A/B testing, also known as split testing, compares two newsletters or variations of elements (like subject lines and content) with a subset of your audience. This approach allows for data-driven decision making, as it helps identify which campaign or variation (A or B) resonates better with your target audience.

The beehiiv Ad Network is an exclusive platform enabling newsletter monetization through advertisements from globally recognized brands and fellow publishers. Available to users on our paid plans, the Ad Network allows you to accept, distribute, and earn from relevant ads featured in your beehiiv publications/newsletters.

The unique suite of AI (artificial intelligence) tools built within the beehiiv editor that are available to users on our paid plans. These beehiiv AI tools include an AI writing assistant, AI image tools, and an AI text translator.

Alt text, short for alternative text, is a descriptive substitute for images. It ensures accessibility, offering meaningful descriptions for visually impaired individuals. Good alt text is clear and concise, aiding understanding when images are not displayed or loaded.

Analytics, in regards to your beehiiv account, refers to the process of gathering, analyzing, and interpreting data derived from the publications that you send out. It involves examining various cohort metrics such as open rates, click-through rates, bounce rates, and subscriber engagement to assess the performance and effectiveness of your email campaigns. Such insights are found in the Analyze section of your account in the forms of three reports — Subscribers, Posts, and Clicks.

An API, short for application programming interface, serves as a software-based communication bridge between two distinct applications. It enables data exchange and interaction by allowing you to create API keys within your beehiiv account to facilitate integrations with other systems.

Your audience encompasses all of the subscribers or contacts in your beehiiv account. Audience is also the area in your  account where you can access Subscribers, Segments, Polls, Custom Fields, Surveys, and Subscribe Forms.

Authentication is an email term that involves verifying the identity of a user or system attempting to access an account. It is a process that guarantees access to strictly authorized individuals or applications, bolstering security and safeguarding sensitive information. (Email authentication is also defined.) 

Automations, also referred to as workflows, are customized email journeys tailored for your subscribers. These journeys are crafted in the Automations section of your account using a series of triggers and nodes, providing a wide range of workflow possibilities. 

Any serious player in the beehiiv ecosystem who is consistently sending to their audience, often the next echelon after being a successful beehiiv publisher. 

Upon adding a publication name to your account, you'll be assigned your own beehiiv subdomain for your publication’s online presence. The subdomain is a URL in the format of [your-publication.beehiiv.com]; it mirrors the name of your newsletter and serves as its online home by default. To override the beehiiv subdomain, you can add a custom domain to your beehiiv account.

In terms of email marketing, best practices are effective guidelines, strategies, and methodologies for achieving optimal campaign results. These include crafting engaging content, ensuring list hygiene, optimizing subject lines, personalizing messages, adhering to spam regulations, and analyzing metrics for future optimization. 

Often referred to in beehiiv help articles, best practices serve as industry standards to enhance deliverability and engagement rates while fostering a positive experience for your audience.

Boosts are a beehiiv monetization tool that allows you to tap into thousands of newsletters by setting your own price for new subscriber recommendations. Boosts also acts as a two-sided marketplace, connecting newsletters looking to grow their audience with publishers looking to promote other newsletters while generating revenue. 

Bounce, bouncing, and/or bounces generally refer to an undelivered email that is returned to the sender's server due to various reasons. Bounces are classified into two main categories: soft and hard.

A soft bounce occurs when an email is temporarily undeliverable, often due to a full inbox, a server issue, or a message size problem. These emails might be delivered after the issue is resolved.

A hard bounce happens when an email is permanently undeliverable. This can occur due to an invalid or non-existent email address, domain issues, or when the recipient's server has completely blocked delivery.

Both types of bounces can provide insights into email deliverability and the quality of your subscriber list.

A campaign is a general term for an email send. In your beehiiv account, a campaign can also be referred to as a post while it is in draft mode, and then a publication once it has been sent out to your audience. Additionally, the term is used for ad campaigns offered in the beehiiv Ad Network. 

CAN-SPAM, short for Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing, is a U.S. law regulating commercial email. It requires senders to accurately represent themselves, use a valid email address, enable easy opt-out, and include a physical mailing address in email footers — all of which are also mandatory within your beehiiv account. 

Click rate refers to the percentage of recipients who clicked on one or more links in an email or newsletter. It provides a general overview of engagement by indicating the overall percentage of recipients who clicked on a link. Click rate differs from CTR in that it uses the total number of emails delivered as a base measurement, whereas CTR uses the total number of emails opened.

