Glossary of Terms:

AVO (average order value)
The average amount of each catalog order.

Accordion fold
Two or more parallel folds in a letter so it opens an accordion.

Address accuracy
The percentage of matches that a company database attains when compared with a national address database.

Address block
The format in which name and address are printed on top of letters.

Address service requested
A message appearing on mailing envelopes that authorizes the post office to charge the sender a fee for providing a new address (where know) of a business or person no longer at the address on the mailing piece.

Addressed Admail
Canada Post Corporation's category for bulk or third-class postage that applies to large quantities of identical pieces that are prepared for mailing before being delivered to the post office.

Appointment rate
Percentage of qualified direct mail leads that result in a seals appointment or demonstration.

Alternate Delivery
Methods of delivering direct mail or sample products to households without using the United States Postal Service.

Alternate Media
Any means of reaching consumers other than by using solo direct mail and telemarketing including: cooperative mailings, card decks, package inserts and free-standing inserts (FSIs), home-shopping programs, computer online services and broadcast.

Attrition rate
The rate at which customers do not renew their orders, usually expressed as a percentage of active customers.

Automation-Compatible Mail
Mail that can be scanned and processed by automated mail processing equipment such as barcode sorter.

Back End
All the activities necessary to complete a mail order transaction once an order has been received.

Back-end premium
A free gift offered to prospects in exchange for a sale.

Bangtail
Promotional return envelope featuring a perforated slip of paper beneath the flap.  Readers tear off, complete and include this slip in the return envelope.

BANT
The acronym for typical lead qualification criteria--budget, authority, need and time frame.  Leads become qualified prospects if they can afford your offering, have the authority to buy, need what you are selling and are ready to act within your timeframe.

Bar Code
The nine-digit ZIP code translated into a coding structure of vertical bars and half bars used in order to speed the sorting of mail and enabling mailers to take a discount on postage.

Batching
The gathering and organizing of incoming orders.

Bill insert
A slip of paper, printed on one or both sides, and inserted into the envelope that contains a customer's bill. Also called a bill stuffer and statement stuffer.

Bind-in
A promotional relay device or order form that is stitched into the gutter of a catalog or magazine.

Bingo card
A reply card inserted in a magazine and used by readers to request free samples and literature from businesses who advertised in the issue. Many advertisers are listed on the reply card. Readers circle the advertisers they are interested in (much as bingo players circle winning numbers on their bingo card).

Blacklist
A list of domains or IP addresses that are known to be, or are thought to be, operated by spammers.

Bleed
In printing, the extension of colour to the edge of the page, accomplished by printing on oversized paper and trimming the excess.

Blow in
A promotional card inserted into a magazine during assembly, which falls onto the floor as you read the magazine.

Body copy
The main portion of a written sales pitch, separate from headlines and illustrations, containing descriptions, features, benefits and offers.

Bounce back
An offer included in the fulfillment package that is sent to a customer in response to an order.

Bounce rate
The percentage of visitors of a website who leave (bounce away) without getting any deeper into your site. Each page has its own bounce rate.

Broadside
A single sheet of paper, printed on one side or both, folded for mailing or direct distribution, and opening (much as a broadside daily newspaper does) into a single, large advertisement.

Buckslip
Slip of paper the size of a dollar bill, inserted into a direct mail fundraising package, reiterating the main points of the letter, or describing something else, such as planned giving or monthly giving opportunities.

Bulk Mail
Mail that is rated for postage partly by weight and partly by the number of pieces in the mailing. The term is generally used to refer to Standard Mail.

Bulk Mail Center (BMC)
A highly mechanized mail processing plant that distributes Standard Mail in piece and bulk form.

Business List
Any lost in individuals or companies based on a business-related interest, inquiry, membership, subscription or purchase.

Business Mail Entry Unit (BMEU)
The area of postal facility where mailers present bulk, presorted, and permit mail for acceptance.

Business Reply Card (BRC)
A card included in a mailing to simplify reader response.  One side contains an order request form, the other side features the return address and pre-paid postage.

Business Reply Envelope (BRE)
A self-addressed envelope whose postage is paid for by the organization that prints it.

Business-to-Business Marketing
Reaching prospects and customers (usually in their workplace) with offers that relate to their profession - as opposed to their lifestyle, hobbies, family.

CPO
Chief Privacy Officer

Caging
The opening and of orders and the handling of checks and cash

Call Center
A site that houses a telemarketing operation.

Call to action
In an email message, the link or body copy that tells the recipient what action to take.

Call Out
A short section of copy, usually rendered in bold or larger typeface, and often set off from the main text, that emphasizes key features, benefits or other key messages

Card Deck

A cooperative pack of postcards, usually mailed in a clear poly outer, that is used in both consumer and business-to-business direct marketing. The postcard which either orders the product or asks for more information, can be mailed back to the individual advertiser.

Carrier
The envelope that contains the letter and other contents of your direct mail message. Also called a carrier envelope or outer envelope.

Carrier Route Presort
In Canada, mail that is sorted before delivery to Canada post, arriving at the post office in bundles assigned to the routes that each letter carrier walks, and qualifying the mailer for discounts on postage.

Carrier Route Presort Mail
Mail sorted by carrier route to qualify for discount postage rates.

Cash buyer
A direct mail buyer who enclose payment with an order.

Cheshire labels
Address labels printed on specially paper and mechanically affixed to mailing envelopes one at a time.

Circulation
The total number of copies of a magazine, newspaper or newsletter that are distributed

Cleaning

The process of correcting or removing names from a mailing list.  

Click-and-Mortar

A store that has an online presences as well as an actual building.

Clickstream
The record of a user's Internet activity including Web sites visited, length of the visit, and what pages were viewed.

Clickthrough
Readers who clicked a tracked link in an HTML email message

Closed-face envelope
An envelope that does not have a window.

Close rate
Percentage of sale appointments that translate into a sale.

Cluster selection
A list selection technique in which groups of names (clusters) are taken from a list in a series. A cluster selection on an nth name basis, for example, might select the first 10 names out of every 100 names.

Coding Accuracy Support System (CASS)
Created by the U.S. Postal Service to ensure the accuracy of software programs used by service bureaus to check addresses and code mailings for delivery.

Color Proofing
See Pre-Press Services

Compiled List
A list gathered from directories, newspapers, public records, etc.identifying people or organizations with common characteristics.

Computer Service Bureaus
A company that will maintain lists for list owners. Services may include: updating the lists for list, merge/purge, data overlays and preparing the list for mailing or rentals.

Consolidator
A consolidator accepts mail for deposit within a particular type of delivery service. By grouping together mail from more than one company, consolidators are often able to obtain higher volume discounts than an independent mailer.

Consumer List
Any list of individuals at home addresses who have bought merchandise, subscriptions, given to a non-profit, etc.

Continuation
An order from a mailer who has previously tested or used the list within 12 months and is using it again.

Continuity Program
An offer of a series of products to be received in timely intervals. Most often used for books, tapes/CDs and recipe cards.

Contribution
The amount of money left over to contribute to overhead expenses after deducting for customer returns, cost of goods sold, direct selling expenses and variable order-processing costs.

Control
Current and most successful direct mail package against which all other package are tested to see which package performs best.

Controlled circulation
Distribution at no charge of a publication (such as a trade journal) to individuals or businesses based on their job title or industry.  Readers qualify to receive a publication based on their ability to purchase or influence the purchase of products and services advertised in the publication. (See Paid Circulation.)

Cookies
Software tools designed to save passwords and other data on someone's computer. The data can be called up automatically when the user shops online or visits Web sites on witch they've surfed before, thus saving the user time by having to re-key required data.

