/M: Per thousand
/MM: Per Million

Abandoned Call: When a caller hangs up before the call is answered or when put on hold.
Above the Fold: Part of a web page or e-mail message that can be seen without scrolling. A newspaper term referring to text at the top of the page, literally above the fold.
Accordian Fold: Type of zigzag fold that makes paper open up like an accordian, as opposed to a letter fold or "roll fold".
Affiliate: Person or business that promotes someone else's products and receives a commission for sales or clicks.
Affinity: Meaningful connection between a group of people and the offer being made to them.
Alternate Delivery: Means of delivering an item to households, such as a direct mail piece or sample without using the post office.
Aqueous Coating: After printing, a clear coating applied to paper to improve durability or achieve a visual effect.
Authentication: Automatic verification of an e-mail sender's identity.

Automatic Call Distributor: Computerized means of queuing incoming calls and routing them to available agents to improve call center efficiency.
Automation-Compatible Mail: Mail that meets post office guidelines for processing by automated equipment, such as barcode scanners and sorting machines.

Bangtail: Return envelope with a reply form attached to the flap. The reply form tears off and is returned in the envelope. Also referred to as a "hot potato."
BANT: Acronym for Budget, Authority, Need, and Time Frame. Generally used when discussing sales lead generation and categroizing prospects.
Barcode: Series of vertical bars below the address on a direct mail piece, representing the nine digit ZIP code and allowing automated sorting and routing of mail.
Bind-In: Printed piece bound into a magazine, catalog, etc. Often a reply card. These are common in magazines to offer subscriptions.
Bingo Card: Reply card in a publication offering an easy means to request information from advertisers whose ads appear in the publication. Called a "bingo card" because it is often covered with numbers corresponding to offered information, making the card look similar to a card used to play bingo.
Blacklist: List of domain names or IP addresses considered to be spammers. The list is used to filter e-mail messages.
Bleed: Color or images running past the edge of a printed page. This is done by printing on larger paper and trimming to the final size.
Blow In: Printed card inserted into a publication loosely so that it falls out when the publication is read.
Body Copy: The text in an advertisment or direct mail piece following the headline which contains features, benefits, sales arguments, and the offer.
Bounce: When an e-mail is not able to reach an individual, often because of a wrong address, full mailbox, spam filter, or problems with the e-mail server.
Bounce Back: Reply piece included in the package delivering the products ordered or information requested. It often contains another offer.
Bounce Rate: Percentage of Web site visitors who leave immediately after arriving on a page.
Broadside: Advertisement printed on a large sheet of paper with the main selling message on one side. An alternative to a standars booklet type brochure in a direct mail package.
Buckslip: Small piece of paper inserted into a direct mail package to emphasize certain information.
Bulk Mail: Officially called Standard Mail. Class of mail for sending large quantities of similar items where postage is calculated on weight, shape, thickness, and quantity. Less expensive than First Class.
Bulk Mail Center (BMC): Mail processing plant which handles bulk mail.
Business Reply Card (BRC): Postage-paid card that serves as a responsive device. On one side is a reply form and on the other side is specifically formatted address information.
Business-to-Business (B-to-B or B2B): Type of marketing where businesses offer product and services to other businesses.

