Want to learn about CPC, CRO, CPL, and more? Hint: they’re not pizza toppings from the CCP. So grab a cup of coffee or tea, sit down, relax, and get to know AIDA. Enjoy our marketing glossary, which may come in handy on Scrabble night.
Marketing Glossary Basic Terms
4Ps of marketing: The four classic marketing elements are Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.
AIDA: A model of the buyer’s journey consisting of Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. (see, it’s fun to know a supermodel in marketing.)
Content marketing: The creation and distribution of valuable, relevant content for a business to attract, retain, and grow its customers.
Customer journey: The path a customer takes from awareness to purchase and beyond.Â
Demand generation: Creating and distributing content that attracts and engages potential customers.
Inbound marketing: A marketing strategy focusing on internal efforts to attract and retain customers by providing them with valuable content.
Marketing funnel: A model that describes a potential customer’s journey from awareness to purchase.
Marketing mix: The combination of factors a business uses to market its products or services, such as product, price, place, and promotion.
Marketing plan: A document that defines a campaign’s marketing goals, strategies, and implementation.
Marketing strategy: A plan detailing effective methods for a business to market a product or service to achieve its objectives.
Market segmentation: The process of dividing a market into smaller groups of customers with similar needs, interests, or other criteria such as demographics.
Market share: The percentage of the market that a brand controls.
Outbound marketing: A marketing strategy that focuses on reaching out to potential customers, such as through advertising, cold calling, or other sales efforts.
Target audience: The group of people a business is trying to reach with its marketing efforts.
Social media marketing: The use of social media platforms to promote a product or service, such as Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc.
Brand Marketing Glossary
Brand awareness: The level of familiarity that people have with a brand.
Brand ambassador: A person who promotes a brand.
Brand archetypes: A set of personality traits associated with a brand.
Brand architecture: The structure of a brand, including its different elements, such as the logo, name, and tagline.
Brand asset: Any element associated with a brand, such as its logo, name, or tagline.
Brand emotional associations: The positive or negative feelings people associate with a brand.
Brand attributes: The qualities that define a brand.
Brand audit: A process of evaluating a brand’s strengths and weaknesses.
Brand consistency: A brand communicating using the same branding elements, including visual, verbal, or written, across all touchpoints, both internally and externally.
Brand culture: The values and beliefs a brand’s employees and customers share.
Brand discovery: The process of learning about a brand.
Brand equity: The value of a brand.
Brand experience: The sum of all the interactions that a customer has with a brand.
Brand extension: Using the same brand name to launch an extended product or service.
Brand gap: The difference between what a brand promises and what it delivers.
Brand guidelines: A document that defines the branding elements of a brand.
Brand identity: The visual and verbal representation of a brand.
Brand image: The way a brand is perceived by its target audience.
Brand loyalty: The tendency of customers to continue to purchase a brand’s products or services.
Brand manual, or Brand bible or Brand book: A document that provides detailed instructions on how to use a brand’s branding elements.
Brand personality: The human-like qualities that are associated with a brand.
Brand messaging: The language a brand uses to communicate with its stakeholders, including employees, investors, customers, and other target audiences.
Brand pillars: The key messages a brand wants to communicate to its target audience.
Brand positioning statement: A statement that defines how a brand wants to be perceived by its target audience.
Brand promise: A statement of what a brand will deliver to its customers.
Brand story: A narrative that tells the story of a brand.
Brand strategy: A plan detailing the key pillars a brand is to do to achieve its goals.
Brand tagline (or slogan): A short, concise, memorable phrase that summarizes what the brand is about.
Brand value: The unique benefits that a brand offers to its customers.
Brand voice: The tone and style of communication that a brand uses.
Challenger brand: A brand that competes with an established brand.
Co-branding: A marketing strategy in which two brands collaborate to create a new product or service.
Coined name: A brand name that is explicitly created for a brand.
Color palette: The specific colors used in a brand’s branding.
Core values: The fundamental beliefs that a brand stands for.
Corporate identity: The visual and verbal representation of a company.
Differentiator: A feature or benefit that makes a brand unique.
