31 terms, each with a one-line answer
Outreach glossary
Plain-English definitions of the words people use about cold email: deliverability, prospecting, writing and sequences, metrics and the rules. Each term opens with a one-sentence definition, then why it matters and exactly how Reach Crew handles it.
Deliverability. Getting your email into the inbox.
- Email deliverability
Email deliverability is the share of the emails you send that land in the recipient's inbox, rather than in spam, a promotions tab or back with you as a bounce.
Why it matters and how Reach Crew handles it- Sender reputation
Sender reputation is the trust that mailbox providers such as Gmail and Outlook place in a sending domain or mailbox, based on its history of bounces, spam complaints, authentication and engagement.
Why it matters and how Reach Crew handles it- SPFSender Policy Framework
SPF (Sender Policy Framework) is a DNS TXT record that lists the mail servers allowed to send email for a domain, so receiving servers can reject mail that claims to be from that domain but comes from somewhere else.
Why it matters and how Reach Crew handles it- DKIMDomainKeys Identified Mail
DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) is an email authentication method that adds a cryptographic signature to each message, which receivers check against a public key published in the sender's DNS to confirm the email came from that domain and was not altered.
Why it matters and how Reach Crew handles it- DMARCDomain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance
DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance) is a DNS policy that tells receiving servers what to do with email that fails SPF and DKIM alignment for your domain, and where to send reports about it.
Why it matters and how Reach Crew handles it- Email warm-up
Email warm-up is the practice of starting a new or quiet mailbox at a small number of emails a day and raising it gradually, so mailbox providers build trust in the sender before volume grows.
Why it matters and how Reach Crew handles it- Sending limits
Sending limits are the maximum number of emails or recipients a mailbox provider lets one account send in a day, beyond which sending is blocked for a period.
Why it matters and how Reach Crew handles it- Bounce rate
Bounce rate is the percentage of sent emails that come back as undeliverable, usually because the address does not exist or the receiving server refused the message.
Why it matters and how Reach Crew handles it- Hard and soft bounce
A hard bounce is a permanent delivery failure, such as an address that does not exist, while a soft bounce is a temporary one, such as a full mailbox or a server that is briefly unavailable.
Why it matters and how Reach Crew handles it- Spam complaint
A spam complaint is recorded when a recipient clicks "Report spam" (or similar) on your email, and the spam complaint rate is the share of delivered emails that receive one.
Why it matters and how Reach Crew handles it- Email verification
Email verification is the process of checking that an email address is correctly formed, belongs to a domain that receives mail and has a mailbox that accepts messages, before you send to it.
Why it matters and how Reach Crew handles it- Catch-all domainAccept-all domain
A catch-all domain is an email domain whose server accepts messages for any address at that domain, whether or not a real mailbox exists, so a verification check cannot tell a real address from a made-up one.
Why it matters and how Reach Crew handles it
Prospecting. Choosing who to write to.
- Ideal customer profileICP
An ideal customer profile (ICP) is a description of the type of company that gets the most value from what you sell and is most likely to buy, defined by traits such as industry, size, location and the problem it has.
Why it matters and how Reach Crew handles it- Lead scoring
Lead scoring is a method of ranking prospects with a number or grade that reflects how well they fit your ideal customer profile and how likely they are to be interested now.
Why it matters and how Reach Crew handles it- Data enrichmentLead enrichment
Data enrichment is the process of adding missing details to a contact or company record, such as a work email, job title, company size or industry, by looking them up in other data sources.
Why it matters and how Reach Crew handles it- Intent signalBuying signal, trigger event
An intent signal is an observable event or behavior suggesting that a company or person may be ready to buy, such as raising funding, hiring for a related role, opening a new location or talking publicly about a problem.
Why it matters and how Reach Crew handles it- Decision maker
A decision maker is the person at a company with the authority to approve a purchase or a change, usually because they own the budget or the problem your product solves.
Why it matters and how Reach Crew handles it- Buying committeeBuying group
A buying committee is the group of people at a company who influence or approve a purchase, typically including the decision maker, the people who will use the product, and stakeholders from finance, IT or legal.
Why it matters and how Reach Crew handles it- Do-not-contact listSuppression list
A do-not-contact list, or suppression list, is a list of people or addresses that must never be emailed again, usually because they unsubscribed, asked to be forgotten, bounced or complained.
Why it matters and how Reach Crew handles it
Writing and sequences. What to send, and when.
- Cold email
A cold email is a first email sent to someone you have no existing relationship with, written to start a relevant business conversation, such as a sale, a partnership, a hire or an introduction.
Why it matters and how Reach Crew handles it- Personalization
Personalization in cold email is writing each message around something specific and true about the recipient, such as a post they wrote, a talk they gave or news about their company, rather than only inserting their name and company into a template.
Why it matters and how Reach Crew handles it- Email sequenceCadence, drip
An email sequence is a planned series of messages to one person, a first email followed by timed follow-ups, that stops automatically when the person replies or opts out.
Why it matters and how Reach Crew handles it- Follow-up cadence
Follow-up cadence is the number of follow-up emails you send after a first email and the spacing between them, for example two follow-ups on day 3 and day 7.
Why it matters and how Reach Crew handles it- Send timeSend window
Send time is the moment an email is delivered to the recipient, and for cold email it matters most in the recipient's own time zone, not the sender's.
Why it matters and how Reach Crew handles it- Out-of-office replyAuto-reply
An out-of-office reply is an automatic response a person sets up while away, usually stating when they will be back and who to contact meanwhile.
Why it matters and how Reach Crew handles it
Metrics. Knowing whether it works.
- Open rate
Open rate is the percentage of delivered emails recorded as opened, usually measured with a tiny invisible image (a tracking pixel) that loads when the email is displayed.
Why it matters and how Reach Crew handles it
Compliance. Staying on the right side of the rules.
- UnsubscribeOpt-out
An unsubscribe, or opt-out, is a way for a recipient to tell a sender to stop emailing them, which the sender must then honor for all future messages.
Why it matters and how Reach Crew handles it- One-click unsubscribeList-Unsubscribe header
One-click unsubscribe is an email standard (RFC 8058) in which the sender adds List-Unsubscribe and List-Unsubscribe-Post headers, so mail apps like Gmail can show an Unsubscribe button that opts the reader out in a single click.
Why it matters and how Reach Crew handles it- CAN-SPAM Act
The CAN-SPAM Act is the US federal law, enforced by the FTC, that sets rules for commercial email, including business to business email, such as honest headers and subject lines, a valid postal address and a working opt-out honored within 10 business days.
Why it matters and how Reach Crew handles it- GDPR and consentLegitimate interest
Under the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), you need a lawful basis to process someone's personal data, and B2B cold email usually relies on legitimate interest rather than consent, subject to stricter national email rules in some countries.
Why it matters and how Reach Crew handles it
Know the words. Let the crew do the work.
Reach Crew warms up your mailbox, checks every address twice, writes one personal email per person and sends at 9:30 am their time, only after you approve. Free to start with 1,000 credits.