Email Marketing Lingo - A Quick Guide

Getting your voice heard and your message out is one of the core services we offer at FouldsCRM. One of the tools we use is email marketing. Unfortunately, email marketing is full of industry standard terminology, which can be a bit confusing if you have never come across any of the terms before.
 
As we like to make things easier for you, we thought it might be a good idea to put together a quick guide on email marketing terminology.
 
A/B Testing
 
This is the process of splitting your subscriber list into two equal segments and sending them a slightly different message. It allows you to identify what message was most effective and has achieved a better result. Based on those findings, future email marketing campaigns can be adapted ensuring that your message will be read. Variables that are changeable from one mailer to another include the subject line, content, and colour scheme for call-to-action buttons, images, incentives used, or headings.
 
Bounce
 
The bounce rate is an important indicator of how healthy your list is. It indicates how many of your subscribers have actually provided a correct email address and therefore are able to receive your newsletter. A high bounce rate should make you re-think how you acquire new subscribers. It is worth keeping in mind that your IP address will be harmed by a continuous high bounce rate which will lead to your newsletters ending up in the spam folder.
 
Click Through Rate
 
The click through rate is one of the percentages that you will come across a lot as it is one of the main indicator whether your campaign can be classified as a success or not. It basically shows you how many of the readers have clicked on any of the provided hyperlinks in your email newsletter. The more people click on items in your newsletter, the more likely it is that they will buy or book any of your services. Therefore, email marketers like to see a high click through rate.
 
De-Duplication
 
No one likes to receive four or five of the same newsletter at a time. This can happen though if your list contains a lot of duplicates. Sometimes, the same email address can be linked to a different postal address or name. Luckily, most email marketing providers can clean lists by taking out duplicates automatically during the process of uploading new subscribers.
 
Double Opt-In
 
To ensure that you get the best possible results from your email marketing campaigns, you need to have responsive subscribers who want to receive news from you. One way of ensuring this is by using a double opt-in feature during the subscription process. This means that when new subscribers sign up to your newsletter service, they will receive an email with a link asking them to confirm they want to be joining your email-marketing list.
 
Email Newsletter
 
An email newsletter is a digital communication tool, which is sent on a regular basis (weekly, monthly...). The content provided is of value to the customer and allows them to benefit from information and incentives that would otherwise be difficult to obtain.
 
Email Marketing Providers
 
ESPs or email marketing providers are companies such as Mailchimp, Campaign Monitor or Graphic Mail who facilitate the service of sending out email marketing campaigns to your subscribers.
 
HTML Email
 
The most common digital newsletter used is a HTML email (Hypertext Mark-up Language) instead of a plain text one. Just like the coding for a website, the HTML allows marketers to include vibrant images, unique fonts, strong call-to-action buttons and hyperlinks. It makes the newsletter more responsive and therefore can achieve a better success rate than a plain text email.
 
Hyperlink
 
A hyperlink allows you to link a certain phrase, word, image or button to a specific page of your website.
 
Open Rate
 
The open rate is the most important indicator whether your campaign can be classified as a success or not. Generally, it is shown as a percentage measuring the number of subscribers who have opened your email in comparison to the total number of emails sent.
 
Opt-In
 
Opt-In means that the person who subscribed to your email marketing service has granted permission for you to be sending marketing material to the provided email address.
 
Segmentation
 
To be able to provide relevant content to your subscribers it is recommended to segment your list based on certain values such as interests, purchasing behaviour, location and so forth. This will ensure that the message you sent out receives the best possible response rate.
 
Spam
 
A spam email refers to a marketing email that has been sent without the permission of the recipient. Sending out emails to people who have not opted in to your email marketing service will most likely result in spam complaints.
 
Subject Line
 
The subject line plays an integral part in getting your subscribers to open your email newsletter. It is the first thing they read and gives them an idea what the correspondence is all about. When we put an email marketing campaign together we like to use the mantra of KISS for our clients' subject lines: Keep It Short and Simple.
 
Targeted Emailing
 
Targeted emailing means that a certain group of your subscribers receives a very specific newsletter with content that matches certain preferences or attributes. An example could be sending a mailer out to people who have stayed in a specific room or have booked tickets for a specific annual event whom you would like to invite back. Generally, those targeted email-marketing campaigns achieve a much higher open and click rate then general mail-outs as the content matches the subscriber profile.
 
Unsubscribe
 
When a person unsubscribes from your list, it means that the contact no longer wishes to receive any email marketing campaigns from you or your company. This should always be respected otherwise it could turn into spam complaints.
 
We hope our little guide on the most commonly used email marketing terminology has made the prospect of sending out your first email newsletter less daunting.