Logomark: The text or image that is used in a logo.
Mission statement: A statement that defines the purpose of a brand.
On-brand: The use of branding elements consistent with a brand’s identity.
Parent brand: A brand that owns one or more sub-brands.
Personas: Fictional representations of a brand’s target audience.
Positioning: How a brand is positioned in the market relative to its competitors.
Product brand: A brand associated with a specific product or service.
Rebrand: The process of changing a brand’s identity.
Repositioning: Changing how a brand is positioned in the marketplace.
Style guide: A document that provides detailed instructions on using a brand’s branding elements, including logo, font, typography, tagline, and other branding graphic elements.
Sub-brand: A brand owned by a parent brand or under an umbrella brand.
Touchpoint: Any interaction a customer has with a brand, such as seeing an ad, visiting a website, or talking to a customer service representative.
Unique Selling Proposition (USP): A set of features or benefits that make a brand stand out in the marketplace.
Value proposition: A statement summarizing a brand’s benefits to its customers.
Content Marketing Glossary
Adaptive content: Content that changes based on the user’s preferences or context.
Amplification: The process of distributing content to a broader audience.
Autoresponder: An email system automatically sends pre-written messages responding to specific triggers, such as a subscription or purchase.
Backlink profile: A set of backlinks from another website to your website.
Blog: Relevant articles, news, or other content.
Bounce rate: The percentage of visitors who leave a website after viewing only one page.
Content Management System (CMS): A software application that allows users to create, edit, and publish content on a website.
Content pillars: The main topics a content marketing strategy will focus on.
Content strategy: The plan for creating, publishing, and distributing content to achieve a specific marketing goal.
Content syndication: Distributing content to multiple channels, such as social media, email, or a blog.
Conversion: A visitor taking a desired action, such as purchasing or signing up for a newsletter.
Conversion rate: The percentage of visitors who take a desired action.
Cornerstone content: The most critical content in a content marketing strategy.
Content curation: The process of selecting and organizing content from different sources.
Earned media: Any form of publicity not paid for, such as mentions in the press or social media.
Evergreen content: Content that remains relevant and interesting over time.
Funnel: A visual representation of the customer journey, from awareness to purchase.
Gated content: Content restricted to users who have provided their contact information or taken other actions.
Impressions: The number of times a piece of content is seen.
Inbound marketing: A marketing strategy that attracts and retains customers by providing valuable content.
Infographics: Visual representations of information, often used to explain complex topics.
Interactive content: Content that allows users to interact with it, such as quizzes or games.
Newsjacking: Taking advantage of current events to promote your brand or product.
Organic distribution: The process of distributing content without paid advertising.
Outbound marketing: A marketing strategy that focuses on reaching out to potential customers through advertising or cold calling.
Visual storytelling: Using images, videos, and other visuals to tell a story.
Whitepaper: A long-form document that provides information on a particular topic.
Growth Marketing Glossary
A/B testing: A method of comparing two versions of a marketing campaign to see which one performs better.
Actionable metrics: Metrics that can be used to make decisions about marketing campaigns.
Ad impressions: The number of times an ad is shown.
Ad set: A group of ads targeted to the same audience.
Ad targeting: The process of selecting the audience to see an ad.
Affiliate marketing: A type of marketing where a business partners with an influencer or website to promote its products or services.
Average Revenue Per User (ARPU): The average amount of revenue that a business generates from each user.
Black Hat SEO: A set of techniques used to manipulate search engine results pages (SERPs) in a way that is not allowed by search engines.
Bottom of funnel (BOF): The final stage of the marketing funnel, where potential customers are ready to make a purchase.
Churn rate: The percentage of customers who stop doing business with a company over a period of time.
Conversion rate: The percentage of visitors to a website who take a desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter.
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO): The process of improving a website’s conversion rate.
Cost per acquisition (CPA): The average amount of money a business spends to acquire a new customer.
Cost per click (CPC): The amount of money a business pays each time someone clicks on an ad.
Cost Per Impression (CPI): The amount of money a business pays each time someone sees an ad.
Cost per lead (CPL): The amount of money a business pays each time someone provides their contact information.
