False Positive

A legitimate email that is mistakenly filtered as spam.

Feedback Loops
Also: FBL

Program used by the ISPs to inform email marketers which recipients report their emails as spam so the marketers can remove them from their lists.

Footer
Also: Message Footer

The area of the bottom of the email template that remains consistent across multiple campaigns, such as contact information.

FSP
Full Service Provider

An ESP that also provides additional services, such as consulting or creative design.

FTAF
Forward to a Friend

The act a recipient takes by forwarding an email onto a group of friends, partners, colleagues, and business associates.  Many ESPs offer a feature that automatically places a button at the bottom of each email so recipients can easily forward the email.  This allows the email marketer to track the forwards through the email software and ensures the formatting remains in place.

Goodbye Message

An event triggered message that is sent automatically when a subscriber unsubscribes, acknowledging the request.

Hard Bounce

Email message that is undeliverable because of an erroneous address, closed account, or other permanent cause.

Header
Also: Message Header

The area at the top of the email template that contains routing and program data, including sender’s name and email address, the IP addresses for the sender and recipient, and any transfers in the process.

Header Sender Address

The email address that the sender types into the "From" or "Sender" field that is displayed to the user.

House List

The list of subscribers that a company builds on its own.

HTML Message

An email message that contains formatting, such as graphics, logos, colors, special fonts, etc.

Hygiene
Also: List Hygiene

The process of correcting mistakes on a house list – such as jim@alo.com or jim@aolcom, and removing invalid or outdated information.

IMAP
Internet Message Access Protocol

The standard protocol for accessing email through a server.

Impression

A single page view by one person.

IP Address

The unique number assigned to each computer or device connected to the Internet.

ISP
Internet Service Provider

Company, such as AOL, that provides access to the Internet.  Nearly all ISPs are also ESPs.

Label

A textual identifier placed within an email message, such as the subject line, that describes a characteristic of the message.

Landing Page
Also: Splash Page, Click Page, Microsite, Bounce Page

The web page that is linked to the email’s call to action button.  The landing page should be optimized to reconfirm the email’s messaging and to make it as easy as possible for the subscriber to complete the call to action.

Linkrot

The term applied to outdated links that are no longer valid, such as when a landing page is removed from a site.

List Hygiene
Also: Hygiene

The process of correcting mistakes on a house list – such as jim@alo.com or jim@aolcom, and removing invalid or outdated information.

List Management

Administration of all tasks related to maintaining an organized, up-to-date house list.

LTV
Lifetime Value

The expected profit gained from each customer over the entire length of the relationship.  Marketers use the customers’ past behavior to forecast expected retention and spending rate.

Mail Loop

The communication sent between two email servers when a misconfigured email triggers an auto response.

Metrics

Term used to refer to message statistics such as open and click-through tracking, number of bounces, number of unsubscribes, etc.

Multi-part MIME

Email message format that contains both HTML and plain text versions in the same message.

MX
Mail Exchange Record
Also: Mailhost, Mailhub, Post Office

A machine that receives and sends email.

.NET

A seamlessly interoperable and web-enabled interface for applications and computing devices from Microsoft that will make computing activities increasingly web browser-oriented.

Nth Name
Also: A/B Split Test

Test situation where email marketer creates two different campaigns and emails them out to a test group (10% of subscribers).  The marketer than carefully tracks the results and sends the remainder of the list the email campaign that achieved the best performance.

NSP
Network Service Provider

A company that provides backbone services to an ISP.

Open Rate

The total number of recipients that opened the email message divided by the total number of emails sent.  Does not account for messages that were sent but not delivered.

Open Relay

An SMTP server that relays messages from any Internet address.

Opt-In

A proactive request by a subscriber to join a mailing list.

Opt-Out

A proactive request by a subscriber to have his or her email address removed from a mailing list.

Pass-Along

An email recipient who received a forwarded email message from someone subscribed to a mailing list.

Personalization

The act of individualizing bulk email messages by adding tailored information, such as the recipient’s first name, to the subject line and message body. 

Phishing

Authentic looking emails that falsely request personal information, such as credit card or bank account numbers, that are used by scammers for identify theft.   

Plain Text Message

An email that contains no formatting code.

POP
Post Office Protocol

The protocol used by an email client to send or receive messages from an email server.

Preferences

Personalized information on each member of a house list, such as favorite products, that email marketers can use to create targeted email campaigns.

Preview Pane

The window in an email client that allows recipients to scan messages without opening them.

Privacy Policy

The legal text on a website stating in clear terms how the company will use subscribers’ email addresses, particularly the statement that they company will not sell or distribute subscribers’ personal information to a third party.