Demystifying marketing jargon: Your guide to industry terminology
Every industry has it’s own language, acronyms and buzz words, marketing is no exception. This is your guide to deciphering marketing jargon.
The aCronyms
A/B testing: Think of this as a head-to-head competition for your website, ad or email. You compare two versions to see which one performs better, like testing different headlines to see which grabs more attention.
B2B (Business-to-Business): This refers to marketing efforts directed towards other businesses, not consumers. Think office supply companies selling to tech start-ups.
B2C (Business-to-Consumer): This is the flip side of B2B, where marketing targets individual customers. Think a luxury handbag aimed at women.
CTA (Call To Action): This is the clear instruction you give website visitors or email recipients, telling them what you want them to do next. It could be a button that says "Buy Now" or a prompt to "Sign Up for Free."
CTR (Click-Through Rate): This metric measures how effective your online ads or links are. It's the percentage of people who see your ad and actually click on it.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management): This refers to tools and strategies used to manage interactions with your customers. It's all about building relationships and providing excellent customer service.
CMS (Content Management System): A digital platform that helps you manage digital content, such as websites and apps. CMS’s allow you to create, edit, organise, and publish content.
KPI (Key Performance Indicator): These are measurable values that track your marketing success. Common KPIs include website traffic, social media engagement, and conversion rates.
PPC (Pay-Per-Click): This is a type of online advertising where you pay each time someone clicks on your ad. You can target your ads to specific demographics and interests to reach a relevant audience.
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation): This is the art and science of getting your website to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs - Search Engine Results Pages) like Google. The higher you rank, the more likely people are to find you when they search for something related to your business.
CRO (Conversion Rate Optimisation): This is the ongoing process of optimising your website, marketing campaigns, and other marketing efforts to increase the percentage of visitors who take a desired action. Think of it as constantly tweaking and testing to turn more website visitors into leads and customers.
UX (User Experience): This focuses on creating a positive and user-friendly experience for visitors to your website or app. It considers factors like ease of navigation, clarity of information, and overall design to ensure a smooth and enjoyable interaction.
Which Type of Marketing?
Social media marketing: This leverages social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter to connect with your target audience, build brand awareness, and drive traffic to your website.
Viral marketing: This refers to content that spreads rapidly online, often through social media sharing. Think of those funny cat videos that everyone seems to have seen!
Affiliate marketing: This is a performance-based marketing strategy where you partner with other websites or bloggers (affiliates) to promote your products or services. The affiliate earns a commission for each sale they generate through their unique tracking link.
Influencer marketing: This leverages the power of social media personalities and industry experts (influencers) to promote your brand or product to their audience.
Inbound marketing: This strategy attracts customers by creating valuable content and experiences that draw them in, rather than pushing sales messages on them.
Outbound marketing: Outbound marketing, the opposite of inbound marketing, is all about actively reaching out to potential customers to generate interest in your product or service. It's a traditional approach where you initiate the conversation and push your message out to a broad audience. Typical activities include trade shows, email blasts and print advertising.
And the rest…
Lead generation: This is the process of attracting potential customers who might be interested in your product or service. Think of it as building a list of people who could become paying customers.
Content marketing: This involves creating and sharing valuable content (like blog posts, infographics, or videos) to attract and engage your target audience. Think of it as building trust and brand awareness by informing, not just selling.
Conversion rate: This is the percentage of website visitors or ad viewers who take a desired action, like making a purchase or filling out a form. The higher the conversion rate, the better!
Targeted advertising: This allows you to show your ads to a specific group of people based on their demographics, interests, and online behaviour. Imagine showing your ads only to people who are most likely to be interested in what you have to offer – that's targeted advertising.
Engagement: This refers to the level of interaction your audience has with your brand. The more likes, comments, and shares you get, the higher your engagement.
Audiences: This refers to the groups of people you want to reach with your marketing messages. It can be a broad category, like "tech businesses in Manchester," or a very specific niche, like "vegan runners who read The Guardian." Understanding your audience is key to crafting marketing that resonates and drives results.
Thought Leader: This is an industry expert who is recognised for their knowledge and insights. They share valuable content and establish themselves as a trusted source of information.
Meta description: This is a summary of the content of a website page. It is added to the page in your website’s CMS and is not visible on the page itself but instead appears in the search engine results page under the page title.
Keywords: These are the words and phrases that searchers use in search engines to discover websites and content. Identifying keywords are an important part of SEO strategy.
This is just a taste of the marketing lingo you might encounter. By understanding these common terms, you'll be well on your way to deciphering the marketing lingo used by your marketing consultant or agency.
