Definitions for frequently used email marketing terms and jargon.

As you use pbSmart Connections for email marketing, you might come across some words or terms you’re not really familiar with. We’ve put together this helpful glossary to make things easier to understand. If you have any additional questions, feel free to call or chat with one of our Communications Specialists at 1-877-822-0996.

API (Application Programming Interface) – API is a set of programming instructions that allows one computer system or application to communicate and exchange data with another. Click her to learn how to set up your API’s.

Auto-Responder – An Auto-Responder is a computer program that sends out automatic emails containing pre-written content. These emails are typically sent out after a triggering event has occurred. Triggering events may include completion of a web form, purchase of an item or inquiry to customer support.

Automatic Performance Reporting - On the ‘Settings’ tab under ‘Email Settings,’ you have the option to enable ‘Automatic Performance Reports.’ When activated, a performance report containing all email campaign analytics will be emailed to the specified email address, after the specified number of days have passed since the campaign was launched.

Bounce - A Bounce is a notice from the receiving ISP or domain that the email you attempted to send has not been delivered.

Hard Bounce – A Hard Bounce email is returned to the server that sent it. The reason for non-delivery is due to a permanent condition – for example, a non-existent address or a blocking condition set by the receiver.

Soft Bounce - A Soft Bounce indicates that the condition for non-delivery is likely temporary. For example, it may be due to a customer's mailbox being full or when a domain is temporarily not accepting mail because of technical problems. A soft bounce is telling you the email address is probably good but that delivery can't be completed right now.

CAN-SPAM - The CAN-SPAM Act is a United States Federal Law which sets the rules for commercial email, establishes requirements for commercial messages, gives recipients the right to have you stop emailing them and defines penalties for violations.

Campaign - An email Campaign is a set of messages sent out to a targeted group via email. When you’re doing a Campaign through pbSmart Connections, it includes the Creative which will be sent, a Subject Line, a From Line and a Target Audience. Once you have all these elements in place, a Campaign can be scheduled for sending.

Campaign Name – Before you deploy your email campaign, you’ll be required to give it a name to help you identify it later on for analysis purposes. The Campaign Name is required and is solely for internal tracking purposes. Only you will see the Campaign Name. Name your Campaign something descriptive (July Newsletter) so you can easily find reports on it later.

Click-Through Rate (CTR) – CTR is the percentage of unique subscribers/visitors clicking on a link out of the total number who see the link.

Click To Open Rate (CTOR) – CTOR is a way to measure the effectiveness of your email campaign. It represents the ratio of unique clicks as a percentage of unique opens – or in other words, how often the recipients clicked on a link once they’ve opened the message.

Contact – A Contact is an individual whose information is captured, usually as part of a larger database of names and information. Once your contacts have signed up to receive communications from you, they may be referred to as subscribers.

Conversion Rate – Conversion Rate is the percentage of visitors who convert contact views or website visits into desired actions (such as buy, register, subscribe).

Creative - A Creative is the HTML or text email that is sent when sending a Campaign to your subscribers. The Creative does not include a Subject Line or From Line. Those specifics, including who the Creative will be sent to, are specified when you create a Campaign.

CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) – CSS are used to determine the appearance of HTML pages in a web browser. They provide a simple way to visually change a group of HTML files without changing each individual file.

CSV (Comma-Separated Values) File - A CSV File is a file that’s been formatted into a plain text file. It stores spreadsheet or basic database-style information in a very simple format, with one record on each line. Within that record, each record is separated by a comma. CSV files are also referred to as comma delimited files.

Customer Communications Management (CCM) – CCM refers to the use of technology solutions to help marketers better communicate with their customers. CCM is about getting the right message to the right customer at the right time – essentially taking advantage of very communication touchpoint between a company and its customers.

Database Variable – A Database Variable is a specified field of data in your database, like First Name or Birthday. Database variables can be used to customize emails to make a message more personal or relevant. For example, to personalize your email greeting, you would insert the database variable ‘First Name’ into your email to read “Hello Amanda.”

