Email Marketing

Email Marketing is a highly effective digital marketing strategy of sending emails to prospects and customers. Effective marketing emails convert prospects into customers, and turn one-time buyers into loyal, raving fans. It remains one of the channels with the highest ROI because it allows for direct, personalized communication with an audience that has already expressed interest in your brand. Modern email marketing focuses on segmentation, automation, and providing value rather than just 'blasting' a list.

17 Expert Definitions

Key Email Marketing Concepts

Browse our comprehensive dictionary of email marketing terms. Click on any term to get a deep dive into its meaning and practical application.

Open Rate

Open rate is the percentage of delivered emails that register at least one open event. It can indicate subject line and sender recognition performance, but it h...

#ctr#deliverability#subjectline

Click-Through Rate (Email)

Email click-through rate (CTR) is the share of delivered emails that generated at least one link click, typically measured as Unique Clicks / Delivered x 100. C...

#openrate#conversionrate#calltoactioncta

Deliverability

Deliverability is the ability of legitimate email to reach the inbox instead of being filtered to spam, blocked, or deferred. It is shaped by sender reputation,...

#emaillist#spamcomplaintrate#senderreputation

Bounce Rate (Email)

Email bounce rate is the percentage of sent messages that fail delivery. Hard bounces indicate permanent issues, such as invalid addresses, and should be suppre...

#deliverability#emaillist#hardbounce

Spam Complaint Rate

Spam complaint rate is the percentage of delivered emails marked as spam by recipients. It matters because complaint spikes quickly damage sender reputation and...

#deliverability#emaillist#senderreputation

Email List

An email list is a permission-based audience of contacts who have agreed to receive communication from your brand. List quality is more important than list size...

#deliverability#audiencesegmentation#leadmagnet

Lead Magnet

A lead magnet is a free resource offered in exchange for contact details, usually an email address. It matters because list growth quality depends on relevance,...

#emaillist#conversionrate#userintent

Automation Sequence

An automation sequence is a set of emails triggered by user behavior or lifecycle events, such as signup, purchase, inactivity, or trial expiration. Sequences i...

#aiworkflowautomation#conversionrate#customerjourneymap

Personalization

Email personalization is tailoring content, timing, and offers to each subscriber using profile data and behavioral signals. Effective personalization goes beyo...

#audiencesegmentation#automationsequence#conversionrate

Unsubscribe Rate

Unsubscribe rate is the percentage of delivered emails that result in opt-outs, calculated as Unsubscribes / Delivered x 100. Some churn is normal, but sustaine...

#emaillist#spamcomplaintrate#deliverability

Email Authentication

Email authentication refers to technical protocols (SPF, DKIM, DMARC) that verify the identity of email senders and prevent spoofing and phishing attacks. SPF (...

#deliverability#senderreputation#emailauthentication

DNS Records

DNS records in email marketing are configuration entries that verify sending identity and improve inbox trust. The most important are SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, whic...

#emailauthentication#deliverability#technicalseo

Hard Bounce

A hard bounce is a permanent email delivery failure caused by invalid, non-existent, or blocked recipient addresses. Unlike temporary delivery issues, hard boun...

#bouncerateemail#deliverability#emaillist

List Cleaning

List cleaning is the process of removing or suppressing low-quality contacts from an email database to protect deliverability and improve engagement quality. It...

#emaillist#deliverability#bouncerateemail

Sender Reputation

Sender reputation is the credibility score mailbox providers implicitly assign to your sending domain and infrastructure based on historical behavior. It is inf...

#deliverability#emailauthentication#spamcomplaintrate

Soft Bounce

A soft bounce is a temporary email delivery failure caused by short-term issues such as a full mailbox, server timeout, message size limits, or transient receiv...

#bouncerateemail#deliverability#emaillist

Subject Line

A subject line is the first text users evaluate in their inbox to decide whether an email deserves attention. It sets expectation, communicates relevance, and s...

#openrate#clickthroughrateemail#personalization

Frequently Asked Questions

How can I improve my email open rates?

Focus on crafting compelling subject lines, optimizing the 'preview text', and ensuring your 'From' name is recognizable. A/B testing different subject lines is the most effective way to find what works.

What is the ideal frequency for marketing emails?

The ideal frequency depends on your audience and industry. For many B2B companies, once a week is standard, while e-commerce brands may send 2-3 times per week. Always prioritize value over frequency.

Why are my emails going to the spam folder?

Common reasons include poor sender reputation, lack of SPF/DKIM/DMARC authentication, using 'spammy' trigger words, or having a high complaint rate from users.

VibeMarketing: AI Marketing Platform That Actually Understands Your Business

Stop guessing and start growing. Our AI-powered platform provides tools and insights to help you grow your business.

Get Free Audit and Recommendations

No credit card required • 2-minute setup • Free SEO audit included