Direct Marketing Glossary
 

Active Buyer - Customer whose latest purchase was made within the last 12 months.

Active Subscriber - Subscriber of magazines, e-newsletters or goods and services who has committed for regular delivery for a period of time still in effect.

Bulk Mail - Mail that is rated for postage partly by weight and partly by the number of pieces in the mailing. The term is generally used to refer to Standard Mail.

Business List - Any list of individuals or companies based on a business-related interest, inquiry, membership, subscription or purchase.

Business-to-Business Marketing - Reaching prospects and customers (usually in their workplace) with offers that relate to their profession--as opposed to their lifestyle, hobbies, family.

Call Center - A site that houses a telemarketing operation.

Card Deck - A cooperative pack of postcards, usually mailed in a clear poly outer, that is used in both consumer and business-to-business direct marketing. The postcard, which either orders the product or asks for more information, can be mailed back to the individual advertiser.

Carrier Route Presort Mail - Mail sorted by carrier route to qualify for discount postage rates.

Compiled List - A list gathered from directories, newspapers, public records, etc. identifying people or organizations with common characteristics.

Consumer List - Any list of individuals at home addresses who have bought merchandise, subscriptions, given to a non-profit, etc.

Continuation - An order from a mailer who has previously tested or used the list within 12 months and is using it again.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) - Providing better communication, offers and services to customers by evaluating your previous interactions with them.

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Datacard - List information including counts, demographics, pricing, etc.

Data Entry - The entering of names, addresses and other information into a data storage and retrieval system. Data can be entered via manual keying, electronic data transfer or by scanning.
 

Data Overlays - The matching of two or more lists that contain the same names or addresses but where one list adds additional data such as demographics or geographics to the other.

Database - A file that is maintained on a computer comprised of pertinent information such as a company's prospects or customers. The file can serve multiple applications and be manipulated for various purposes.

Demographics - The study and application of social and economic characteristics and/or data. Those characteristics of a population which are measured by variables such as age, sex, marital status, family size, education, geographic location, and occupation.

Direct Mail - Using the US Postal Service to deliver your message. Can be used for consumer and for business-to-business offers.

Direct Marketing Association (DMA) - One of the chief trade associations serving the direct response field, with emphasis on direct-mail marketing through all classes of mail. Main focus is on larger corporations.

Dot whack - A sticker, usually round, that’s affixed to a catalog cover (or printed directly on the cover) that touts a special offer or message to customers.

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Enhancement- Any additional information that can be appended to a list to increase its value to the mailer.

 

Flash - Animation Technology used on the World Wide Web.

Fulfillment - All activities involved in the processing and servicing of mail, FAX and telephone orders.
 

Geocoding - The process of appending latitude and longitude coordinates to a database record so it can be properly placed on a geographical map.

HTML - Abbreviation for Hyper Text Markup Language, which is the language used for creating documents on the World Wide Web.

Hard Bounce - An e-mail that has bounced back to the sender undelivered without having been accepted by the recipient’s mail.

Hotline Names - Most recent buyers on a list.

Housefile - Commonly referred to as a “customer list,” a housefile is a consolidated database containing each customer’s name, address and summarized order information.

Hyperlink - An element in an electronic document, when clicked on, links to another place in the same document, or to an entirely different document.

ISP - Abbreviation for Internet Service Provider, a company that provides access to the World Wide Web.

Indicia - Imprinted designation on mail that denotes postage payment (e.g.,permit imprint).

Internet - A global network connecting more than 100 countries and millions of computers.

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Labels  - Paper printed with a name and address that is affixed to a mailing piece and serves as the mailing address vehicle. Different types of labels include: peel-off or pressure-sensitive labels, gummed labels and paper (or Cheshire) labels.

Lettershop - A company that will assemble and insert the various printed elements of a direct mail piece, label, sort, tag and deliver the mailings to the post office for mailing. The lettershop will provide the mailer with written proof of delivery to the U.S. Postal Service.

List Broker - A list specialist hired by a mailer to make the necessary arrangements to use other companies' lists. Brokerage services usually include: research, list selections, recommendations and logistics so that the rented lists arrive at the proper time. The standard commission to a list broker is 20 percent.

