keys.

Blacklist: This is a list of IP addresses that have built a bad reputation with ISPs. Emails from these addresses are blocked/sent to junk folders due to being suspected spam, with spam scores of 6 and over.

Bounce: An undeliverable email returned to the sender.
See Hard and Soft Bounce for different types.

Bounce rate: Number of bounces (hard and soft) divided by the total number of emails sent.

Browser: This is a program used to view and access documents (pages) on the World Wide Web. Having a link on your email to a browser will act as a security measure, for subscribers having problems viewing your emails normally.

Call to action: The section of text which gets the recipient to ‘do something’. Often purchasing a product or clicking on a link you have provided for your website, enter a competition, download vouchers or menus etc.

Click Through Rate (CTR): The statistics of an email campaign calculated by the total number of clicked links divided by the total number of emails sent.

Conversion: The action a recipient takes as a direct result of your communication.

Conversion Rate: The conversion rate is a percentage based on the success of your email campaign. It is calculated by the number of recipients that responded to your call to action, compared to the total emails sent.

Deliverability: An email message’s potential to reach its intended recipient inbox (results will depend upon spam filters and junk folders)

Delivery tracking: This allows you to monitor the amount of emails that were delivered and undelivered.

Email Marketing: Email marketing is the use of email messaging, used to boost awareness and generate leads with new customers, as well as building and maintaining relationships with existing customers.

Email Marketing Campaign: Emails sent to consumers containing specific marketing objectives and goals.

Email Newsletter: An email message sent to a group of subscribers with topical and current news, as well as new product information to keep in touch with present customers.

Email Service Provider (ESP): An organisation or business that provides an email service to clients, this allows you to deliver emails in bulk to your customers and clients. An ESP will include a selection of tools, which will allow users to have access to features such as reports, which will differ depending on the ESP.

Feedback Loops: A feedback loop is a program used by Internet Service Providers to forward complaints from their recipients back to the sender. This is valuable to the sender as complaints can be processed and reduced, protecting the senders reputation.

Footer: This is the area at the bottom on an email/page, which will contain the same content in each email. An examples of what will be included in the footer is an unsubscribe link.

Forward: This is an email function allowing subscribers to pass on an email they have received to friends and family.

Frequency: A regular period of time in which email marketing messages are distributed, ranging from weekly, monthly or quarterly.

From address: An email address from where an electronic message is sent.

From Name: The name which the email sender is known by.

Hard bounce: An email which has been returned to the sender and is permanently undeliverable. This could be due to a number of reasons including a non-existent or changed address.

Header: This is the area at the top on an email/page, containing specific content. Examples of what is built into the header include the sender and recipient addresses, the subject line and the date.

HTML based Email: HTML is an abbreviation for Hypertext Mark up Language. This is an email code that is written so that special fonts, graphics, background colours and logos can be included in emails.

Image Blocking: This is a default setting where recipients turn off the option to view images. Images are blocked unless the sender has been added to the users address book.

IP address: An Internet Protocol (IP) address is a unique number allocated to devices connected to the Internet.

IP Reputation: Your IP reputation will be based on every campaign that you send, as everything you send is registered and rated affecting your deliverability. Factors influencing your reputation will include volume of sends in comparisson to complaints of spam amongst others.

ISP: ISP is an abbreviation for Internet Service Provider. ISP’s are companies such as Hotmail, Google and AOL who provide access to the Internet.

List Segmentation: Segmentation allows users to separate their lists into smaller sending groups to target specific recipients based on their characteristics. Segments can be anything the user chooses from demographics, to eating and drinking habits e.g. soft, wine and beer drinkers.

Open Rate: An open rate is based on the amount of emails that have been opened. Your open rate should be measured against the amount of emails delivered to your subscribers.

Opt in: Opt in is also known as permission based marketing and subscribing, where by you must obtain permission from your customers to contact and send emails/ electronic communications to them.

Opt Out: Opt out is also known as unsubscribing, where by a customers no longer wants to be contacted or sent emails/ electronic communications and wishes to be removed from a mailing list.

Permission based Email Marketing: Permission based marketing is also known as opt in and subscribing, where by you must obtain permission from your customers to contact and send emails/ electronic communications to them.

Personalisation: Personalisation is a technique where a message is tailored to an individual. Bulk emails can be personalised easily with a token, this allows tailored information (such as first name, customer reference number etc) to be added in specific areas of an email.

Plain text: A plain text email is an email message that is in black and white, which does not contain any formatting code.

Preview Pane: Preview panes are available with some email clients, and are particularly popular when checking emails on mobile phones. Preview panes display a proportion of a chosen email message, without the user having to open the full message.

Recipient: Recipient is the person who you send an email to.

Reply to Address: This is a working email address, where recipients can reply to your email for at least 30 days after your email is sent.

Schedule sending: Allows users to choose recipients and receiving details such as times and dates for campaigns before they are sent. Once an email has been scheduled it will be sent out automatically.

Sender ID: This is used to authenticate and identify the sender, by verifying the domain name from where an email was sent. ISPs (Internet Service Providers) use this to block spam/fake addresses and email forgeries.

Server: A computer that has been designed to oversee files for one or more sites where it handles, receives and responds to client requests that are transmitted over a network.

Single Opt-in: Obtaining permission from your customers to contact them via emails in one single action e.g. submitting a form on the Internet.

Soft bounce: A soft bounce is a bounced back email, which has been returned to the sender due to a temporary failure such as a full mailbox or an unavailable server.

Spam: Spam is unwanted/ unsolicited email, which has been sent to recipients that did not subscribe to your list. Spam is illegal and measures are in place to catch spammers quickly, and prevent them from sending emails in the future.

Spam Score: This is a rating given to email messages in comparison to adhering to spam rules. All messages sent from the same IP address will share the spam score of that IP address (scores higher then 6 are more likely to blocked by spam filters)

Spam Traps: An email address, which has been set up deliberately to catch individuals who have illegally collected email addresses. If you send to one of these email addresses you will instantly become blacklisted.

Subject Line: This is the title line of an email where the topic of content contained is described. The receiver will decide whether or not to open the email, based on this the more interesting the subject line is, the more likely it is to get opened.

Subscribe: Subscribing is also known as permission based marketing and Opt in, where by you must obtain permission from your customers to contact and send emails/ electronic communications to them.

Subscriber: Refers to the person who is part of or has requested to be included in your mailing list.

Target Audience: This term relates to the specific consumer group/market that you are trying to reach with your message.

Text-based Email: A standard black and white, text based email. Usually preferred by users who check their emails on mobile phones.

Unsubscribe: Unsubscribing is also known as opt out, where by customers no longer wants to be contacted or sent emails/ electronic communications and wishes to be removed from a mailing list.

Welcome message: A greeting message sent automatically to new individuals who have successfully subscribed to receive your electronic communications.

Whitelist: This is an approved list of safe, known and trusted IP addresses. These addresses have built a good reputation and relationship with ISPs, therefore they are able to send and receive email messages without any deliverability issues. This includes problems such as emails being sent to junk folders or being picked up by spam filters.