This glossary defines common terms that you might see in Brevo or throughout our Help Center. To navigate through the glossary, you can use the table of contents on the left side of the screen or press ⌘ or CTRL + F and search for a specific term.
A
Abandoned cart
A digital marketing term that refers to a situation in which a potential customer adds products to the shopping cart in your online store but leaves before completing the purchase.
A/B test
A method that consists of creating two versions of an email campaign or automation (e.g., an email campaign with two different subject lines) to different contact groups to determine which version brings better results and higher engagement from the target group.
AI (Artificial Intelligence)
Simulation of human intelligence in machines, especially computer systems, that are programmed to think and act like humans. In Brevo, AI can be used to create subject lines or generate content for your email campaigns.
Anonymous contact
A contact with whom you have interacted through chat or push notifications, but for whom you don't have any identifying information, such as their name, email address, etc.
API (Application Programming Interface)
A software intermediary that allows two or more computer programs to communicate with each other thanks to a predefined set of instructions.
API call (or API request)
A message sent to a server asking an API to provide a service or information.
API endpoint
The location from which an API can access the resources they need to perform their task. It can include the URL of a server or service.
API key
A code used to identify and authenticate an application or user. It acts as a unique identifier and provides a secret token for authentication purposes.
API parameter
An option that you can pass with the API endpoint to influence the response, such as specifying the response format or the amount returned. It is the variable part of the resource.
There are several types of API parameters:
-
header parameters,
-
path parameters,
-
query string parameters.
Attribute
A field that contains information about the contacts in your lists. Attributes can be used inside placeholders to personalize your emails.
Automation
A sequence of automated actions, such as sending emails, initiated by predefined triggers or actions performed by your website visitors and contacts.
- Introduction to Marketing Automation
- Using an automation workflow template
- Creating a custom automation workflow
B
B2B list
A list of contacts used strictly for professional purposes (Business to Business).
B2C list
A list of contacts used for personal purposes (Business to Consumer).
Blocked contact
A contact that is excluded from receiving transactional emails from specific senders.
Blocklist (or Blacklist/Denylist)
A list of contacts that are excluded from receiving communications from a specific channel, such as email campaigns or transactional SMS.
Blocklisted contact
A contact that is excluded from receiving communications from a specific channel, such as email campaigns or transactional SMS.
Bounce
A message that has failed to be delivered and resulted in an error message. There are two types of bounces: soft bounces (temporary issue) and hard bounces (permanent failure).
Bounce rate
The percentage of failed deliveries in relation to the total number of recipients.
Number of bounces / Number of recipients x 100 = Bounce rate %
Brevo Academy
A digital course created by Brevo that teaches email marketing and that includes a free email marketing certification to add to your CV and LinkedIn profile.
Brevo SMTP
The transactional email service of Brevo from where transactional emails are sent.
Brevo Template Language
The language used to dynamically personalize email templates in Brevo by inserting placeholders that are replaced by contact-specific or event-specific data at the time the email is sent. For example, if you write "Hello {{contact.FIRSTNAME}}", "{{contact.FIRSTNAME}}" will be dynamically replaced with the first name of the recipient.
Brevo Tracker (or Brevo script)
A script that can be installed on your website to track the pages visited and actions performed by your visitors on specific pages of your website. Once identified, contacts are automatically added to Brevo and can enter automations.
C
Campaign
Emails, SMS, or WhatsApp message sent to multiple recipients at once (one-to-many). This means that the same content is sent to many people sharing a common interest.
Chat widget
A conversation window that appears when someone visits your website. It allows a visitor to communicate directly with a company representative.
Clicker
A person who clicked a link within an email at least once.
Click rate (or Click-through rate)
Percentage of people who received an email and also clicked on one or more links within the email.
(Number of clicks / Number of email delivered) × 100% = Click rate %
Complaint (or Spam complaint)
Report made when a recipient identifies an email as spam by clicking the “report spam” or “mark as junk” button.
Consent (or Opt-in)
The permission given by a person to receive marketing emails. It can be given by clicking a checkbox in a subscription form or by confirming through double opt-in, for example.
Contact (or Subscriber)
A person who is part of your contact database. Contacts can be added to your contact database in multiple ways, such as through a manual import or a subscription form.
In Brevo, you may encounter different types of contacts:
Contact attribute
Contact attributes are static values that define a contact. They are the different fields that appear on your Contacts page and on your contacts' details page. Contact attributes are key for storing and identifying pieces of information about the contacts in your Brevo account and can be used inside placeholders to personalize your emails.