Co-op Database
Two or more list owners combine their lists and access each other's names.

Co-op mailing
Offers from two or more businesses in the same envelope,
with each business sharing the mailing costs.

Cooperative Advertising (Co-Op)
Advertising (including direct mail, inserts, stuffers, card decks) where offers from several different mailers are included.

Cooperative Broker
A person/company who recommends and takes orders for marketers who want to be part of cooperative effort.

Cooperative Manager
A person/company who sells space in the co-op for the cooperative owner.

Cooperative Owner
A company that brings different marketers together into a co-op effort. Services may include: printing the individual inserts, combing them and mailing them to preselected lists.

Conversion rate
The ratio of inquiries that convent that convert to buyers. Used in two-
step direct mail programs, such as trial offers and trial offers and lead generation programs

CPI (Cost Per Inquiry)
A simple formula that tells you how much money
You spent to generate one sales inquiry. Calculated by dividing the cost of
Your mailing by the number of inquiry (not sales orders) received.

Cost Per Piece
Cost to produce each individual mail piece in a promotional mailing. Usually includes written design, printing, list rental and postage. Calculated by dividing total costs by the number of pieces mailed.

CPM (Cost Per Thousand)
One of the most common measurements in advertising and direct marketing. Tells you how much you must spend to communicate your sales message to one thousand people. The M in CPM stands for Mille, the Roman numeral.
CPO (Cost Per Order)
Similar to Cost Per Inquiry except that it measures your cost to generate a sale (an order) rather than an inquiry. Calculated by diving the cost of your mailing by the number of sales completed.

Coupon
Slip of paper included in a direct mail package, which the buyer or
inquirer returns to the advertiser, usually in a postage-paid business reply
envelope.

Coupons
A promotional device used by marketers to increase sales or store traffic by offering a discount when the coupon is redeemed.

Cross sell
Encourage customers to buy products from other departments or
categories beyond the initial offering. Encouraging the buyer of a car
insurance policy to buy house insurance as well, for example.

Currency Exchange
A service that changes money from one currency to another.

Custom Publisher
Any publisher who will, for a fee, create a publication for a direct marketer that is most-often used for self-promotion or as a premium.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Providing better communication, offers and services to customers by evaluating your previous interactions with them.

DMA MPS
See Mail Preference Service

DMA TPS
See Telephone Preference Service

DRTV
Direct Response Television is the liveliest medium in that is can show products actually in use.  Unlike brand advertising or general advertising on TV-which is designed to create awareness - DRTV attempts to change behavior by getting people to call a toll-free number onto a Web site.

Data card
Detailed description of a mailing list, supplied by list brokers and list owners.

Datacard
List information including counts, demographics, pricing, etc.

Data Entry
The entering of names, addresses and other information into a data storage and retrieval system. Data can be entered via manual keying, electronic data transfer or by scanning.

Data Overlays
See List Services

Data Protection Directive
Legislation regulating the collection and dissemination of personal data. The European Data Protection Directive requires specific measures be met before data are transferred outside the European Union (EU).

Database
A file that is maintained on a computer comprised of pertinent information such as a company's prospects or customers. The file can serve multiple applications and be manipulated for various purposes. The following definitions apply to databases used for direct marketing purposes:

Database Analysis
Interpreting information within the database in order to gain customer insight and improve market efficiency.

Commercial Database Management
Professional management of large compiled databases for list   segmentation and rental.

Database Modeling
Using statistical techniques in order to predict future customer behavior.

Decoy
A unique name inserted into a mailing list so that the list owner can verify that the mailing list is used according to the terms of the list rental agreement. If a business mails letters to a rented list more times than it is allowed to, the list owner will know because the decoy names in the list will receive each mailing, and notify the list owner of what is going on.

Delivery Sequence File (DSF)
See List Services

Demographics
Social and economic information about human populations including age, sex, income, education, type of residence, ownership of cars, etc.

Digital Color Proofing
See Pre-Press Services

Direct Entry/Injection
Process of entering mail directly into another country's mail stream. Mail that is sent direct injection goes directly to the designated country's post office and receives a local indicia and return address.

Direct Mail
Using the US Postal Service to deliver your message. Can be used for consumer and for business-to-business offers.

Direct Selling Expenses
All of the marketing expenses, including labor, associated with producing, printing and mailing a catalog.

Dot whack
A sticker, usually round, that's affixed to a catalog cover (or printed directly on the cover) that touts a special offer or message to customers.

Double opt-in
A process that requires new list joiners to take an action (such as click on emailed link to a personal confirmation page) in order to confirm that they do want to be on the list. Sometimes interpreted incorrectly by some email broadcast vendors to mean a new subscriber who does not opt-out of bounce a welcome message.

Drop date
The calendar date when a direct mail campaign is to be delivered to the post office for mailing.

Dupe
Short for duplicate. Identical or almost identical names that appear more than once in a mailing list.

Duplex lasering
Laser printing on the front and back of a letter or promotional piece

Enhancement
See List Services

Envelope stuffer
Promotional material enclosed in an envelope with business letters, bills, invoices or statements.

Euro
The new single currency of 12 of the 15 European Union member states that make up the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU).

Exchange
When two mailers agree to share their lists via a trade rather than charging the regular fee.

File
A structured collection of customer records.

Flap
An extra panel added to a standard size sheet of paper and folded over. Used to highlight the offer, or act as a tear-off response device.

Flash
Animation Technology used on the World Wide Web.

Flyer
A single sheet of paper, usually not folded, with copy and images on one or both sides.

FPO (For Placement Only)
Term placed over images or copy during the creative stage to indicate where an image or block of copy, yet to be created, will appear.

Free-ride
A second promotional piece added to a scheduled mailing so that it mails without incurring additional postage.

Free-Standing Insert (FSI)
A promotional piece that is loosely inserted into a newspaper or magazine.

Frequency
The number of times a customer has ordered within a given time frame.

Front end
All the activities necessary to generate an inquiry or an order.

Fulfillment
All activities involved in the processing and servicing of mail, FAX and telephone orders.

Literature Fulfillment refers to the sorting and qualifying of leads, sending the appropriate information, and, if outsourced, forwarding leads to the marketer for follow-up.

Subscription Fulfillment is a specialized service for periodical publishers. Services include: maintaining the subscriber list, generating invoices and renewals and recording payments.
Product Fulfillmentis the storage and the shipping of samples and merchandise.

Geocoding
The process of appending latitude and longitude coordinates to a database record so it can be properly placed on a geographical map.

Gif
Abbreviation for Graphics Interchange Format, a graphics file format used on the World Wide Web.

GLB
Signed into the law in 1999, the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act regulates how financial institutions can disclose consumers' personal information to non-affiliated third parties. GLB also requires financial institutions to provide privacy notices to consumers and customers.

HIPAA
Under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, healthcare entitles must take specific steps to protect the privacy and personally identifiable information of their patients, including names and diagnoses. The Act is enforced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Civil Rights.

HTML
Abbreviation for Hyper Text Markup Language, which is the language used for creating documents on the World Wide Web.

Hard Bounce
An e-mail that has bounced back to the sender undelivered without having been accepted by the recipient's mail.

Hotline list
The most recent names available on a list, typically names added within the last three months.

Hotline Names
Most recent buyers on a list.

House list
A list of names and addresses that a company has compiled from inquiries, orders acquisition, used to promote the company's products and services.

Housefile
Commonly referred to as a "customer list," a housefile is a consolidated database containing each customer's name, address and summarized order information.

