Keep up with today’s new engagement marketing terminology

As the digital landscape evolves rapidly, so does the language of engagement marketing. Stay informed with this comprehensive glossary of the latest vocabulary.


A

Above the Fold: Marketing term for the portion of a message visible on a computer screen without scrolling down the page.

Accreditation: Third-party process of certifying a sender's email at accepted email receivers. Trusted sender programs include SenderScore by Return Path (formerly Bonded Sender), Goodmail and Habeas.

Advocate: Customer providing unpaid promotion for your organization, product or service.

Application Programming Interface (API): Interface that a computer system, library or application provides to allow other computer programs to make requests for services. The API allows data to be exchanged between services.

Approved Sender: An email sender that has been authorized by recipient to send messages. Typically, the recipient will approve the sender in their spam filters and/or email clients.

Authentication: Technology standard established to pinpoint the true identity of an email sender. Authentication verifies that a computer server, IP address and/or sender is authorized to send email from a specific domain. There are two levels of authentication: IP-level at the domain level, and Cryptographic at the message level.

Automated Campaign: Series of communications for which each entry cycle, step and lead route is automatically executed by predefined triggers.

Automated Feedback Loops: Technology used between large ISPs and ESPs to deliver user SPAM complaints to the email sender for removal/unsubscribing.


B

Behavior-based Segmentation: The process of dividing and targeting lists and triggering communications based on contact behaviors and history as well as firmagraphic and demographic information stored in a central marketing database.

Blacklist: Group of addresses, domains and IP addresses prevented from passing through spam filters established at ISPs. Users with bad sending habits or SPAM behaviors can end up on a blacklist.

Blog: Website containing an online personal journal; it may include reflections, comments and hyperlinks provided by the writer.


C

Campaign: Overall structure for organizing related resources and sending out a series of communications to a group of contacts meeting predetermined entry criteria.

Campaign Resources: All emails, surveys, microsites and direct mail pieces associated with a campaign, which are grouped together for the purpose of organization and analysis.

CAN-SPAM Act of 2003: (Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act) Law establishing requirements for those who send commercial email. It spells out penalties for spammers and companies whose products are advertised in spam if they violate the law, and gives consumers the right to ask emailers to stop spamming them.

Conditional Content: Text, images or other creative within a message that a contact may or may not receive depending on whether they match a designated set of criteria defined by the sender. Conditional content is best understood as a simple either / or relationship. Blocks of information are received if the contact meets a specified condition, and are not received if the contact does not meet the condition. If the contact does not match the condition, there is no default content.

Confirmed Opt-in: Stringent and best practice method of obtaining permission to send email campaigns. The sender must receive permission from the prospective recipient and then follow up with an email message that confirms the person has opted in. Confirmed opt-in benefits include immediately creating a good brand impression and verifying the validity of an email address before it can damage the sender’s deliverability.

CRM: (Customer Relationship Management) Software used primarily by sales to manage and maintain prospect and customer data.

Cryptographic Authentication: Method using the Domain Key technology, in which key pairs are generated by email senders (one pair in DNS and one pair in message header). Mailbox providers query DNS to ensure the key signature in the header matches the key in the DNS.


D

Dedicated IP Address: Internet address used solely by one company to send email.

Demand Generation: Process of providing a continuous flow of qualified leads to the sales team.

Domain: A particular organization's registered name on the Internet. For example, silverpop.com.

Domain Keys: Email authentication system designed to verify the DNS domain of an email sender and the message integrity.

Domain Name System (DNS): System that stores and associates many types of information with domain names and translates domain names (computer hostnames) to IP addresses. It also lists mail exchange servers accepting email for each domain.

Double Opt-in: Sign-up method that takes the confirmed opt-in one step further by requiring the recipient to confirm and then reaffirm that they want to receive emails from a sender. Only after they take this action is the double opt-in considered complete.

Dynamic Content: Section of content within a sender’s message that changes if the recipient matches a designated set of criteria, allowing the sender to personalize messages and better engage recipients.


E

Email Spoofing: Term used to describe fraudulent email activity in which the sender address and other parts of the email header are altered to appear as though the email originated from a different source. Email spoofing is a technique commonly used for spam email and phishing to hide a message’s origin. By changing certain properties of the email header, malicious users can make the email appear to be from someone other than the actual sender.

Engagement Marketing: Powerful marketing approach in which a company seeks to build deeper connections with customers and prospects through highly personalized one-to-one communications and interactions.

Enterprise Marketing Management: Software solutions designed to enable more effective and efficient marketing through the automation of activities, including data management and analytics, creative development, file sharing and operational execution.

ESP: (Email Service Provider) A company providing email services.


F

False Positive: A spam-filtering error occurring when a legitimate email message is wrongly classified as spam and is blocked from reaching the inbox.

Filter: (Includes ISP, Corporate and Client Filters) Email technology that catches unsolicited or SPAM email.

Frameset: Code used to display different HTML documents within the same browser window. Multiple frames enable Web-page designers to keep certain information visible while users navigate and scroll through the separate frames.


G

Grow: Marketing term used to define the process of building more profitable, long-term relationships by encouraging active customers to make repeat purchases.


H

Hard Bounce: Response that occurs when a server is not able to send an email. The most common example of a hard bounce is when the user doesn’t exist on that domain or the email has been blocked.


I

iFrame (Inline Frame): Coding used to embed a resource within a Web page. Known as “floating frames,” they can be positioned anywhere within a Web page with text wrapping around them.

Integration API: Interface allowing vendors and applications to extend and integrate with each other. Data is mapped and transferred between application systems.

Internet Protocol (IP) Address: Number that devices use to identify and communicate with each other on a computer network utilizing the Internet Protocol (IP) standard. Participating network devices include routers, computers, time-servers, printers, Internet fax machines, and some telephones.

