Abandoned Cart Email (Architect)
An email is sent to customers when they leave items in their cart without completing a purchase. Refer to Cart Abandonment to read more about Architect's cart abandonment use case.
Abuse Complaint
Registered when a subscriber clicks on a Spam button in their email client. For ISPs that use feedback loops (FBLs), you can record these abuse complaints and unsubscribe the complainant. It is essential to remove complaining subscribers, as failing to do so is a common reason for getting blacklisted.
AMP Email
Enabling emails to show app-like or website-like behavior. This technology is not yet mature, but ESPs like Google are working to provide a platform for email senders to embed AMP in messages, making them more actionable and up-to-date with the latest information. Refer to AMP for Emails to read about Insider's AMP solution.
Authenticate
To prove to be true or genuine. DNS records should be configured accordingly for authentication. Read about DNS & Authentication.
Automation
A type of marketing tool that empowers online retailers and marketers to smartly manage multiple email workflows according to customer behavior.
Birthday Email
An automated ecommerce workflow in which an email with special offers is sent to customers on their birthday. Refer to Birthday Journeys to read more about Architect's birthday use case.
Blocked
Blocks occur when your messages experience a temporary failure. They can occur when your IP address is added to a blacklist, when the recipient's inbox is full, or when the recipient's server is temporarily unavailable. The mailbox provider will block affected messages that show up on this list. It is possible to have your IP address removed from a block list, and some block lists automatically do so after a period of time.
Bounced
A bounced message gets returned to the server that sent it. Messages are bounced when there is a permanent or temporary failure to deliver them due to conditions on the recipient's mail server. For example, the message might be returned if the recipient's email address is invalid or the domain does not exist.
Bulking
Appears when an email is routed to the spam folder instead of the inbox. Bulking can occur due to improper authentication, content resembling spam, or issues in your infrastructure’s history.
Campaign
An email that is sent to subscribers. Each bulk email sent to a list or segment is considered a separate campaign. Unlike a journey, which can involve many marketing activities, Newsletter campaigns occur only once.
Campaign Personalization
Personalization lets you customize the subject line or content of a campaign for each recipient.
Canonical Name (CNAME)
A record that creates an alias for subdomain.yourdomain.com and points to the 3rd party domain.
CAN-SPAM
The Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing (CAN-SPAM) Act of 2003, a law that sets the rules for commercial email, establishes requirements for commercial messages, gives recipients the right to opt out of receiving emails, and spells out tough penalties for violations.
Contacts List
You can send your email campaigns to a list of subscribers or to segments. You can create contact lists yourself, add subscribers manually, or connect them to your signup forms; they will be updated automatically.
Direct Complaint
When a subscriber or ISP complains, they no longer want to receive email from you; they reply to the reply-to or abuse@ addresses. It is generally best to unsubscribe them and let them know that they are unsubscribed. You should not ask them to stay a subscriber or do anything.
DMARC
Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance standard. This has been developed to prevent email users from receiving a large amount of spam and phishing messages.
A DMARC policy allows a sender to indicate that their emails are protected by SPF and/or DKIM and specifies how the receiver should handle messages that fail both authentication methods, such as marking them as spam or rejecting them. DMARC removes the guesswork from the receiver's handling of these failed messages, limiting or eliminating the user's exposure to potentially fraudulent and harmful messages.
Domain Authentication
This signals to mailbox providers that the third-party domain has your permission to send messages on your behalf, creating the appearance that messages are coming directly from your domain.
Domain Keys Identified Mail (DKIM)
An email authentication system designed to verify the sender's DNS domain to prove message integrity.
Domain Name System (DNS)
An internet service that translates domain names into IP addresses. Refer to Configuring DNS Settings for further information.
DNS Record
The Domain Name System (DNS) is a naming system that maps domain names to IP addresses.
Dropped
Drops indicate that a message was suppressed due to a bounce, unsubscribe, or an invalid list.
EDM
Electronic Direct Mail. An electronic marketing campaign that is solely based on email send-outs.
Email Drag&Drop Editor
Drag&Drop Editor allows you to quickly add, delete, duplicate, and move content blocks in the campaign layout by dragging and dropping the elements wherever/whenever needed.
Email HTML Editor
The HTML Editor allows the user to quickly add, delete, duplicate, and move content blocks in the campaign by writing code wherever and whenever needed.
Email Client
A web application or desktop program that displays and manages emails. Gmail, Apple Mail, Outlook, and AOL are popular email clients.
Email Deliverability
The ability to deliver emails to subscribers' inboxes. Factors such as Send Volume, Send Frequency, User Interaction, and Quality can affect email deliverability.
Email Hosting
A Web or Internet hosting service that rents out and operates email servers. Email hosting services are premium services that differ from the typical free webmail sites like Yahoo and Google.
