List management
Terms about keeping a recipient list accurate and lawful.
- Alias email
An extra address that delivers into an existing mailbox.
- Alternate email
A second address a person gives as a backup way to reach them.
- BCC
Blind carbon copy: recipients added in BCC receive the message without being shown to the others.
- Bounce rate
The percentage of sent messages that bounced.
- CAN-SPAM
The United States law that sets rules for commercial email, including honest headers, a postal address and a working opt-out.
- CASL
Canada’s Anti-Spam Legislation, which requires consent before you send commercial electronic messages.
- CCPA
The California Consumer Privacy Act, which gives California residents rights over personal information that businesses collect, including email addresses.
- Commercial email
A message whose primary purpose is to advertise or promote a product, service or business.
- Contact list
The set of people and addresses you send email to.
- CRM
Customer relationship management software that stores contacts and their interactions.
- CRM manager
The person responsible for the quality and structure of data in the CRM.
- Double opt-in
A signup process where the person confirms their address by clicking a link in a message you send after they subscribe.
- Email append
Adding missing email addresses to existing customer records by matching them against a data provider.
- Email bounce handling
The rules your system follows when a message bounces.
- Email capture
How you collect addresses: signup forms, checkout fields, popups, lead magnets and offline sign-up sheets.
- Email compliance
Following the laws and provider rules that apply to your email: consent, sender identification, opt-out and data protection.
- Email footer
The bottom block of a message with sender details, a postal address and an unsubscribe link.
- Email harvesting
Collecting addresses in bulk from websites and other public sources with automated programs.
- Email hygiene
The ongoing work of keeping a list accurate.
- Email import
Loading a list into a sending tool or CRM.
- Email laws
The main legal regimes that govern commercial email.
- Email lifecycle
The stages a contact moves through: subscribe, onboard, active, at risk, lapsed and win-back.
- Email list
A group of subscribers you send to, usually organised into lists, segments and tags.
- Email management
Handling the flow of email in a team or business, from shared inboxes and assignment to lists and sending accounts.
- Email migration
Moving mailboxes or lists from one provider or platform to another.
- Email policy
Written rules for how an organisation sends and handles email.
- Email preference center
A page where subscribers choose which messages they get and how often.
- Email segmentation
Splitting a list into groups so each gets messages that suit it.
- Feedback loop (FBL)
A service where a mailbox provider sends you a report each time one of its users marks your message as spam.
- GDPR
The EU General Data Protection Regulation, which governs how personal data, including email addresses, is collected and used.
- Google Sheets
Google’s online spreadsheet, commonly used to collect and share contact lists.
- List fatigue
A list losing its responsiveness over time as people age out, lose interest or get too much mail.
- List-Unsubscribe header
A message header that lets mail apps show an unsubscribe button next to your message.
- Opt-in
A person’s active agreement to receive your email.
- Opt-out
A person’s choice to stop receiving your email, or a system where you may send until they say stop.
- Primary email
The main address on an account or contact record.
- Reactivation email
A message aimed at contacts who have not engaged for a long time.
- Single opt-in
Adding a person to a list as soon as they submit their address, with no confirmation step.
- Suppression list
A list of addresses you must never send to: unsubscribes, hard bounces and complaints.
- Unsubscribe rate
The percentage of delivered messages that led to an unsubscribe.