IP-Level Authentication: Technology allowing an email recipient to verify that the received email was from an IP address authorized to send for that specific domain. It prevents someone from sending an email claiming to be someone else.

ISP (Internet Service Provider): A company providing Internet access for a fee.


L

Landing Page: Web page containing specific targeted content in correspondence to a marketing campaign.

Lead Management: Overall strategy for generating, scoring and nurturing leads from prospect to customer.

Lead Nurture: The process of identifying potential customers, initiating an exchange of information, and moving prospects through the sales cycle toward a purchase.

Lead Scoring: Ranking the qualification of leads according to their buying interest.

Lead-to-Sale Process: The entire marketing and sales funnel from inquiry generation to closed deal. Generally, it progresses as follows: inquiry > impressions > marketing qualified > sales accepted > sales qualified > closed deal.


M

Marketing Automation: Automating the entire marketing process, from campaign planning to execution to analysis. Usually technology is used to optimize the process.

Marketing Qualified: A term referring to the predefined set of criteria agreed on by both sales and marketing that a prospect must obtain prior to being passed to sales for follow-up.

Marketing Technology Provider: Organization with expertise in core technologies, communication channels and best practices that help businesses engage customers and prospects and build strong connections with them.

Message Transfer Agent (MTA): Technology responsible for delivering email messages. Upon receiving a message from a Mail User Agent or another MTA, the MTA stores it locally, temporarily analyzes the recipients, and either delivers it or routes it to another MTA. In either case, it may edit or add to the message headers. Servers responsible for high volume email delivery are a critical component of deliverability and should have features to support AAR (authentication, accreditation and reputation). The MTA also manages an appropriate sending speed, “throttling” to each domain/ISP based on real-time feedback, as well as handling bounce processing.

Microsite: Web page containing specific targeted content in correspondence to a marketing campaign.


N

Nurture: The process of identifying potential customers, initiating an exchange of information, and moving consumers or businesses through the buying cycle toward a purchase.


O

Opt-out: Action taken by an individual to stop receiving email from an organization.


P

Pay-Per-Click: Advertising technique used on Web sites, advertising networks and search engines. With search engines, pay-per-click advertisements are usually text ads placed near search results; when a site visitor clicks on the advertisement, the advertiser is charged a small amount. Variants include pay-for-placement and pay-for-ranking.

Permission-Based Marketing: Practice requiring an opt-in policy in which the customer or prospect selects the communications they wish to receive.

Phishing: Online criminal activity using social engineering techniques. "Phishers" attempt to fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as passwords and credit card details, by masquerading as a trustworthy person or business in an electronic communication. Phishing is typically carried out using email or an instant message.

Podcasting: Method of distributing multimedia files (e.g. audio or video programs) over the Internet using syndication feeds for playback on mobile devices and personal computers. The term, coined in 2004, combines "iPod," and "broadcasting."

Prospect: Business or individual with the potential to purchase from your organization.


R

Really Simple Syndication (RSS): Family of Web feed formats in which content providers publish a feed link on their Web sites that end users can register with an aggregator program running on their own machines. When instructed, the aggregator asks all the servers in its feed list if they have new content. If so, the aggregator either makes a note of the new content or downloads it.

Relationship Marketing: Method in which businesses consistently maintain two-way communication with their prospective, current and inactive customers to gain a deeper understanding of their needs while delivering personal and compelling marketing throughout their lifecycle.

Reputation: Online behavior-based method of verifying the amount and quality of email messages sent from a particular IP address and domain over a period of time. Based on the sender identity, ISP, recipient and third-party feedback, and list hygiene, it shows a company is a legitimate sender and can improve email deliverability.

Retain: Process of identifying and winning back inactive customers by re-engaging them.

Rules-Based Marketing: Automated marketing strategy in which predefined “if/then” rules guide the campaign and govern which information is sent when, which messages go to whom, which prospects or customers fall into which categories, and so on. The process allows marketers to deliver timely, relevant and consistent communications across multiple channels.


S

Sales Accepted: Classification of a prospect identified by Sales as worth contacting.

Sales Qualified: A prospect that has been entered by Sales into the pipeline.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM): Marketing method designed to increase the visibility of a website in search engine results pages.

Seed List: Group of people in a company who need to see a campaign or email when it goes "live" to the target audience.

Sender Policy Framework (SPF)/Sender ID: Form of authentication to force registration of approved sending IP addresses.

Shared IP Address: Multiple email communications sent from a single IP address for more than one company.

Single Opt-in: Sign-up method in which interested parties must check a box or click on a link to opt in to receive emails.

Soft Bounce: Response that occurs when a recipient’s mail server is temporarily unable to accept your email. This typically happens when the recipient’s mailbox is full or the mail server is unable to be reached and is not responding.

Spam: Unsolicited commercial email sent to a large number of addresses. In the CAN-SPAM act, spam stands for non-solicited pornography and marketing.

Standard Opt-in: Process requiring an active choice on the subscriber’s part to receive email communications.

Suspect: Business or individual having direct or indirect contact with an organization’s products or services, or that has purchased from or donated to an organization.


W

Web Service: Standardized way of integrating Web-based applications using the XML, SOAP, WSDL and UDDI open standards over an Internet protocol backbone.

Web Tracking: Technology that allows companies to track visits to their website and target communications to contacts based on the Web pages they have viewed.

White List: Group of accredited, trusted addresses, domains and IPs approved to pass through spam filters established at ISPs and corporate filters. White lists are used to reduce incidents of false positives and are often based on the assumption that most legitimate mail will be from a relatively small and fixed set of senders.