- About contact attributes
- Create and manage contact attributes
- Customize your emails using contact attributes
Conversations
A feature that enables you to manage all your conversations with your customers in one place and provide them with a better communication experience. You can add a chat widget to your website or connect your most used communication channels (e.g. Instagram Direct, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp Business account).
Conversion
The point at which a visitor on your website or a recipient of an email performs a desired action, such as filling out a subscription form or clicking a download link. The percentage of total contacts that convert is called the conversion rate.
CSS (Cascading Style Sheet)
A language that dictates how a web page looks (layout, colors, fonts, font sizes, etc.). It applies to multiple web pages at once without having to code each page from scratch.
CTA (Call-to-action)
A hyperlink or button that can be used in your content to drive customers or prospects to your website and track clicks.
D
Dedicated IP
An IP address that is reserved for a single sender and only used to send that sender's messages.
Dedicated IP warmup
The process of increasing the volume of emails sent from a new dedicated IP gradually, over several weeks, to build a positive sender reputation with Internet Service Providers (ISPs). ISPs are suspicious of emails coming from an unrecognized IP and may not deliver your emails to your recipients if you do not properly warm up your dedicated IP.
DKIM
An email authentication technique that allows the recipient to check that an email was indeed sent and authorized by the owner of that domain.
DNS (Domain Name System)
A system that lets you connect to websites by matching domain names to their corresponding IP addresses. In emailing, DNS is used to find the email server of the recipient. When sending an email to a specific email address, the DNS translates the domain name to the IP address of the recipient so the email can be delivered to the right mailbox.
DNS record (or Resource record)
Instructions for a DNS server that explains which domain names are associated to each IP address. The main DNS record types are:
- A record: points domain names to IP addresses (IPv4).
- AAAA record: points domain names to IP addresses (IPv6).
- CNAME (Canonical name) record: redirects one domain to another.
- NS (Nameserver) record: indicates which DNS server contains the DNS records.
- MX (Mail exchange) record: specifies how email should be routed when sent to an address at your domain.
Domain (or Domain name)
Unique name that identifies a website. For example, the domain name of Brevo is brevo.com. The prefix "www" is added to some domain names but is not part of the domain. All domain names have a suffix, such as .com, .net, .org, or .fr, which helps identify the type of website the domain name represents or the location of the website.
Domain authentication
A process used to verify that an email is sent from the sender they claimed to be. It is often used in blocking harmful content, such as phishing attacks. Emails that fail the authentication will have a higher chance of being filtered to the spam folder.
- What is domain authentication? (Brevo code, DKIM record, DMARC record)
- Authenticate your domain with Brevo (Brevo code, DKIM record, DMARC record)
Domain host (or Domain provider)
An Internet service that manages your domain name, such as thegreenyoga.com. Domain hosts use Domain Name System (DNS) records to connect your domain name with email, websites, and other web services. For instance, popular domain hosts include GoDaddy, IONOS, and Google Domains.
Double opt-in
A process for adding new contacts to your email list that involves collecting an email address through a subscription form and sending a confirmation email to that email address to validate the contact information before adding it to the list.
- Why use a double opt-in subscription form?
- Create a double opt-in (DOI) confirmation template for Brevo form
- Create a double opt-in subscription using an automation
Drag & Drop Editor
The email campaign and template editor in Brevo that enables you to drag and drop blocks of elements directly into your design.
E
eCommerce
All online activity that involves the buying and selling of products and services.
Email campaign
An email that is sent to multiple recipients at once (one-to-many). It can be a promotional email designed to highlight the latest news from a brand and/or its products, or it can contain editorial content.
Email client (or Email reader/Mail User Agent)
A computer or mobile program used to access and manage the emails of a user.
Email deliverability
The ability of a sender to deliver an email to the inbox of a person who actively requested to receive it without being blocked by the webmail or landing in the spam folder.
Email overload
An option that allows you to skip emails sent through your automation workflows during a chosen period of time if your contacts have ever received another marketing email from you.
Email server (or Mail server)
An application or computer system that sends and receives emails. It ensures that each email is routed directly across the internet to the correct recipient.
Email template
For email campaigns, an email template is a preset design that you will use to build your campaigns.
For automations, an email template is a predefined email sent as part of an automation.
For transactional emails, an email template is a predefined email sent as a transactional email.
Enterprise Solution
A premium solution offered by Brevo to benefit a tailored onboarding and tools, dedicated success manager, and specialized technical support to help you make the most of our platform.
