Plain-English definitions of the marketing operations, email deliverability, and RevOps terms that come up when you run a modern marketing program.
Bounce rate is the share of sent emails that could not be delivered. Hard bounces are permanent (an invalid address); soft bounces are temporary (a full mailbox or server issue). Rising bounces signal list-quality problems and hurt sender reputation.
Click-through rate is the share of delivered or opened emails in which a recipient clicked a link. It is a more trustworthy engagement metric than open rate and a leading indicator of conversions.
Conversion rate is the share of recipients who took the goal action after a campaign — a signup, purchase, or demo request. Unlike opens and clicks, it ties email directly to business outcomes.
A dedicated sending domain is a domain or subdomain you authenticate and use to send your email, separating your reputation from shared infrastructure. Combined with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, it is the foundation of deliverability you control.
Warming is gradually increasing send volume on a new sending domain or IP so mailbox providers build trust incrementally. Sending too much too soon from a cold domain lands you in spam, even with clean content.
Double opt-in is a subscription method where a new contact must confirm via a link in a follow-up email before being added to your list. It adds a step but produces a cleaner, more engaged list and protects sender reputation.
A drip campaign is a series of pre-written emails sent automatically on a schedule or triggered by an action — a welcome series, an onboarding sequence, a trial nudge. Once built, a drip runs on its own, unlike a one-off broadcast.
List hygiene is the ongoing practice of removing invalid, bounced, unengaged, and complaint-generating addresses from your email list. Clean lists deliver better, cost less to send, and protect your sender reputation.
A marketing qualified lead is a contact whose engagement — content downloads, email clicks, repeat site visits — signals enough interest that marketing considers them worth a closer look, though not yet ready for a direct sales push. Lead scoring is the usual way teams identify MQLs.
A nurture campaign is an automated sequence that builds a relationship with a lead over time — sharing relevant content and gentle nudges — until they are ready to buy. It is often triggered by lead score or lifecycle stage.
Open rate is the share of delivered emails recorded as opened. It is a soft signal at best: privacy features that pre-load images inflate it, so click rate and replies are more reliable measures of engagement.
A sales qualified lead is a contact that sales has accepted as a real opportunity worth active pursuit — typically an MQL that has shown buying intent (a demo request, pricing-page visits) and fits the ideal customer profile.
Segmentation is dividing your contacts into groups by shared attributes or behavior — industry, plan, engagement, lifecycle stage — so you can send more relevant messages. Dynamic segments update automatically as contacts change.
Sender reputation is the trust score mailbox providers assign to your sending domain and IP based on your history — bounce rates, spam complaints, engagement, and authentication. A strong reputation means your mail reaches the inbox; a poor one means the spam folder.
A spam trap is an email address used by mailbox providers and blocklists to catch senders with poor list hygiene. Hitting one — often an old, abandoned, or purchased address — can badly damage sender reputation. Regular list cleaning avoids them.
A suppression list is the set of addresses you must never email — unsubscribes, hard bounces, and complaints. Honoring it automatically is both a legal requirement and essential to protecting sender reputation.