CTR, or click through rate, is a metric that measures the effectiveness of an email by calculating the percentage of recipients who clicked on one or more links contained in an email, leading them to the desired destination like a website or landing page. CTR is a more specific metric compared to click rate, focusing solely on the proportion of clicks relative to the total number of emails opened.

The Clicks Report, located under the Analyze section in your beehiiv account, is an automated tool designed to monitor clicks across your posts. This insightful report empowers you to gain a deeper understanding of your subscribers' engagement patterns. You can explore and analyze your click data to optimize your content strategy and enhance user interaction.

Contacts, also known as subscribers, are the members of your audience, each identified by an email address and other information that they’ve chosen to share with you. 

Content generally refers to the different elements of an email campaign or newsletter including the copy or text, images, ads, referrals, and anything featured in the email after opening it. 

Content tags are labels or metadata assigned to categorize and organize specific content within an email campaign. They aid in efficient management, analysis, and optimization of data by allowing for better segmentation and personalization based on various criteria. Content Tags is also an area in your beehiiv account where you can create and manage your tags. 

CPC, or cost per click, is a payment method that the beehiiv Ad Network uses that measures how much an advertiser pays for each unique click on sponsored links within an email campaign. It provides valuable insight into the efficiency of a campaign by reflecting the cost of driving user engagement. For example, if the CPC is $1, the advertiser pays $1 for every click on the ad.

CPM (cost per mille) is a payment method that the beehiiv Ad Network uses where you earn based on the number of unique opens per send for an advertiser. For example, with a $5 CPM, you’ll earn $5 for every 1,000 unique opens you deliver in a single send.

Creator Spotlight is a newsletter produced by the beehiiv team covering success stories from across the creator economy. It features a podcast and newsletter focused on interviews with and lessons from top creators across various niches and platforms, not just those on beehiiv. Subscribe for a new story every Friday.

Custom domains are URLs that link a privately owned domain, typically associated with your business, to your beehiiv publication’s domain on the web. This configuration ensures that when your subscribers access the custom domain, they see a URL that is directly affiliated with your business, enhancing branding and recognition.

Custom fields act as placeholders for personalized information in your posts. They allow you to include individualized details like a subscriber's name or location, making your communications more tailored and engaging. In regards to your beehiiv account, you can manage your custom fields from the Audience > Subscribers section. 

In the context of email communications, deliverability pertains to an ESP’s capacity to successfully deliver emails to the inboxes of  subscribers. Upholding strong email deliverability is a critical factor in nurturing a positive sender reputation, which, in turn, contributes to higher chances of emails reaching the intended recipients' inboxes.

Along with SPF, DKIM and DMARC are email authentication protocols that beehiiv employs. 

DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) is an email authentication method that adds a digital signature to an email's header. This signature helps verify that the email was sent by the claimed sender and hasn't been altered during transit.

DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance) is a policy framework that builds on DKIM and SPF. It helps prevent email spoofing and phishing by providing a way for email senders to authenticate their messages and instruct email receivers on how to handle unauthenticated emails. DMARC also enables senders to receive reports about email authentication failures.

Dynamic content refers to elements within an email that change based on specific criteria or user behavior. Instead of sending the same content to all recipients, dynamic content allows for personalized and targeted emails. It adapts to various factors such as the recipient's preferences, location, past interactions, or demographic information.

Email authentication is a set of techniques and protocols used to verify the legitimacy of an email sender's identity. It helps prevent email fraud, phishing attacks, and spam by verifying that an email message truly comes from the claimed sender and hasn't been altered during transit. beehiiv adheres to SPF, DKIM, and DMARC email authentication protocols. 

Within beehiiv, an email campaign is also known as a post or an email send. Outside of beehiiv, an email campaign is often called a newsletter. 

Email client is a term for the software that people use to view and interact with their emails, like Gmail or MacMail.

The beehiiv editor  is used to create posts and other content in your account. Also referred to as the post editor, it houses all of the features you can access when drafting your newsletters/web pages and is organized into these four sections: Basics, Headings, Embeds, and Premium.  

Engagement refers to the interaction and response levels that your audience has with the emails they receive from you. It encompasses actions such as opening an email, clicking on links within the email, replying to the message, or performing any other desired action. 

