We like to keep things nice and simple here at Astonish Email. Unfortunately like most industries Email Marketing is full of Jargon terms, which can be confusing when you are starting out with Email Marketing.
So being the friendly bunch we are, here is a list of some of the most common jargon terms used in Email Marketing.
A/B Split
A process of splitting your contact list into a number of equal segments. This allows you to send slightly different messages to each group to see which is the most effective. Variables may include, subject lines, headings, copy and images.
Bounce
Bounces occur when you send an email to an incorrect email address or when your email cannot be delivered for ‘other’ reasons.
Click Through Rate
A percentage measure of contacts that click on a hyperlink (see below) on your email campaign.
De-dupe
De-dupe or de-duplication refers to a data cleaning technique where duplicate data is removed from your contact list.
Double Opt In
Provides an additional confirmation to a contact opting in to your communications. The process would see an email sent to your contact when they sign up for your communications with a link to confirm they want to join your email list.
Email Newsletters
A company newsletter which is sent on a regular bases (monthly, weekly…). Successful newsletters are normally packed full of useful and relevant content that is of value to your contacts.
Email Service Providers
Email Service Providers (ESPs) are companies like Astonish Email that offer a service enabling a user to send email marketing campaigns to their subscribers.
HTML Email
An email that is formatted using Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) instead of just plain text. HTML makes it possible to include unique fonts, images and background colours in your communications. HTML typically makes an email more dynamic and when well executed can generate higher response rates than traditional plain text emails.
Hyper-link
A Hyper-link is a web link you can include on your email campaigns. It can be a word, group of words, or image that your contacts can click on and directs them to a web page that you can set.
Open Rate
The number of email recipients who opened your email, generally measured as a percentage of the total number of emails sent.
Opt-in
A person who chooses to opt-in to your email communications. It is essential that all of your contacts have opted-in (provided permission) for you to send email communications to.
Segmentation
Dividing or segmenting your mailing list based on interest groups, purchasing behavior, demographics, location and more for the purpose of targeting specific email campaigns to the audience most likely to respond to your message or offer.
SPAM
SPAM or Spamming is an unsolicited email, usually of a commercial nature. Sending emails to people who have not requested to receive messages (opted in) from you will likely result in SPAM complaints.
Subject Line
The subject line is the part of the email that indicates what the message is about, and is viewed within your contacts email program (e.g Outlook). Your subject line should be short and to the point, and it should accurately reflect the content of the email.
Targeting
Choosing a selective audience or group of individuals likely to be interested in a certain product or service. Targeting is very important for an email marketer because targeted and relevant email campaigns generally return a higher open rate and result in fewer unsubscribes.
Un-subscribe
When a contact unsubscribes from your campaigns, this indicates that they no longer wish to receive emails from you or your organization. People can unsubscribe in a variety of ways including clicking the “Unsubscribe” link at the bottom of each email sent through Astonish Email, or by replying to the sender with the word “Unsubscribe” in the subject line or message body.
We hope this blog helps you to get used to some of the terms you are likely to come across when sending email marketing campaigns. If you have any other Email Marketing Jargon terms you want me to bust for you, please do let us know!