Hyperlink
An element in an electronic document, when clicked on, links to another place in the same document, or to an entirely different document.

ISP
Abbreviation for Internet Service Provider, a company that provides access to the World Wide Web.

Image Manipulation
See Pre-Press Services

Imagesetter
See Pre-Press Services

Indicia
Imprinted designation on mail that denotes postage payment (e.g., permit imprint).

Inquiry
A person who has requested more information about a product or service, but has not bought yet.

Ink Jet Printing
Superheated dots of ink are sprayed from an ink reservoir on the print head to form full characters.

Interactive Voice Response
See Telemarketing Services

International Priority Airmail (IPA)
A volume, lower-cost First-Class Airmail service provided by the U.S. Postal Service.

International Surface Airlift (ISAL)
A bulk service from the U.S. Postal Service for printed matter and small packets. Mail sent by ISAL travels from the United States to the destination country by air. It is then entered into the domestic postal stream of that country, from which it travels by surface to its final destination.

Internet
A global network connecting more than 100 countries and millions of computers.

John Samples
Sample direct mail packages addressed to a fictitious John Sample of Any Street, Any City, and kept by the mailer as a record of the look and contents of each mailing.

Johnson Box
Copy placed at the top of a letter and surrounded by a box or other graphic element, usually highlighting benefits or the offer, to persuade prospects to read on. Named after Frank Johnson, American direct mail pioneer, who invented the device to promote magazine subscriptions in the 1970s.

JPeg
Abbreviation for Joint Photographic Experts Group, a lossy compression technique used for color images of the World Wide Web.

Key code
A group of letters or numbers (or combination of letters and numbers), colors or other marks, usually placed on order forms or reply cards, to help mailers measure the effectiveness of their mailing lists, offers, creative, timing and other variables.

Labels
Paper printed with a name and address that is affixed to a mailing piece and serves as the mailing address vehicle. Different types of labels include: peel-off or pressure-sensitive labels, gummed labels and paper (or Chesire) labels.

Laser Printing
Similar to a photocopy machine, the laser printer uses a laser beam, toner and fuser to "etch" the image onto a photoelectric drum.

Lettershop
A company that will assemble and insert the various printed elements of a direct mail piece, label, sort, tag and deliver the mailings to the post office for mailing. The lettershop will provide the mailer with written proof of delivery to the U.S. Postal Service.

Lift note
Also called a lift letter. A second letter included in a direct mail package to reiterate the main points of the letter, or to give other incentives or reasons for responding. Often signed by a celebrity or person of influence.

List
Also called a mailing list. Names and addresses of individuals or businesses who share a common characteristic (such as all being golfers, or all being purchasing managers at industrial chemical firms).

List Broker
A list specialist hired by a mailer to make the necessary arrangements to use other companies' lists. Brokerage services usually include: research, list selections, recommendations and logistics so that the rented lists arrive at the proper time. The standard commission to a list broker is 20 percent.

List Cleaning
The process of updating a list in order to remove any undeliverable addresses. Other cleaning activities could include removing duplicates, bad debts, names on the DMA Mail Preference Service, prison ZIPs, etc.

List compiler
An individual, service bureau or business that assembles mailing lists from directories, government records and other public sources.

List Maintenance
The ongoing process of keeping a mailing list up-to-date by adding, editing and deleting data.

List Manager
Whereas a list broker works for a mailer, the list manager works for the list owner.
The primary function is to promote the list to mailers and list brokers for list rental. List managers can be either an internal employee of the list owner, or part of an outside list management company paid a commission by the list owner. Management services usually include: marketing of the list, coordinating and controlling rental activity and accounting. The standard commission for a list manager is 10 percent.

 

List Services:

Data Overlays
The matching of two or more lists that contain the same names or addresses but where one list adds additional data such as demographics or geographics to the other.

Delivery Sequence File
A computerized file of more than 125 million records containing all the addresses the U.S. Postal Service serves throughout the U.S. Each address record features ZIP+4, carrier route, delivery sequence, delivery type and seasonal delivery information that can help mailers maintain accurate and complete addresses on the lists they own and rent as well as code their mail for walk sequence discounts from the postal service.
Enhancement
Any additional information that can be appended to a list to increase its value to the mailer.
Merge-Purge
The process of combining two or more lists into one while, at the same time, identifying and removing any duplicates.
Mail Preference Service (DMA MPS)
The direct Marketing Association (DMA) offers a service for individuals who want their names removed from mailings lists so they will stop receiving direct mail.
National Change of Address (NCOA)
A service provided by the U.S. Postal Service, through licensed computer service bureaus, that enables mailers to make and necessary address corrections prior to their mailing being dropped. The mailer provides a magnetic tape that is run against the national change of address bank and then is returned to the mailer with all the corrections made.
Net Names
The number of names remaining after a merge-purge eliminates all duplicates.

Psychographics

The qualities or characteristics of individuals, which indicate lifestyle, purchasing habits, attitudes and personal values.
Seeding
False or "dummy" names are added to a mailing list as a way to check delivery and to uncover and unauthorized list usage.

Magalog
A mail order catalog containing articles, and paid advertising, making it resemble a magazine.

Mail Monitoring
Mailers track their mail in order to verify content within the direct mail package and to determine the length of delivery time.
Media
Any form of communication that reaches the general public and carries advertising. Direct response media would include: space advertising, direct mail, TV, radio, take-ones, card decks, package inserts, cooperative efforts, on-line shopping services.

Merge-Purge
See List Services

Multiple buyer
A customer who has bought on more than one occasion. Also called a Multi-Buyer or Repeat Buyer.

Negative option
A direct mail buying option in which the customer agrees to receive and pay for products or services at regular intervals (such as receiving a book a month) unless the customer tells the company in advance not to ship the product. (See positive Option below).

Net Names
See List Services

Network
Two or more computer systems that are linked together.

Nixie
A mailing piece returned to the sender by the post because of an incorrect or undeliverable name or address.

Nixies
Pieces of mail returned as "undeliverable as addressed"

Non-name addressing
The process of addressing mailings to a job title (president, chief executive officer, owner) rather than to a person by name.

Nth name

The method of testing the pulling power of a list by selecting and mailing to a representative sampling of the list. The list owner or broker selects every 5th name, 20th name or other variable (Nth name) that provides a valid representation.

Offer

The incentive that you give prospects to motivate them to respond to your mailing, either by placing an order or by taking the next step in the sales process.

Offset Printing
Using a metal or paper plate, ink is first transferred to an off-set drum and then passed to the paper.

One-time usage

The stipulation in a list rental agreement that the advertiser will mail to the names on the list once only.

Opt-in
E-mails that have been requested by the recipient.

Opt-Out
The option that allows the recipient to be removed from receiving future e-mails from the sender.

Outsourcing
Using an outside service rather than performing the work in-house.
Overline
The headline in a letter, usually placed on a line over salutation.

P3P
Developed by the World Wide Web Consortium, the platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P) is a software tool that turns e-marketers' privacy policies into machine-readable formats. The tool is designed to help consumers better protect their online privacy.

PII
Abbreviation for Personally Identifiable Information.

Package

The total of all elements that go into one promotional mailing (outer envelope, letter brochure, reply device, business reply envelope, and so on).

Package insert

Any promotional piece included in a product shipment. It may be for refills and replacements from the same company, or for products and services from other companies.

Package Inserts
Any promotional offer included with the shipment of a customer's order. Offers may be from the same matter shipping the product or other vendors who pay to be included.

Paid circulation

Distribution of a magazine, newsletter or other publication to individuals or organizations who have paid for a subscription. (See Controlled Circulation.)

