Glossary of Marketing Terms

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C

D

E

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A

Term	Definition
A/B Testing	A method of comparing two variants to learn which performs better against a single goal. Use statistically valid samples for confidence.
AIDA Model	A marketing model that stands for Attention, Interest, Desire and Action.
Above the Fold	The upper portion of a web page that is visible without scrolling. Prioritise primary actions here.
Account-Based Marketing (ABM)	A B2B marketing strategy that targets high-value accounts with personalised campaigns across channels.
Acquisition	The process of gaining new customers or users through marketing activity and sales engagement.
Ad Fatigue	When an audience becomes tired of seeing the same advertisement, which leads to reduced engagement and lower response.
Alt Text	Descriptive text for images used by search engines and screen readers to understand image content.
Answer Engine	A system that returns a direct answer synthesized from sources rather than a list of links. Examples include generative search and AI assistants.
Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO)	Optimising content to win direct answers in AI assistants and answer-led search. Focus on concise facts, structured data and clear FAQs.
Audience Insights	Data and information that help you understand characteristics and behaviours of a target audience for better decisions.
Audience Segmentation	Dividing a target audience into smaller groups based on criteria like interests or purchase intent for relevance.
Audience Targeting	Identifying and reaching the audience most likely to convert based on shared traits or behaviour.
Attribution Model	A rule set that assigns credit to touchpoints across a customer journey. Common models include last click, linear and time decay.

B

Term	Definition
Backlink	An incoming hyperlink from one web page to another which is important for SEO rankings and discovery.
Behaviour Flow	A visual representation in analytics showing paths users take through your website. Useful for spotting friction.
Behavioural Targeting	Using information about a user’s browsing behaviour to deliver relevant advertisements in context.
Bottom of Funnel (BOFU)	The decision stage where leads are ready to convert into customers with clear offers and proof.
Bounce Rate	The percentage of visitors who navigate away after viewing only one page. Interpret alongside intent and page type.
Brand Awareness	The extent to which consumers are familiar with distinctive qualities or image of a brand.
Brand Equity	The value of a brand based on perception, recognition and loyalty over time.
Brand Positioning	The process of positioning your brand in the mind of your customers with a clear promise and proof.
Buyer Persona	A semi-fictional representation of an ideal customer based on data and research for practical planning.

C

Term	Definition
Call to Action (CTA)	A message that encourages users to take a specific action such as Buy Now or Sign Up Today.
Campaign ROI	Return on investment calculated from profit made on a campaign divided by the campaign cost.
Canonical URL	An HTML element that prevents duplicate content issues by specifying the preferred page version.
Consent Mode v2	Google framework that adjusts tags based on user consent and models conversions when consent is denied. Helps maintain reporting while respecting choices.
Churn Rate	The percentage of customers who stop doing business with a company during a time period.
Click Fraud	Intentionally clicking a pay-per-click ad to increase charges or exhaust the advertiser’s budget.
Click-Through Rate (CTR)	The ratio of users who click a link compared to the number who viewed the page, email or advertisement.
Click-to-Open Rate (CTOR)	The percentage of email recipients who clicked a link after opening the email.
Clickstream	The sequence of clicks a user makes while browsing a website which reveals intent and friction.
Community Management	Building and nurturing relationships with audiences online for trust and reach.
Content Curation	Gathering relevant information from various sources and sharing it with your audience.
Content Syndication	Republishing content on other websites to reach a broader audience with attribution.
Customer Data Platform (CDP)	A system that unifies first-party data from multiple sources to create actionable customer profiles.
Conversion Funnel	A series of steps guiding visitors toward a goal such as purchase or signup.
Conversion Path	The series of steps a user takes on a site to complete a desired goal with minimal friction.
Conversion Rate	The percentage of users who completed a desired action out of the total visitors measured.
Core Web Vitals	Google metrics for loading, interactivity and visual stability that reflect user experience.
Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)	The total cost of acquiring a new customer across channels.
Cost Per Click (CPC)	The amount paid for each ad click. Optimise with relevance and quality score.
Cost Per Lead (CPL)	The amount spent to acquire a new lead that meets your quality threshold.
Cost Per Mille (CPM)	The cost per 1,000 impressions of an advertisement. Useful for reach planning.
Crawlability	The ability of search engine bots to access and index content on a website with ease.
Customer Advocacy	Customers who promote a company through word of mouth which boosts trust.
Customer Avatar	A detailed profile of an individual customer including demographics, pain points and buying behaviours.
Customer Journey Mapping	A visual representation of every experience customers have with your brand from first touch to advocacy.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV or LTV)	The predicted net profit attributed to the entire future relationship with a customer.
Customer Needs Analysis	A process for identifying and understanding needs, desires and expectations of customers with evidence.
Customer Profiling	Creating a detailed description of customers to better understand and reach them with relevance.
Customer Retention Rate	The percentage of existing customers who remain loyal over a set period with repeat value.
Customer Segmentation	Dividing customers into groups based on common characteristics to improve outcome.