Call to Action (CTA): Part of the written message that tells the reader to respond and provides an easy means of doing so, with a toll-free number for example.
Call Out: Small bit of copy used to call attention to something, separate from the main text, often with a line connecting it to the feature being highlighted.
Can-Spam-Act: Acronym for Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act of 2003. U.S. Law governing commerical e-mail.
Card Deck: Stack of postcards mailed together in an envelope, each card promoting a different product or service.
Carrier: Another name for the outer envelope in a direct mail package.
Carrier Route Sort: Presortinga mailing list to match a postal carrier's deliver route. Doing this allows for a postal discount.
Cheshire Labels: Labels preprinted with mailing addresses and affixed to a mail piece.
Circulation: Distribution count for a publication, including paid and unpaid subscriptions. This is the "reach" of a publication.
Cleaning: Process of removing unwanted data from a mailing list, including undeliverable addresses and duplications.
Click and Mortar: Business with both an online store and physical store.
Clickstream: Record of a person't Internet activity, showing sited visited and pages viewed.
Clickthroughs: The number of people who click a link in an e-mail message. Can be used to calculate the "clickthrough rate" for an e-mail message.
Closed-Face Envelope: An envelope without and address window. The address is printed directly on the envelope or on labels affixed to the envelope.
Close Rate: In Lead generation, the percentage of sales calls resulting in a sale.
CMYK: The ink colors in a four-color printing process: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black.
Coding Accuracy Support System (CASS): System created by the U.S. Postal Service to improve the accuracy of addressing by service bureaus and to properly code mailings for delivery.
Compiled List: Type of mailing list created by collecting names and addresses from public records, directories, and other sources. The least targeted type of mailing list.
Continuity Program: Arrangement where customers agree to a series of regular, small purchases over time. For example, a series of books shipped and paid for at a rate of one per month.
Control: The most successful direct mail piece or ad, determined after testing against other direct mail pieces or ads.
Controlled Circulation: Free distribution of a publication to increase circulation and raise advertising rates. (See Paid Circulation)
Conversion Rate: The percentage of inquiries that result in a sale.
Co-op Mailing: Mailing with offers from multiple businesses.
CPI (Cost Per Inquiry): The cost of your campaign divided by the number of inquiries you receive. This tells you how much you have spent to acquire one inquiry or potential Sourcing Analyst.
Cost Per Piece: Total cost of mailing divided by the number of pieces mailed. Includes list rental, printing, and postage. The cost of copywriting and design are sometimes included, but not always since this is generally a one-time cost.
CPM (Cost Per Thousand): The cost to deliver your message to 1,000 people or the purchase price of 1,000 names of a mailing list. (The M is from the Roman numeral which stands for 1,000.)
CPO (Cost Per Order): The cost of your campaign divided by the number of order you receive. This tells you howmuch you have to spend with one customer.
Coupon: Reply form within the design of a printed ad. May also refer to a reply card in a direct mail package.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management): Strategy for boosting revenue and customer satisfaction by improving the customer experience with a company and its products and services.
Cross Sell: Encourage established customers to buy different but related products. Getting a computer Sourcing Analyst to purchase a printer, for example.

Data Card: Collection of information describing the characteristics of a mailing list.
Data Mining: Discovering patterns and relationships within customer data to reveal what customers want and how they act.
Database: Collection of personal and/or transactional information about customers or prospective customers. The repository of information about a company's relationships with people.
Database Modeling: Predicting customer behavior by using statistical techniques.
Decoy: Name included in a mailing list to catch people who disregard the terms of the list rental agreement. If the agreement is a one-time rental and the renter mails to the list more than once, the decoy will receive the mailing and inform the list owner.
Demographics: Statistical information about groups of people, such as age, sex, income, education, etc.
Digital: Used mainly as a way to describe color variable printing. Preprint (shell) and personalized information are printed as the same time. This makes it impractical to price printing as a line item.
Direct Mail: Medium used to deliver advertising directly to postal addresses, including envelopes, self-mailers, postcards, flyers, and catalogs.
Do Not Call List: List of people who do not wish to receive telemarketing calls.
DPI: Short for Dots Per Inch. In printing, the number of ink dots that fit into a 1" x 1" square.
Double Opt-In: Technique for double checking that e-mail subscribers actually want a subscription. They must subscribe then confirm the subscription.
Drop Rate: Scheduled day when a mailing is to be delivered to the post office.
DRTV: Short for Direct Response Television. Medium used to deliver ads to TV viewers and asking for an immediate response.
Duotone: Image created using two colors.
Dupe: Short for duplicate or duplication. Names that appear more than once in a mailing list.
Duplex Lasering: Laser printing simultaneously on the front and back of a printed piece. This is the way to describe BLACK only (monochrome) personaliztion.

ECOA: Short for E-mail Change of Address, a system to help update e-mail address lists.
E-mail Appending: Adding individual e-mail addresses to a database of names and postal addresses.
E-mail Filter: Software that blocks incoming e-mail based on sender address, subject matter, or other factors.

Flyer (or Flier): Promotional piece created from a single sheet and usually not folded. Smaller than a broadside.
FPO: For Placement Only. Mark to indicate the position of a design element which is not yet ready. A placeholder.
Free-Standing Insert: Printed advertisment inserted, but not bound, into a publication.
Freemium: Free gift included in a mail package to increase response. The word is a spin off of "premium", also a gift but which is usually given after a purchase.
Frequency: For a given customer, the average number of purchases within a certain time period, such as 2 purchases per month.
Fulfillment: The process of responding to a customer purchase or request, including shipping ordered products.