Pass along
The readership of a newspaper, magazine or direct mail letter other than addressee. In publishing, the pass along readership is always higher than the readership.

Peel-off label
A self-adhesive label enclosed in a mailing package, intended to be removed and attached to an order card.

Personalization
Using/printing personal information, such as a first or last name, in a direct mail campaign. See Variable Imaging

Piggy back
An offer that accompanies another offer, free of charge.

PLANET Code
A bar code that will allow mailers to track a mail piece, or an entire mail campaign, throughout the U.S.P.S. delivery system.

Poly Bag
An outside mailing envelope made of polyethylene instead of paper.

Pop-Ups
A window that pops-up over the browser window.

Positive option
A method of selling products and services using the same technique as Negative Option (see above) but requiring the customer to place an order each time.

Postage-Paid Reply Service
A service allowing mailers to use a lettershop's postage-paid permit and have the business-reply mail sent there instead of opening their own account with the USPS.

Pre-Press Services
The various steps necessary, up to final printing, to transform original copy and art into the form required for printing. Services include:

Color Printing
Proofs made from the separate plates in color process work, showing the sequence of printing and the result after each additional color has been applied.
Digital Color Proofing
An off-press color proof produced from digital data without the need for separation films.

Image Manipulation
Custom alterations of digital images.
Imagesetter
A typesetting system that can process both text and images.
Scanner
A device that interprets the reflected light from a physical image and digitalizes it so it can be stored on a computer. Using a scanner can eliminate the need for human contact with individual documents.
Scanning: Desktop, High-End, Mid-Range
Electronic process used to make color and tome-corrected separations of images.
Thermal Dye Sublimation
Proof-making process where pigments are vaporized and float to desired proofing stock.

Predictive Dialing
See Telemarketing Services

Premium
A free gift offered to a prospect to induce a greater response to the main product or service that is being sold. A premium need not bear any relationship to the product being offered.

Presort

Discount offered by Canada Post to mailers who transport letters directly to the post office sorted in the order that they will be delivered by the letter carrier (usually sorted by postal code).  Also called Letter Carrier Presort.

Presorted Mail
A form of mail preparation, required to bypass certain postal operations, in which the mailer groups pieces in a mailing by ZIP Code or by carrier route or carrier walk sequence (or other USPS-recommended separation).

Prospect

A person on a list who is considered to be a potential buyer but who has not made a purchase yet.

Purge

To remove duplicates or unwanted names from a mailing list.

Psychographics
See List Services

Qualified lead rate

Percentage of all direct mail inquiries who are ready to meet a sales person.

Return Postage Guaranteed
An endorsement printed on the face of envelopes stating the sender will pay the post office to return undeliverable standard (third-class) bulk mail.

RFM (Recency, Frequency and Monetary value)
A methodology used by marketers to determine appropriate circulation strategies.

RFMR

Recency, Frequency, Monetary Value Ratio, a formula used by direct mailers to calculate the sales potential of names on a mailing list.

Recency

The latest purchase or activity recorded for an individual or business.

Remail
The process of preparing mail for deposit in the postal system of another country for delivery to its final destination. With A-B-C remail, mail travels as cargo from "Country A" to "Country B" where it enters the postal stream for delivery in "Country C."

Reply card

A card included in a mailing, which the prospect completes and returns to the sender in response to the offer. Often postage-paid.

Responsive Booster
Any device, token, premium or sweepstakes that will help raise the response rate.

Response count

The number of responses received from a mailing, expressed as a percentage of the total number mailed.

Response device

The coupon, order form or reply card that a reader completes and returns to the sender to complete a transaction.

Response List
Any list of individuals who have responded to a mailing/offer

Response rate
The number of responses received from a mailing expressed as a percentage of the total number mailed.

Rollout

Mailing a package to the remaining portion of a mailing list after having tested the package on a smaller portion of that list.

Safe Harbor
An agreement negotiated by the U.S. Department of Commerce and the European Commission that enables a U.S. company to receive data from Europe by voluntarily submitting to regulation by a U.S. government office.

Salutation

The way in which the reader is addressed at the start of a letter ("Dear Tom," "Greetings!" "Hello").

Scanning
See Pre-Press Services

Sectional Center Facility (SCF)
A postal facility that services as the processing and distribution center (P&DC) for post offices in a designated geographic area as defined by the first three digits of the ZIP Codes of those offices. Some SCF's serve more than one 3-digit ZIP Code range.

Seeding
See List Services

Selective Binding
The process which allows an advertisement to be inserted into only certain select issues of a magazine, or allows selected pages to be inserted in a catalog.

Self Mailer
A direct mail piece that mails without an envelope.

Service Bureaus
See Computer Services Bureaus

Shed-Fed Press
An offset printer that prints on paper which is fed one sheet at a time. Used primarily for short runs or higher-quality printing.

Shopping cart
Software that allows the user to hold merchandise selected for purchase until shopping is complete and the user is ready to check out.

Single-Piece Rate
The "undiscounted" or "full" postage rate available for individual pieces of Express Mail, First-Class Mail, Priority Mail, and Package Services.

Soft Bounce
An e-mail that has bounced back to the undelivered after it was already accepted by the recipient's mail.

Sorting
The computerized process of reorganizing a list from one sequence to another. For example, a file can be sorted by last name, company name, Zip code, high donors, multi-buyers, recent buyers, etc.

  Source code

A group of letters or numbers (or combination of letters and numbers), usually placed on order forms or reply cards, to help mailers know the source of each order, and therefore measure the effectiveness of their mailing lists, offers, creative, timing and other variables.  Also called a key code.

Source Codes
An identifier that goes with a particular housefile segment or list. The code must be unique to the particular segment and/or list being coded, so marketing and circulation efforts can be measured.

Spam
Unsolicited e-mail advertising.

Split test A test in which a direct marketer takes two or more samples from a list, each sample considered to be a representative of the entire list and mails a different package to each sample to test the effectiveness of each package.

Statement stuffer

A slip of paper, printed on one or both sides, and inserted into the envelope that contains a customer's bank statement. Also called a bill stuffer.

Swatching

Attaching samples of fabric (swatches) or material to a printed piece.

Take-ones
Promotional literature found in racks, often at the grocery store.

Teaser copy
Words, usually placed on the outside of the mailing envelope (front or back) that arouse curiosity and "tease" the recipient into opening the envelope and reading the contents.

Telemarketing Services
Inbound
Any phone calls that come into a telemarketing call center.
Interactive Voice Response (IVR)
The various recorded or digitized text messages that can be accessed electronically by using a telephone.
Outbound
Any phone calls made out of a telemarketing call center.
Predictive Dialing
The automatic dialing by a computer of telephone numbers on a preselected list. The system can, with great accuracy, discern an answering machine from a human voice and will instantly connect a respondent to a TSR. If there is no answer or a busy signal, the computer will know to redial later.
Telephone Service representative (TSR)
Anyone who sells, or services customers over the phone either inbound or outbound.
Telephone Preference Service (DMA TPS)
A service of the Direct Marketing Association for consumers who want to have their names removed from telemarketing lists.

Terminal Dues
The payments between countries to compensate for imbalance in sending/receiving international mail.

Test
An order that is placed for a small quantity of names to see how the list performs.
If it performs well, a continuation order for names is usually placed.

Thermal Dye Sublimation
See Pre-Press Services

Throwaway
A promotional piece, usually printed on inexpensive stock, intended for widespread, free distribution to houses, businesses or to passerby.

