Email Marketing Vocabulary: 55 Key Terms for 2024

Navigating from anchor text to click-through rate (CTR), the lexicon of email marketing might feel like immersing yourself in a foreign tongue. Given its pivotal role in inbound marketing, grasping the vocabulary associated with this strategy proves immensely advantageous.

In order to facilitate comprehension of email marketing terminology and lingo, we’ve compiled an email marketing glossary. This resource will aid you in acquainting yourself with key terms swiftly and effortlessly.

Glossary of Email Marketing Terminology:

A

To initiate this compendium of email marketing terminology, let’s begin with terms ranging from A to F:

Anchor text:

Anchor text is the highlighted text in an email containing a URL link that directs users to a particular webpage upon clicking. It acts as a preview, informing users of what to anticipate upon clicking.

A/B split test:

Similar to A/B testing in advertising, email A/B testing involves sending two distinct emails to separate email lists to determine which one achieves better performance or conversion rates.

Acceptance rate:

Occasionally known as email deliverability rate, acceptance rate represents the proportion of emails sent that are accepted by the recipients’ email servers.

Auto-responder:

An autoresponder is configured to automatically respond to specific emails you receive. It can be activated by events, keywords, or any incoming email. For instance, if you’re away from the office for the day, you might set up an autoresponder to notify senders that you’re currently out of office.

Animated GIF:

GIFs are essentially animated images composed of a few frames, aiding businesses in crafting visually captivating and engaging emails.

Attachment:

An attachment refers to the document, image, or file that you include with an email.

B

B2B email marketing

B2B email marketing entails your company sending emails to other businesses, potential customers, with the aim of achieving conversions.These emails usually provide targeted content such as newsletters or exclusive discounts.

B2C email marketing

B2C email marketing involves sending marketing emails to potential customers, tailored to subscribers’ interests and meticulously planned to enhance engagement effectively.

Bounce rate:

The bounce rate represents the proportion of emails that fail to reach recipients on your email list.

Blacklist:

This refers to a roster of users with potentially negative reputations or identified as spammers, leading to emails being undelivered to their email or IP addresses.

Broadcast:

Similar to an email blast, a broadcast sends an email to numerous recipients simultaneously.

Bulk email:

Similar to a broadcast, a bulk email is dispatched to multiple recipients without customization for each individual.

C

Call to action (CTA):

A call to action is a clickable button included in emails, prompting subscribers to take specific actions, such as “Click Here To View Our Products” or “Contact Us.”

Click-through-rate (CTR):

The click-through rate is determined by the percentage of recipients who click on a link in the email you send them, in relation to the total number of recipients who receive the link.

Click-to-open rate (CTOR):

The click-to-open rate (CTOR) is the percentage of recipients who open an email in comparison to the total number of recipients who received the email.

Conversion rate:

The conversion rate measures the proportion of recipients who have successfully undertaken a desired action within your email, such as making a purchase, submitting a form, or similar engagements.

Cost per thousand (CPM):

CPM stands for cost per mille, denoting the cost incurred for reaching one thousand recipients on an email list.

D

Double opt-in:

A double opt-in occurs when the recipient confirms their opt-in by clicking a confirmation link, allowing you to verify that your subscribers are genuinely interested in receiving your emails.

Demographics:

Demographics encompass attributes that define a particular group of individuals. In email marketing, demographics are often examined to gain insights into the audience being targeted.

Delivery rate:

The count of emails effectively reaching your recipients.Interested in delving deeper into email marketing terminology? Keep reading to explore terms from E to J!

Drip email marketing

Drip email marketing entails a campaign that dispatches multiple emails serving as reminders for users to engage with specific actions. The objective of such campaigns is to maintain consistent communication with users, aiming to remain in their awareness without being intrusive.

E

Ecommerce email marketing

E-commerce email marketing is a tactic centered around sending promotional emails to prospective customers who have willingly subscribed to your email list via their email accounts.

Email analytics

Email analytics encompass the metrics you monitor to assess the outcomes of the emails you dispatch, including bounce rate, delivery rate, clicks, CTR, and more.

Email campaign

An email campaign is a structured plan devised to aid in achieving your business objectives.

Email filter

An email filter allows you to configure notifications for particular types of emails, whether they are deemed significant or insignificant.

Email marketing

Email marketing leverages email as a platform to engage with both new and established users. This approach enables businesses to communicate information about new sales, products, promotions, and discounts to their audience.

