12 Email Marketing Terms Every Marketer Should Know

12 Email Marketing Terms Every Marketer Should Know

12 Email Marketing Terms Every Marketer Should Know

In the ever-evolving world of email marketing, twelve industry leaders, including CMOs and founders, share their insights on terms that can make a significant difference in your campaigns. From the strategic use of A/B testing for email success to the importance of email list hygiene practices, this article unveils the less-common email marketing knowledge that can set you apart. Discover why these terms matter and how they can enhance your marketing strategy.

  • A/B Testing
  • CAN-SPAM Act
  • Graymail
  • Honeypots
  • Personalization Tokens
  • List Churn
  • Parasite Emails
  • Cost per Mile
  • Bacn
  • Permission Marketing
  • Throttling
  • Email List Hygiene

A/B Testing

A/B testing, or split testing, is becoming a less-used and more obscure email marketing term, given the rise and incorporation of AI, but I believe it’s one more marketers need to know and utilize.

It’s a vital tool for improving and optimizing your email marketing results. Whether you’re testing list segmentation responsiveness, subject line strength, or click-through button text, it’s an excellent tool to test the strength of arguably every part of your email marketing strategy and increase your chances of success.

Robert FoneyRobert Foney
CMO, Healthmetryx , Inc.


CAN-SPAM Act

The CAN-SPAM Act is a less commonly known yet vital piece of legislation for every marketer to understand. Standing for “Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act,” this U.S. law sets rules for commercial emails, establishing requirements for commercial messages and giving recipients the right to stop any emails from being sent to them.

Understanding this law isn’t just about legal compliance; it’s about respect for your audience’s boundaries and earning their trust. Ignorance of CAN-SPAM can lead to costly fines, but more importantly, it can damage your brand’s reputation.

Understanding CAN-SPAM also allows for more effective email marketing strategies. The law requires all commercial emails to include a clear and noticeable unsubscribe link, allowing recipients to easily opt out of future emails. By giving your audience this choice, you are showing respect for their time and preferences, resulting in a more engaged and loyal subscriber base.

Tristan HarrisTristan Harris
Demand Generation Senior Marketing Manager, Thrive Digital Marketing Agency


Graymail

One less common email marketing term that warrants more attention is graymail. Not to be confused with spam, graymail refers to legitimate emails that a recipient has opted to receive but doesn’t engage with, either due to lack of interest or overwhelming volume. Graymail can hurt a campaign’s overall performance metrics and deliverability because email providers may begin to categorize these messages as low-value or spammy.

By monitoring and managing graymail, marketers can improve their email performance and ensure their content reaches the inboxes of engaged and interested recipients.

Justin ColeJustin Cole
President and SEO Strategist, Tested Media


Honeypots

A term not many email marketers talk about, but should know, is honeypot. Think of it like a decoy email address that anti-spam groups set up. When a spammer finds and emails this address, they get tagged as a spammer. This is important because if you’re not careful about where you get your email addresses from, you could be at risk. Maybe you got a fake email from a bot, swapped lists with someone, or grabbed emails from websites. That’s where you might accidentally hit a honeypot.

Though honeypots are mainly for catching spammers, they can be used for other stuff too. Sometimes they’re old email accounts that aren’t active anymore. If a spammer sends to these, they get flagged. But honeypots aren’t all about trapping bad guys. They can actually help with security. They’re like lookouts, spotting troublemakers on networks.

Honeypots give email marketers information they can use and act like an early alert system. They come in various types, all aiming to spot and stop problems before your network or systems get hit.

Alan RedondoAlan Redondo
Founder, Ardoz Digital


Personalization Tokens

From my perspective, personalization tokens are a lesser-known email marketing term that deserves more attention. These are dynamic placeholders in emails that automatically insert individualized information, like the recipient’s name or location.

Personalization tokens make emails feel more tailored and engaging. Marketers should use them creatively to boost open rates and click-through rates. When subscribers see their name in the subject line or content, it grabs their attention, fostering a sense of connection and relevance.

Danielle RobertsDanielle Roberts
Co Founder, Boomer Benefits


List Churn

We send emails (as newsletters) to our audience, and the less-common term that most marketers don’t know is List Churn. List churn measures the rate at which subscribers join and leave your email list over time.

This term is important because it highlights the need to maintain a healthy email list by continually adding engaged subscribers and removing inactive or disinterested ones. High list churn can negatively impact email engagement and deliverability.