Tip On
An item, such as a promotional piece or reply card, glued to a printed piece.
Token
A device that involves the reader in some way, often consisting of a perforated label that the reader removes from a sheet and sticks to a designated place on the order card, signifying a desire to buy.

Tokens
An action device; the purpose of which is to involve the prospect in the offer. It can be anything from a coin, peel-off stamp or a punch-out paper piece that is inserted into the order form.

Traffic builder

A direct mail piece designed to attract recipients to the mailer's place of business.

Universe

Total number of individuals or businesses that might be included in a mailing list, or all those who meet a set of specifications.

Universe Count
The total count (number of names) on a list.

Variable Imaging
Personalization done on a digital press.

Voice Response Unit (VRU)
Hardware that is connected to the telephone through which Interactive Voice Response messages are generated.

Web Browser
The software used for searching the Internet.

Web Bugs
Software that can be introduced into an e-mail and transmit a Web-log entry and associated cookie when the e-mail is opened. This enables tracking of the e-mail. Cookie-filtering software does not stop Web bugs from tracking the recipient's online activity.

Web Press
A printing press that is fed by a large roll of paper instead of individual sheets.

World Wide Web
A system of Internet servers comprised of HTML documents and graphics that can link to one another. Not all Internet servers are part of the World Wide Web.

 

THE ULTIMATE EMAIL GLOSSARY

 

Below are the email terms most likely to come across as you deal with the email process, building your list, creating and sending messages, or dealing with your IT department or broadcast vendor.

Note: See something missing?

A/B split: Refers to a test situation in which a list is split into two pieces with every other name being sent one specific creative, and vice versa. See also Nth name.

Above the fold: The part of an email message or Web page that is visible without scrolling. Material in the area is considered more valuable because the reader sees it first. Refers to a printing term for the top half of a newspaper above the fold. Unlike a newspaper, email and Web page fold locations aren't predictable. Your fold may be affected by the users' preview pane, monitor-size, monitor resolution, any headers placed by email programs such as Hotmail, etc.

Access: Microsoft software tool used for developing a database. Any database vendor you work with - email broadcaster, list broker, third-party list-hygiene service, etc. - should be able to work with this format (as well as several others.)

Acquisition Cost: In email marketing, the cost to generate one lead, newsletter subscriber or customer in an individual email campaign; typically, the total campaign expense divided by the number of leads, subscribers or customers it produced.

Ad swap: An exchange between two publishers in which each agrees to run the other's comparably valued ad at no charge. Value is determined by rate card, placement, size of list, quality of list, name brand fame, etc.

Affiliate: A marketing partner that promotes your products or service under a payment-on-results agreement.

Affirmative consent: An active request by a reader or subscriber to receive advertising or promotional information, newsletters, etc. Generally affirmative consent does not included the following-failing to unchecked a pre-checked box on a web form, entering a business relationship with an organization without being asked for separate permission to be sent specific types of email, opt-out.

Alert: Email message that notifies subscribers of an event or special price

AOL: America Online.

Application Program Interface (API): How a program (application) accesses anther to transmit data. A client may have an API connection to load database information to an email vendor automatically 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.

Attachment: A text, video, graphic, PDF or sound file that accompanies an email message but is not included in the message itself. Attachments are not a good way to send email newsletters because many ISPs, email clients and individual email recipients do not allow attachments, because hackers use them to deliver viruses and other malicious code.

Authentication: An automated process that verifies an email sender's identity.

Autoresponder: Automate email message-spending capability, such as a welcome message sent to all new subscribers the minute they join a list .may be more than a single message- can be a series of data or event-triggered emails.

Bayesian Filter: An anti-spam program that evaluates header and content of incoming email message to determine the probability that it is spam. Bayesian filters assign point values to items that appear frequently in spam, such as the words "money-back guarantee" or "free." A message that accumulated too many points is either rejected as probable spam or delivered to a junk-mail folder. Aka content-based filter. B-to-B: Business-to-business (also B2B).

Blacklist: A list developed by anyone receiving email, or processing email on its addresses way to the recipient, or interested third-parties, that includes domains or IP addresses of any emailers suspected of spending spam. Many companies use backlist to reject inbound email, at the level or before it reaches the recipient's in-box, Also Blocklist and Blackhole list.

Block: A refusal by an ISP or mail server not to forward your email message to the recipient.  Many ISPs block email from IP addresses or domains that have been reported to send spam or viruses or have content that violates email policy or spam filters.

Bounce-back: An offer included into the fulfillment package that is sent to a customer in response to an order.

B-to-C: Business-to-consumer (also B2C).

Bonded Sender: A private email-registration service, owned by email vendor Ironport, which allows bulk emailers who agree to follow stringent email practices and to post a monetary bond to by pass email filters on Bonded Sender clients. The programs debits the bond for spam or other complaints from recipients.

Bounce: A message that doesn't get delivered promptly is said to have bounced. Emails can bounce for more than 30 reasons: the email address is incorrect or has been closed; the recipient's mailbox is full, the mail server is down, or the system detects spam or offensive content. See hard bounce and soft bounce.

Bounce message: Message sent back to an email sender reporting the message could not be delivered and why. Note: Not all bounced emails result in messages being sent back to the sender. Not all bounce messages are clear or accurate about the reason email was bounced.

Bounce handing: The process of deal with the email that has bounced. Bounce handling is important for list maintenance, list integrity and delivery. Given the lack of consistency in bounce messaging formats, it's an inexact science at best.

Bounce rate: Also return rate: Number of hard/soft bounce divided by the number of emails sent. This is an inexact number because some systems do not report back to the sender clearly or accurately.

Broadcast: The process of sending the same email message to multiple recipients.

Bulk folder (also junk folder): Where many email clients sent message that appear to be from spammers or contain spam or are from any sender who's not in the recipient's address book or contact list. Some clients allow the recipient to the recipient's address book or contact list.  Some clients allow the recipient to override the system's setting and direct that mail from a suspect sender be sent directly to the system's settings and direct that mail from a suspect sender be sent directly to the inbox. E.G., Yahoo!Mail gives recipients a button marked "Not spam" on every message in the bulk folder.

Call to action: In an email message, the link or body copy that tells the recipient what action to take.

CAN SPAM: Popular name for the U.S. law regulating commercial email (full name: controlling the assault of non-solicited pornography and marketing act of 2003)

Card deck: One mailing consisting of a series of postcards, each promoting a different product or service.

Catch-all: An email server function that forwards all questionable email to a single mailbox. The catch-all should be monitored regularly to find misdirected questions, unsubscribe or other genuine live email.

Cell: Aka test cell or version. A segment of your list that receives different treatment specifically to see how it responds versus the control (regular treatment.)

CGI: Acronym for Common Gateway Interface. It is a specification for transferring information between the Web and a Web sever, such as processing email subscription or contact forms.

Challenge-response system: An anti-spam program that requires a human being on the sender's end to respond to an emailed challenge message before their messages can be delivered to recipients. Senders who answer the challenge successfully are added to an authorization list. Bulk emailers can work with challenge-response if they designate an employee to watch the sending address' mailbox and to reply to each challenge by hand. Churn: How many subscribers leave a mailing list (or how many email addresses go bad) over a certain length of time, usually expressed as a percentage of the whole list.

Clickthrough & clickthrough tracking: When hotlink is included in an email, a clickthrough occurs when a recipient clicks on the link. Clickthrough tracking refers to the data collected about each clickthrough link, such as how many people clicked it, how many clicks resulted in desired actions such as sales, forwards or subscriptions.

Clickthrough rate: Total number of click on email link(s) divided by the number of emails sent. Includes multiple clicks by a unique user. Some email broadcast vendors or tracking programs define CTR differently.