Email Header
Every email consists of two parts: the header and the body. Email header lines contain behind-the-scenes information that makes up the first part of an email message. They control the transmission of the message and metadata, including the subject, origin, and destination email addresses, the path an email takes, the servers it passes along the way, the time it does so, and the message's priority.
Engagement
How subscribers respond to the content you are sending. Are they regularly opening your email and clicking your links? Your reputation and deliverability will improve if they engage with the content. If they are not engaging and are deleting your emails, marking them as spam, or unsubscribing, your reputation will drop and affect your overall deliverability. Read more about Email Engagement Segments.
“Envelope from” address / Return Path
The return address located in the email message header that informs mail servers where to return or bounce the message. It is invisible to email users.
ESP
A company that provides bulk email services and email marketing tools.
FBL
A feedback loop is an agreement you can make with ISPs where they reply to you with the identity of complainers in their webmail. This is highly valuable because it stops you from sending emails to unhappy subscribers, drastically lowering your complaint rate and ultimately improving your overall deliverability.
Global Unsubscribes
The Global Unsubscribes feed lists all contacts who have globally unsubscribed from the communications. This means that they have chosen not to receive any further communications. Read more about Email Suppressions.
Group Unsubscribes
The Group Unsubscribes feed shows a timeline of all contacts who have opted out of any previously created unsubscribe groups. Read more about Email Suppressions.
Hard Bounce
A hard bounce is an email message returned to the sender because the recipient's address is invalid. A hard bounce might occur when the domain name does not exist, or the recipient is unknown. Read more about Email Suppressions.
“Header from” address / "friendly from" address
When the recipient replies to a message, the reply is generally sent to the envelope from the address and appears in the From field of the email.
IP and Domain Reputation
Your sending reputation is how ISPs identify you as a legitimate sender. Every time you send an email campaign, ISPs collect valuable data indicating whether you follow proper sending practices. There are two types of email reputation: IP and domain. Read more about Email Sender Reputation Fundamentals.
IP Warmup
Warming up your IP involves ramping up email volume over a specified period. With your IP, you should ramp up your sending over time rather than simultaneously sending a burst of messages. Read more about Email Warm-Up.
ISP
Any corporation or entity receiving email. Please note that only major email providers can implement the technology to filter your email, provide FBL reports, etc.
JMRP
Hotmail offers a feedback loop called the Junk Mail Reporting Partner (JMRP) Program. Like other feedback loops, Hotmail expects receivers to process any transaction sent via the feedback loop as an immediate unsubscribe from the sender's list.
Journeys (Architect)
The customer journey is the complete set of experiences customers have when interacting with a company and its brand. Refer to Architect for its capabilities and use cases.
Link Branding
DMARC checks whether the domain names in SPF and DKIM match. It also pulls together SPF and DKIM authentication so that domain owners can instruct mail servers how to handle mail messages that fail verification tests. Link Branding allows all click-tracked links and open-tracked images in your messages to be from your domain instead of a third-party domain.
List-Unsubscribe
Some mailbox providers, such as Gmail and Apple, offer users a way to unsubscribe from a sender's emails via a button or link in the email client. They do this by parsing the list-unsubscribe information in the email's headers and presenting the list-unsubscribe link in a consistent location in the mail client's user interface.
Mailbox providers typically only present the list-unsubscribe function in emails from senders with a good sending reputation.
Marketing Automation
Software platforms and technologies designed for marketing departments and organizations to market more effectively on multiple online channels and automate repetitive tasks.
MTA
An application responsible for transferring email from point A to point B.
Mx record
MX records are DNS settings for your domain that route email to the servers hosting your users' mail accounts. These settings are managed by your domain host, not by Google. To ensure mail is always delivered, you typically create records for multiple servers, each of which can deliver mail to users. If one server is down, mail can be routed to another server instead.
Non-subscribers
Visitors of an online shop who have interacted with it (e.g., tried to make a purchase) but have not opted to receive campaigns.
Open Rate
A campaign's open rate indicates the percentage of recipients who open the email. Read more about Email Metrics.
Opt-in
The act of someone permitting to be added to a mailing list. Opt-in can be either single or double. A single opt-in occurs when a subscriber submits their email address via the signup form and is added to the list. A double opt-in requires the subscriber to click a confirmation link in a follow-up email after submitting their information via a signup form.
Preference Center
A Preference Center is a user-friendly page that allows users to manage their communication preferences with a brand. It enables users to customize the types of emails they receive, the communication frequency, and even select specific topics of interest.
Preview
An option in the editor that shows how your campaign will appear on a desktop or mobile device. See how to preview your email content.
Promotional Email
A commercial broadcast that usually offers incentives to drive sales and revenue for a business. The primary aim of this email marketing format is to persuade customers to make a purchase.