ESP (Email Service Provider)
A company that offers email services. This term may include several categories of businesses:
- Email marketing platforms, such as Brevo, that provide the infrastructure to design professional emails, maintain a database, send mass or one-to-one emailing, and consult statistics reports.
- Agencies that offer a large scale of services such as consultancy as well as providing the infrastructure to send emails.
Expert Program
A program designed for agencies, consultants, and digital professionals using Brevo with and for their clients.
F
Facebook Ads
Online advertisements that are created and published on Facebook to target potential customers.
Folder
A container used to store and organize lists or email campaigns that share common characteristics.
Footer
An element placed at the bottom of an email, which usually contains information about the company of the sender (address, phone number, social media icons) and an unsubscribe link.
Form
A set of input fields that can be placed on your website or in your emails to gather key information about contacts. There are three types of forms in Brevo: subscription form, update profile form, and unsubscribe form.
G
GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation)
An EU regulation that replaced the 1995 EU Data Protection Directive and that governs the use and handling of the personal data of individuals.
Google ReCAPTCHA
A fraud detection service that stops bots and other automated attacks while approving valid users.
H
Hard bounce
Email or SMS that was returned to the sender, undelivered to the intended recipient due to a permanent problem (e.g., non-existent or blocked email address).
Heat map
A map that shows the "hot" and "cold" areas of an email. The hot areas indicate which links have generated the most clicks, while cold areas indicate which links have generated the least clicks.
HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)
A standard markup language used to structure and format a web page and its content, such as font, color, size, etc.
HTML editor
Email campaign editor that allows you to paste your own HTML to design your email.
I
Identified contact
A contact imported into Brevo through the Brevo Tracker after they have interacted with your website or with an email sent from your Brevo account.
Iframe (or Inline frame)
An HTML element that loads another HTML element inside of a web page. It is commonly used to embed external content like ads, forms, videos, or other interactive elements into a web page.
IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol)
A standard email retrieval protocol to access your email wherever you are and from any device. By reading your email message using IMAP, you do not download or store it on your computer or device; you just read it from the email service. You can connect your mailbox to Brevo using IMAP to read and send emails directly from our platform while performing other tasks.
Integration
A connection between two apps, such as Mailchimp and Brevo. The user connects to the app, and the integration is the connection between Brevo and the app.
IP address (Internet Protocol address)
A unique set of numbers assigned to each device connected to a network or the internet, such as a computer or a mobile phone. IP addresses differentiate and help those devices communicate with one another by ensuring that data transmission goes to the right location.
Brevo provides two types of IP addresses:
IP pool (or pool of dedicated IPs)
Group of dedicated IPs that are used to send emails from the same sender on different IP addresses. An IP pool is useful for managing your sender reputation.
ISP (Internet Service Provider)
A company, such as AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, or Spectrum, that provides Internet access to companies, families, and even mobile users.
J
No glossary items.
K
No glossary items.
L
Landing page
An informational or promotional webpage that a user "lands on" after clicking a link. The role of a landing page is to present a product or service and encourage the visitor to carry out a specific action (e.g. make a purchase or fill in a form) in response to a call-to-action.
Lead scoring
The process of assigning a “score” to each of your contacts that reflects their conversion potential and level of interest in your business. This score can be used to qualify leads for marketing messages or sales outreach.
List (or Contact list/Email list/Audience)
A group of contacts that shares common characteristics, such as specific interests, purchase history, email engagement history, etc.
- Create lists and folders to organize your contacts
- Understanding the difference between lists and segments
Log
Information about automations (steps taken in an automation, webpages visited, email addresses of the contacts in an automation) and transactional emails and SMS (details and history of the emails or SMS).
M
Mailbox provider (or Email provider)
An organization that provides users with email accounts and that accepts and delivers large amounts of emails, such as Gmail, Outlook, or Yahoo.
Mail Privacy Protection
A feature released by Apple in July 2021 that hides the IP address of the recipient of an email. This means that senders can’t determine their location or see if and when they've opened an email.
Meetings
An app that allows you to create a booking page that you can share via a link or that you embed on a website or email signature so your prospects and contacts can book a meeting with you.
N
No glossary items.
O
Opener
A person who opened an email at least once.
Open rate
Percentage of recipients of an email who have opened that email. This metric takes into account multiple opens from the same recipient within the email.
Number of opens / Number of recipients x 100 = Open rate %
P
Pay as you go (or Add-ons)
A solution that allows you to purchase dedicated IPs or email, SMS, and WhatsApp credits without subscribing to a monthly or yearly plan.