Bhavik SarkhediBhavik Sarkhedi
Growth Head and CMO, Content Whale


Parasite Emails

I have been using this term as it relates to parasite SEO. It is when a business pays another, larger company with a bigger subscriber list to include them as part of their email campaign. Normally, you would go with a similar industry so that the business’s offering fits the rest of the email content they are sending.

Jeff MichaelJeff Michael
Ecommerce Business Owner, Supplement Warehouse


Cost per Mile

Cost per Mile (CPM) doesn’t involve the expense of transporting goods or people over a distance—well, not in the email marketing realm, at least. Here, the term refers to the cost of sending a thousand emails. Or, in marketing generally, it stands for the cost of one thousand impressions or views of a particular advertisement.

CPM empowers email marketers to evaluate the cost efficiency of their campaigns on a per-thousand-email basis, providing insights into the overall cost structure. This, in turn, enhances the precision of budget planning and cost estimation, helping allocate resources in a well-informed way.

Moreover, CPM can also be useful for comparing the cost of email campaigns with other advertising channels that use CPM as a pricing model. And these are good reasons for email marketers to know the term and use it as a metric in evaluating their campaigns.

Nina PaczkaNina Paczka
Community Manager, Resume Now


Bacn

Bacn (pronounced like “bacon”) is a less common but important email marketing term. It refers to non-spam emails that, while not entirely unsolicited, can flood a user’s inbox. The term highlights the challenge of finding the right balance between email frequency and relevance.

Marketers need to understand that such emails are often the result of user interactions with websites, subscriptions, or services. It’s crucial for marketers to focus on delivering content that is not only expected but also relevant and valuable to enhance engagement and prevent irritation among recipients.

By recognizing and addressing Bacn, marketers can refine their strategies, improve audience segmentation, and ensure their emails are seen as welcome content in inboxes, thus building positive relationships and boosting email engagement and deliverability.

Brad FilliponiBrad Filliponi
Co-Founder, BoxBrownie.com


Permission Marketing

The term permission marketing is one that more marketers need to know.

I’ve seen a lot of other terms like “inbound marketing,” “content marketing,” and “social media marketing.” Those are all great terms, but they aren’t the ones that can help you get more conversions out of your email campaigns.

While those other types of marketing might be great for getting more people to your website or social media pages, they don’t necessarily help you convert those visitors into paying customers.

Permission marketing is different because it focuses on giving people who have already expressed interest in your product something they want—and then asking them if they want more.

Looking to increase engagement with your email campaigns? I recommend using permission marketing. It’s easier than ever today because there are so many tools available that make it easy for anyone to set up their own permission-based email list with little effort and even less cost!

Mac SteerMac Steer
Owner and Director, Simify


Throttling

Throttling is a term in email marketing that’s really important for all email marketers to understand. It’s when you send out emails in large batches, not all at once. This helps ensure more emails actually reach people.

When I use throttling, I send emails in groups over time. This way, it doesn’t overwhelm email servers, and it reduces the chance of emails being marked as spam. It’s important because it helps make sure more people actually see our emails. Sending too many emails at once can cause problems, like bouncing back or getting blocked.

By spreading out the sending, we can monitor how well the emails are performing and make adjustments if needed. This strategy really helps improve the chances of our emails being read, which is key in email marketing.

Precious AbacanPrecious Abacan
Marketing Director, Softlist


Email List Hygiene

Email List Hygiene is a less common but crucial term in email marketing. It refers to regularly cleaning and maintaining your email subscriber list by removing invalid or disengaged addresses. This practice is vital for several reasons.

Keeping a clean list enhances your sender reputation and ensures your emails reach the inbox.

Removing inactive contacts saves money on email marketing services. Cleaning your list leads to higher engagement and open rates as you target a more responsive audience, and it also helps meet GDPR and CAN-SPAM Act requirements by respecting user preferences.

Remember, clean lists provide accurate data for better targeting and content relevance.

Lenna ZitterLenna Zitter
Founder, Magellanic Digital


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How Email Marketing Can Drive Traffic to Your Blog

How Email Marketing Can Drive Traffic to Your Blog

How Email Marketing Can Drive Traffic to Your Blog

Twelve industry leaders, from founders to CEOs, have shared their exclusive tips on using email marketing to drive blog traffic. From curating weekly roundup emails to gaining insights from competitors’ emails, discover a spectrum of proven strategies that can transform your email campaigns into traffic-generating machines.