Deliverability - Email Deliverability refers to an email sender’s inbox delivery rate. Having good email deliverability means that a high percentage of emails that you send, do indeed reach the inbox. Something to know, however, is measuring your true inbox delivery rate, is actually impossible. While you can make a very educated guess about your inbox delivery rate, the actual figure is impossible to calculate. The reason being is because most ISPs don’t report information back to the sender when an email is not delivered to the inbox. In fact, rather than route all bad messages to the junk folder, some ISPs accept the message and quietly delete it. Therefore, there are three possible fates for an email sent that does not bounce: inbox delivery, junk/spam folder delivery or not delivered at all.

Demographics – Demographics describe the characteristics of customers or potential customers such as age, gender, race, education, and income level.

Domain Name – Domain Name is the identifying name of an internet site. These names appear as a component of a website's URL. This type of domain name is also called a hostname.

Download – Downloading is the process of retrieving information from any computer. When one computer sends information to another, it is called Uploading.

Dynamic Content – Dynamic Content is the information in your emails (or web pages, Flash movies, e-newsletters, etc.) that changes automatically based on database or user information. Basically, it allows you to tailor your campaigns based on how you've segmented your audience.

Email – Email is an electronic communication system involving the creation, sending, receiving and saving of messages.

Email Marketing – Email marketing is a form of direct marketing via electronic mail as a means of communicating a message to a specific audience. These messages typically include sales promotions, relationship-building messages, and/or additional advertisements in the emails sent by other companies to their customers.

Export – To Export a file (document, data, etc.) is to save it in a format that is usable by another software program.

Facebook – Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in 2004 and has more than 600 million active users.

Filter – Filters are created by specifying one or more parameters (e.g., male, lives in a specific zip code, became a subscriber in the last 2 weeks, etc.). Filters can also used to target subscribers within your contact list. Unlike lists, filter counts change as subscriber data changes.

Filter Parameters – Filter Parameters are the specific rules which are used to define a group of subscribers. There are four types of Filter Parameters:
  • Conditional Filter Parameter – Is a rule operating on the database fields of your subscribers. (e.g., City = New York)
  • Behavioral Filter Parameter – is a rule operating on an action that your subscriber takes or does not take. (e.g., Has Opened Anything in the Last 60 Days)
  • Association Filter Parameter – is a rule operating on the association your subscribers have with your pbSmart Connections account (e.g., Subscriber Belongs to List X)
  • Geographic Filter Parameter – is a rule operating based on location, specifically against the IP information the pbSmart Connections system collects when subscribers load the images in your email Campaigns or click on links within your Campaign. Based on the subscriber IP information, the system can associate a location on earth for subscribers. (e.g., Subscriber is in the USA)
Parameters may be strung together with ‘and’ or ‘or’ to create more sophisticated Filters.

Flash - Flash is commonly used to create animation, advertisements, and various web page Flash components, to integrate video into web pages, and more recently, to develop rich Internet applications.

From Line - The ‘From Line’ is required and should be the name of your business. The ‘From Line’ is your displayed name in your Campaign to your subscribers. Note that the ‘From Line’ is not the same as the ‘From Email Address.’ To customize your ‘From Email Address’ you must contact pbSmart Connections.

FTP (file transfer protocol) – FTP is the means by which files are transferred from your computer directly to your website.

Google Analytics (GA) - GA is a free service offered by Google that generates detailed statistics about the visitors to a website. To integrate your pbSmart Connections email Campaign into Google Analytics tracking, simply check the ‘Use Google Analytics’ box. ‘pbSmart Connections’ will show up in your Google Analytics tracking as a Traffic Source. Your pbSmart Connections Campaign name will show up under the pbSmart Connections Traffic Source.

HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) – HTML is the coding language used to create and link together documents and files on the internet.

Image Editor – pbSmart Connections includes a powerful, intuitive image editor that gives you total control over your campaign creative. The image editor allows you to resize and crop your images, as well as adding transparencies and additional layers–features normally only seen in the most expensive image editing software.

Import – You need to Import a file to read data that is not in the native format of the application. For example, a web browser will have its own way of storing bookmarks but it will usually provide a function to import bookmarks from Internet Explorer.

InBox Preview (Render Checker) – This is a feature of pbSmart Connections that allows you to check how your email will render in all of the most popular email clients and devices. InBox Preview is available by clicking the “Test My Email” button.

Integrated Marketing - Integrated Marketing is a combination of marketing tactics to help deliver on a single marketing strategy. For instance, if you’re promoting a new product, you might use your website + email + print advertising + social media as part of your integrated marketing campaign.

