[Edit] Digital Marketing Terms

Banner Ad

An advertisement that appears on a Web page, most commonly at the top (header) or bottom (footer) of the page. Designed to have the user click on it for more information (see Microsite)

Blacklisted

A blacklisted notice means that the message may not have been delivered due to be flagged on one of the major lists that keep tabs of known spammers. Different ISPs use different blacklists to block mailings from being delivered to their clients. It can be a temporary ban or a permanent one, depending upon the list.

Blocked

A blocked notice means that the message did not get through due to being considered spam by the subscriber’s ISP. This may be due to being on a blacklist or because the message contains a domain that is already being blocked.

Blog

Shortened from “web log” a blog is a user-generated Web site where entries are made in journal style and displayed in a reverse chronological order.

Campaign

A campaign is a specific message being sent to a specific group of recipients.

CAN-SPAM Act of 2003

The CAN SPAM ACT is a series of federal laws that must be followed by all email marketers. Those found in violation of the laws can be subjected to major penalties. For more information, go to http://www.spamlaws.com/federal/index.shtml

Click Through

The number of times people clicked on the links in your message. This is often referred to as CTR (Click Through Rate). Note: you must have enabled click through tracking in the campaign in order for this to be recorded.

Digital Brand Engagement

Brand and consumer interaction through the Internet. This includes all aspects of dialogue through the social web and on the brand's own website.

DMA Market

DMA stands for Designated Market Area, which is often associated with the entertainment industry. DMAs are usually counties (or sometimes split counties) that contain a large population that can be targeted, such as New York City, Los Angeles or Chicago.

Email Service Provider (ESP)

Outside companies like mobileStorm that send bulk emails on behalf of their clients to prevent their messages as being labeled as spam or blocked entirely.

False Positives

Legitimate messages being labeled as “spam” Can cost companies potentially millions in potential lost revenue if not dealt with correctly.

GPRL

The Global Permanent Removal List consists of records that are automatically removed from a particular database. Almost all email service providers (ESP) or multi-channel messaging companies maintain these lists for their clients.

Instant Messaging

Instant messaging (often shortened to IM) is a type of communications service that enables you to create a kind of private chat room with another individual in order to communicate in real time over the Internet.

Keywords

Used in conjunction with SMS messages. A user types a short code and matching keyword in order to be added to a mobile club or database.

Microsite

A mini Web site design to promote a specific portion or brand from a larger corporate site. Used often with contests or as a landing page for a specific promotion.

Open Rate

This is a ratio determined by the number of people who opened your email against the total number of people to whom you sent the message. Typically, this number will be low for large campaigns and higher for more targeted campaigns.

Opt-In List

Email marketers have databases of subscribers to their newsletters, featuring these subscribers' email addresses and names. Such a list is known as an opt-in list (and is thus CAN-SPAM compliant; see above for info on the CAN-SPAM act) because users choose to receive the emails. This is in contrast to spam email, which is unsolicited.

Personalization

Personalization gives you the ability to create a customized message for each person in your database. Can be addressed by first/last name, city, state, zip, etc.

RSS

RSS or Real Simple Syndication is technology designed to allow users to subscribe to a specific content feed and be automatically alerted when new updates are available.

RSS Reader

Application used to subscribe and monitor selected RSS content feeds.

Short Code

A short code is a 5 digit number that is used to send and respond to text messages. They can either be a random set of numbers or a “vanity” number tied to a specific brand or number pattern.

SMS

SMS (Short Message Service) is a one-way text message sent via a cell phone. It is usually received via the subscribers' text message inbox on their cell phone and can be a maximum of 160 characters per message.

Social Bookmarking

Social Bookmarking is a popular way to store, classify, share and search links that are combined into a single site for easy access.

Spam

An email message that is unwanted by the recipient. Legitimate emails can sometimes be incorrectly identified as spam and is a growing problem.

Streaming Technologies

Communication channel such as video and audio that is accessed online. Can be a pre-stored clip to access as well as a live feed that is streamed like an online broadcast.

Subscriber

A person who signs up to receive messages from a particular company or entity.

Targeting

Targeting allows you to send a message to people based on specific criteria from your subscriber database.

Voice Broadcast

Sending a pre-recorded voice messages to a large set of phone numbers at the time same. Can either be a voice call (meaning the recipient must answer the call for the message to play) or voice mail (meaning the message will play only if the recipient doesn’t answer )

Widget

A small graphical device that does a highly focused, often single, specific task. Web widgets can be embedded in web pages or run on the desktop of a PC (Windows or Mac) using software such as Apple's Dashboard software or Yahoo! Widgets Engine.