Commercial email: Email whose purpose, as a whole or in part, is to sell or advertise a product or service or if its purpose is to persuade users to perform an act, such as to purchase a product or click to a web site whose contents are designed to sell, advertise or promote.

Confirmation: An acknowledgment of a subscription or information request. "Confirmation" can be either a company statement that the email address was successfully placed on a list, or a subscriber's agreement that the subscribe request was genuine and not faked or automatically generated by a third party.

Confirmed opt-in: Inexact term that may refer to double-opt-in subscription processes or may refer to email addresses which do not hard bounce back a welcome message. Ask anyone using this term to define it more clearly.

Content: All the material in an email message except for the codes showing the delivery route and return-path information. All words, images and links.

Co-registration: Arrangement in which companies collecting registration information from users (email sign-up forms, checkout process, etc.) include a separate box for users to check if they would also like to be added to specific third-party list.

Compiled list: Names and addresses that are compiled into a list from directories, newspapers, trade show registrations and other sources, to group prospects who share something in common.

Continuity program: A program in which products or services are bought as a series of small purchases over time, often shipped at regular intervals. Recipes and book-per-month programs are good examples.

Conversion: When an email recipient performs a desired action based on a mailing you have sent. A conversion could be a monetary transaction, such as a purchase made after clicking a link. It could also include a voluntary act as registering at a Web site, downloading a white paper, signing up for a Web seminar or opting in to an email newsletter.

CPA: cost per Action (also can be Acquisition) A method of paying for advertising, or calculating results from non-CPA marketing.

CPC: cost per Click. A method of paying for advertising. Different from CPA because all you pay for is the click, regardless of what that click dose when it gets to your site or landing page.

CPM:  Cost per Thousand.

Creative: An email message's copy and any graphics.

CRM: Customer Relationship management technology and systems.

Cross-campaign profiling: A method used to understand how email respondents behave over multiple campaigns.

Cross-post: To send the same email message to at least two different mailing list or discussion groups

CTR: Clickthrough rate. Slightly inexact because some clicks "get lost" between the click and your server. Also be sure to ask if the CTR is unique, meaning that each individual user is only counted once no matter how many they click on a link.

Data card: Detailed description of mailing list; supplied by list brokers and list owners.

Dedicated Server: An email server used by only one sender. A dedicated sever often costs more to use because the expense can't be spread among many users, but it performs better than a shared sever. Email usually goes out faster, the server is more secure, and you eliminate the possibility that anther sender could get the server blacklisted for spamming.

Deduplication (deduping): The process of removing identical entries from two or more data sets such as mail list. AKA merge/purge. Delivered email: Number of emails sent minus the number of bounces and filtered messages. A highly inexact number because not receiving ISPs report accurately on which email didn't go through and why not.

Delivery tracking: The process of measuring delivery rates by format, ISP or other factors delivery failures (bounces, invalid address, server and other errors). An inexact science.

Denial-of- service attack (DOS): An organized effort to disrupt email or Web service by sending more messages or traffic than a server can handle, shutting it down until the messages stop.

Deploy: The act of sending the email campaign after testing.

Digest: A shortened version of an email newsletter which replaces full-length articles with clickable links to the full article at a Web site, often with a brief summary of the contents.

Discussion group: An email service in individual members post messages for all group members to read ("many to many.") In contrast, a newsletter is a "one to many" broadcast, where comments by members or subscribers go only to the message sender. Aka by the trademarked name Listserv.

DomainKeys: An anti-spam software application being developed by Yahoo and using a combination of public and private "keys" to authenticate the sender's domain and reduce the chance that a spammer or hacker will fake the domain sending address.

Domain Name System: How computer networks locate Internet domain names and translate them into IP addresses. The domain name is the actual name for an IP address or range of IP addresses. e.g.. MarketingSherpa.com. See reverse DNS.

Double opt-in: A process that requires new list joiners to take an action (such as clicking on an emailed link to a personal confirmation page) in order to confirm that they do want to be on the list. Sometimes interpreted incorrectly by some email broadcast vendors to mean a new subscriber who does not opt-out of or bounce a welcome message.

Dynamic content: Email-newsletter content that change from one recipient to the next according to a set of predetermined rules or variables, usually according to perferences the user sets when option in to message from a sender. Dynamic content can reflect past purchases, current interests or where the recipient lives.

ECOA: Email Change of Address. A service that tracks email address change and updates.

Effective rate: Metric that measures how many of those who opened an email message clicked on a link, usually measured as unique responders divided by unique opens.
Email address: The combination of a unique user name and a sender domain (JohnDoe@anyanywhere.com). The email address requires both the user name and the domain name. Email appending: Service that matches email address to a database of personal names and postal addresses. Appending may require an "OK to add my name" reply from the subscriber before you can add the name to the list.

Email Client: The software recipients use to read email, such as Outlook Express or Lotus Notes.

Email Domain AKA domain. The portion of the email address to the right of the @ sign. Useful as an email address hygiene tool (e.g. identify all records where the consumer entered name@aol as email address and correct it to name@aol.com).

Email filter: A software tool that categorizes, sorts or block incoming email, base either on the sender, the email header or message content. Filters may be applied at the recipient's level, at the client, the ISP or a combination.

Email Friendly Name: Aka Display Name, From name. The portion of the email address that is displayed in most, though not all, email readers in place of, or in addition to, the email address.

Email harvesting: an automated process in which a robot program searches Web pages or other Internet destinations for email addresses.  The program collects the address into a database, which frequently get resold to spammers or unethical bulk mailers. Many U.S. state laws forbid harvesting. CAN-SPAM does not outlaw it by name but allows triple damages against violators who compiled their mailing lists with harvested names.

Email newsletter: Content distributed to subscribers by email, on a regular schedule. Content is seen as valued editorial in and of itself rather than primarily a commercial message with a sales offer. See ezine.

Email Prefix: The portion of email address to the left of the @ sign.
Email vendor: Another name for an email broadcast, service provider, a company that sends bulk (volume) email on behalf of their clients. Also email service provider (ESP).

Enhanced whitelist: A super-whitelist maintained by AOL for bulk emailers who meet strict delivery standards, including fewer than 1-spam complaint for every 1,000 email messages.  Emailers on the enhanced whitelist can bypass AOL 9.0's automatic suppression of images and links.

Event triggered email: Pre-programmed messages sent automatically based on an event such as a date or anniversary.

Ezine (also e-zine): Another name for email newsletter, adapted from electronic zine or electronic magazine.

False positive: A legitimate message mistakenly rejected or filtered as spam, either by an ISP or a recipient's anti-spam program. The more stringent an anti-spam program, the higher false-positive rate.

FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions.

Filter: See email filter.

Firewall: A program or set of programs designed to keep unauthorized users or messages from accessing a private network. The firewall usually has rules or protocols that authorize or prohibit outside users or messages. In email, a firewall can be designed so that messages from domains or users listed as suspect because of spamming, hacking or forging will not be delivered.

Footer: An area at the end of an email message or newsletter that contains information that doesn't change from one edition to the next, such as contact information, the company's postal address or the email address the recipient used to subscribe to mailings. Some software programs can be set to place this information automatically.

Forward (also Forward to a Friend: The process in which email recipients sent your message to people they know, either because they think their friend will be interested in your message or because you offer incentives to forward messages. Forwarding can be done through the recipient's own email client or by giving the recipient a link to click, which bring up a registration page at your site, in which you ask the forwarded to give his/her name and address, the name and email address of the person they want to send to and (optionally) a brief email message explaining the reason for the forward. You can supply the wording or allow the forward to write his/her own message, AKA viral marking.