Rate Limit
A critical step in the MTA configuration is rate limiting (AKA: throttling). Rate limiting gives ISPs sufficient time to process and filter spam, ensuring transactional emails are not delayed. Without rate limiting, ISPs would be even more overwhelmed.
Recurring Emails
Recurring emails are messages that are automatically sent at set intervals based on predefined settings.
Reverse DNS record lookup
Checks who owns an IP address and which domain it is associated with.
Scheduled Emails
When an email campaign is built and tested, it can be scheduled to be sent thereafter. In the final step of creating an Email Campaign, set the date and time for delivery, and the Email Campaign will handle the rest. Read more about Email Launch Settings.
Seed List
A list of email addresses with the major ISPs injected into a campaign to see whether the email is delivered. You do not need to update or configure these emails; you can see where they are placed or whether they are delivered at all.
Segment
A collection of email addresses maintained in the Subscribers section that is defined by a set of conditions. Segmentation is a practice that enables you to target specific subsets of your audience with content relevant to them. Read more about Email Recipients.
Sender Authentication
This informs the mailbox provider that the message is from the sender and has not been altered during transit.
Sender ID
Sender ID verifies the sender’s identity using the From: or Sender: header fields. It is simply another way to verify a sender's legitimacy.
Sender Policy Framework (SPF)
SPF tells mailbox providers that 3rd party servers are authorized to send from your domain. Therefore, your message can be trusted.
Sender’s Email Address
The sender’s email address is what recipients see in the From field of your email campaigns. It also handles replying to emails, processing bounces, and receiving test emails. Read more about Sender Management.
SNDS
Hotmail provides a service that lets senders monitor their delivery performance on Hotmail and MSN. The service is called SNDS, which stands for Smart Network Data Services. The tool allows senders who own an IP space to view, by IP address, their sending volume, accepted message volume, complaints generated, spam trap hits, and Smart Score rating.
Soft Bounce
A soft bounce means the email address is valid and the message reached the recipient's mail server, but it was not delivered to the recipient. Read more about Email Suppressions.
Spam Traps
Spam traps are a type of fraud management tool used by major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and blacklist providers to identify spammers and block their emails. A spam trap looks like a real email address, but it does not belong to a real person and cannot be used for any kind of communication. Read more about Email Spam Test and how to Conduct an Email Spam Test and Inbox Preview.
Subdomain
Before explaining what a subdomain is, we must first clarify what a ‘root domain’ or ‘apex domain’ is. A root domain or apex domain is a domain you can own and control by registering it with a domain registrar. Examples of root domains are 'mycompany.com ' or 'greatuniversity.co.uk'.
A subdomain is a domain that sits hierarchically under such a root domain. Its syntax is as follows: 'string' + '.' + 'root domain'. Examples of subdomains are 'offers.mycompany.com' or 'registrations.greatuniversity.co.uk'.
Subscribers
Website visitors, customers, or social media fans interested in receiving your newsletters can submit their email addresses to your signup form. Read more about the Email Subscriber Base.
Suppression List
A suppression list is a list of suppressed email addresses used by email senders to comply with the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 (United States of America). All unsubscribed, bounced, and other email addresses are placed into a "suppression list," which is used to "suppress" future email messages to that email address. Read more about Email Suppressions.
Template
An HTML file that serves as a starting point for a new campaign. This is like a container for the campaign's content where the design layout and content reside.
Total Clicks
The Click Map shows the total and unique number of clicks. The number of total clicks identifies the overall number (unique and multiple) of subscriber clicks on the links in the campaign. For example, if the subscriber clicks on three different links in the campaign, it will count as three total clicks and only one unique click. Read more about Email Metrics.
Transactional Emails
A method of customer communication in which automated, real-time messages are sent to users through email after a specific action has been performed within an application or website.
Unsubscribe Pages
Unsubscribe pages allow users to opt out of receiving emails through a global unsubscribe option or adjust their email preferences via a preference center. You can customize these pages in three ways:
- Default: Use the platform's built-in unsubscribe page.
- Custom: Create a personalized page that reflects the brand’s style and offers more options.
- Own Links: Use your own unsubscribe link to direct users to an external page.
These pages help improve user experience and ensure compliance with email regulations.
UTF-8
UTF-8 is a variable width character encoding capable of encoding all 1,112,064 valid code points in Unicode using one to four 8-bit bytes.
UTM
Urchin Tracking Module (UTM) parameters are five URL parameter variants used by marketers to track the effectiveness of online marketing campaigns.
Vertical Platform
Business niches where vendors serve a specific audience and its needs.
Workflow
Automated email workflows let you set up emails or email sequences sent to your customers based on their store activity (e.g., abandoned carts).