Email marketing automation

Email marketing automation is a tactic aimed at enhancing the personalization, timeliness, and effectiveness of your emails. By employing email marketing automation, you utilize subscriber-based actions to automatically dispatch relevant emails, such as a welcome email when someone subscribes to your newsletter.

Engagement metric

The count of interactions garnered by an email campaign.

Enterprise email marketing

Enterprise email marketing is a digital marketing approach utilizing email as a conduit to advertise your company’s products or services to a broad audience that has voluntarily subscribed to receive your emails.

External link:

A URL embedded in your email directing subscribers to another location, such as a website.

F

Forwards:

Forwards refers to the tally of recipients who have forwarded a message you sent to them.

G

Geotargeting:

A technique employed to dispatch emails to customers located within a particular geographic region.

Google Analytics:

Google tracking software that evaluates various metrics in your marketing campaigns to gauge their effectiveness.

Google Trends:

Google Trends provides real-time updates on current news or trending topics. This data can be leveraged to devise industry-relevant emails for distribution to customers.

H

Hard bounce:

When an email no longer exists or if the email server is inaccessible, the email sent to the recipient will bounce back, referred to as a hard bounce.

Headers:

The email header is the uppermost section of the email message, containing crucial attributes and information that are not visible to recipients.

HTML:

HTML is a programming language utilized to personalize an email with specific headings, rows, and other elements.

I

Inactive list:

Inactive recipients are those who have not opened or engaged with the emails sent to them over a certain period of time.

Inbox placement rate:

A metric indicating the proportion of emails successfully delivered to the recipient’s email inbox.

Excited to broaden your email marketing lexicon further? Explore additional terms from K to R!

K

Key performance indicators (KPI):

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) gauge the effectiveness of a company in attaining its primary objectives and goals.

L

Landing page:

The specific webpage where a recipient is directed upon clicking a link in an email they received. Landing pages offer customized information designed to guide leads towards conversion.

List segmentation:

Segmenting email lists involves grouping specific subscribers together, enabling tailored information to be sent based on their interests.

List growth:

The expansion of your subscriber base for the email list.

O

Open rate:

The metric utilized to gauge the count of emails opened by recipients.

Opt-in rate:

The metric utilized to quantify the number of individuals who subscribe to your emails.

Opt-out rate:

The metric utilized to gauge the number of individuals who opt out or unsubscribe from your email list.

P

Plain text email:

A plain text email contains no formatting or specific layout; it consists solely of plain lines of text.

Promotional emails:

Emails featuring a promotional product or service, or an announcement regarding a new product or service.

R

Re-engagement emails:

These emails are dispatched to dormant users in an attempt to re-engage them with your brand, services, or products.

Responsive design:

This denotes a design that functions seamlessly across all devices, guaranteeing that users on mobile, tablet, and desktop platforms can view your email without any issues.

Revenue per email sent:

This metric quantifies the amount of revenue generated per email sent.

S

In conclusion, let’s explore email marketing terms encompassing S through Z in our email marketing glossary.

Spam:

These are unsolicited emails that recipients receive in their inbox. Users may mark email senders as spam if they send emails excessively.

Sender name:

The “from” field contains the email address and name of the company or individual that sent you an email.

Single opt-in:

When someone chooses to subscribe to your email list, they immediately begin receiving emails. This opt-in process does not require confirmation of sign-up via email.

SMB email marketing

Email marketing for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) is a digital marketing strategy that leverages emails to connect with subscribers and promote business offerings.

Subject line

The line situated just beneath the recipient’s email address, featuring the topic of the email or headline. Subject lines play a crucial role in determining whether a user opens the email.

T

Targeting:

Sending targeted emails to a group of relevant subscribers who are expected to engage with the email.

Thank you page:

The page a visitor arrives at after subscribing to an email list.

Transactional emails:

Emails dispatched to confirm orders, appointments, reservations, or similar events are referred to as transactional emails.

U

Unique clicks:

The metric quantifying the number of individual clicks on a URL within an email.

Unsubscribe rate:

The unsubscribe rate represents the proportion of users who opt not to receive emails from your business anymore.

Unique opens:

The count of initial opens on an email sent to recipients.

W

Welcome emails:

The email you receive upon initially subscribing to an email list.

White list:

A roster of authorized senders permitted to dispatch emails.

Create your email marketing campaign today.

Understanding these email marketing terms is an excellent way for your business to gain insight into the realm of email marketing. If you’re still feeling overwhelmed by email marketing, fret not — the specialists at CreaRank are available to assist you.