D

Term	Definition
Data Clean Room	A secure environment where parties can match and analyse data without sharing raw personal data. Used for privacy-safe insights.
Data Enrichment	Enhancing existing data by adding new or updated information for better segmentation and targeting.
Data Layer	A structured object on a site that passes event and user data to tags, consent and analytics tools.
Decision-Making Unit (DMU)	The group of individuals involved in making purchasing decisions for a product or service.
Demand Generation	Activities that create awareness and interest in a product or service to feed pipeline.
Demographics	Statistical data about groups such as age, gender, income or education level which adds context.
Domain Authority (DA)	A Moz score predicting how well a website may rank on search engine results pages.
Drip Campaign	A series of automated emails sent to leads or customers based on actions or timelines with clear value.
Dynamic Content	Content that changes based on user data, preferences or behaviour to lift relevance.

E

Term	Definition
E-E-A-T	Google quality concept of Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trust. Demonstrate credentials and real-world proof.
Empathy Mapping	A collaborative tool to visualise what customers think, feel, say and do for alignment.
Engagement Marketing	Marketing that directly engages consumers and invites participation in brand evolution.
Engagement Rate	A metric that measures interactions such as likes, shares and comments against reach or followers.
Event-based Analytics	Analytics that track user actions as events rather than only page views which improves insight.
Event Tracking	Monitoring interactions that cannot be tracked as pageviews inside analytics tools.
Evergreen Content	Content that remains relevant and valuable over time with minimal updates.
Exit Rate	The percentage of users who leave a site from a specific page regardless of pages viewed before.

F

Term	Definition
First-party Data	Data collected directly from your audience via owned touchpoints such as site, app and CRM with consent.
Firmographics	Attributes of firms used to segment B2B markets such as industry, size or location.
First Touch Attribution	Assigning conversion credit to the first touchpoint a user interacted with which helps awareness views.
Form Abandonment	When a user starts a form but does not submit it which signals friction.
Frequency	The average number of times each person saw your ad or content over a period.

G

Term	Definition
Generative AI	Models that create new text, images or audio from prompts. Useful for ideation and content drafts with review.
Generative Engine Optimisation (GEO)	Preparing content to be cited or surfaced by generative search results. Use clear structure, sources and schema.
Geo-Targeting	Delivering content or ads based on a user's geographic location to improve relevance.
Goal Completion	A metric that counts when users complete a defined goal such as signup or demo request.
Guerrilla Marketing	Unconventional strategy intended to get maximum results from minimal resources with creativity.

H

Term	Definition
Header Bidding	An advanced programmatic technique that lets publishers offer inventory to multiple ad exchanges at once.

I

Term	Definition
Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)	A description of the type of company or individual that benefits most from your product or service.
Impression Share	The percentage of impressions your ads receive compared to the total available.
Impressions	The number of times an ad, post or page is displayed regardless of clicks.
Indexing	The process by which search engines store information about web pages for retrieval in results.
Intent Data	Signals that indicate a user's likelihood to take a specific action such as purchase or demo request.
Interactive Content	Content that requires active engagement such as quizzes or calculators for higher dwell time.

K

Term	Definition
KPI Dashboard	A visual representation of key performance indicators used to monitor performance by role.
Keyword Research	Finding and analysing search terms people enter into search engines to guide content.
Keyword Stuffing	Overloading a page with keywords to manipulate rankings which harms quality.

L

Term	Definition
Last Click Attribution	A model that assigns all conversion credit to the final touchpoint before conversion. Simple but narrow.
Lead Magnet	An incentive offered to prospects in exchange for contact information such as a guide or checklist.
Lead Nurturing	Building relationships with potential customers at every stage of the funnel with helpful content.
Lead-to-Customer Rate	The percentage of leads that convert into paying customers over a given period.
Lifetime Value (LTV)	A prediction of net profit attributed to the future relationship with a customer.
Link Building	Acquiring hyperlinks from other sites to your own which aids discovery.
Live Shopping	Real-time streams where viewers can purchase in stream which blends content and commerce.
Lookalike Audience	A group that shares traits with existing customers for scaled prospecting.

M

Term	Definition
Market Penetration	Increasing share within existing markets through product, price and distribution moves.
Market Segmentation	Dividing a broad market into smaller groups with shared needs for focus.
Marketing Attribution	Determining which activities contribute to sales or conversions across journeys.
Marketing Funnel	The model illustrating the customer journey from awareness to purchase and beyond.
Marketing Mix	The combination of product, price, place and promotion that shapes demand.
Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)	A lead that has engaged with content and is more likely to become a customer.
Media Planning	Selecting the best media platforms to promote a brand or product with budget control.
Meta Description	A brief summary of a page's content that appears below the title in search results.
Micro-Conversion	A small step that indicates interest or intent such as video play or add to basket.
Middle of Funnel (MOFU)	The consideration stage where leads evaluate your offer and proof.
Multi-Touch Attribution	Assigning conversion credit to multiple interactions across the funnel for balance.