  • Curate Weekly Roundup Emails
  • Leverage Trending Topics
  • Intrigue with Teaser Snippets
  • Segment Audience for Festive Promos
  • Craft Relevant Conversational Emails
  • Share Unique Content Snippets
  • Feature Blog Content with Direct Links
  • Optimize Newsletter Timing
  • Engage with Email Series
  • Offer Helpful Advice, Avoid Sales Pitches
  • Personalize for Clear Email Messages
  • Gain Insights from Competitors’ Emails

Curate Weekly Roundup Emails

One highly effective email marketing strategy I’ve used for my personal finance blog is to send a weekly roundup email that summarizes and links to my best content from the past week.

The key is to make the email valuable to subscribers by curating only my most useful articles and insights. I craft attention-grabbing yet informative subject lines to get readers to open the email. Within the email, I include 3-5 brief summaries of blog posts, each with an eye-catching title and 1-2 sentences summarizing the key takeaways.

This works well because it provides readers with a convenient way to catch up on my latest content in one place. According to my email metrics, the weekly roundup has one of the highest open and click-through rates of any email I send. Many readers have told me they look forward to receiving it in their inbox each week. This email strategy has been a core part of growing my audience and traffic over the past year.

Brian MeiggsBrian Meiggs
Founder, My Millennial Guide


Leverage Trending Topics

Capitalizing on trending topics related to your niche is an effective strategy. For instance, if you run a tech blog and there’s a buzz about the latest iPhone, writing a comprehensive review or a related article and promoting it in your newsletter can be beneficial.

This strategy works because people are actively searching for that topic, and when they see an email related to it, they’re more likely to click through to read. I’ve used this tactic many times, and it consistently drives high traffic to my blog. The key here is relevance—your topic must resonate with your audience’s current interests.

David Rubie-ToddDavid Rubie-Todd
Co-Founder and Marketing Head, Sticker It


Intrigue with Teaser Snippets

One effective tactic I use is including “teaser” snippets of my latest blog content in email newsletters. For example, I’ll take an interesting excerpt from a new post—two to three sentences maximum—and feature it in a prominent callout box. This piques readers’ interest without giving everything away.

I’ll include a strong CTA, like “Finish reading this post on our blog,” with a link to drive clicks to the full article. Segmenting my list allows me to tailor content previews to subscriber interests for higher engagement. Using this teaser copy in dedicated blog promo emails, as well as in my regular newsletters, boosts traffic.

Over time, I’ve discovered my most compelling hook sentences that spur readers to click through. This strategy has become a reliable channel for driving newsletter subscribers to visit and share my blog posts. Dialing in on intriguing content previews helps turn email followers into blog readers.

Vikrant ShauryaVikrant Shaurya
CEO, Authors On Mission


Segment Audience for Festive Promos

At Connect Vending, we use audience segmentation to share curated, conversational, and bite-sized information through email marketing for maximum impact. The goal is to impress the reader adequately and encourage them to find more information about the topic with a clear CTA that takes them to the blog.

For example, as the festive season sets in, we initiate email campaigns giving a sneak peek into the best snacks and drinks to add to the workplace and invite readers to view our top picks on our website blogs. This approach has helped us build sustained interest in many festival season offerings and products.

Sam RobertsSam Roberts
Digital Marketing Manager, Connect Vending


Craft Relevant Conversational Emails

Emails and newsletters are an essential part of my content distribution strategy. I have seen the most engaged traffic coming to the blog via email. Therefore, when planning the content schedule and topics, I keep relevance at the top of my mind. This way, I can discuss these topics in the email content and make it conversational, not forced.

When creating blog content, I ensure that some of the blog articles are in-depth, comprehensive, and evergreen. I can redirect traffic to these blog posts even months or years after publishing. The frequent visitors of the blog can use these as guides, and new users are immediately directed to the most popular and insightful posts.

Another part of the blog content is extremely timely—must-read at that point. Users know to expect these types of posts and look forward to the emails to read the latest ones.

Merilyn UudmaeMerilyn Uudmae
Content Manager, Teamdash


Share Unique Content Snippets

Whenever I publish a new blog post, I send a short snippet to my email subscribers. In this snippet, I tell them what we’re discussing in our article, how our article is unique, and what they can take away from it. Think of it as a 50-word blog post.