Tracking engagement metrics is crucial for assessing the effectiveness of email campaigns and optimizing future strategies to improve recipient interaction and response. High engagement indicates that recipients find the content relevant and valuable, leading to increased open rates, click-through rates, and overall positive interaction with your publications.

An ESP, or email service provider, is a company or platform that offers email marketing services to businesses and individuals. ESPs, like beehiiv, provide tools and features for creating, sending, and managing email campaigns. 

Export or exporting refers to the process of extracting data or information from an email marketing platform or database into a file format that can be used elsewhere. This often involves creating a downloadable file (such as a CSV) containing subscriber lists, contact details, campaign metrics, or other relevant data.  

The footer is the bottom section of an email where additional information and functionalities are typically included. It commonly contains essential elements like the unsubscribe link, contact information of the sender, physical address (required by laws like CAN-SPAM), links to manage subscription preferences, social media links, and sometimes legal disclaimers or company information. 

The footer ensures compliance with email regulations, provides recipients with options to manage their subscriptions, and offers a way for recipients to contact the sender or engage further with their content.

Grow is an area in your account where you can access beehiiv’s growth tools: the Referral Program, Recommendations, Magic Links, and Boosts. You can also take advantage of the Boosts marketplace on the grow side. 

The header is the top section of a newsletter that often includes branding elements such as a company or publication logo, the sender's name or email address, links to relevant sites, and sometimes a hyperlinked menu or navbar. 

The official beehiiv Slack community that is available to all paid beehiiv accounts. Comprised of like-minded beehiiv creators and newsletter experts, the hiiv is constantly buzzing with insightful chatter, tips and tricks on using the platform, and more. Click here to join.

In reference to your beehiiv account, after your first post is live, your Home page is where your posts are featured online. The Home page also usually includes a way for readers to subscribe to your newsletter. You can customize the look and feel of your publication’s Home page using the Website Builder.

When using the beehiiv editor, the HTML Snippet is a Premium option that you can use to add your own HTML code to customize the look and feel of your newsletter. 

Import or importing  is the process of transferring external content, such as subscriber lists, images, or  newsletter content into the beehiiv platform. 

Integrations create the ability for beehiiv to connect and work seamlessly with other third-party tools, applications, or services.

An IP address, short for Internet Protocol address, is a unique numerical label assigned to devices connected to a computer network. It serves as an identifier and enables devices to communicate with each other and facilitate the transmission of data across networks, allowing devices to be recognized and located on the internet.  

An ISP, or internet service provider, refers to a company or organization that provides access to the internet and related services to individuals and businesses, like Verizon, AT&T, or Charter.

The Knowledge Base (KB) houses all of  beehiiv's support documentation, also known as help articles. The KB offers a wide array of how-to articles, troubleshooting tips, and video tutorials for using the beehiiv platform.

A landing page is a standalone web page generally created for focused marketing or advertising purposes, and designed to encourage specific actions, like making a purchase or subscribing. Note: Previously in the beehiiv app, the Signup page used to be called the Landing page.

List hygiene refers to the practice of managing and maintaining the quality of an email marketing list. It involves regularly reviewing and cleaning email subscriber lists to ensure they consist of active, engaged users and valid email addresses. 

Magic Links are a beehiiv feature which creates a URL that automatically subscribes the person who clicks on it. Rather than sending a visitor to your newsletter’s website to sign up, this removes that step entirely and signs them up immediately upon clicking.

Manage preferences refers to the act that subscribers can take to opt in or out of specific email categories, or from your newsletter and communications altogether. Required by laws like CAN-SPAM, manage preference links are usually found in the footer of email campaigns. 

Similar to importing content, migrating or migration refers to the process of transferring external content, such as subscriber lists, images, or  newsletter content into the beehiiv platform. 

Monetization involves generating income from your unique content or audience, often through methods like advertising, subscriptions, or marketing in a newsletter. 

Monetization also represents the area in your  account where you can access beehiiv’s monetization tools: the Ad Network, Subscriptions, Partner Program, and Boosts.

A newsletter is one of the top digital marketing assets that you can have, offering a direct channel to both engage with and own your audience. Email newsletters enable personalized communication by delivering valuable content directly to the inboxes of your audience. 

In beehiiv, a newsletter can also be referred to as a post, publication, or email campaign.