Gatefold: Parallel folds on printed piece resulting in flaps folding toward each other like a gate.
GIF: Acronym for Graphics Interchange Format, a type of graphic format used on Web sites.

Halftone: Printing that uses dots of ink to create various shades of a color.
Hard Bounce: When an e-mail message is rejected or "bounced" because of a bad address.
Hotline List: The most recent additions to a mailing list representing those who have just made a purchase and are therefore desirable customers.
House List (or House File): List of Sourcing Analyst and prospects maintained by a company. This is the most valuable asset for any direct manager.
HTML: Short for Hyper Text Markup Language, the programming language used to create Web pages.
Hyperlink: Text on a Web page or in an electronic document which can be clicked with a mouse to open another page or document.

Imposition: Arranging pages so that they print in the correct order.
Indicia: Preprinted mark in the upper right of mail piece which shows that postage has been paid.
Ink Jet Printing: Means of printing where ink is sprayed onto paper.
Insert Media: Print media delivering advertising to consumers by means other than solo direct mail or space advertising. Includes card decks, cooperative mailings, statement stuffers, package inserts, blow-ins or bind-ins, and free-standing inserts.
Internet: Global network of interconnected computers of which the World Wide Web is one part.
IP Address: Short for Internet Protocol address, a unique number identifying a device connected to the Internet.
ISDN: Acronym for Integrated Services Digital Network, a set of standards for a telephone transmission techonology.
ISP: Acronym for Integrated Service Provider, a company providing access to the Internet.
Inquiry: Request for information from a prospective customer.

Johnson Box: Type of headline at the top of a letter, originally set in a box with solid boarders or a border made of asterisks. Named for the inventor, Frank Johnson.
JPEG: Acronym for Joint Photographic Experts Group, a type of compressed graphics fils used primarily for color images on Web sites.

Key Code: See Source Code.

Labels: Strips of paper printed with a mailing address and affixed to a mail piece.
Landing Page: Web page that is reached when a link is clicked, specifically a special page designed to receive traffic from particular links.
Laser Printing: Means of printing using a laser to to etch a photoelectric drum which then applies toner to paper. Usually means Black only (monochrome).
Lead: Person identified as a potential client or customer after asking for information or meeting certain buying criteria. Generally a more qualified possibility than a "prospect."
Lead Generation: Process of identifying prospective customers for a sales pitch or further marketing efforts.
Lettershop: Printing business that specializes in direct mail. They can print, assemble, address, and mail any type of direct mail piece.
Lifetime Value: Net profit a customer is likely to generate during their relationship with a company.
Lift Note: Second, shorter letter in a direct mail package with a highly focused message. Generally signed by a different person.
List: Collection of data that may include names, addresses, phone numbers, e-mail addresses, and other information for a group of people who share a common characteristic, such as being sports car owners or doctors.
List Broker: Person or business that helps locate and purchase lists that are appropriate for a given direct mail or e-mail campaign.
Lithography: Printing process in which an image is created using plates with areas that variously absorb or repel ink and can press the image onto paper.

Magalog: Direct mail sales format that looks like a magazine or catalog.
Mail Preference Service: Service of the Direct Marketing Association allowing people to remove their names from mailing lists (at least from lists of mailers who cooperate with the program)
Merge/Purge: Combining two or more lists while simultaneously removing duplicate data.
Multiple Sourcing Analyst: Customer who has made purchases more than once. Also called "repeat Sourcing Analyst."

National Change of Address (NCOA): Means provided by the U.S. Postal Service to correct addresses on a mailing list prior to mailing.
Negative Opinion: Type of offer where the customer agrees to ongoing shipments or purchases of a product or service, which will stop only when the customer asks for them to stop. One example is a book of the month club.
Nixie: Mail piece returned by the post office because the address is not deliverable. This term refers specifically to mail returned for reasons other than a change of address, such as "No Such Street," "Insufficient Address," "Attempted-Not Known," or "Deceased."

