Anatomy of an Email

Subject Line – the public-facing subject line of your email message. Best practices would suggest a subject line less than 80 characters.
 

Pre-Header – the text section just above your main email header graphic that typically contains a “second subject line” (what the email is about), a link to view the email as a webpage and a “white list request,” asking readers to add your email address to their safe senders list so you’re more likely to get into their inboxes.
 

Above-the-fold – the content you can see in an email when you open it, before you scroll down, is considered “above the fold.”
 

Links – a clickable, trackable hyperlink in your message.
 

Landing Page – a webpage that acts as a campaign-specific place for emails to direct traffic to.
 

Variable Data/Personalization – use of contact-specific data in-line in an email message, for example, first name, last purchase date, etc.
 

Dynamic Content – content in an email that varies based on the contact it’s sent to, i.e. those who purchased cogs seeing a picture of a cog and those who purchased widgets seeing a picture of a widget. It can also refer to content that changes based on when the reader opens.
 

Targeting/Segmentation – using one or more data pints (demographic, psychographic, behavioral) to isolate a group or groups in order to deliver more relevant information to them. The intended result of segmentation is to drive higher engagement and response rates.
 

Signature File – a standard email finish, for example, your name, company, email address or a block of sponsor logos & links.
 

Auto Responder/Automated Message – a timely email that automatically deploys when an action happens, i.e. when someone subscribes or buys, or after a set delay, for example, 30 days after purchase.
 

Drip/Nurture Campaign – an automated series of emails based on an event or action that happen over a pre-defined window of time; especially useful in long-lead sales cycles.