Email Marketing Glossary

A/B testing is a technique in which two different versions of an email are compared to determine which one works best. Both versions are sent to a sample of the subscriber list, and the results are analyzed to determine which variant performed better in terms of opens, clicks, and conversions. A/B testing allows you to optimize Email Marketing campaigns and make decisions based on data.

An API is a set of rules and protocols that allows different applications to communicate and exchange data with each other. In the context of Email Marketing, an API can be used to connect Email Marketing platforms with other systems, such as CRM or marketing automation tools, facilitating the integration and flow of data between different platforms.

An autoresponder is an automated email or series of emails that is triggered by specific actions or events, such as signing up for a newsletter or making a purchase. Autoresponders help businesses engage with their subscribers and deliver timely and relevant content.

A blacklist is a list of email addresses or domains that have been identified as generating spam. If a sender is on a blacklist, their emails can be blocked or sent directly to the spam folder, seriously affecting deliverability. It’s important to monitor blacklists and maintain a positive sender reputation to ensure emails reach subscribers’ inboxes.

Bounce rate refers to the percentage of emails that were not successfully delivered to recipients’ inboxes. Bounces can be due to any number of reasons, such as invalid email addresses, full mailboxes, or spam filters. Monitoring and reducing bounce rates is essential to maintaining a healthy email list.

CAN-SPAM is a United States federal law that establishes rules and requirements for sending commercial email. Businesses must comply with CAN-SPAM regulations to avoid penalties and maintain a good reputation as a sender.

A cold email is an unsolicited email sent to people who have not consented to receive it. This practice can be questionable from an ethical and legal marketing standpoint, so it’s important to make sure you’re compliant with regulations and get permission from your recipients before sending cold emails.

The contact database is an organized and segmented list of subscribers or potential customers who have consented to receive emails from the company. Maintaining an updated and segmented database is essential to send relevant and personalized content.

Content Email Marketing focuses on sending emails that provide valuable and essential content to subscribers, such as blog articles, infographics, videos, or news of interest. This strategy is effective in maintaining the engagement and loyalty of the audience, by providing them with useful and quality information.

The conversion rate calculates the percentage of recipients who completed a desired action, such as making a purchase, filling out a form, or signing up for a service, after clicking a link within an email. Improving the conversion rate is a primary goal for email marketers.

The copy is the text or content of the email. Writing attractive, clear, and persuasive copy is essential to capture the attention of recipients and generate interest in the content of the email. Well-designed copy can increase email open and click rates.

A CRM is a tool or system that allows companies to manage and analyze interactions with customers. In Email Marketing, a CRM can be used to store subscriber data, segment the audience, and track email interactions.

The CRO is a strategy that seeks to improve the conversion rate of a web page or a marketing campaign by optimizing the design, content, and calls to action. In the context of Email Marketing, the CRO is applied to improve the click rate and conversions of emails.

A cross-selling campaign focuses on offering complementary products or services to customers who have already made a purchase. These emails promote products related to the customer’s interest, increasing the chances that they will make additional purchases.

A call to action is a compelling statement or directive that encourages recipients to take a specific action, such as purchase, sign up for a webinar, or download a resource. Effective CTAs are concise, persuasive, and are placed prominently within an email.

Click-through rate measures the percentage of recipients who have clicked on a link in an email, which typically takes them to a website or landing page. A higher CTR indicates a higher level of engagement and interest among subscribers.

A dedicated IP is an Internet Protocol address that is used exclusively for sending business emails. In contrast, a shared IP is used by multiple senders. Using a dedicated IP can improve sender reputation and deliverability, while a shared IP can be negatively affected if other senders send spam.

Deliverability refers to the ability of an email to reach recipients’ inboxes instead of being filtered as spam or blocked by email servers. Factors that influence deliverability include sender reputation, content quality, and email regulatory compliance.

The deliverability report is a detailed analysis of the performance of an Email Marketing campaign in terms of how many emails were successfully delivered to recipients’ inboxes. The deliverability report is important for identifying potential deliverability issues and taking corrective action to ensure emails reach the intended audience.

Delivery for email campaigns refers to the successful delivery of emails to recipients’ inboxes. Good delivery is essential to ensure that emails are seen by subscribers and increase the open and click rate.

DKIM is an email authentication technique that allows senders to digitally sign emails to verify that they came from a legitimate domain and that the content has not been tampered with during delivery.

DMARC is a protocol that helps protect email domains from spoofing and phishing. DMARC allows senders to specify how email providers should treat email that fails to comply with authentication.

DNS is a system that translates domain names, such as www.example.com, into IP addresses that can be understood by computers. DNS is essential for email delivery, as it allows servers to identify recipient email addresses.

