GLOSSARY
Cold email, defined.
Twenty terms every B2B team runs into with cold email and outbound, in plain English. No jargon for its own sake, just clear definitions and links to go deeper.
- AA/B testing
- Running two or more variants of an email, subject line, or offer against each other to see which produces more replies and meetings, so the campaign improves on evidence rather than opinion.
- BBounce rate
- The share of sent emails that could not be delivered. A high bounce rate signals a poor-quality or unverified list and quickly damages sender reputation.
- CCadence
- The timing and spacing of messages in a follow-up sequence, for example day 1, 3, 7, and 12. A good cadence is persistent without being pushy.
- CCold email
- Outbound sales email to a business decision-maker who has not engaged with you before, aimed at starting a relevant conversation and booking a meeting. See the full guide.
- DDeliverability
- The share of your emails that reach the inbox instead of spam. Decided by authentication, reputation, warmup, and content. See the deliverability guide.
- DDKIM
- DomainKeys Identified Mail. An authentication standard that cryptographically signs each email so the receiver can verify it was not altered and came from your domain.
- DDMARC
- A policy that ties SPF and DKIM together, tells receivers what to do with mail that fails, and sends reports. Now required by major providers for bulk senders.
- DDomain warmup
- Gradually ramping sending volume from a new mailbox with automated positive engagement, so providers build trust before real campaigns begin.
- IIdeal Customer Profile (ICP)
- A precise description of the companies and roles most likely to buy, by industry, size, revenue, geography, and title. The tighter the ICP, the higher the reply rate.
- IInbox placement
- Whether a delivered email lands in the primary inbox versus spam. The prerequisite metric: nothing downstream works if placement is poor.
- LLead list
- The set of prospects a campaign contacts. Quality, accuracy, and ICP-match make the list the single biggest lever on results.
- MMailbox rotation
- Spreading volume across many warmed mailboxes so no single inbox sends too much, which protects reputation and keeps sending human-looking.
- OOpen rate
- The share of recipients who open an email. Now unreliable because privacy features auto-load tracking pixels, so treat it as a rough signal at best.
- PPersonalization
- Tailoring a message to the recipient's role, industry, or a real trigger, not just a first name. Genuine relevance is what separates outreach from spam.
- PPositive reply rate
- The share of contacts who reply with genuine interest. The earliest trustworthy signal that targeting and copy are landing, closely tied to meetings booked.
- RRevenue share
- A pricing model where the agency earns an agreed share of revenue it helps close, instead of a fixed retainer, so incentives are aligned with results.
- SShow-up rate
- The share of booked meetings the prospect actually attends. Reveals meeting quality and the strength of qualification and reminders.
- SSPF
- Sender Policy Framework. A record listing which servers may send email for your domain, so receivers can detect spoofing. One of the three core auth standards.
- SSpam trap
- An address providers use to catch senders with poor list hygiene. Hitting one badly harms reputation, which is why verification matters.
- VEmail verification
- Validating that an address is real and deliverable before sending, to keep bounce rates low and protect deliverability.
Know the terms? Skip the work.
We handle every one of these for you, list, copy, infrastructure, and deliverability, on a revenue-share model. You get the meetings.
Apply to work with us