Phishing
The fraudulent practice of sending emails pretending to be from reputable companies to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
Phone
Brevo's app that allows you to get a phone number and make phone calls within the Brevo platform or via the mobile app.
Placeholder
A tag from the Brevo Template Language that pulls contact-specific or event-specific information (first and last name, product price, etc.) into your emails. When you insert a placeholder into your email template, it will be automatically replaced by the personalized information stored for each contact when your email is sent.
Plugin
A piece of software that adds new features or extends functionality on an existing application.
Preview text
A short message displayed below the subject line in many email clients, such as Gmail and Outlook, to give more info about the content of the email.
Q
No glossary items.
R
Recipient
A person who successfully received an email.
Return-path address (or Bounce address/Reverse path)
A hidden email header that is used to process bounces from your emails. It is an SMTP address that is separate from your sending address and that defines how and where bounced emails will be processed.
Rich Text editor
A WYSIWYG (What-you-see-is-what-you-get) editor that allows you to create simple emails.
RSS (Really Simple Syndication)
An automatic email sent to contacts whenever new files and updates are published on a website or blog.
- What is an RSS feed?
- Understanding the format of the RSS default template
- RSS Campaign integration - Automatically share your blog posts with your subscribers
S
SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language)
A feature used to onboard users via SSO (Single Sign-On) to access a Brevo account. Users are authenticated by a trusted third-party identity provider.
Segment
A personalized group of contacts based on shared characteristics, such as their interest, location, purchase history, email activity, etc.
Segmentation
The practice of dividing contacts into smaller, personalized groups based on shared characteristics, such as their interest, location, purchase history, email activity, etc.
Sender
An individual or a corporate entity who is sending emails. The sender identity is defined by a specific name (the name that will be visible to the recipients) associated with a specific email address (the email from). It can also include an IP address or IP pool if you're on a dedicated IP.
Sender reputation
The reputation of the IP address that you use to send emails that signals to mailbox providers whether or not you are a spammer. It is based on factors such as the quality of email content, quality of contacts, and engagement levels of previous emails sent from the IP address.
Send Time Optimization
An AI tool that calculates the best time to send an email to each individual recipient based on their previous behavior to maximize the results of your campaigns.
Shared IP
An IP address that is used by multiple senders simultaneously to send messages.
Smishing
A phishing attack that involves the use of SMS.
SMS campaign
An SMS that is sent to multiple recipients at once (one-to-many). It can be a promotional SMS designed to highlight the latest news from a brand and/or its products, or it can contain editorial content.
SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
A communication protocol or set of rules used to send emails from an email client or webmail provider to the email server of a recipient.
SMTP server (or SMTP relay)
Any server that receives, handles, transfers, or stores emails transferred through SMTP.
Soft bounce
Email or SMS that was returned to the sender, undelivered to the intended recipient due to a temporary problem (e.g., the recipient’s server is unavailable or their inbox is full).
Spam (or Junk)
An unsolicited and unwanted digital communication that gets sent out in bulk to an indiscriminate contact list. It can be an email, text message, phone call, or social media direct message.
Spam folder
A specific folder where emails considered as spam by webmails land.
Spam trap
A type of fraud management tool used to identify and filter spammers and senders with poor contact list management. A spam trap looks like a legitimate email address but is not used by a real person.
SPF
A protocol used to certify that the issuing IP address has the right to send emails. It is used to prevent fraudulent use of your domain name and prevent third parties from pretending to be you, like during a phishing attack.
SSL/TLS (Secure Socket Layer/Transport Layer Security)
A standard security technology that establishes an encrypted link between:
-
a server and a client, such as a website and a browser,
-
or an email server and an email client (e.g., Outlook).
Subdomain
Child domain of the primary domain name. It is commonly used by developers to create a staging environment for their website or to create different sections of a website. In emailing, creating subdomains allows the differentiation of types of sendings. For example, the domain domain.com may have a subdomain transact.domain.com for transactional emails and marketing.domain.com for marketing emails.
Subject line
The first line of text that a recipient sees in the inbox before opening an email.
Subscription form
A form that allows you to gather key information about contacts and add them to a list. The information submitted in subscription forms is stored in contact attributes in Brevo.
Suspended contact (or Flagged contact)
A contact that has been rejected following an automatic verification check by Brevo. They can be suspended because of the quality of your contact import or following bad deliverability metrics.
T
Tag
A keyword used to classify email campaigns or transactional emails that can be used to segment contacts.
Test list
A predefined list of email addresses that you can use to test your emails to preview and validate the content of an email before sending it to all the recipients.