N

Term	Definition
Native Advertising	Ads that match the look, feel and function of the format in which they appear.
Net Promoter Score (NPS)	A loyalty metric that measures likelihood of recommending a company.
NoFollow Link	A link attribute that tells search engines not to pass SEO value to the target page.

O

Term	Definition
Omnichannel Marketing	Integrating multiple channels to provide a seamless experience from first touch to service.
Open Graph	A protocol that enables any web page to become a rich object in a social graph with images and titles.
Open Rate	The percentage of recipients who open a delivered email as measured by tracking pixels.
Operational Freeze	A planned period when code and content changes are paused to reduce risk during peak trading or holidays. Prepare rollbacks and access plans.
Owned Media	Channels a company controls such as website, blog or email which compound value.

P

Term	Definition
Page Authority	A score that predicts how well a specific page may rank on search engines.
Paid Social	Advertising on social networks through paid placements such as feed ads and sponsored messages.
Pain Points	Specific problems faced by customers that a product or service aims to solve with clarity.
Persona Mapping	Outlining details and behaviours of audience personas to inform strategy and content.
Personal Branding	Marketing people and careers as brands with consistent voice and proof.
Personalisation	Customising content or experiences to individual users based on data and behaviour.
Political Social Media	Use of brand channels for political topics which carries reputational risk and policy needs.
Positioning	Establishing a brand or product in the mind of the target audience with distinct promise.
Predictive Analytics	Using historical data, algorithms and machine learning to forecast future outcomes.
Psychographics	Study of values, attitudes and lifestyles to understand behaviour drivers.

R

Term	Definition
Reach	The total number of unique users who have seen your content at least once.
Referral Traffic	Visitors who come to a website from links on other websites which signals partnership value.
Response Rate	The percentage of users who respond to a specific message or offer with an action.
Responsive Design	A design approach that ensures content adjusts smoothly to different screen sizes.
Retargeting Pixel	Code used to track visitors and display targeted ads to them later across platforms.
Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)	Revenue earned for every pound spent on advertising which guides scaling.
Return on Investment (ROI)	Profitability of an investment compared to its cost across time.
Revenue Operations (RevOps)	Aligning sales, marketing and customer success to drive predictable growth.
Robots.txt	A file that controls and restricts access to parts of a website by search engine bots.

S

Term	Definition
Sales Funnel	The journey from awareness to conversion and loyalty with clear stages.
Sales Qualified Lead (SQL)	A lead vetted and deemed ready for engagement by sales based on fit and intent.
Search Engine Results Page (SERP)	The page displayed by search engines in response to a user query with organic and paid results.
Search Generative Experience (SGE)	Google's generative answers within the SERP. Content needs clarity, sources and schema to appear.
Segmentation Strategy	The approach used to divide and target customer groups for higher relevance.
Segmentation Variables	Criteria such as demographics, behaviour or location used to build segments.
Sentiment Analysis	Using natural language processing to identify the emotional tone behind text.
Session Duration	The length of time a user spends on a website during a single session.
Share of Search (SoS)	The proportion of search interest a brand holds versus competitors over time. A leading indicator for demand.
Share of Voice (SOV)	The share of exposure a brand gets compared to competitors within a channel or market.
Shoppable Content	Content formats that allow direct purchase from the content such as tagged posts and video.
Smarketing	Alignment between sales and marketing teams to improve performance and handoffs.
Social Commerce	Buying and selling directly within social platforms including live streams and storefronts.
Social Listening	Monitoring digital conversations to understand what customers are saying online with context.
Structured Data	A standardised format for providing information about a page often using schema.org for rich results.

T

Term	Definition
Target Market	A specific group of potential customers that a company aims to capture with its offer.
Technographics	Information about a company’s technology stack used to segment B2B customers.
Third-Party Cookie Deprecation	The removal of third-party cookies in browsers which shifts focus to first-party data and server-side tracking.
Third-Party Data	Data collected by an entity without a direct relationship with the user which now has limits.
Time Decay Attribution	A model that gives more credit to touchpoints closer to conversion which reflects recency effects.
Time on Page	The average amount of time users spend on a specific page which signals engagement.
Title Tag	An HTML element that specifies the title of a page which is critical for SEO and clicks.
Top of Funnel (TOFU)	The awareness stage where prospects first learn about a brand or a problem.

U

Term	Definition
UTM Parameters	Tags added to a URL to track the effectiveness of campaigns in analytics tools.
Unique Selling Proposition (USP)	The factor that makes a product different from and better than competitors in a way customers value.
Unsubscribe Rate	The percentage of recipients who opt out of receiving further communications.
User Intent	The goal a user has in mind when typing a query into a search engine which guides content.
User Personas	Profiles representing key user segments built from real data and research for alignment.

V

Term	Definition
Value-Based Selling	A sales approach that focuses on benefits and value a product provides to customers with outcomes.

X

Term	Definition
XML Sitemap	A file that lists important pages of a website to help search engines crawl it more effectively.

Z

Term	Definition
Zero Click Search	Search results that answer a query directly on the results page without a click-through.
Zero-party Data	Data that a customer intentionally shares with you such as preferences and plans. Highly transparent and consent-led.