Link – A Link is an object, as text or graphics that’s to a document, another web page, etc.

Inbound Link - An Inbound Link is a link pointing to a website. When a user arrives at a website from another site, that link is called an Inbound Link.

Outbound Link – An Outbound Link is a link that points away from a website.

List – Lists are an internal tool used to segment your database. Your subscribers cannot see your lists and cannot add or remove themselves from Lists.

List Group – A List Group is simply a group of lists which enables you to send the same Campaign to the subscribers in multiple different Lists.

Multi-Channel Marketing – Marketing that uses multiple channels of marketing communications – such as email, direct mail, call center and web site – to reach a customer.

Newsletter - A Newsletter is a regularly distributed publication generally about one main topic that is of interest to its subscribers. Newsletters delivered electronically via email are frequently referred to as e-Newsletters.

Open Rate – The open rate indicates how many emails have been viewed divided by the total number of emails delivered as a percentage. This is a measure of email effectiveness. Open rates are not registered for text messages, dial-up/offline readers, or multipart messages, where there is HTML and text in the same message.

Opt-In – Opt-In is the voluntary choice that customers makes to sign-up for emails or services online.

Opt-Out – Opt-Out is another term for unsubscribe. People who have previously signed up for a newsletter, emails, information, etc., then ask to be removed from the list.

Parameter – Parameters are the conditions you set to allow you to identify the specific subscribers you want to target.

Parameter Groups - Parameter Groups are a collection of rules structured to allow you to separate conditions by using the conjunction ‘AND’ or ‘OR’. This will allow you to separate Parameter Group 1 from Group 2 from Group 3 and so on.

Permanent Remove - When an email address is permanently removed from an account, they are no longer visible in the account and cannot be targeted with a campaign. This is the case when someone asks to be removed, hard bounces, or submits a spam complaint. Personalization – Content that’s personalized specifically targets the needs or interests of the recipients via email, direct mail, call center, website or other media. Often, you can base personalization on past behaviors.

Publication - A publication is what your email addresses subscribe to, or unsubscribe from. It allows you to manage multiple databases within a single account.

Relay Sends – pbSmart Connections Relay Sends enable you to deliver one-off emails to individual subscribers or deliver mass emails to many subscribers. Relay Sends can only be initiated through the pbSmart Connections API. Common uses for Relay Sends include dynamic content like: forgot password emails, order confirmation emails, tell-a-friend emails and more. Any email that your web application sends can be delivered and tracked through pbSmart Connections Relay Sends.

Removes - The Remove page launches in a browser window when a subscriber clicks the Unsubscribe link in an email received. The Remove page provides the subscriber with a link giving them the option to globally remove (permanently remove) their email address from all of your Publications OR update their Publication subscriptions.

Rich-Media – Online ads that contain motion, sounds, or video and usually use Java or Flash to enhance the viewer’s experience.

Schedule (a Campaign) – The Schedule tool allows you to choose to send your email campaign immediately or have it delivered at a future date and time.

Segmentation – Grouping a population into subsets based on common characteristics – such as industry, company size, sales organization, specific behavior or needs, etc. – and targeting each segment with different messaging, offers or solutions.

Sender Reputation - Sender Reputation can best be described as a credit score for email senders. Like a credit score, your behaviors as an email sender impact your Sender Reputation. Good behaviors such as sending consistent emails that are opened, read and clicked on, will result in a positive impact to your Sender Reputation. Bad behaviors such as sending a lot of emails that bounce or to subscribers who complain by clicking the ‘This is Spam’ button will result in a negative impact to your Sender Reputation.

Unlike a credit score, Sender Reputation is something that hundreds of different ISPs track based solely on the email sent to their users. So, instead of dealing with three or four major entities, email senders must be cognoscente of their reputation with many ISPs. For example, Yahoo might consider an email sender to have good sender reputation while Microsoft considers the same sender to have bad Sender Reputation. The result is inbox delivery at Yahoo addresses and Junk or no delivery at all for Microsoft addresses.

Signup Page - A Signup Page is a form that captures information on subscribers and stores it within your pbSmart Connections account. Signup pages can also be used as a survey tool, RSVP tool, to update subscriber preferences or capture segmentation data.

