Glossary of Terms

A Marketing Dictionary Keeps Professionals Up to Date

Every professional specialty from operations to finance has their own “secret club” language and marketing is no exception. In addition, in our digital age, new techniques and terms are always emerging and evolving, making it even more challenging to keep up.

If you come across a marketing definition you are not familiar with, take a look here for the most current definition and usage of marketing language. Is there a term you don’t see here or need further explanation with examples? Just give us a call and we’ll be happy to fill you in, whether you’re a client or not. We love talking about marketing!

A

Advertising

Advertising is a form of communication that attempts to influence the behavior of a defined target audience. Advertising is just one component, or subset, of marketing. Advertising works together with public relations, media planning, product pricing and distribution, sales strategy, customer support, market research and community involvement, to create a comprehensive marketing effort. (Read More…)

Analytics

Marketing Analytics is the practice of measuring, managing and analyzing marketing performance to maximize its effectiveness and optimize return on investment (ROI). (Read More…)

B

B2B Marketing

B2B Marketing (business-to-business) is marketing of products or services to businesses or other organizations. (Read More…)

B2C Marketing

B2C Marketing (business to consumer) is a common term companies use when referring to the type of business they operate. B2C Marketing companies sell finished goods directly to individuals and market their products for personal use vs commercial use. (Read More…)

Blog

Blog is short for web log or weblog. Blogs usually have original content that is topical to the industry and marketplace. A business blog appears on the company website and is considered part of the company’s social media program. Business blogs are not considered successful if they are primarily sales vehicles. (Read More…)

Blogging

Blogging, the act of writing and posting a blog, is a core component of a company’s outbound or “push” marketing efforts. Blogs can help accomplish several goals including website traffic growth, establishment of a thought leadership position, and increased lead generation. (Read More…)

Brand

Brand is a name, term, design, symbol, or other feature that distinguishes an organization or product from its rivals in the eyes of the customer. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising. (Read More…)

Brand Integrity

Brand Integrity is the result of presenting a consistent image of your company vision and direction both internally and externally.  It’s how your employees and customers perceive your company, or brand, through its products, services, image and reputation, whether real or perceived. (Read More…)

Branding

Branding is a set of marketing and communication methods that help to distinguish a company or products from competitors, aiming to create a lasting impression in the minds of customers. (Read More…)

C

Call to Action (CTA)

Call to Action or CTA is the motivation you are providing your customer to respond to your pitch. The most successful CTA’s feature a strong offer in addition to the action. (Read More…)

Click Through Rate

Click Through Rate is the percentage of your audience that advances (or clicks through) from one part of your website or digital campaign (with a CTA) to the next step of you want them to take, such as complete a form or download a free guide. (Read More…)

Content Management Systems (CMS)

A content management system (CMS) is a web application that supports the creation and modification of digital content. It typically supports multiple users in a collaborative environment and can be used for scheduling content publication and distribution. (Read More…)

Content Marketing

Content Marketing is a type of marketing that involves the creation and sharing of online material (such as videos, blogs, and social media posts) that does not explicitly promote a brand but is intended to stimulate interest in its products or services. (Read More…)

Conversion Rate

Conversion rate is the percentage of people who completed a desired action from a Call to Action (CTA) such as filling out a form, whether it is part of a digital marketing campaign or a page on the website. (Read More…)

Conversion Rate Optimization

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is the process of improving your program’s conversions using design techniques, key optimization principles, and testing. (Read More…)

Copywriting

Copywriting is the act of writing text for the purpose of advertising or other forms of marketing. (Read More...)

Cost Per Lead (CPL)

Cost-per-lead (CPL) is the amount it costs your marketing organization to acquire a lead through any particular program such as an email campaign, advertising program, direct mail campaign, trade show or other. (Read More…)

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

Customer Acquisition Cost is the sum of what it takes to acquire a new client. It includes cost of ads, email campaigns, & more. (Read More…)

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) is a set of software programs that let companies keep track of everything they do with their existing and potential customers. (Read More…)

D

Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is the marketing of products or services using digital technologies, mainly on the Internet, but also including mobile phones, display advertising, and any other digital medium. (Read More…)

E

Editorial Calendar

An editorial calendar is used by bloggers, publishers, businesses, and groups to schedule article publication of content across different media. (Read More…)

Email Bounce Rate

Email bounce rate is the rate at which an email was unable to be delivered to a recipient’s inbox. A high bounce rate generally means your lists are out-of-date or purchased, or they include many invalid email addresses. (Read More…)

Email Marketing

Email marketing is the targeting of consumers through electronic mail (email). In a typical email marketing scenario, an organization builds an email list to reach or inform established and prospective customers. (Read More…)

