email terms

IPR

(Inbox Placement rate) the rate of emails that were delivered to the inbox as opposed to the junk and spam folders

JMR

(Junk Mail Reporting) Microsoft's feedback loop program

MTA

(Mail Transfer Agent) Programs that are responsible for routing and sometimes delivering mail

MUA

A Mail User Agent is a client application that allows users to send and retrieve email from their computers. (Thunderbird, Outlook etc.)

Blacklist

A compiled list of known spammers IP addresses.

List-Unsubscribe

A header that allows recipients to opt-out of a organization's messaging list.

Whitelist

A list of contacts that the user deems are acceptable to receive email from and therefore should not be filtered or sent to spam

Supression Filter

A list of email addresses you have removed from your regular mailing list.

Spam Filter

A mechanism used to identify spam email and keep it out of the recipient's inbox

Feedback Loop

A mechanism, process and signal that are looped back to control a system within itself. So that the senders can adjust their behavior.

Server

A program or computer system that stores and distributes email from one mailbox to another, or relays email from one server to another in a network

Preview Pane

A setting that desktop and webmail email clients offer that allow users to preview content without actually clicking on the message

IP Address

A signature of a computer connected to the internet, look up static and dynamic IP addresses for more information

Cloudmark

A spam filter company that uses a network of users as a feedback mechanism to identify and block spam.

X-header

A user defined header element that is injected into the header portion of the email message

Return Path

Also referred to as Bounce Address or envelope sender address, the address that a message came from. Opposed to the friendly from address

Block

An ISPs refusal to deliver mail that is often considered malicious to the recipient

MX Record

An Mail Exchange Record is a type of resource record in the Domain Name System (DNS) specifying how Internet e-mail should be routed using the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP).

Domain

An organizations registered name on the internet. Google.com SendGrid.com etc.

Spam

Bulk Unsolicited email

CAN-SPAM Act

Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003

Term

Definition

DKIM

Domain Keys Identified Mail is an identifier of the sender of an Email in its transit.

DNS

Domain Name System, An intermediary that takes a domain name and translates it to an IP for delivery. For more information look up SMTP

ECOA

Email Change of Address tracks email address changes and updates

Pristine Spam Traps

Email addresses that were never used. There is no chance that these emails were ever opted in

Recycled Spam Traps

Email addresses that were once used by a real person, later abandoned, and reactivated by ISPs and used to detect who is sending crap email

Re-engagement Campaingn

Email campaigns that seek to remove users that do not care to respond to emails. An attempt to win them back and get them engaging again. If not the email addresses are removed from their list

Inactives

Email recipients that have not responded or taken any action to your Emails within a long period of time.

Soft Bounce

Email sent to an active email address but is rejected from the receiving server

Delivered

Emails that have reached their destination without being bounced.

HTML Message

Emails that use HTML syntax and encoding.

Content Filters

Filters that sort Email from the words used within the Email itself.

List Rental

Frowned upon practice of sending emails on another companies behalf, SendGrid opposes this the same way it does list purchasing

Reciever

ISP or network that is accepting your email

Phishing

Identity theft where a link within an Email redirects to a fake website to trick customers to giving up their information

From Line

Indicates who the sender of an email is.

ISP

Internet Service Provider, a company that provides internet connectivity to its customers.

Bulk Mail

Mail that is automatically stored in a webmail or desktop email clean-SPAM Accent.

List Hygiene

Maintaining a Email list so that the addresses therein are active and happy

Opt-in

Means for companies to connect with their mailing list and finding who is willing to receive the Email.

Opt-out

Means for recipients of Emails to remove themselves from mailing lists.

Authentication

Means to track Email messages and prove legitimacy or forgery. examples being DKIM, Domain Keys, Sender ID, and SPF.

Hard Bounce

Messages sent to an invalid Email account (closed or non-existent)

BACN

Messages that have been sent with consent from subscribers but are often unread

SNDS

Microsoft provided service that gives senders data on mail sent to Hotmail addresses

List Fatigue

Overuse of a mailing list, causing diminishing returns

POP

Post Office Protocol is the method that programs retrieve mail from email servers.

Sender Policy Framework

Protocol used to eliminate email forgeries

Reputation

Sender reputation is comprised of domain and IP reputation, this is a sign of how well you work with others and whether receivers should trust you in the future

Greylisting

Servers that graylist reject Emails that are sent from contacts the server does not recognize. However on a legitimate attempt to resend the Email the servers will accept.

Read Rate

Similar to open rate however read rate is generally more accurate since read rate is not dependent on image downloads

Postmaster

The Person who manages mail servers at an organization

Segment

The ability to slice a list into specific pieces determined by various attributes, such as open history or opt-in source

Open Rate

The amount of mail opened in relation to all the mail sent.

Reply-to addresses

The email address that received messages sent from users who click reply in their email clients

Infrastructure

The hardware used to deployed by an ESP

Sender Id

The informal name for anti-spam program that combines Sender Policy Framework and Caller ID

List Purchase

The practice of buying a mailing list, this is legal but not accepted by ESPs as it is spam

Spoofing

The practice of changing the sender's name in an email to look as though it came from another address

Throttling

The practice of regulating how many email messages a broadcaster needs to send to one ISP or mail server at the same time.

rDNS

The process in which an IP address is match correctly to a domain name, this is a precaution to catch spammers

Subscribe

The process of joining a mailing list

Email Client

The program that reads and sends email messages, not to be confused with an Email Server which transports Email without human interaction.

Click-Through Rate

The ratio of links clicked within an email to the total number of recipients of an Email.

Click-to-Open Rate

The ratio of unique click-troughs on a link or links within an email to the total number of unique opens of the email

Complaint Rate

The ratio of unique complaints to an Email to the total number of recipients of an Email.

Deliverablity

The success rate of an Email getting to its destination.

Transational Mail

Transactional messages defined under CAN-SPAM as any email "facilitating, completing or confirming a previously agreed upon transaction.

Email Service Provider

Us! an Email service provider delivers bulk Email on behalf of their clients

Responsive Design

Using a CSS3 coding technique called media queries, Responsive allows your email to automatically reformat, resize, and optimize itself based on screen size.

Above The Fold

Wording of Email that is visible before the receiver opens the message.

Domain Keys

an Email identification system that allows DNS servers to verify the DNS location of an Email's sender

SMTP

server to server mail transfer protocol.