Target Marketing’s Direct Marketing Glossary

/M: Per thousand.

/MM: Per million.

AA: Authors alterations, i.e., changes other than corrections made by a client after the proofing process has begun.

AOV (average order value): The average amount of each customer order.

Abandoned Call: When a caller hangs up before his or her call is answered by an agent.

Above the Fold: The part of an e-mail message or Web page that’s visible without scrolling.

Absorbency: The capacity a paper has for accepting liquids, like the inks or water used to run offset lithographic presses.

Accordion Fold: Parallel folds that opens like an accordion.

Acid-free Paper: Paper manufactured on a machine with the wet-end chemistry controlled to a neutral or slightly alkaline pH.

Affiliate: A marketing partner that promotes your products or services under a payment-on-results agreement.

Affinity: A logical connection between a mailer’s offer and the names/data on a list.

Alignment: The degree of agreement, conformance and consistency among organizational purpose, vision and values; structures, systems, and processes; and individual skills and behaviors.

Alternate Delivery: Methods of delivering direct mail or sample products to households without using the United States Postal Service.

Application Service Provider (ASP): A company that provides a Web-based service wherein the clients don’t have to install software on their own computers. All tasks are hosted or performed on the ASP’s servers.

Aqueous coating: A water-based coating applied after printing to give a gloss, dull or matte finish, and help prevent the ink from rubbing off.

Authentication: An automated process that verifies an e-mail sender’s identity.

Automatic Call Distributor (ACD): A programmable solution that automatically accepts calls, places those calls in a queue, distributes the calls to agents, plays “on-hold” announcements and offers reports on these activities.

Automation-compatible Mail: Mail that can be scanned and processed by automated mail processing equipment such as a barcode sorter.

BANT: The acronym for typical lead qualification criteria--budget, authority, need and time frame.

Barcode: The nine-digit ZIP code translated into a coding structure of vertical bars and half bars used in order to speed the sorting of mail and enabling mailers to take a discount on postage. The USPS has asked mailers to switch to a four-state barcode, which would replace the 30-plus codes used throughout the postal system currently.

Base Rate: The cost to rent a list sans any additional selects.

Batching: The gathering and organizing of incoming orders.