In regards to your beehiiv account, it is the place in the platform where you can configure which notifications you wish to receive about the different features you have enabled.

The act of learning a new platform after joining or signing up for a service. As a new beehiiv user, you can use the Knowledge Base, our webinars, and video tutorials, for proactive onboarding to set yourself up for success. 

The process a subscriber takes to join a mailing list, meaning an individual has agreed to receive emails from a particular publication or sender.

The process a subscriber takes to opt out of receiving email communications from a particular publication or sender, meaning the individual no longer wishes to receive emails from them.

Paid newsletters or subscriptions are when subscribers pay a fee to access exclusive content in your newsletter. beehiiv’s toolkit for paid subscriptions gives creators an easy way to monetize their content, offering added value to readers while generating a passive revenue stream.

A signature beehiiv affiliate promotion that allows you to earn 50% commission of revenue by introducing new customers to beehiiv. Our current Partner Program is dubbed the beehiiv Beach Club, where every quarter, our top qualifying partner gets a fully-covered getaway to a premium beach locale.   

A paywall in email campaigns refers to a barrier or restriction that limits access to certain content or features, typically requiring payment or a specific action for entry. This can include adding a paywall break, where access to paid content is granted only after readers subscribe or complete specific actions.

Permission-based sending refers to the practice of sending marketing communications only to individuals who have explicitly given their consent or permission to receive those messages. This consent is typically obtained through opt-in methods, where subscribers actively sign up or agree to receive emails from a sender.

Personalization is the customization of email content  based on individual recipient data such as name, preferences, and behaviors, creating a more engaging and relevant experience.

beehiiv polls allow you to gather quantitative and qualitative data directly from your readers, without needing to leave the newsletter. Polls diversify content by adding interactive elements, breaking the monotony of regular newsletter content and making it more engaging and entertaining for subscribers.

A commonly used term for a beehiiv email campaign or newsletter. In addition, Posts is the area of your beehiiv account where you create and manage your email campaigns.

The Posts Report is a detailed report found under the Analyze section in your beehiiv account which tracks the performance of your posts and can be filtered by date and subject.

A beehiiv term for a newsletter itself and/or a published email campaign.

A beehiiv term for creators who have active newsletters. 

Recommendations are a powerful  growth tool for gaining new subscribers that are available to all beehiiv users. When a new reader subscribes to your newsletter, you can offer them a select set of recommended newsletters to also subscribe to at the same time, should they want to. Similarly, other publishers on the platform can recommend your  newsletter to their audience during the opt-in process.

A unique beehiiv feature that allows you to reward your readers for subscriber referrals that they send to you. Available on our paid plans, the beehiiv Referral Program allows you to set the milestones and create the rewards that subscribers receive when sending new readers to your newsletter.

In reference to a URL, the root domain, or root, is the part that features the domain name. For example, in [yourwebsite.com], yourwebsite is the root or domain name, whereas [www.yourwebsite.com] or [mail.yourwebsite.com] are subdomains. Understanding these URL aspects is essential to adding custom domains to your beehiiv account, as explained in this KB article.

An RSS, or rich site summary, feed is a format used to publish frequently updated content by websites, blogs, and newsletters. RSS feeds can be used to automatically share content updates, summaries, or full articles (like blogs or newsletters) across different platforms.

Safelisting involves explicitly granting authorization to a designated domain and sending IP. This practice grants specific privileges, such as email delivery access, and serves as a crucial authentication step to guarantee internal delivery or establish a secure sender list. The term safelisting may also be interchangeably referred to as allowlisting. 

Segments are a beehiiv audience management tool that groups your subscribers based on their attributes and activity. Using segmentation, you can drill down further and derive valuable insight about your audience based on dozens of available metrics, attributes, and events. Segments also represent the area in your account where you can access the full Segmentation feature. 

A common beehiiv term for users who send out newsletters and are therefore actively using the platform.  

In regards to your beehiiv account, the Signup page is the online page used to subscribe to your newsletter. You can customize the look and feel of your publication’s Signup page using the Website Builder.

Simple sending is a beehiiv feature that allows you to send emails to (and exclude) specific custom segments.  It also gives you full editor functionality so you can include polls and links to your Referral Program directly in your targeted emails.

In regards to your beehiiv account, social sharing is the act of sharing your newsletter to social media sites. 

