--- title: IC Glossary date: 2026-08-10T19:28:44Z modified: 2026-08-10T19:28:45Z permalink: "https://www.contactmonkey.com/resources/internal-communications-glossary" type: page status: publish excerpt: "" wpid: 160996 parent: 24677 ancestors: - 24677 children: [] author: Peter Wong --- ###### Internal Communications Glossary # ContactMonkey’s Internal Communications Glossary Internal communications has its own language. Here’s what it all actually means, explained the way IC professionals use it. [Book a demo](https://www.contactmonkey.com/internal-comms-demo)[Tour the platform](https://www.contactmonkey.com/product-tour) ![](https://www.contactmonkey.com/cm_wp/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/IC-Glossary_hero-image.png "IC-Glossary_hero-image") [All terms](#) [AI](#) [IT](#) [Measurement](#) [Product](#) [Tactics](#) [Strategy](#) [A–D](#) [E–H](#) [I–L](#) [M–P](#) [Q–T](#) [U–Z](#) A [AI email assistant](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/ai-email-assistant)An AI-powered feature built into internal communications software to help communicators draft, rewrite, shorten, or refine employee emails.… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/ai-email-assistant) [AI email builder](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/ai-email-builder)A tool that generates a structured internal email draft, layout and copy included, from a short prompt. This… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/ai-email-builder) [AI personas](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/ai-personas)Simulated employee reader profiles, such as frontline, manager, or new hire, that ContactMonkey’s Audience Preview uses to predict… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/ai-personas) [API](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/api)This is a way for two systems to exchange data automatically, without someone manually exporting and uploading files… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/api) [Approval workflow](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/approval-workflow)A review process that requires one or more people to approve an internal email before it can be… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/approval-workflow) [Audience Preview](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/audience-preview)ContactMonkey’s pre-send review tool that runs an internal email draft through AI personas representing different employee segments, giving… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/audience-preview) [Audience segmentation](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/audience-segmentation)The process of organizing employees into audience segments, by role, location, department, or work type, so internal emails… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/audience-segmentation) [Content blocks](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/content-blocks)These are the individual, reusable design elements, text, images, buttons, dividers, that communicators drag into ContactMonkey’s drag and… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/content-blocks) C [Campaign report](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/campaign-report)The analytics view inside ContactMonkey’s dashboard that shows performance data (opens, clicks, read time, and device breakdown) for… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/campaign-report) [Change communications](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/change-communications)Internal comms built specifically to support employees through organizational transitions, such as restructuring, leadership changes, mergers, or new… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/change-communications) [Click map](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/click-map)Also called a click heatmap, this is a visual report showing which links, buttons, and images within a… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/click-map) [Click-through rate](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/click-through-rate)This number is the percentage of email recipients who clicked at least one link inside a message, one… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/click-through-rate) [CoAuthor](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/coauthor)This is ContactMonkey’s AI email builder, which quickly turns your written prompt into a structured, ready-to-edit internal email,… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/coauthor) [Compliance Center](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/compliance-center)This is the governance settings area in ContactMonkey where admins manage which domains count as internal versus external… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/compliance-center) [Content governance](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/content-governance)The rules and processes an organization uses to control who can create, edit, approve, and publish internal communications,… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/content-governance) [Crisis communications](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/crisis-communications)Time-sensitive communication sent during an unexpected event, such as a workplace safety incident, cyberattack or natural disaster. In… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/crisis-communications) [Culture gap](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/culture-gap)A term to describe the widening disconnect between the communication structures an organization has in place and how… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/culture-gap) D [Data residency](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/data-residency)If you ever hear IT talk about this, it means where your organization’s data physically lives on a… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/data-residency) [Distribution lists](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/distribution-lists)Groups of recipients, typically synced from Outlook, Google Groups, or an HRIS system, that internal communicators use to… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/distribution-lists) [Dynamic content](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/dynamic-content)A ContactMonkey feature that lets you display different content blocks to different employee segments within the same email.… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/dynamic-content) E [Editorial calendar](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/editorial-calendar)A planning tool that maps out what’s being sent, to whom, and when, across weeks or months. This… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/editorial-calendar) [Email Template Builder](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/email-template-builder)A drag and drop email builder for employee emails that designs internal email layouts without writing HTML. This… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/email-template-builder) [Employee communications](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/employee-communications)Messaging sent from an organization to its own workforce, covering everything from routine updates to major announcements. This… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/employee-communications) [Employee engagement](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/employee-engagement)This is how connected, motivated, and invested employees feel in their work and the organization they work for.… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/employee-engagement) [Employee feedback](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/employee-feedback)Input from employees about their work, their team, or the organization, collected through surveys, comments, reactions, or open… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/employee-feedback) [Employee feedback software](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/employee-feedback-software)A platform built for collecting, organizing, and analyzing employee feedback, typically through embedded surveys, pulse checks, or sentiment… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/employee-feedback-software) [Employee net promoter score (eNPS)](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/employee-net-promoter-score-enps)A metric based on a single question asking employees how likely they are to recommend their workplace to… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/employee-net-promoter-score-enps) [Employee newsletter](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/employee-newsletter)A recurring internal email, typically weekly or monthly, that rounds up company updates, announcements, and recognition for employees.… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/employee-newsletter) [Employee newsletter software](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/employee-newsletter-software)Software built for creating and personalizing recurring newsletters aimed at employees specifically, with segmentation and content blocks that… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/employee-newsletter-software) [Employee pulse survey](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/employee-pulse-survey)A short, frequent feedback check, typically 3-7 questions, sent on a regular cadence to catch shifts in sentiment… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/employee-pulse-survey) [Employee sentiment analysis](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/employee-sentiment-analysis)The practice of interpreting employee feedback, whether from surveys, comments, or reactions, to understand overall mood and trust… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/employee-sentiment-analysis) [Employee voice](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/employee-voice)The extent to which employees feel able to share opinions, concerns, and ideas, and whether the organization actually… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/employee-voice) [Engagement rate](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/engagement-rate)A metric combining multiple engagement signals, such as opens, clicks, and survey responses, into a single measure of… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/engagement-rate) [Engagement survey](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/engagement-survey)A comprehensive, typically annual or biannual survey measuring employee engagement across areas like trust in leadership, job satisfaction,… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/engagement-survey) [Enterprise communications](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/enterprise-communications)Internal communications built for large, often distributed organizations, where volume, segmentation, and governance requirements are meaningfully different from… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/enterprise-communications) [External sending](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/external-sending)ContactMonkey’s governance layer for sending to people outside the employee directory, such as contractors, partners, or alumni, with… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/external-sending) F [Feedback loop](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/feedback-loop)The full cycle of collecting employee input, acting on it, and communicating back what changed as a result.… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/feedback-loop) [Frontline communications](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/frontline-communications)Messaging built to reach deskless, field, or shift-based employees who don’t sit at a computer during the workday,… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/frontline-communications) G [GDPR](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/gdpr)The European Union’s data protection law, which sets rules for how organizations collect, store, and handle personal data… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/gdpr) [Generative AI](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/generative-ai)AI that produces new content, text, images, or layouts, from a prompt. In internal communications, this is what… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/generative-ai) H [HRIS integration](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/hris-integration)A direct sync between ContactMonkey and an organization’s HR information system, so employee lists, departments, locations, and roles… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/hris-integration) I [IC Impact Brief](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/ic-impact-brief)A term coined by ContactMonkey for a strategic planning document that captures the intent behind an internal communications… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/ic-impact-brief) [Insights Assistant](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/insights-assistant)ContactMonkey’s AI chat feature that lets communicators ask plain-language questions about their campaign performance, such as how open… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/insights-assistant) [Internal communications](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/internal-communications)The messaging, channels, and processes an organization uses to inform, align, and engage its own employees. This is… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/internal-communications) [Internal communications benchmarking](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/internal-communications-benchmarking)The practice of comparing an organization’s own communication metrics, such as open rate or read time, against industry-wide… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/internal-communications-benchmarking) [Internal communications ROI](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/internal-communications-roi)Return on investment, a calculation showing what internal communications software returns relative to its cost, typically measured through… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/internal-communications-roi) [Internal communications software](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/internal-communications-software)A platform built specifically for sending, tracking, and analyzing employee communications, distinct from general marketing email tools that… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/internal-communications-software) [Internal communications strategy](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/internal-communications-strategy)A documented plan for how, when, and through which channels an organization communicates with employees, typically covering cadence,… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/internal-communications-strategy) [Internal email](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/internal-email)Email sent from an organization to its own employees. It remains one of the most reliable internal communications… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/internal-email) [Internal marketing](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/internal-marketing)Applying marketing principles, like audience segmentation, messaging tests, and campaign performance tracking, to communications aimed at employees instead… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/internal-marketing) [Internal newsletter](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/internal-newsletter)A recurring internal email, typically weekly or monthly, that rounds up company news, announcements, and updates for employees.… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/internal-newsletter) [Internal newsletter software](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/internal-newsletter-software)A platform built specifically for designing, sending, and tracking employee newsletters, unlike general email marketing tools that weren’t… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/internal-newsletter-software) [Intranet](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/intranet)A private, organization-wide website employees use to access company news, documents, and resources. Intranets work well as a… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/intranet) L [Large language model (LLM)](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/large-language-model-llm)The type of AI model behind tools like ChatGPT and Claude, trained to generate and understand natural language… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/large-language-model-llm) [Leadership communications](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/leadership-communications)Messaging that comes directly from executives or senior leaders, such as CEO updates, town hall remarks, or all-hands… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/leadership-communications) [List management](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/list-management)The process of building, updating, and organizing employee distribution lists, whether manually, through CSV upload, or synced automatically… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/list-management) M [Multi-Language Emails (MLE)](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/multi-language-emails-mle)A feature that automatically generates translated versions of an internal email, so employees can receive the same message… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/multi-language-emails-mle) [Multichannel communications](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/multichannel-communications)An approach that delivers internal messages across more than one channel, such as email, SMS, Teams, or intranet,… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/multichannel-communications) O [Open rate](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/open-rate)The percentage of email recipients who opened a message at least once, one of the most basic but… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/open-rate) [Outlook Web Add-in](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/outlook-web-add-in)ContactMonkey’s plugin for Outlook that opens the ContactMonkey email builder directly inside Outlook, so communicators can compose, send,… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/outlook-web-add-in) P [Pages](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/pages)ContactMonkey’s tool for publishing trackable web pages, such as event hubs, FAQ pages, or campaign landing pages, without… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/pages) [Participation rate](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/participation-rate)The percentage of employees who respond to a survey, poll, or other feedback request. If it climbs survey… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/participation-rate) [Prompt engineering](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/prompt-engineering)The practice of writing clear, specific instructions to get useful output from an AI tool, whether that’s drafting… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/prompt-engineering) R [Reactive request culture](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/reactive-request-culture)A term coined by ContactMonkey to describe an IC team that spends most of its time responding to… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/reactive-request-culture) [Read time](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/read-time)The average amount of time recipients spend actively viewing an email before closing it, a metric that reveals… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/read-time) S [SendGrid](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/sendgrid)Previously called Email at Scale, this is ContactMonkey’s infrastructure for sending internal email to large or fast-growing employee… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/sendgrid) [SOC 2 compliance](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/soc-2-compliance)A security certification, audited by an independent third party, confirming a platform has proper controls in place to… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/soc-2-compliance) [Solo IC team](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/solo-ic-team)An internal communications function run by a single person, responsible for everything from writing to strategy to reporting.… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/solo-ic-team) [SSO (single sign-on)](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/sso-single-sign-on)Lets employees log into a tool using the same login they already use for work, instead of a… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/sso-single-sign-on) T [Tags](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/tags)Labels applied to individual email campaigns so communicators can filter, group, and compare performance across categories, such as… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/tags) [Templates](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/templates)Pre-built email layouts that communicators customize instead of designing from a blank canvas, saving time on formatting so… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/templates) [Town hall meeting](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/town-hall-meeting)A company-wide meeting where leadership shares updates and takes questions directly from employees, live or virtually. An all-hands… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/town-hall-meeting) [Two-way communication](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/two-way-communication)Internal communications built on employee feedback, where employees can respond, react, or push back on what they’re told.… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/two-way-communication) U [Uptime / SLA (service level agreement)](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/uptime-sla-service-level-agreement)If you ever hear your IT team mention this, uptime is the percentage of time a system is… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/uptime-sla-service-level-agreement) V [Video communications](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/video-communications)Internal messaging delivered through video, another channel communicators can use alongside email, typically for leadership updates, onboarding walkthroughs,… [Read more](https://www.contactmonkey.com/glossary/video-communications)