Offer: The deal you propose to a potential Sourcing Analyst to encourage a purchase. The offer includes price, guarantee, premiums, etc.
Offset Printing: Printing method in which ink is transferred or "offset" from a plate to a roller then to paper.
Open Rate: Number of people who open an e-mail message divided by the total number of e-mail messages sent.
Opt-In: To grant permission for a company to send e-mail by making a direct request to be included on a mailing list.
Opt-Out: To decline permission for a company to send e-mail by making a direct request to be excluded from a mailing list.
Outsourcing: Hiring someone outside a company to do work.
Overline: Headline above the main headline, usually in smaller type. It can be part of the headline or an introductory statement.

Package: Direct mailing consisting of an envelope and all its contents, including a letter, order form, brochure, etc.
Package Insert: Promotional piece sent along with a product shipment. Some businneses make additional revenue by including inserts from other companies.
Paid Circulation: Distribution of a publication to those who pay for a subscription. (See Controlled Circulation.)
Pass Along: Readership of a publication or mailing beyond the original recipient. Also a printed piece intended to be passed on to someone else.
Peel-Off Label: Self-adhesive label which can be removed and attached to a reply card or order form.
Personalization: Inserting a person's name or other unique information into the message of an advertisement.
Phishing: Method for identity theft using what appears to be a legitimate e-mail message to get people to reveal personal information, such as credit card or bank account numbers.
PMS Color: Color in the Pantrone Matching System, a widely used system for naming and identifying specific colors for printing.
Poly Bag: Alternative to paper envelopes made of transparent plastic called "polyethylene."
Pop-Up: Ad or message that "pops up" in your browser window.
Positive Opinion: Type of offer where the customer is given the opportunity to purchase repeatedly, but where there is no implied obligation. No products or services are provided until the customer asks for them.
Premium: Gift or bonus offered to encourage people to by a product or service.
Prepress: Various actions taken to prepare an item for printing, such as separation the colors of a piece into separate printing plates.
Preprint: Static printed shell. No personalization included.
Presorted Mail: Mail that has been sorted by address or carrier route in order to reduce the cost of the U.S. Portal Service and thuse create postal savings for the mailer.
Prospect: Someone who has been identified as a potential customer or client.
Prospecting: Process of finding potential customers by advertising specifically to groups of non-customers.
Psychographics: Descriptive information about groups of people, such as lifestyle, attitudes. and values.
Purge: Cleaning technique for mailing lists which removes bad addresses, duplicates, or undesirable names.

Regency: Time since the last purchase or activity for a person or business.
Registration: Alignement of printing plates using "registration marks" that are located at identical places on each plate.
Reply Card: A card in a mailing used by the recipient to reply to the offer.
Response Device: The part of a direct mail piece or ad returned to the advertiser, such as an order form, reply card, or coupon.
Response Rate: The number of responses to an offer divided by the total number of people who received the offer. Generally stated as, "That mailing genereated a 5 percent response."
Retention: Efforts by a company to keep customers or clients from defecting to the competition.
Return on Investment (ROI): Money earned compared to money spent, a figure used to determine how profitable a business is.
Rich Media: Communication content that includes video, audio, or animation.
RFM: Acronym for Recency, Frequency, Monetary value. A formula used to predict the potential sales of a given number of prospects.
RGB: Stands for Red, Green, Blue. The color system used primarily by computer and television monitors to produce color images.
Roll Fold: A way of folding paper similar to how you would fold a letter, so that all the folds are in the same direction.
Rollout: Mailing to the rest of a mailing list after testing the mail piece on a smaller sample of that list.

Salutation: The part of a letter that addresses the reader, such as "Dear Friend" or "Dear Sally."
Self-mailer: A piece of direct mail without an envelope. Technically, this can include catalogs, booklets, slim-jims, folded mailers, and postcards. However, the term usually refers to a folded mailer.
Seeding: Adding names to a mailing list to reveal unauthorized use. See Decoy.
Segmentation: Dividing potential Sourcing Analyst into smaller groups based on buying patterns or demographic information.
Selects: Sub-groups of a mailing list based on geographic location, age, gender, or other information. Used to fine tune a marketing effort.
Service Bureau: Business that maintains, updates, cleans, and enhances mailing lists for list owners.
Sheet-Fed Press: Printing press that prints one sheet at a time as opposed to a web press, where paper is fed into the printer from a continuous roll.