Free-standing insert: A promotional piece loosely inserted or nested within the pages of a newspaper or magazine.

From: Whatever appears in the email recipient’s inbox as your visible "from" name. Chosen by the sender. May be a personal name, a brand name, an email address, a blank space, or alpha-numeric gobbledegook. Note- this is not the actual "from" contained in the header (see below) and may be different than the email reply address. Easy to fake. Email friendly Name.

Full-service provider: An email vendor that also provides strategic consulting and creative support, addition to sending messages.
Gmail: A new, free email service offered by google, giving users 1GB of storage space, email search and conversation threading. Gmail also uses technology to add advertisements next to messages containing keywords that match of those advertisers in its AdWords program, a policy that means promotional materials sent by one company could carry text ads of its competitors. Goodbye Message: An email message sent automatically to a list member who unsubscribes, acknowledging the request. Also include an option to resubscribe in case the unsubscribe was requested accidentally

Hard bounce: Message sent to an invalid, closed or nonexistent email account.

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 transfers in the process.

House list: The list of email addresses an organization develops on its own. (Your own list.)

HTML message: Email message which contains any type of formatting other than text. This may be as simple as programming that sets the text in a specific font (bold, italics, Courier 10 point, etc). It also includes any graphic images, logos and colors.

Hygiene: The process of cleaning a database to correct incorrect or outdataed values. See also List Hygiene.

IMAP: Internet message access protocol, a standard protocol for accessing email from a server. Impression: A single view of page by single user, used in calculating advertising rates.

IP address: A unique number assigned to each device connected to the internet. An IP address can be dynamic, meaning it changes each time an email message or campaign goes out, or it can be static meaning it dose not change. Static IP addresses are best, because dynamic IP addresses often trigger spam filters.

ISP: Internet Service Provider.  Examples:  AOL, Earthlink, MSN

Joe job:  A spam-industry term for a forged email, in which a spammer or hacker fakes a genuine email address in order to hide his identity.

Landing page:  A Web page viewed after clicking on a link within an email.  Also may be called a microsite, splash page, bounce page, or click page.

Linkrot: What happens when links go bad over time, either because a Web site has shut down or a site has stopped supporting a unique landing page provided in an email production.

List fatigue: A condition producing diminishing returns from a mailing list whose members are sent too many offers, or too many of the same offers, in too short a period of time.
List host: See email vendors.

List hygiene: The act of maintaining a list so that hard bounces and unsubscribed names are removed from mailings. Some list owners also use an email change-of-address service to update old or abandoned email addresses (hopefully with a permission step baked in) as part of this process.

List management: How a mailing list is set up, administered and maintained. The list manager has daily responsibility over list operation, including processing subscribes and
unsubscribes, bounce management, list hygiene, etc.  The list manager can be the same as the database manager but is not same person as the list owner. See list owner.

List owner: The organization or individual who has gathered a list of email addresses. Ownership does not necessarily imply "with permission."

List rental: The process in which a publisher or advertiser pays list owner to send its message to that list. Usually involves the list owner sending the message’s on the advertiser’s behalf. (If someone hands over thei list to you, beware.)

List sale: The actual purchase of a mailing list along with the rights to mail it directly. Permission can only be “sold� if the subsequent mailings continue to match the frequency, brand name, content, and “from� of the past owner’s mailing – and even then is a somewhat shaky procedure on the spam-front.  You are in effect buying a publication, and not just a list.

Mail bomb: An orchestrated attempt to shut down a mail server by sending more messages than it can handle in a short period of time. See DOS.

Mailing list:  A list of email addresses that receive mailings or discussion-group messages.

Mailing loop: A communication error between two email servers, usually happening when a misconfigured email triggers an automated response from the recipient server.

Mailto: A code make an email address in either a text or HTML email immediately clickable (Mailto: JohnDoe@anywhere.com). When the link is clicked, it usually opens the user's email client and inserts the email address in the To: link of a blank message.

Merge/purge: The act of combining (merging) two or more lists into one list while removing (purging) duplicate names.

MSP: Email service provider, such as Hotmail.

MTA: Mail transfer agent. A computer that forwards email from senders to recipients (or to rely sites) and stores incoming email.

MUA: Mail user agent (see email client).

Multi-part Mine: Also know (confusingly) as an "email sniffer." Message format which includes both an HTML and a text-only version in the same message. Most (but not all) email clients receiving messages in this format will automatically display the version the user's system is set to show. Systems that can't show HTML should show the text version instead. This doesn't work-in particular for many Lotus Notes users. Also, no data, except HTML open rates and possibly link click tracking, is transmitted back to the sender regarding which version a recipient wound up viewing.

MX: Mail Exchange Record

Open rate: The number of HTML message recipients who opened your email, usually as a percentage of the total number of emails sent. The open rate is considered a key metric for judging an email campaign's success, but it has several problems. The rate indicates only the number of emails opened from the total mount sent, not just those that were actually delivered. Opens also can’t be calculated on text emails. Also, some email clients also users to scan message content without actually opening the message, which is falsely calculated as an open. See preview pane.

Open relay: An SMTP email server that allows outsiders to relay email messages that are neither for nor from local users. Often exploited by spammers and hackers.

Opt-in: A specific, pro-active, request by an individual email to have their own email address placed on a specific mailing list. Many list renters and buyers now require list owners to provide proof of opt-in, including the actual email or IP address date and time the request was received.

Opt-out: A specific pro-active, request to remove an email address from a specific list, or from all lists operated by a single owner. Also, the process of adding an email addresses to lists without the name's pre-approval, forcing names who don't want to be on your list to actively unsubscribe.
Permission: The implicit approval given when a person actively requests to have their own email address added to a list.

Personalization: A targeting method in which an email message appears to have been created only for a recipient. Personalization techniques include adding the recipient's name in the subject line or message body, or the message offer reflects a purchasing, link clicking, or transaction history.
PGP (Pretty Good Privacy): Software used to encrypt and protect email as it moves from one computer to anther and can be used to verify a sender's identity.

Phishing: A form of identity theft in which a scammer uses an authentic-looking email to trick recipients into giving out sensitive personal information, such as credit-card or bank account numbers, Social Security numbers and other data.

Plain text: Text in an email message that includes no formatting code See HTML.

POP: Post Office Protocol, which an email client uses to send to or receive messages from an email server.

Postmaster: Whom to contact at a Web site, ISP or other site to request information, get help with delivery or register complaints.

Preferences: Options a user can set to determine how they want to receive your messages, how they want to be addresses, to which email address message should go and which messages they want to receive from you. The more preferences a user can specify, the more likely you'll send relevant email.

Preview pane: The window in an email client that allows the user to scan message content without actually clicking on the message. See open rate.

Privacy policy: A clear description of how your company uses the email addresses and other information it gathers via opt-in requests for newsletters, company information or third-party offers or other functions. If you rent, sell or exchange your list to anyone outside your company, or if you add email addresses to opt-out messages, you should state so in the private policy, where to put the policy statement so people will see it and even in form the policy should be displayed.

Queue: Where an email message goes after you send it but before the list owner approves it before the list server gets around to sending it. Some list software allows you to queue a message and than set a time to send it automatically, either during a quiet period on the server or at a time when human approval isn't available.

Read email: Not measurable. Only opens and clicks are measurable in any way. You can never know if a recipient simply read your message.

Registration: The process where someone not only opts in to your email program but provides some additional information, such as name, address, demographic data or other relevant information, usually by using a Web form.

