Cold outreach and email terms
Cold email, follow-ups, deliverability, SPF, DKIM and DMARC, and the laws that apply. 17 terms, each with what it means, why it matters and what to do about it.
- CAN-SPAM ActWhite hat
- The CAN-SPAM Act is the US law on commercial email: honest headers and subjects, a physical address and a working, honoured opt-out.
- Cold calling
- Cold calling is phoning potential customers who have not asked to be contacted, to introduce a product and book a next step.
- Cold emailWhite hat
- A cold email is a first message sent to someone you have no prior relationship with, to start a business conversation. It must follow anti-spam law.
- Cold outreach
- Cold outreach is contacting people who do not know you yet, by email, phone, social message or in communities, to start a conversation.
- DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)
- DKIM adds a cryptographic signature to your emails, published in DNS, so receivers can verify the email came from your domain unaltered.
- DMARC
- DMARC is a DNS policy telling receivers what to do with email that fails SPF or DKIM for your domain, and where to send reports.
- Email bounce rate
- Email bounce rate is the share of sent emails that could not be delivered, because the address is invalid or the receiving server refused them.
- Email deliverability
- Email deliverability is how reliably your emails reach the inbox rather than spam, shaped by authentication, reputation and content.
- Email list
- An email list is a set of people who agreed to receive your emails, such as newsletter subscribers, customers or product users.
- Email verification
- Email verification checks whether an address exists and can receive mail before you send, so fewer emails bounce and your reputation stays healthy.
- Email warm-upGrey hat
- Email warm-up is gradually increasing how many emails a new domain or address sends, so mailbox providers learn to trust it.
- Follow-up email
- A follow-up email is a short message sent after an earlier email got no reply, to remind the recipient and add something useful.
- GDPR
- GDPR is the EU’s data protection law. It governs how personal data, including contact details used for outreach, may be collected and used.
- Sales cadence
- A sales cadence is a planned sequence of outreach touches, such as emails, calls and messages, spread over days or weeks for each prospect.
- Spam traps
- Spam traps are email addresses used to catch senders with poor list practices. Hitting them can damage your domain’s sending reputation.
- SPF record
- An SPF record is a DNS entry listing which servers may send email for your domain, so receivers can reject forged messages.
- Warm outreach
- Warm outreach is contacting someone who already knows of you, through a referral, a past conversation or engagement with your content.
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