The domain is the web address that identifies a company or website on the Internet. In Email Marketing, it is important to have an authentic and recognizable domain to improve the reputation of the sender and avoid being identified as spam. Domains must be authenticated and protected with DNS and SPF records to ensure optimal deliverability.

Double opt-in and single opt-in are two different subscription confirmation methods. Double opt-in requires subscribers to confirm their subscription by clicking a confirmation link sent by email after registering. In contrast, the single opt-in does not require additional confirmation after the initial registration. Double opt-in is a best practice to ensure that subscribers are genuinely interested in receiving emails and to avoid spam issues.

A drag and drop editor is a tool that allows you to design emails visually and easily, without the need for programming knowledge. Email elements can be dragged and dropped into the layout, making it easy to create beautiful, personalized emails.

A drip campaign is a series of automated emails that are sent to subscribers at predefined intervals. Drip campaigns are commonly used for lead nurturing, onboarding sequences, or product training, allowing businesses to engage with their audience over time.

Dynamic content for emailing is a technique in which the content of emails is personalized based on the preferences, behaviors, and characteristics of each subscriber. This allows highly relevant and personalized messages to be sent to each recipient, which increases the effectiveness and interaction with the mail.

Email automation allows you to send emails automatically based on specific actions or triggers. These automated emails can include welcome messages, follow-up emails after a purchase, abandoned cart reminders, and much more. Automation streamlines communication with subscribers and saves time and resources for the marketing team.

The email footer is the bottom portion of the message that contains additional information such as the sender’s physical address, contact information, and options to unsubscribe from the subscriber list. The footer is essential to comply with regulations and provide recipients with a way to manage their subscription preferences.

The email header is the top of the message that contains important information such as the sender’s address, the date and time it was sent, and the subject. The header provides key details about the email and is the first thing the recipient sees when opening the message.

Email lists are databases that contain the email addresses of potential subscribers or customers. These lists are used to send Email Marketing campaigns and maintain effective communication with the audience.

Email Marketing is a digital marketing strategy that uses email as a communication channel to send promotional, informative, or transactional messages to a specific audience. This tactic is effective for maintaining a close relationship with customers, generating sales, promoting products and services, as well as increasing brand loyalty.

Email Marketing metrics are the key indicators used to measure the performance of email campaigns. These metrics include open rate, click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate, bounce rate, unsubscribe rate, and ROI (return on investment). These metrics are essential to evaluate the effectiveness of the campaigns and adjust to improve the results. A constant analysis of the metrics allows us to understand the behavior of subscribers and optimize Email Marketing strategies.

Email phishing is a cybercrime technique in which false and deceptive emails are sent to obtain recipients’ personal or financial information. It is essential to be vigilant and take security measures to protect yourself from phishing attacks.

An ESP is a company or platform that offers services to send emails on behalf of other companies or clients. ESPs provide tools to manage subscriber lists, design and send emails, perform campaign analysis, and manage deliverability. MDirector is an example of ESP that offers complete Email Marketing solutions.

El email phishing es una técnica de ciberdelincuencia en la que se envían correos electrónicos falsos y engañosos para obtener información personal o financiera de los destinatarios. Es esencial estar alerta y tomar medidas de seguridad para protegerse de los ataques de phishing.

The engagement rate measures the level of interaction and responsiveness of subscribers to an email campaign. It considers metrics like open rates, click-through rates, social shares, and responses. A high engagement rate indicates a strong connection with the audience.

The feedback-loop is a mechanism that allows senders to receive reports about complaints from recipients, such as marking an email as spam. This provides valuable information to improve the deliverability and quality of emails.

A follow-up campaign is a series of emails that are sent after a welcome email or previous interaction with the subscriber. This campaign aims to maintain communication with the subscriber and encourage greater interaction and conversion.

The GDPR is a regulation of the European Union that protects and regulates the use of personal data of EU citizens. In the context of Email Marketing, the GDPR establishes requirements and obligations to obtain the consent of subscribers, manage personal data securely and respect the privacy rights of individuals.

Greylisting is a technique used by some email providers to filter out unwanted or spam emails. When an email arrives at a greylisted server, the server temporarily rejects it and requests that the sender try sending it again. If the sender is legitimate, the mail will be delivered on the second attempt. Greylisting helps reduce the amount of spam and unwanted emails that reach your inbox.

A hard bounce occurs when an email cannot be permanently delivered to a recipient due to reasons such as an invalid, non-existent, or blocked email address. Hard bounces should be removed from the subscriber list, as sending emails to invalid addresses can damage the sender’s reputation and affect deliverability.