TFN (Toll-free number)
A telephone number with a distinct three-digit code that can be dialed or contacted by text from landlines or cell phones without charge for the caller. Toll-free numbers are usually used by businesses and customer services and make it easy for customers to connect with businesses all around the world as they are not charged for a long-distance call or SMS.
Trackable open rate
The percentage of recipients who have not enabled the Mail Privacy Protection feature on their email client and who have opened an email. This metric takes into account multiple opens from the same recipient within an email.
Number of opens / Number of recipients who have not enabled the Privacy Protection option x 100 = Trackable open rate %
Transactional attribute
Transactional attributes are dynamic values related to transactions made by your contacts on your website. They allow you to track details about a transaction within Brevo and can be used inside placeholders to personalize your emails.
- About transactional attributes
- Create and manage transactional attributes
- Customize your emails using transactional parameters
Transactional email
An email sent to a person following a specific action of that person (one-to-one). For example, verification email, password reset, order confirmation, etc.
Transactional SMS
An SMS sent to a person following a specific action of that person (one-to-one). For example, verification SMS, password reset, order confirmation, etc.
Two-factor authentication (or 2FA)
An authentication system that requires more than one password to log into a website. The additional authentication code can be sent by SMS or given via an authentication app, for example.
U
Unengaged contact (or Inactive contact)
A contact who has stopped interacting with any of your emails for a certain period of time. A contact can become unengaged because your emails land in their spam folder or they are no longer interested in the content you send them, for example.
Unsubscribed contact
A contact who once gave their consent to receive your email, SMS, and/or WhatsApp campaigns but who has since decided they no longer want to receive them. They appear as blocklisted in your contact list.
Unsubscribe form
A form that can be embedded on your website or shared through a hosted page to allow your contacts to stop receiving your emails.
- About subscription, unsubscription, and update profile forms
- Customize an unsubscribe form to embed on a website or share through a hosted page
Unsubscribe page
A page that can be integrated into your email campaigns to allow your contacts to stop receiving your emails after they click on an unsubscribe link.
- Customize an unsubscribe page to integrate into your email campaigns
- Insert an unsubscribe link in your campaigns
Unsubscription
Process of being removed from a list. A person who no longer wants to receive emails from a brand can request to be removed from the email list by unsubscribing. After unsubscribing, contacts are automatically blocklisted.
Unsubscription rate
The percentage of recipients who have unsubscribed from an email via an unsubscription link.
Number of unsubscriptions / Number of emails delivered = Unsubscription rate %
Untrackable contact
A contact who has enabled the Mail Privacy Protection feature on their email client. This means that senders can’t determine their location or see if and when they've opened an email.
Update profile form
A form that allows contacts to update their preferences and contact attributes. It gives you the opportunity to adjust your segmentation and increase contact engagement.
- About subscription, unsubscription, and update profile forms
- Create an update profile form to enable your contacts update their information and preferences
User
A person who has access to a Brevo account.
V
No glossary items.
W
Webhook
Notifications that are triggered by specific events. They are typically used to facilitate communication between multiple systems. Essentially, webhooks provide a straightforward means of receiving alerts whenever an event happens in another system.
- Create webhooks to receive real-time updates about your emails and contacts
- List of API endpoints for webhooks
Web host (or Web hosting service provider/Domain host)
An organization that provides the technologies and services needed for a website or webpage to be viewed online. Websites are "stored" on the servers of the web host. Some of the most common web hosts used by Brevo users are GoDaddy, Cloudflare, IONOS, and OVH.
Web push (or Push notification)
Small message alert that is displayed on a visitor's desktop, tablet, or mobile device when they have their web browser open.
Welcome email
An automated email sent to a new contact after they buy something from you, create an account on your website, or subscribe to your email list.
- Classic automation editor - Send a welcome email to your new contacts
- New automation editor [BETA] - Set up a welcome email automation
WhatsApp Business Platform
An API launched by Meta that allows businesses to receive and respond to WhatsApp messages from their customers at scale.
WhatsApp campaign
A WhatsApp message that is sent to multiple recipients at once (one-to-many). It can be a promotional message designed to highlight the latest news from a brand and/or its products, or it can contain editorial content.
X
No glossary items.
Y
No glossary items.
Z
No glossary items.
🤔 Have a question?
If you have a question, feel free to contact our support team by creating a ticket from your account. If you don't have an account yet, you can contact us here.
If you’re looking for help with a project using Brevo, we can match you with the right certified Brevo expert partner.