Cost-per-thousand (CPM): The amount of money a business pays each time its ad is shown 1,000 times.
Customer engagement: The degree to which customers interact with a business, such as by visiting a website, purchasing, or leaving a review.
Customer Relationship Management System (CRM): A software application that helps businesses manage customer interactions. It can track customer interactions, store customer data, and automate marketing and sales tasks.
Customer retention rate (CRR): The percentage of customers who continue to do business with a company over a period of time.
Data Dictionary: A repository of information describing the data in an information system, such as definitions of data elements, their relationships, and the rules for their manipulation.
Demand generation: The process of creating and distributing content that attracts and engages potential customers.
Email marketing: A type of marketing that tries to convert prospects into customers via email campaigns.
Engagement rate: The percentage of people interacting with an ad or content. This includes likes, shares, comments, etc.
Keyword: A word or phrase people use to search for information online.
Landing page: A web page designed to capture leads or sales.
Lead magnet: A piece of content offered in exchange for contact information.
Lead nurturing: The process of building relationships with potential customers and moving them closer to a sale.
Link building: The process of acquiring links from other websites to your own website.
Marketing automation (MA). The use of software to automate marketing tasks, such as email marketing and lead nurturing.
Marketing funnel: A model that describes a potential customer’s journey from awareness to purchase.
Marketing qualified lead (MQL): A lead who has shown interest in your product or service and is likely to be a good fit for your business.
Middle of funnel (MOF): The second stage of the marketing funnel, where prospects are further educated about a brand or product and begin to consider making a purchase.
On-page SEO: The process of optimizing a website’s content and code to improve its ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Off-page SEO: The process of building backlinks to a website to improve its ranking in search engines.
Pirate Metrics, aka AARRR: A set of five metrics that are used to measure the success of a business: Acquisition, Activation, Retention, Revenue, and Referral. The acronym stands for Acquisition: How are you getting new customers? Activation: Are your new customers using your product or service? Retention: Are your existing customers continuing to use your product or service? Revenue: Are your customers paying for your product or service? Referral: Are your customers referring your product or service to others?
Schema: A markup language that helps search engines understand the meaning of content on a website.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM): A form of marketing that uses paid advertising to appear in search engine results pages (SERPs).
Search Engine Optimization (SEO): The process of improving a website’s ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs) without paid advertising.
Sitemap: A file that tells search engines about the page architecture of a website.
Top of funnel (TOF): The first stage of the marketing funnel, where prospects are first exposed to a brand or product.
Transactional email: An email sent to customers to confirm a purchase, provide information about a product or service, or thank them for their business.
Web analytics: The process of collecting and analyzing data about website traffic.
White Hat SEO: A set of techniques used to improve a website’s ranking in SERPs in a way that search engines allow.
Social Media Marketing Glossary
Content calendar: A schedule that outlines the content that will be published on social media.
Cross-posting: The process of publishing the same content on multiple channels.
Engagement rate: The percentage of people who interact with a post, such as liking, sharing, or commenting on it.
Hashtag: A word or phrase preceded by the # symbol used to categorize and search for content on social media.
Hashtagjacking: Using a hashtag associated with a trending topic or event to promote a brand or product.
Influencer marketing: A type of marketing where a business partners with an influencer to promote its products or services.
Key performance indicator (KPI): A metric that measures the success of a social media marketing campaign.
Native advertising: Using paid social ads designed to look like organic content.
Paid social: Using social media platforms to promote a product or service by paying for ads.
Social media analytics: Collecting and analyzing data about a brand’s social media performance.
Social media strategy: A plan detailing impactful, effective ways a business will use social media to achieve its marketing goals.
Social listening: Monitoring social media conversations about a brand or product.
Social proof: The idea that people are more likely to do something if they see others doing it.
User-generated content (UGC): Content that is created by users of a social media platform, such as photos, videos, or reviews.
Viral marketing: A marketing strategy that relies on social media users to share content, often humorous or entertaining, that promotes a product or service.
Congrats! You’ve made it through our marketing glossary. Now, reward yourself with a cookie.
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