An HTML email is an email that uses HTML markup language to design and format the content. HTML emails allow for greater personalization and attractive visual design, which improves presentation and user experience.

IMP is an Internet protocol that allows users to access and manage their emails stored on a remote server. IMP offers message synchronization options and the ability to manage emails online, making it a popular option for accessing emails from different devices.

An ISP is a company that provides Internet access to users. ISPs are responsible for connecting and routing data across the Internet. It is important to consider the reputation and policies of ISPs when sending emails to ensure good deliverability and avoid spam issues.

List segmentation is dividing an email list into smaller, more targeted segments based on criteria such as demographics, preferences, or interaction history. Segmentation allows marketers to tailor their content and offers to different groups of subscribers, resulting in more personalized and relevant campaigns.

A landing page or destination page is a web page designed specifically to convert visitors into leads or customers. In the context of Email Marketing, landing pages are used to direct recipients from the email to a page where they can complete a specific action, such as registering for an event, downloading content, or making a purchase.

A lead magnet is valuable content offered to potential subscribers in exchange for their contact details, such as email. These contents can be eBooks, guides, templates, or any other resource that is relevant and attractive to the audience. Lead magnets are an effective strategy to increase conversion rate and build a list of qualified subscribers.

Lead nurturing or lead nutrition is a process that consists of sending relevant and personalized content to subscribers throughout the purchase cycle. The goal is to guide potential leads through the sales funnel, providing them with useful and valuable information at each stage of the decision process. Lead nurturing helps maintain the relationship with leads and increases the chances of converting them into customers.

Lead scoring is a method of evaluating and classifying leads or prospects based on their interaction with the company and their likelihood of becoming customers. Points are awarded for actions taken by the lead, such as opening emails or clicking links, to determine their level of interest and engagement.

The mailing test is a technique in which a version of the email is sent to a small group of the subscriber list before sending it to the entire audience. This test group allows you to verify the appearance of the mail in different mail clients and devices, as well as to detect possible errors before mass sending. Performing a mailing test ensures that the email reaches subscribers correctly and that it is presented optimally in different environments.

A newsletter is a type of periodic email that is sent to a specific audience to inform them about company news, updates, events or promotions. Newsletters are a powerful tool for maintaining subscriber engagement and loyalty by providing them with valuable and relevant content on a regular basis.

NPS is a metric that measures customer satisfaction and loyalty. It is based on a simple question: “On a scale of 0 to 10, how likely are you to recommend our company/product/service to a friend or colleague?” The results are divided into promoters, passives, and detractors, which allows us to evaluate the general satisfaction and the probability of customer retention.

The open rate indicates the percentage of recipients who opened an email out of the total number of emails sent. Writing compelling subject lines, optimizing send times, and segmenting your audience can significantly influence open rates.

Outbound Marketing is a more traditional marketing strategy that is based on the promotion and massive dissemination of advertising and commercial messages. This technique includes media such as television, radio, print, and online advertising. Unlike Inbound Marketing, Outbound Marketing seeks to capture the attention of customers through more invasive means.

Personalization involves tailoring email content to make it more relevant and engaging for each recipient. By using subscriber data such as their name, location, or past interactions, marketers can create personalized experiences that resonate with their audience.

Push notifications are pop-up messages sent to mobile devices or web browsers to inform users of relevant events, offers, or updates. In the context of Email Marketing, push notifications can be used as an additional way to interact with subscribers and encourage engagement.

A reactivation campaign focuses on re-engaging subscribers who are inactive or have not engaged with emails for a long period of time. These emails seek to rekindle the interest of the subscriber and motivate them to interact with the company again. The reactivation campaign may include incentives, discounts, or exclusive content to encourage participation.

Responsive design refers to the automatic adaptation of emails so that they display correctly on any device, be it a desktop computer, a mobile phone or a tablet. A responsive design ensures an optimal user experience and increases the likelihood that emails will be read and responded to.

Retargeting is a strategy in which personalized ads are shown to subscribers who have previously interacted with company emails or web pages. This technique helps to keep the brand present in the user’s mind and increases the chances of a conversion.

The Robinson List is an opt-out registry that allows users to register their email addresses to avoid receiving unwanted commercial emails. Email Marketing companies should consult the Robinson List before sending campaigns, to ensure that they do not send emails to people who have opted not to receive commercial communications.

ROI is a metric used to measure the effectiveness and profitability of a marketing campaign. It is calculated by dividing the earnings obtained by the investment made and multiplying it by 100 to obtain a percentage. A positive ROI indicates that the campaign has been profitable, while a negative ROI indicates that the investment has not been profitable.