List Cleaning - The process of updating a list in order to remove any undeliverable addresses. Other cleaning activities could include removing duplicates, bad debts, names on the DMA Mail Preference Service, prison ZIPs, etc.

List Maintenance  - The ongoing process of keeping a mailing list up-to-date by adding, editing and deleting data.

List Manager  - Whereas a list broker works for a mailer, the list manager works for the list owner. The primary function is to promote the list to mailers and list brokers for list rental. List managers can be either an internal employee of the list owner, or part of an outside list management company paid a commission by the list owner. Management services usually include: marketing of the list, coordinating and controlling rental activity and accounting. The standard commission for a list manager is 10 percent.
 

Mail Monitoring
Mailers track their mail in order to verify content within the direct mail package and to determine the length of delivery time.

Media
Any form of communication that reaches the general public and carries advertising. Direct response media would include: space advertising, direct mail, TV, radio, take-ones, card decks, package inserts, cooperative efforts, on-line shopping services.

Merge-Purge - The process of combining two or more lists into one while, at the same time, identifying and removing any duplicates.

National Change of Address (NCOA) - A service provided by the U.S. Postal Service, through licensed computer service bureaus, that enables mailers to make any necessary address corrections prior to their mailing being dropped. The mailer provides a magnetic tape that is run against the national change of address bank and then is returned to the mailer with all the corrections made.

 

Net Names - The number of names remaining after a merge-purge eliminates all duplicates.
 

Network - Two or more computer systems that are linked together.

Nixies - Pieces of mail returned as "undeliverable as addressed"

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Opt-In - E-mails that have been requested by the recipient.

Opt-Out - The option that allows the recipient to be removed from receiving future e-mails from the sender.

Outsourcing - Using an outside service rather than performing the work in-house.

Package Inserts - Any promotional offer included with the shipment of a customer's order. Offers may be from the same mailer shipping the product or other vendors who pay to be included.

Personalization - Using/printing personal information, such as a first or last name, in a direct mail campaign. See Variable Imaging

PLANET Code- A bar code that will allow mailers to track a mail piece, or an entire mail campaign, throughout the U.S.P.S. delivery system.

Poly Bag - An outside mailing envelope made of polyethylene instead of paper.

Pop-Unders - A window that appears under the browser window.

Pop-Ups - A window that pops-up over the browser window.

Postage-Paid Reply Service  - A service allowing mailers to use a lettershop's postage-paid permit and have the business-reply mail sent there instead of opening their own account with the USPS.

Presorted Mail - A form of mail preparation, required to bypass certain postal operations, in which the mailer groups pieces in a mailing by ZIP Code or by carrier route or carrier walk sequence (or other USPS-recommended separation).

RFM (Recency, Frequency and Monetary value) - A methodology used by marketers to determine appropriate circulation strategies.

Response List - Any list of individuals who have responded to a mailing/offer.

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Sectional Center Facility (SCF) - A postal facility that serves as the processing and distribution center (P&DC) for post offices in a designated geographic area as defined by the first three digits of the ZIP Codes of those offices. Some SCFs serve more than one 3-digit ZIP Code range.

Seeding - False or "dummy" names are added to a mailing list as a way to check delivery and to uncover any unauthorized list usage.

Selective Binding - The process which allows an advertisement to be inserted into only certain select issues of a magazine, or allows selected pages to be inserted in a catalog.

Service Bureaus - A company that will maintain lists for list owners. Services may include: updating the list, merge/purge, data overlays and preparing the list for mailing or rentals.

Shopping Cart - Software that allows the user to hold merchandise selected for purchase until shopping is complete and the user is ready to check out.

Soft Bounce - An e-mail that has bounced back to the sender undelivered after it was already accepted by the recipient’s mail.

Sorting - The computerized process of reorganizing a list from one sequence to another. For example, a file can be sorted by last name, company name, ZIP code, high donors, multi-buyers, recent buyers, etc.

Source Codes - An identifier that goes with a particular housefile segment or list. The code must be unique to the particular segment and/or list being coded, so marketing and circulation efforts can be measured.

Spam - Unsolicited e-mail advertising.

Test -  An order that is placed for a small quantity of names to see how the list performs. If it performs well, a continuation order for more names is usually placed.

Universe Count - The total count (number of names) on a list.

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