GROUP 27 PRINT TERMS

Aqueous Coating: An aqueous coating is a fast-drying, water-based, protective coating which is applied in-line on press to attain a selection of finishes. This clear coating provides a high gloss surface which protects the surface from dirt, smudges, fingerprints, and scratches.
Bleed: Printing that goes beyond the edge of the sheet after trimming. The bleed is the part on the side of a document that gives the printer a small amount of space to account for movement of the paper and design inconsistencies.
Camera Ready: Copy that is ready to be photographed.
Carrier Affixed Envelope: Enveloped are attached to a carrier to be processed in a continuous flow to take advantage of the speed, information, and personalization available from computer-generated printing equipment.
Coating: An emulsion, varnish, or lacquer applied over a printed surface to protect it.
Continuous Envelope: With the application of moisture gluing on 3 sides and adhesive tape on the back side, a pocket is formed and insertion of contents made possible.
Corp ID: A company's branding guidelines as it relates to their business cards, envelopes, letterheads, etc.
Cutsheet Form: An option that automatically invokes an Enhanced N-Up arrangement to emulate 2 side-by-side sheets of cut paper.
Die Cut: Sharp steel rules that cut special shapes for labels, boxes, and containers from printed sheets.
Embossing: Impressing and image in relief to achieve a raised surface; either overprinting or on blank paper.
Fanfold: Paper made from a web and folded like a fan lengthwise and sometimes crosswise.
Flexo: A system of printing on a rotary press employing water-based ink, used especially for printing on plastic, paper, or cardboard.
Foil: An extremely thin ribbon of foil is fed into a press, it releases its pigment onto the paper when pressed between die and a hard flat surface and heat is applied. A combination of heat and pressure then bonds the lead material to the paper.
Fulfillment: A service that involves the gathering, organizing and fitting together of various printed items into a completed unit.
Furnished Artwork: Artwork supplied by customer.
Gothic Numbering: Type of font that is very common and plain-looking.
Grommets: A ring inserted into a hole through thin material, such as fabric. Grommets are generally flared or collared on each side to keep them in place and are often made of metal, plastic, or rubber. They may be used to prevent tearing or abrasion of the pierced material, to cover sharp edges of the piercing, or both.
Heavy Coverage: 50% - 100% of ink coverage on printed piece.
Ink Coverage: The amount of ink on a page.
Light Coverage: Less than 25% of ink coverage on printed piece.
Litho: A printing process based on the principle of the natural aversion of water to grease. The areas to be printed receive and transfer ink to the paper, the non-printing areas are treated with water to repel the ink.
Matte Mylar Tab: Laminated tabs that can be written on and with most pens, easily erased.
Medium Coverage: Between 25%-50% of ink coverage on printed piece.
MICR Numbering: Used in check printing to enable the document to be read by MICR scanning equipment for processing of information contained on the printed checks. Magnetic Image Character Recognition numbering is a special encoded number used on checks for that purpose.
Mylar Tab: A small flap that is die cut from a sheet, typically cover stock, and plastic film is applied for protection. The flap or tab is used for identification and can allow sections to be easily accessed.
Negs: A film negative version of an image that is obtained by running out film through an image setting system.
Neon Tab: Neon colored tab.
Overrun: Additional copies printed in excess of specified quantity.
Panels: One page of a brochure, such as one panel of a rack brochure. One panel is on one side of the paper. A letter-folded sheet has six panels, not three.
Paper Grade: Classification of different types of paper based on the type of pulp, treatments, and the end use of the paper.
Pattern/Sport Varnish: A varnish applied to portions of a sheet, as compared to flood or painted sheet.
Phantom Watermarks: Sometimes called a "simulated watermark" - this is words or an illustration created by printing or imaging, not during the paper manufacturing process.
Plain Tab: A tab that is not laminated.
PMS (Panton Matching System): Color Charts that have more than 700 preprinted color patches of bleeded inks, used to identify, display, or define special "branded" colors.
Registration: Placing print properly with regard to the edges of paper and other printing on the same sheet.
Shoot Copy: Take a picture of the copy as opposed to recreating it.
Thermography: Method of printing using colorless resin powder that takes on the color of underlying ink. Also called raised printing.
Tight Registration: Ink colors in an image touch of each other.
Underrun: The number of pieces that a printing run is short of the original order quantity.
UV Coating: Liquid applied to a printed sheet, then bonded and cured with ultraviolet light.