Sales Email Marketing focuses on sending emails with the aim of promoting products or services and generating direct sales. These emails often include exclusive offers, promotions, and discounts to encourage subscribers to make a purchase.

The sales funnel is a process that guides subscribers from the first contact to the final conversion, be it a purchase, a request for information or any other desired action. The sales funnel is made up of several stages such as awareness, interest, consideration, and action. Email Marketing plays a key role in nurturing subscribers through the funnel and converting them into customers.

The reach refers to the number of recipients or subscribers to whom an email is sent in an Email Marketing campaign. A broad reach means that the email reaches many people, which increases the chances of interaction and conversions.

Sender reputation refers to email providers’ assessment of a sender’s trustworthiness and legitimacy. A good sender reputation increases the likelihood of emails reaching recipients’ inboxes, while a bad reputation can result in being blocked or sent to spam. Maintaining a good sender reputation is essential for an effective Email Marketing strategy.

SMS Marketing is a marketing strategy that uses text messages to send promotions, offers, reminders or other information to customers and subscribers. SMS Marketing is an effective way to reach the audience directly and quickly.

A soft bounce occurs when an email cannot be temporarily delivered to a recipient due to temporary problems, such as a full mailbox or an unavailable mail server. Soft bounces can be temporary, and in some cases, mail can be delivered on a later attempt. However, if the emails keep bouncing, they should be removed from the list.

Spam is unsolicited and generally low-quality content that is sent in bulk via email. In Email Marketing, it is essential to avoid sending emails considered spam, as this can damage the sender’s reputation, affect deliverability, and alienate subscribers. Complying with privacy regulations and offering relevant and valuable content will help avoid spam issues.

The spam score is a measure of how likely an email is to be marked as spam by filters or recipients. Factors that contribute to a high spam score include excessive capitalization, misleading subject lines, or suspicious URLs. It is crucial to keep the spam score low to ensure deliverability.

Like A/B testing, split testing involves testing different elements of an email, such as the design, images, or offer, on two or more segments of your audience. Split testing helps identify the most effective components to drive engagement and conversions.

The subject is the line of text that appears in the recipient’s inbox that summarizes the content or purpose of the email. An attractive, clear, and relevant subject is essential to capture the attention of the recipient and increase the opening rate.

The subscription confirmation is an automated email sent to new subscribers to verify their interest in receiving emails from the company. This email contains a link that the subscriber must click to confirm their subscription and complete the opt-in process. Subscription confirmation is an important step in maintaining a clean mailing list and complying with privacy regulations.

Tags or labels are keywords or categories that are used to organize and classify emails and contacts in an Email Marketing platform. Tags allow for more efficient management and precise audience segmentation, making it easy to deliver relevant and personalized content to specific groups of subscribers.

The text to image ratio refers to the ratio of text content to image content in an email. It is important to balance both elements to prevent emails from being detected as spam and to ensure fast loading on different devices and email clients.

Transactional Email Marketing refers to emails sent automatically in response to a specific user action, such as a purchase, password reset request, or registration confirmation. These emails are essential to provide relevant and timely information to the user and improve the customer experience.

The unsubscribe or unsubscribe refers to the process by which a subscriber chooses to stop receiving emails from a company or mailing list. It is important to make the unsubscribe process easy to comply with privacy regulations and to ensure that subscribers have control over their email preferences.

The unsubscribe rate measures the percentage of recipients who decide to unsubscribe from an email list after receiving a campaign. While some churn is natural, controlling and minimizing the churn rate is important to maintaining a healthy subscriber base.

An up-selling campaign seeks to persuade customers to purchase a higher value version or product than the one they were originally considering purchasing. These emails offer additional incentives and perks to motivate the customer to make a larger purchase.

User-generated content is any form of content, such as reviews, testimonials, or social media posts, created by customers or users of a brand. Incorporating UGC into email campaigns can increase credibility, engagement, and social proof.

UTM is a code added to links in marketing campaigns to track traffic and conversions coming from different sources. These codes allow you to analyze the effectiveness of the campaigns and determine which channels or strategies generate the most results.

A welcome campaign is a series of automated emails sent to new subscribers to welcome them and introduce them to the company, its products, or services. This campaign is essential to establish a positive relationship from the beginning and increase commitment in the long term.

Whitelisting consists of adding a sender’s email address to a recipient’s list of approved contacts or safe senders. Being whitelisted increases the likelihood that emails will bypass spam filters and reach recipients’ inboxes.

An automated workflow or scenario is a series of predefined actions and emails that are automatically triggered based on subscriber behavior or interactions. Workflows allow you to automate and personalize communication with subscribers throughout the customer life cycle.