22 Sep GuideLines: Email Marketing Terminology
Following up from our previous article examining tips for getting started in email marketing we’ve put together a list of many key terms you’ll often hear but may not fully understand. Having a basic grip of this terminology is essential to help set up your campaigns correctly and analyse the results. It is possible to muddle through with many of the online e-marketing platforms but to get the most out of them take a closer look at the terms below and examine the setup of your own campaigns in more detail.
A/B TESTING
A/B testing is a type of email marketing campaign which allows for two different versions of the same campaign to be tested against each other to determine which is the most effective. This test is often done on a small percentage of recipients before choosing which route to send out to the full subscriber list. Factors such as the timing of the campaign, type of subject line or even content can be tested.
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ABOVE THE FOLD
‘Above the fold’ relates to the part of the email message which is visible without scrolling. This content should be considered carefully as it is more valuable than other elements because the reader sees it first. It is worth noting that the exact content to appear ‘above the fold’ will change depending on individuals email client and the type of device used; laptop, mobile, tablet etc.
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BOUNCE
Any message which doesn’t get delivered promptly to a recipient is said to have bounced. Emails can bounce for a wide range of reasons and bounce is split into two categories: hard and soft.
Soft bounce is when an email is sent to a live email address but is turned away before it is delivered. The majority of examples of soft bounce are temporary and can be issues such as a full mailbox or the server being down. Soft bounce is harder to record than hard as the reason of the bounce is not always known.
Hard bounce is when a message is sent to an invalid, non-existent or closed email account.
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CLICK MAP
A click map is a reporting feature which gives you a preview of the campaign with the location of each link in the campaign. It can also be setup to show the overall percentage of clicks on each link in each region.
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CLICK RATE
The click rate or click-through-rate (CTR) is the number of clicks on emails divided by the total number of emails sent. CTR will include multiple clicks per user and it is a key metric in measuring the success of a campaign.
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DYNAMIC CONTENT
Dynamic content is email content which changes from one recipient to another, based on predetermined variables which are often set by the user themselves. Dynamic content is often based on past purchases, interests they have recorded or local information based on their home address.
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EMAIL CLIENT
An email client is a piece of software used by the end user to read email. Common email clients include Lotus Notes, Outlook Express and the Apple Mail app.
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FORWARDS
Forwarding is the process through which email recipients send your message to people they know. Forwarding is a simple process that the majority of email clients allow or you can provide a forwarding links within the email itself. Forwarding is an essential element of viral marketing and can often be incentive driven.
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HOSTING
Hosting is provided by a range of companies and it’s an online storage facility for websites and related data.
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HTML
HTML is an acronym for Hypertext Markup Language. It is the code which webpages are written in and it tells the web browser what to display.
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LANDING PAGE
A landing page is the web page which can be viewed after clicking a link within an email. Often companies will set up specific landing pages for email/ online advertising so they can easily analyse the traffic/ interest generated from the campaign.
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LIST SEGMENT
List segments are subsets of a mailing list which have been separated for individual targeting. They may meet specific criteria such as age group or location to hone campaigns and target individual groups in isolation from the larger list.
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MOBILE READY / RESPONSIVE
Responsive design is any element of web design, and increasingly marketing emails, which will adapt and fit perfectly to any size of screen, whether the device being used is a widescreen television or a small smartphone.
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OPEN RATE
Open rate is the measure of opens per sent email campaign divided by the number of people who were sent the original email.
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OPT IN
Opting in is the act of an individual granting their permission to be added to your mailing list.
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DOUBLE OPT IN
An opt-in requirement which involves the need to click a confirmation link in a follow-up email after entering their information in a signup box.
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PLAIN TEXT
A plain text email contains no images or rich text formatting. It creates an email campaign which relies on its text content only and makes it easy to read in any email client. Most customers email clients default to rich text so include all images and formatting but the creation of a plain text alternative for email campaigns is still advised.
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SOCIAL SHARING
Much like forwarding, social sharing is a way of your customers spreading your message. An effective marketing email will include social sharing buttons to make it easy for customers to share and attract more interest. Buttons to share on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and other networks are often standard.
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SUBSCRIBER
Subscribers the people who have opted in to receive your emails. An email list is made up of subscribers who have chosen to sign up and pass-alongs, those people who have been recommended to try your list.
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SUPPRESSION LISTS
Suppression lists are a list of email addresses which have been removed from your regular /master mailing list, this is usually due to them opting out or reporting your email as spam.
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UNSUBSCRIBE
The act of removing an address from an email list. It is usually possible through simply clicking a link but can be configured to require the filling of an additional web form to gain more information on the reason for unsubscribing.
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VIEW IN BROWSER
The option for your email to be read in a web browser. Recipients often use this if any part of your email is missing images or incorrectly formatted for their email client.
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WHITE LIST
A white list is a list of email or IP addresses which are known to be valid senders.