Dotdigital Certification key terms

A numeric rating that summarises how recently and how often a contact has opened, clicked, or otherwise interacted with your messages. Marketers use it to segment active versus lapsed audiences and to suppress low-engagement addresses.

A segmentation method that ranks customers on how recently they purchased, how often they buy, and how much they spend. It groups contacts into behavioural tiers so campaigns can target high-value, at-risk, or new buyers differently.

Using historical behaviour and statistical models to assign contacts to likely future outcomes, such as probable purchasers or likely churners. The resulting groups drive targeted journeys instead of one-size-fits-all sends.

A data model that estimates each customer's probability of lapsing or unsubscribing within a time window. Retention teams feed the score into win-back journeys and prioritise outreach to contacts most likely to leave.

An automated sequence aimed at re-engaging contacts who have gone dormant or stopped purchasing. It typically combines reminder messages, an incentive, and a final opt-in confirmation before suppression.

A set of contacts excluded from a send, such as unsubscribers, hard bounces, or low-engagement addresses. Applying it protects sender reputation and avoids messaging people who should not receive mail.

A permanent delivery failure caused by an invalid, closed, or non-existent address. Repeated hard bounces damage sender reputation, so systems usually mark the contact undeliverable and stop mailing it.

A temporary delivery failure such as a full mailbox, a busy server, or an oversized message. The system may retry automatically, and repeated soft bounces across sends can indicate an address worth reviewing.

The trust score mailbox providers assign to a sending domain or IP based on bounces, complaints, spam traps, and engagement. A weak reputation pushes messages into spam folders or blocks them outright.

An address that is never used for real correspondence and exists only to catch bulk senders mailing unverified lists. Hitting a trap strongly signals poor list hygiene and harms sender reputation.

The ongoing practice of removing invalid, inactive, and duplicate addresses and validating new sign-ups. Clean lists improve deliverability, reduce cost, and keep engagement metrics meaningful.

A sign-up flow where the contact must confirm their address by clicking a link in a verification email. It produces higher-quality consent, fewer bounces, and a clearer permission record than a single checkbox.

Stored evidence of when, how, and for which channels a contact agreed to receive marketing. It supports compliance audits and determines whether a contact can lawfully be messaged.

A self-service page where contacts choose channels, topics, and frequency rather than unsubscribing entirely. Offering granular options preserves the relationship and reduces list attrition.

A limit on how many messages a contact receives in a given period or across channels. Capping prevents fatigue and complaint spikes, and is usually enforced across email, SMS, and push together.

Coordinating email, SMS, push, WhatsApp, and other channels so a contact receives a coherent sequence rather than overlapping messages. Rules decide which channel fires, in what order, and when to stop.

A visual canvas for designing automated multi-step campaigns with triggers, delays, branches, and channel nodes. Marketers map the path a contact follows and publish it without writing code.

An event or condition that starts an automated flow, such as a sign-up, a purchase, or an abandoned cart. Triggers make campaigns responsive to real behaviour instead of fixed calendar dates.

A shopping session where items were added but checkout was not completed. A triggered reminder sequence typically follows within hours, often with an incentive timed to the customer's value.

Message blocks that change per recipient based on stored data, such as name, location, or past purchases. It keeps a single template relevant to many segments without building separate campaigns.

Placeholders in a template that are replaced at send time with values from a contact's profile, such as first name or loyalty tier. Fallback values prevent blank or broken text when data is missing.

A system that suggests products or content to each contact based on browsing, purchase, and similarity data. Recommendations are commonly injected into emails, web pages, and app placements.

Changing on-site content, banners, or offers for a visitor using known profile data or inferred behaviour. It connects anonymous browsing to known contacts once they are identified.

Matching anonymous and cross-device activity to a single known contact so profiles stay unified. It underpins accurate personalization, attribution, and frequency control across channels.

The consolidated record of a person's attributes, consent, channel addresses, and behavioural history. It is the source that personalization, segmentation, and automation read from at send time.

A named attribute added to contact records to store values the standard schema does not cover, such as loyalty tier or renewal date. Fields can be used in segments, tokens, and journey conditions.

