📖 Email Marketing Glossary

SPF (Sender Policy Framework)

DNS record listing which servers are allowed to send email for your domain.

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)

Cryptographic signature that proves an email actually came from your domain and wasn't tampered with.

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance)

Policy telling receiving servers what to do when email fails SPF or DKIM checks.

GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)

EU privacy law requiring explicit consent before adding people to marketing email lists.

CAN-SPAM Act

US law setting basic rules for commercial email (unsubscribe link, accurate sender info).

Personalization

Customizing email content per recipient using their data (name, history, preferences).

Merge Tags / Liquid Variables

Placeholders in email content that get replaced with subscriber-specific values at send time.

Preheader Text

The preview text that appears after the subject line in the inbox.

Subject Line

The headline of the email — first thing recipients see in the inbox.

IP Warmup

Gradually increasing email volume from a new IP address to build sender reputation.

Dedicated IP

An IP address used only by your email sending, not shared with other senders.

Sender Reputation

Score assigned by ISPs to your IP and domain based on past sending behavior.

Transactional Email

Automated one-to-one emails triggered by user actions (receipts, password resets, notifications).

SMTP Relay

A third-party service that sends email on behalf of your app or server.

ESP (Email Service Provider)

The platform that sends and manages your marketing emails.

Double Opt-In

Requiring subscribers to confirm via a link in a verification email before being added.

Single Opt-In

Adding subscribers to your list immediately after they submit a signup form, no confirmation step.

List Hygiene

Practice of keeping your email list clean by removing inactive, invalid, or risky subscribers.

Open Rate

Percentage of delivered emails that recipients opened (loaded the tracking pixel).

Click-Through Rate (CTR)

Percentage of delivered emails where the recipient clicked any link.

Bounce Rate

Percentage of sent emails that couldn't be delivered.

A/B Testing (Split Testing)

Sending two variations of an email to subsets of your list to see which performs better.

Deliverability

The percentage of sent emails that reach the inbox (vs spam folder or blocked).

Spam Score

Likelihood your email will be classified as spam by receiving servers.

Segmentation

Dividing your subscriber list into groups based on attributes or behavior.

Tagging

Labels attached to subscribers to track their interests, actions, or attributes.

Marketing Automation

Pre-built email sequences triggered by user behavior or time.

Drip Campaign

Time-based email sequence where each email follows the previous after a set delay.

Email Sequence

An ordered series of automated emails sent in response to a trigger.

Welcome Series

Automated sequence of emails sent to new subscribers immediately after they sign up.

Abandoned Cart Email

Automated email reminding shoppers who added items to cart but didn't complete checkout.