Relationship email: An email message that refers to a commercial action - a purchase, complaint or customer-support request -- based on a business relationship between the sender and recipient, Generally are not covered by CAN-SPAM requirements.

Reply-to: The email address that receives messages sent from users who click "reply" in their email clients. Can differ from the "from" address which can be an automated or unmonitored email address used only to send messages to a distribution list. "Reply-to" should always be a monitored address.

Response Postage Guaranteed: An endorsement printed on the face of envelopes stating the sender will pay the post office to return undeliverable standard (third-class) bulk mail.

Reverse DNS: The process in which an IP address is matched correctly to a domain name, instead of a domain name being matched to an IP address. Reverse DNS is a popular method for catching spammers who use invalid IP addresses. If a spam filter or program can't match the IP address to the domain name, it can reject the email.

Rich Media: Creative that includes video, animation, and/or sound.  Rich-media emails often collect high open and click rates but requires more bandwidth and are less compatible with different email clients than text or regular HTML email-format messages. Some mailers also consider transactional email "rich".

Seed emails: Email addresses placed on a list (sometimes secretly) to determine what messages are sent to the list and/or to track delivery rate and/or visible appearance of delivered messages. Seeds may also be placed on Web sites and elsewhere on the Internet to track spammers' harvesting activities.

Segment: The ability to slice a list into specific pieces determined by various attributes, such as open history or name source.

Select: A segment of a list determined by any number of attributes, such as source of name, job title, purchasing history, etc. CPM list renters pay an additional fee per thousand names for each select on top of the base list price.

Selective Unsubscribe: An unsubscribe mechanism that allows a consumer to selectively determine which email newsletters they wish to continue receiving while stopping the sending of others.

Sender ID: The informal name for a new anti-spam program combining two existing protocols: Sender Policy Framework and CallerID. SenderID authenticates email senders and blocks email forgeries and faked addresses.
Sender policy framework (SPF): A protocol used to eliminate email forgeries. A line of code called an SPF record is placed in a sender's Domain Name Server Information. The incoming mail server can verify a sender by the SPF record before allowing a message through.

Sent emails: Number of email names transmitted in a single broadcast. Dose not reflect how many were delivered or viewed by recipients.

Server: A program or computer system that stores and distributes email from one mailbox to another, or relays email from one server to another in a network.

Shared server: An email server used by more than one company or sender. Shared servers are less expensive to use because the broadcast vendor can spread the cost over more users. However, senders sharing a server risk having emails blocked by major ISPs if one of other users dose something to get the server's IP address blacklisted. See dedicated server.

Signature: A line or two of information found in the closing of an email, usually followed the sender’s name.  Signatures can include advertising information, such as a company name, product, project, brand message or marketing call to action (subscribe to a company newsletter with the email subscribe address or Web registration form, or visit a Web site with the URL listed).

SMTP: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol, the most common protocol for sending email messages between email servers.

Snail mail: postal mail.

Soft bounce: Email sent to an active (live) email address but which is turned away before being delivered. Often the problem is temporary -- the server is down or the recipient's mailbox is over quota. The email might be held at the recipient's server and delivered later, or the sender's email program may attempt to deliver it again. Soft-bounce reports are not always accurate because they don't report all soft bounces or the actual reason for the bounce.

Solo mailing: A one-time broadcast to an email list, separate from regular newsletters or promotions, and often including a message from an outside advertiser or a special promotion from the list owner.

Spam: The popular name for unsolicited commercial email. However, some email recipients define spam as any email they no longer want to receive, even if it comes from a mailing list they joined voluntarily.

Spamcop: A blacklist and IP-address database, formerly privately owned but now part of the email vendor Ironport. Many ISPs check the IP addresses of incoming email against Spamcop's records to determine whether the address has been blacklisted due to spam complaints.

Sponsorship swap: An agreement between email list owners, publishers or advertisers to sponsor each other's mailing newsletters for free. See ad swap.

Spoofing: The practice of changing the sender's name in an email message so that it looks as if it came from anther address.

Subject line: Copy that identifies what an email message is about, often designed to entice the recipient into opening the message. The subject line appears first in the recipient's often next to the sender's or email address. It is repeated in the email message's header information inside the message.

Subscribe: The process of joining a mailing list, either through an email command by filling out a Web form, or offline by filling out a form or requesting to be added verbally. (If you accept verbal subscriptions, you should safeguard yourself by recording it and storing recordings along with time and date, in a retrievable format.)

Subscriber: The person who has specifically requested to join a mailing list. A list has both subscribers, who receive the message from the sender, and pass-alongs.

Suppression file: A list of email addresses you have removed from your regular mailing lists, either because they have opted out of your lists or because they have notified other mailers that they do not want to receive mailing from your company. Required by CAN-SPAM. AKA Do-Not-Email list.

Test: A necessary step before sending an email campaign or newsletter. Many email clients permit you to send a test email before sending a regular email newsletter or solo mailing, in which you would send one copy of the message to an in-house email address and then review it for formatting or copy errors or improperly formatted links. Email marketers should also send a test campaign to a list of email addresses not in the deployment database to determine likely response rates and how well different elements in the message perform.

Text newsletter: Plain newsletter with words only, no colors, graphics, fonts or pictures; can be received by anyone who has email.

Thank-you page: Web page that appears after user has submitted an order or a form online. May be a receipt.

Throttling: The practice of regulating how many email message a broadcaster sends to one ISP or mail server at a time. Some ISPs bounce email if it receives too many messages from one sending address at a time.

 

Transactional email: also known as transactive email. A creative format where the recipient can enter a transaction in the body of the email itself without clicking to a web page first. Transactions may be answering a survey, or purchasing something.

UCE: Unsolicited Commercial Email, also called spam or junk mail.

Unique Reference Number: A unique number assigned to a list member, usually by the email-broadcast software, and used to track member behavior (click, subscribes, unsubscribe) or to identify the member to track email delivery.

URL (Uniform Resource Locator): The Web address for a page, always beginning with http:// (or https:// for a secure page) and followed by www. (or variations, although some URLs are set up not to include this information) and the domain name. E.g., http://www.marketingsherpa.com.

Unsubscribe: To remove oneself from an email list, either via an emailed command to the list server or by filling in a Web form.

Vendor: Any company that provides a service. See email vendors.

Verification: A program that determines an email came from the sender listed in the return path or Internet headers; designed to stop email from forged senders.

Video-email: An email message that includes a video file, either inserted into the message body, accessible through a hotlink to a Web site or accompanying it an attachment (least desirable because many ISPs block executable attachments to avoid viruses).

Virus: A program or a computer code that affects or interferes with a computer's operating system and gets spread to other computers accidentally or on purpose through email messages, downloads, infected CDs or network messages. See worm.

Web bug (also Web beacon): A 1 pixel-by-pixel image tag added to an HTMLmessage and used to track open rates by email address. Opening the message, either in the preview pane or by clicking on it, activates the bug and sends a signal to the Web site, where special software tracks and records the signal as an open.

Webmail (also Web mail): Any of several Web-based email clients where clients have to go to a Web site to access or download email instead of using a desktop application. Some examples are Gmail, Yahoo! Mail and Hotmail.

Welcome message: Message sent automatically to new list members as soon as their email addresses are added successfully.

Whitelist: Advance-authorized list of email addresses, held by an ISP, subscriber or other email service provider, which allows email messages to be delivered regardless of spam filters. See also enhanced white list.

Worm: A piece of malicious code delivered via an executable attachment in email or over a computer network and which spreads to other computers by automatically sending itself to every email address on a recipient's contact list or address book. See virus.