A saved rule set that dynamically selects contacts matching chosen criteria, such as location, spend, or engagement. Membership updates automatically as underlying data changes.

A controlled experiment that splits an audience to compare variants of a subject line, content, or send time. The winning version is identified by a chosen metric such as open or click rate.

An experiment that varies several elements at once to measure their individual and combined effects. It needs larger audiences than a simple A/B test to produce trustworthy results.

The probability that an observed difference between variants is not due to random chance. Test results should reach an agreed confidence level before a marketer declares a winner and rolls it out.

Assigning credit for a conversion to the touchpoints that preceded it, using a chosen model such as first click, last click, or linear. The model shapes which channels appear to drive revenue.

Recording when a contact completes a desired action, such as a purchase or form submission, and linking it back to the message that prompted it. It supplies the raw data for attribution and reporting.

Connecting tracked orders to the campaigns and journeys that influenced them, producing revenue per send or per channel. It lets marketers compare return across email, SMS, ads, and automation.

A status level a customer earns through spend or points, unlocking benefits such as free shipping or early access. Tier data is often used to personalise messaging and prioritise retention offers.

A currency awarded for purchases and other actions that customers redeem for rewards. Balances and expiry dates are commonly surfaced in emails, app messages, and account pages.

An automated flow whose content and offers change according to a member's loyalty tier or points balance. It can nudge near-threshold members toward the next tier or thank top spenders.

A text channel limited to short plain-text messages delivered to a mobile number. It suits time-sensitive alerts and reminders, and requires an explicit opt-in and clear sender identification.

An extension of SMS that carries images, video, or longer text to a mobile number. It is used for richer promotions and product previews where a plain text message is too limited.

A carrier messaging standard offering verified sender branding, read receipts, suggested replies, and rich media. It behaves more like a chat app than SMS and is increasingly used for transactional updates.

A programmatic interface for sending approved message templates and session replies on WhatsApp. Businesses must obtain opt-in and follow template approval and 24-hour session rules.

A pre-approved, variable-driven message format required for outbound WhatsApp and similar channels. Approval rules constrain wording, so templates are designed carefully and reused across journeys.

A short message delivered to a mobile app or browser outside the inbox, often appearing on the lock screen. It needs a device token and permission, and works best for timely, concise prompts.

A URL that opens a specific screen inside a mobile app rather than a generic home page. It shortens the path from a push or email to the exact product or offer being promoted.

A compact URL that redirects to a longer destination and records clicks. It saves characters in SMS, enables click tracking, and allows the destination to be changed after sending.

Showing ads to people who previously visited a site, opened a message, or added items to a cart. Audiences are built from tracked behaviour and synced to ad platforms for follow-up.

Exporting a segment from the marketing platform to an advertising network so the same people can be targeted or excluded. It keeps paid and owned channels aligned on one audience definition.

A group built by an ad platform from people who resemble an existing customer segment. It extends reach beyond known contacts while preserving the traits that make the seed audience valuable.

An autonomous assistant that plans and executes multi-step marketing tasks, such as drafting copy or building segments, using connected data and tools. A human usually reviews outputs before launch.

A tool that produces draft subject lines, body text, or product descriptions from a prompt and brand context. Marketers edit and fact-check output before it reaches a live campaign.

The instruction and context given to a generative model to shape its output, including tone, audience, and constraints. Clear prompts with examples produce more usable drafts and fewer corrections.

Rules and checks that constrain what an AI system may generate or do, such as banned claims, tone limits, or required approvals. They reduce brand, legal, and compliance risk in automated workflows.

Predicting the moment each contact is most likely to open or engage and scheduling delivery accordingly. It replaces a single batch send time with per-recipient timing based on past behaviour.

The share of sent messages that reach the inbox rather than the spam folder or a rejection. It depends on authentication, list quality, reputation, and recipient engagement.

DNS-based email standards that let a receiving server verify a sender's identity. SPF lists permitted servers, DKIM signs messages cryptographically, and DMARC sets policy and reporting using both.

A contact's affirmative agreement to receive messages on a given channel. Channel-specific opt-in is required for SMS, WhatsApp, and push, and must be recorded with its source and date.