A/B, B2C, 1-2-3—what does it all mean? Any industry jargon can leave a novice feeling like he or she just consumed a big, confusing helping of alphabet soup. But that’s OK. After all, if you’re not immersed in it every day, why would you be an expert? If you’re trying to broaden your understanding of the marketing world, we’ve narrowed down a few good-to-know marketing terms defined.
A/B Testing
The process of comparing two marketing strategies with one single variable changed between each. A/B testing serves to show which methods perform better than others.
Backlink
A link on a website that leads back to another site.
B2B (Business-to-Business)
A term assigned to companies that sell goods or services to other businesses. For example, McNutt & partners is a B2B agency.
B2C (Business-to-Consumer)
A term assigned to companies that sell goods or services directly to consumers, such as Apple or Amazon.
Bounce Rate
Bounce rate can apply to both email and your website. The email bounce rate indicates the rate at which emails were unable to be delivered to addresses on your list. The website bounce rate refers to the number of web users who visit a site and leave without clicking on anything.
Call-to-Action
Any sort of messaging that encourages potential customers to complete an action, which could include clicking a link, signing up for an email list, or visiting you in store. Learn more about crafting a succecssful call-to-action.
Clickthrough Rate (CTR)
Typically represented as a percentage, the CTR is the number of people who click through one section of a website or marketing campaign to another.
Content Management System (CMS)
A web-based application that manages digital marketing content, such as content for your website or social media.
Conversion Rate
A percentage of people who complete a desired action in a marketing campaign, such as registering for an email list or filling out an online form.
Cost Per Lead (CPL)
The total cost of acquiring a lead through marketing efforts.
Digital Marketing
Any marketing that relies on internet-based means to target a specific audience. This includes email marketing, social media marketing, search engine marketing and more.
Engagement Rate
A social media measurement that indicates the amount of interaction on a piece of content. Engagement includes likes, shares, comments and link clicks.
Inbound Marketing
The practice of attracting, engaging and retaining consumers in an effort to build trust among brand followers. Inbound marketing involves cultivating content that people actively want to consumer rather than paying to put a brand in the public view.
Infographic
A digital graphic that includes a combination of visuals and text grouped in an easy-to-consume format. The idea is to portray complex material in a visually engaging manner.
Keyword (Keyphrase)
A word or phrase on a web page or in a blog post that will be indexed by search engines for the content to appear in search results. The keyword or phrase should be one that people would naturally type into a search engine.
Landing page
Typically a single-page website used specifically to generate marketing leads. The landing page serves to promote a special offer or product, for example, making it easier to track leads when comparing visitors to the landing page vs. visitors to a main website.
Lead
Speaking of leads, a lead is a potential customer for a business—one that has expressly showed interest in a product or service in some way. This expression of interest could be in the form of visiting a website, engaging on social media or even calling a business.
Mobile Optimization
Formatting digital assets, like websites, to be responsive to use on mobile devices.
Pay-per-Click (PPC)
A form of marketing where the marketer pays a specified amount of money each time a web user clicks on the advertisement. It is used to drive traffic to websites and is associated primarily with popular search engines like Google.
Responsive Web Design
A response to web design that plans for sites to automatically optimize according to the way a user is viewing the website. For example, the site recognizes the device on which it is being viewed (desktop vs. mobile, for example) and responds accordingly.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
The practice of poising digital assets to rank higher in search engine results. A multitude of factors go into determining a website’s search ranking. SEO involves recognizing those factors and improving those that are within control.
Traditional Marketing
Refers to forms of marketing outside of the digital realm, including print, radio, television, out-of-home advertising and more.
URL
The address of a web page. It stands for Uniform Resource Locator, but is more commonly known as a web address. It specifies a web resource’s location on a network and how that information is to be retrieved.
User Experience (UX)
The overall experience customers have with a brand. It can include everything from users’ particular emotions associated with using a specific product to their attitude toward a brand in passing.
User Interface (UI)
The means through which users control software applications or hardware devices. Good user interface provides an intuitive, user-friendly way for people to experience what they are controlling.
Though these marketing terms defined are only some of the multitude of relevant lingo out there, it’s a least a better start to understanding references you may hear from others or read about online. For a more comprehensive evaluation of your marketing efforts, contact McNutt & Partners at 334-521-1010 or visit our contact page.