SmartElements – SmartElements are ready-made graphics that add spark to your design and are easily inserted into your email creative. Available SmartElements include everything from smart phone images, to traffic signs, to a variety of elegant buttons

Social Media Marketing – Social Media Marketing is an engagement with online communities to generate exposure for the business, increase traffic, and build new business partnerships. Common social media marketing tools include Twitter, blogs, LinkedIn, Facebook and YouTube. Subject Line - The Subject Line specifies the topic or subject of your campaign.

Subscribers – Subscribers are the individual contacts who have signed up to receive your email communications. They may elect to receive a specific publication or sign-up to receive all communications.

Suppression List - When scheduling a campaign, you have the option to exclude the email addresses within a suppression list. When an email address is added to a Suppression List, it remains active in your database and can continue to be targeted with campaigns.

System Pages – System Pages refer to the pages that pbSmart Connections can automatically generate, including Remove Page, Subscription/Preference/Confirmation Pages, Forward to a Friend Page, and Refer a Friend Page. You can modify any of these pages to fit your needs.

Targeting – Targeting is selecting a specific group of your contacts or subscribers to send an email Campaign to. Targeting is usually done to ensure the email message is more relevant for the selected contacts versus sending a more generalized message to all of the contacts in your database.

Target Audience - Your Target Audience is your List of subscribers who you designate to receive your email is considered to be your audience. You can target certain subscribers for an email campaigns by using Lists or Filters.

Templates – Templates are customizable email creatives. The pbSmart Connections pre-made templates are best suited for users who do not have HTML knowledge. pbSmart Connections designers custom build all our templates to be user-friendly and allow those who do not know HTML to build stunning creatives that match their business website and brand. Easy-to-use tools enable you to host images, create links, and adjust fonts, colors, or layouts without editing HTML code.

Template Gallery – The first step in designing your email campaign in pbSmart Codes is to select a template for your campaign creative. Browse through the Template Gallery to preview and select from over 400 professionally designed email marketing templates in a wide range of categories.

Text Email – A Text Email is digital communication that is strictly text; without graphics, sound or animation.

To Line - The ‘To Line’ is used to display the recipient’s name, email or relation to you (e.g., ‘Valued Customer’). If the ‘To Line’ is left blank the subscriber’s email address will be shown. If you would like the subscriber’s names to be shown in the ‘To Line’ when they receive your email Campaign, you must insert the database variable for your subscriber’s first name.

Trend Analysis – Trend Analysis refers to the concept of gathering information in order to spot a pattern or trend. When used with your pbSmart Connections email campaign, you’ll get a breakdown of the different metrics for each of the historical periods as well as the current period. For each time period, there is both a percentage and total number for each of the individual metrics. The “Change” column shows whether there is a current increase or decrease for the metric based on the historical performance being displayed.

Twitter – Twitter is an online community where people share short, text-based (maximum 140 characters) microblogs posts, primarily for self-promotion.

Unique Clicks – Unique Clicks refer to the number of single clicks by a single user.

Unique Opens – Unique Opens refers to the number of single opens by a single user.

URL (Uniform Resource Locator) – A URL is a unique sequence of characters that describes the location of a webpage. Also known as a web address.

Welcome Email – A Welcome Email is an automated email deployed to new subscribers as they sign up. Welcome Emails can be sent in the form of a Notification, which notifies subscribers their subscription was received without requiring additional action on their end. Or, Welcome Emails can be sent in the form of a Confirmation, which notifies the subscriber of their subscription and requires they click a confirmation link before being added to your database. We highly recommend welcome programs to notify, or confirm, new subscribers.

Webinar (Webcast) – A Webinar is an educational seminar or event offered through the Internet so that users don’t incur the expense and trouble of traveling to a physical location.

Workflows - Workflows are the rules and logic you set up that constantly run in the background and trigger Campaigns based on user behaviors and your instructions. Workflows are comprised of a starting point, internal workflow instructions that you insert, and a finish point. For example, if you wanted to setup an automatic birthday email to your subscribers, a workflow could be quickly setup to handle it.

WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) - WYSIWYG is used to describe a system in which content displayed during editing appears very similar to the final output.

Know of another term to add to our email marketing glossary? Let one of our Communications Specialists know by emailing us.