Engagement Rate

Engagement Rate is a popular social media metric used to describe the amount of interaction (likes, shares, comments) a piece of content receives. (Read More…)

F

Facebook

Facebook is a popular free social networking website that allows registered users to create profiles, upload photos and video, send messages and keep in touch with friends, family and colleagues. (Read More…)

Fractional Marketing

Fractional Marketing is a relatively new term that means outsourced marketing services. It’s a way to get proven, skilled professionals working for you, for a fraction of the cost of in-house personnel. (Read More…)

G

Geofilter

Snapchat Geofilters are special overlays for snapchat that can only be accessed in certain locations. Geofilters are often used by companies and businesses for corporate events and conferences, but are also used by individual snapchatters for special events. Brands can utilize geofilters to build brand awareness. (Read More…)

Google Adwords

Google Adwords is an advertising service provided by Google for businesses wanting to advertise on when someone searches on Google and its advertising network.  (Read More…)

Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a free website analytics service offered by Google that tracks and reports website traffic in a variety of ways. (Read More…)

Google +

Google+(referred to as “Google Plus”) is a social network that allows you to join and create circles in which you can mix and match family members, friends, colleagues, and fellow industry members. (Read More…)

Graphic Design

Graphic Design is the process of visual communication and problem-solving through the use of typography, photography and illustration. (Read More…)

H

Hashtag

Hashtags are a way for you and your readers to interact with each other on social media and have conversations about a particular piece of content. They tie public conversations on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram together into a single stream. (Read More…)

HTML

HTML stands for Hypertext Markup Language, and is the standard language for creating web pages and applications. (Read More…)

I

In-House Marketing

In-House Marketing is the effort headed up by an individual or team that works for a particular company on-site conducting the company’s marketing efforts. (Read More…)

Inbound Marketing

Inbound Marketing is a term used for attracting potential customers through marketing vehicles such as websites, blogs, and search engines. (Read More…)

Infographic

An Infographic (information graphic) is a representation of information in a graphic format designed to make the data easily understandable at a glance. (Read More…)

Instagram

Instagram is a social networking app made for sharing photos and videos from a smartphone. It is known for its square image format, a virtual lack of a website, and the filters it provides. (Read More…)

Integrated Marketing

Integrated Marketing is using multiple marketing tools to create multiple touches to a prospective customer through variety of media. (Read More…)

J

JavaScript

Java is a programming language. Java is used to develop programs that run on Windows, Mac and Linux computers or may be integrated into websites. (Read More…)

K

KPIs

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are the criteria by which you measure how well you’re meeting your marketing goals. (Read More…)

Keyword

An SEO Keyword, often called a focus keyword, is a particular word or phrase that describes the contents of a Web page. (Read More…)

L

Landing Page

Landing Page is a standalone web page, used as a follow through to an online advertisement. It is created specifically for the purposes of a marketing or advertising campaign.  It’s where a visitor “lands” when they have clicked on a Google AdWords ad or similar ad. (Read More…)

Lead

A Lead is a any person or organization who has connected with your company in any way. They’ve gone out of their way to identify themselves to you and express some level of interest in what you do. (Read More…)

Lead Nurturing

Lead Nurturing is the practice of developing a series of communications that seek to qualify a lead and keep it engaged. (Read More…)

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a business-oriented social networking site.  With more than 414million registered members, LinkedIn is the most popular social network for professionals and one of the top social networks overall. (Read More…)

Long-Tail Keyword

Long-Tail Keyword is a keyword phrase that contains at least three words. Long-tail keywords are used to target niche demographics rather than mass audiences. In other words, they’re more specific and often less competitive than generic keyword terms. (Read More…)

M

Marketing

Marketing is the management process through which goods and services move from concept to the customer. It includes the coordination of four elements called the 4 P’s of marketing: product, price, place, and promotion. (Read More…)

Marketing Agency

A Marketing Agency, often referred to as a creative agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling marketing and sometimes other forms of promotion and advertising for its clients. (Read More…)

Marketing Mix

Marketing Mix is the mix of tactics, channels, variables that a company uses to their business and marketing goals. The mix includes what to budget to each variable, amount of time/resources, how to measure, and timing. (Read More…)

Microblogging

Microblogging is a combination of blogging and instant messaging that allows users to create short messages to be shared online. (Read More…)

Mobile Marketing

Mobile Marketing is the art of marketing your business to appeal to mobile device users. (Read More…)

Mobile Optimization

Mobile Optimization is the process of ensuring that visitors who access your site from mobile devices have an engaging and user-friendly experience optimized for that specific device. (Read More…)

N

News Feed

News Feed is a social network feature that highlights information such as profile changes, upcoming events, and birthdays. (Read More…)