This plays out in two ways: The reader either wants to learn more, so they view our full blog post, or they read our email snippet, gain some knowledge from it, and we build a reputation in the reader’s mind as an authority.

This only works if the content you’re publishing is truly unique and helpful, but personally, I drove over 5,000 unique visitors to my blog with this email marketing approach.

Scott LiebermanScott Lieberman
Owner, Touchdown Money


Feature Blog Content with Direct Links

Highlighting blog content can be a powerful way to drive traffic to our blog via email marketing. We try to regularly feature our blog content in our emails by using teasers or summaries to pique interest and include prominent links that direct readers to the full blog posts on our website. Direct links are key, as they encourage our customers to click on them and explore.

Adding social sharing buttons in the emails makes it easy for subscribers to share our blog content on their social networks. This extends the reach of our blog beyond our email list, which means more eyes on your content.

Renan FerreiraRenan Ferreira
Head of Communications and Director of Sales, RealCraft


Optimize Newsletter Timing

Sending newsletters at the right time is very important in email marketing and is key to effectively driving traffic to your blog. I’ve learned that when and how often you send emails really matters for your newsletter’s success. You don’t want to fill up your subscribers’ inboxes too much—they’re already busy. If you send too many newsletters, people might start unsubscribing fast.

With the “right timing,” ‌sending emails between 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m. usually gets the most people opening them. But the best time can be different for different audiences. So, I recommend monitoring how your newsletter is doing. This means checking when people open your emails and click on links in them.

Keep track of these rates and adjust your sending times as your audience gets bigger. This helps make sure more people are reading and clicking even as you get more subscribers.

Alan RedondoAlan Redondo
Founder, Ardoz Digital


Engage with Email Series

Break up your emails into different parts or series, each with different information. The first part can be a quick introduction to the blog; the second can detail what they will gain from the blog; the third part can explain why they should read it; and so on. Three to four parts should be sufficient.

This strategy has worked wonderfully for us in increasing the number of visitors to our blogs. Customers might ignore a standalone email, but with a series of emails, there’s a higher chance they’ll open them to see what they’re about. Sending each email at a certain interval ensures they’re not forgotten. Just make sure the title is intriguing and generates curiosity about what they will receive and why, so they know it’s to their benefit, and include the link to the blog.

Ravi SharmaRavi Sharma
Founder and CEO, Webomaze


Offer Helpful Advice, Avoid Sales Pitches

When sending emails, provide helpful advice and avoid focusing on sales pitches. On your blog, share DIY tips and a wealth of information about your niche to attract traffic. Optimize your blog content for SEO to attract more traffic, shares, reposts, and backlinks.

Tammy SonsTammy Sons
CEO, TN Nursery


Personalize for Clear Email Messages

My pro tip for effective email marketing is to ensure the clarity of the message within a personalized framework.

We must understand that our customers have limited time, so our message should be concise and impactful. In reinventing our partners’ email campaigns, we blend interactive elements, such as countdowns, with brand-aligned graphic designs, ensuring responsiveness across various platforms.

We have also integrated multilingual adaptations, respecting language variations, including reading directions, characters, and more. This strategy has proven itself by providing a more personal experience, engaging customers in their next discovery on our partners’ websites.

Gabriel KaamGabriel Kaam
CEO, KNR Agency


Gain Insights from Competitors’ Emails

Subscribing to your competitors’ emails is a specific tip for using email marketing to drive traffic to your blog. At TechNews, this strategy has provided incredible insights. By tracking their topics, frequency, automation strategies, and other features, you get a clear picture of what works in your industry. It’s akin to being a friendly spy, allowing you to see firsthand what engages their audience and then adapt those strategies to fit your unique style and content.

This approach has proven quite successful. Observing our competitors has allowed us to refine our email content, making it more relevant and engaging. We’ve adjusted our sending frequency based on what resonates with similar audiences, which has increased our email open rates and significantly boosted traffic to our blog. It’s a simple yet effective way to stay competitive and ensure your email marketing is as effective as possible.

Neil Hodgson-CoyleNeil Hodgson-Coyle
COO, TechNews180


Submit Your Answer

Would you like to submit an alternate answer to the question, “Give one specific tip for using email marketing to drive traffic to your blog. How has this tip proven successful to you?”

Submit your answer here.

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