SPF, or sender policy framework, is an email authentication protocol that creates the ability to specify which servers are allowed to send email on behalf of your domain. 

Stripe is beehiiv’s payment processing partner and is used across beehiiv for different transactional features including Boosts and paid subscriptions.

A subdomain is a subsection of your primary domain. It precedes the main domain name and is separated by a period. Subdomains are often used to organize or categorize content within a website, providing distinct web addresses for specific sections or functions. For example, in [blog.yoursite.com], blog is the subdomain.

The text displayed at the top or beginning of an email, providing a concise summary and preview of the email's content. This line is visible in the recipient's inbox, influencing their decision to open or ignore the email. 

In your beehiiv account, you can A/B test your newsletter subject lines to determine the most effective variation.

Subscribe forms allow you to create and embed email signup forms on external websites.

In your beehiiv account, there are 4 different subscriber status types: Active, Inactive, Pending, and Needs Approval. 
Active means the subscriber is current and active. Inactive means the subscriber is no longer active and may have opted out of receiving email communications from you. Pending means the subscriber needs to confirm their email address. Lastly, Needs Approval only applies to publications that have activated the 'Require Subscriber Approval' option in their settings and means the account holder needs to approve them.

Subscribers are the contacts in your audience that have opted in to receive email communications from you. Subscribers is also an area in your beehiiv account where you manage your audience.

The Subscribers Report is a detailed report found under the Analyze section in your beehiiv account which tracks the engagement of your subscribers over time. 

Surveys allow you to create reusable survey forms for collecting audience data in your emails. Accessible to beehiiv users on paid plans, you can use surveys to deliver a more personalized or precise experience to your subscribers. 

For newsletters or email campaigns, a template dictates the design and encompasses the header, main body content, and footer, providing an overall visual structure for your content.

Triggers represent specific actions that happen within an automation workflow. Particularly, a trigger is the action that a subscriber takes which starts the automation (or sequence of events), and nodes are further extensions of those actions. There are countless ways that you can customize your subscriber’s experience using beehiiv automations and triggers.

2FA, or two-factor authentication, is a security process that adds an extra layer of protection beyond a password. It typically involves the use of a secondary method, such as a code sent to a mobile device or generated by an authenticator app, to verify the user's identity and enhances the security of their account. You can enable 2FA in your beehiiv account here. 

The action taken by a recipient to opt out or discontinue receiving further email communications from a particular sender or mailing list. When an individual unsubscribes, it indicates their preference to no longer receive emails from the sender, and this request is typically facilitated through a designated unsubscribe link or mechanism included in the email footer. Compliance with unsubscribe requests is a key aspect of email marketing regulations to ensure recipients have control over their subscription preferences.

In regards to your beehiiv account, the Upgrade page is used for paid memberships as the online page that displays the rates and info about your membership tiers and offers a direct way for users to subscribe to them. You can customize the look and feel of your publication’s Upgrade page using the Website Builder.

A URL, short for uniform resource locator, is the address used to locate a resource, such as a web page, file, or document, on the internet. It serves as the web address that specifies the location of a particular resource and how to retrieve it.

The beehiiv Wallet is the section of your account where you can add new funds for Boosts, see your available funds, and keep track of earnings. beehiiv Wallet transactions require a Stripe account.

Webhooks act as virtual notifications between applications that are triggered by an event, like when you want to get a notification each time you get a new subscriber. Working in realtime, webhooks allow  data to be received from one application to another and can help to refine the actions that your subscribers take.

Website, in terms of your beehiiv account, is the online home for your newsletter. Using the Website Builder in your beehiiv account, you can tailor the look and feel of your publication website by adding custom pages for further personalization.

The area in your account that controls all of the design aspects for your beehiiv website. While using the Website Builder, you can switch between settings for your publication’s Home page, Signup page, Upgrade page, or any Custom pages that have been added.

A welcome email is the first message sent to a new subscriber upon signing up for a newsletter. It serves to greet, thank, and introduce the subscriber to the newsletter's content, fostering a positive initial connection and providing essential onboarding information. In your beehiiv account, you can set up and manage your welcome email from the general settings of your publication. 

The Workspace page in beehiiv provides access to your account’s general settings. It’s where you can set your workspace name and address, manage multiple publications, invite team members to collaborate, or delete your workspace and all associated publications.

Newsletter Glossary

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