Direct marketing glossary

Check out our glossary of Direct Marketing terms and phrases.
  • Action Devices
    Items and techniques used by Direct Marketers to initiate a desired response. For instance, 'scratch-to-reveal' boxes or 'tokens' which need to be cut out and stuck down somewhere within the mailing.
  • Active Buyer / Active Customer / Actives
    A buyer, whose last purchase was made within the last twelve months. A 'hot list' is usually comprised of active buyers who have made a purchase in the last 3 months.
  • Active Subscriber
    Someone who has paid for, and committed themselves to, a regular delivery of magazines, books or other goods for a period of time.
  • Address Correction Requested
    An option open to regular customers or subscribers, giving them the opportunity to update their address or contact information. This options usually manifests itself in a detachable form that is sent back to the company.
  • Advertorial
    A paid advertisement, designed and written in such a way that it appears to be editorial rather than a traditional advertisement.
  • Assigned Mailing Dates
    The agreed dates on which a rented database list should be mailed. Other dates are not acceptable without the list owner's permission.
  • Audience
    A group of individuals or companies to be targeted by a promotion or advertisement. In other words, it's who you want to talk to.
  • Average Order Value
    A simple mathematical formula used to determine the average order value. Take the total revenue generated from a program and divide it by the total number of orders. This equals the average order value.
  • Awareness
    It's a commonly accepted advertising truism that consumers will not ask for your product or service unless they are aware of it. So 'awareness' relates to advertising or other promotional activity whose primary purpose is to increase general knowledge of the company, and to make people feel more positive towards it.