O

Outbound Marketing

Outbound Marketing consists of marketing messages pushed outward toward consumers, with little input from consumers on the actual message(s). It attempts to initiate a conversation about a product or service by rapidly spreading word of its existence through a variety of traditional marketing methods. (Read More…)

Outsourced Marketing

Outsourced Marketing is the art of handing over the entire marketing demands of a company to a third party. Benefits of outsourced marketing include: a Higher Qualified Team, Saving Money, a smaller team, and faster results. (Read More…)

P

Page View

Page View is an instance of a page being loaded (or reloaded) in a browser. “Pageviews” is a metric defined as the total number of pages viewed. (Read More…)

PPC Campaign

PPC Campaign is an internet advertising model where advertisers pay a search engine a certain amount of money every time their ad is clicked. PPC (Pay-per-Click) is the amount of money spent to get a digital advertisement clicked. (Read More…)

Q

Qualified Lead

Qualified Lead is a lead who has been deemed more likely to become a customer compared to other leads. This qualification is based on what web pages a person has visited, what they’ve downloaded, and similar engagement with the business’s content. (Read More…)

R

Responsive Design

Responsive Design is an approach to web design that makes web pages render well on a variety of devices and window or screen sizes. This means that the website adjusts on different devices (desktops, tablets, and phones) to fit best in that device. (Read More…)

Return on Investment

Return on Investment (ROI) is a performance measure, used to evaluate the efficiency of an investment or compare the efficiency of a number of different investments. (Read More…)

Retweet

A retweet is a re-posting of a tweet posted by another user on Twitter. Retweets look like normal tweets except for the retweet icon. (Read More…)

S

Search Engine Marketing (SEM)

SEM (Search Engine Marketing) is paid search result placements or ads. SEM is similar to, but different than Search Engine Optimization (SEO). SEO involves the tactics to increase search results, which includes SEM. (Read More…)

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the idea of being able to ‘optimize content’ in order to gain more favorable placement in search results and ‘organic’ or natural traffic. (Read More…)

Small-to-Medium Business

A Small to Medium Business is usually defined as any company that has between 10 and 500 employees. (Read More…)

Snapchat

Snapchat is a mobile messaging application used to share photos, videos, text, and drawings. It is a social network that allows users to send and receive time-sensitive photos and videos known as “snaps,” which are hidden from the recipients once the time limit expires. (Read More…)

Social Media

Social Media are web-based communication tools that enable people to interact with each other by both sharing and consuming information. (Read More…)

Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketing is the use of social media platforms and websites to promote a product or service. (Read More…)

Social Network

A Social Network is a website that allows people with similar interests to come together and share information, photos and videos. (Read More…)

T

Top-of-Mind Awareness

Top-of-Mind Awareness refers to a brand or specific product being first in customers’ minds when thinking of a particular industry or category. (Read More…)

Trade Show

A Trade Show is an event held to bring together members of a particular industry to display, demonstrate, and discuss their latest products and services. (Read More…)

Trade Show Management

Trade Show Management is a marketing strategy focused on trade shows. It involves properly managing a company’s presence at a trade show or expo. (Read More…)

Twitter

Twitter is an online news and social networking service on which users post and interact with messages known as “tweets”. (Read More…)

U

Unique Visitor

Unique Visitor is is a term used in Web Analytics to refer to a person who visits a site at least once within the reporting period. Each visitor to the site is only counted once during the reporting period, so if the same IP address accesses the site the site many times, it still only counts as one visitor. (Read More…)

URL

URL is the address of a webpage. For example, www.getmarketinginflunce.com is the URL of our webpage. (Read More…)

V

Viral Content

Viral Content is material, such as an article, an image or a video that spreads rapidly online through website links and social sharing. A viral post is something that has been shared, copied and spread across all social platforms. (Read More…)

W

Webinar

A Webinar is an online meeting or presentation held via the Internet in real time. The main feature of live webinars is interactivity, or the ability to discuss, send, and receive information in real time. (Read More…)

Website

A website is a collection of related web pages, including multimedia content, typically identified with a common domain name, and published on at least one web server. Notable examples are google.com, amazon.com, and getmarketinginfluence.com. (Read More…)

Website Bounce Rate

Website Bounce Rate is the percentage of people who land on a page on your website and then leave without clicking on anything else or navigating to any other pages on your site. (Read More…)

X

Y

YouTube

YouTube is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, share, and view videos. YouTube is the largest video-sharing site in the world. (Read More…)

Z

Zilch.

We don’t have anything that starts with Z. But we hope you enjoyed the list!

If you would like to view the complete list of definitions, visit our resources.

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