Find terms and definitions for online and offline marketing in this glossary. Taken from Rockin’ ROI: How to Bootstrap Ecommerce with Performance-based Marketing and updated continually.
| Word | Definition |
|---|---|
| acquiring bank | merchant's financial institution for accepting credit card payments |
| AdSense | Google's ad-serving service for website owners to be paid for actions taken by their vistors |
| affiliate | website that agrees to post ads seen by their visitors in exchange for agreed-upon payment, usually a percent of a sale |
| affiliate network | software system that serves as a hub between advertisers and affiliate websites to calculate visitor actions and sales, pay affiliates and host ads |
| affiliate program | advertiser's hosted affiliate offering, complete with description, payout, product lists, images and unique linking system, reporting, customer service and payment method |
| air dates | chosen dates for live or recorded transmissions through radio, TV and digital facilities |
| allowable | budget per product available to spend on advertising after costs |
| autoresponder | preset email response programmed to be sent after a specific action by a web visitor |
| autoship | method to schedule purchases that recur periodically, often monthly, also known as contiuity programs |
| availabilities (avails) | inventory of dates and time slots available for advertising, notably of radio and TV facilities |
| B2B | sales and marketing model to sell business-to-business |
| B2C | sales and marketing model to sell business-to-consumer; see also D2C |
| backlinks | links that send traffic to a website |
| benchmark | point of reference, used to measure improvements in analytics |
| blog | web page dedicated to multiple posts, usually less than 1500 words each |
| Brand Ambassador | paid endorser, such as an influencer |
| branding | marketing efforts to increase awareness and create a household name for a company or person |
| bump | when a commercial or ad is preempted |
| CAN SPAM | U.S. law, Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography And Marketing Act of 2003, businesses must comply with to identify company sending email and allow opt-out unsubscription |
| cart abandonment | act of web visitor leaving a site without completing an order |
| category | blogging feature to group posts together by topics |
| channel | individual station, cable facility or media channel |
| chargebacks | action taken by consumer to reverse a credit card charge |
| circulation | distribution of a publication by geography, such as county, metro, national or global |
| continuity program | sale of products or services on a recurring basis |
| conversion | action completed by prospect |
| CPA | cost-per-acquisition: cost to secure an action, lead or sale, such as capture a visitor's contact information |
| CPC | cost-per-click: cost to secure a web visitor's click through to a landing page |
| CPM | cost-per-thousand: cost to reach 1,000 audience members |
| CPO | cost-per-order: cost to secure a transaction |
| CPP | cost-per-point: cost to reach 1% of a target group |
| CPS | cost-per-sale: same as cost-per-order |
| CRM | customer relationship & contact management software |
| CTA | call-to-action: a marketing request designed to elicit a response |
| CTR | click-through rate: % of internet viewers who click on a link |
| CXO | used to describe any of several C-level positions as a group (CEO, COO, CFO, etc.) |
| D2C | another expression for B2C, a sales and marketing model to sell direct-to-consumer |
| data visualization | charting spreadsheet data to graphically decipher meaning, make decisions regarding future actions and changes |
| daypart | selected blocks of time during which commercials air for one rate within each range |
| deeplink | link to a specific page of a website rather than a home page |
| demographic | age and sex of a target audience |
| dimensional direct mail piece | mailings designed to capture attention with objects in addition to flat pieces |
| direct response | advertising integrated with mechanisms to elicit response, such as links or phone numbers |
| discount rate | base rate charged to a merchant for payment processing services on debit and credit card transactions |
| discovery | in marketing, the process to determine a company's needs, challenges, and desired results |
| display ad | non-classified ads in digital or print publications |
| double opt-in | functionality, such as email confirmation, to secure two confirmations of the same permission, such as a subscription |
| downsell | second product or service at a lower price than an initial offer that was declined |
| DRTV | direct response television uses broad time ranges at reduced rates and intended for consumer actions to go to site or call phone number |
| dubs | copies of master or submaster, generally shipped digitally |
| DUNS number | Dun and Bradstreet's Data Universal Numbering System to identify a business with a 9-digit code |
| EPC | Earnings Per Click an affiliate marketing term demonstrating the average earnings per click affiliates of a certain advertiser are receiving |
| Evergreen | in marketing, a description for content that has lasting value which may be referred to often in the future |
| flight | schedule of air dates between start and finish of a campaign |
| frequency (R&F; print volume) | average number of times an audience sees a campaign or message |
| GDPR | EU's General Data Protection Regulation law imposes obligations on entities collecting data from EU residents |
| Google Ads | Google's service to sell advertising on a pay-per-click model |
| Google Analytics | free measurement of site actions |
| Google Search Console | tools and reports measure site search traffic, performance and identify issues to fix |
| hashtag | word or words preceded by number sign used to search on topics and events |
| HIPAA | Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996, data security and privacy protection to safeguard individual medical information |
| inbound marketing | program of content that acquires traffic, leads and sales |
| inbound telemarketing | activities of live operators and marketing automation to collect information from callers |
| influencer | celebrity, blogger, podcaster or other individual with a loyal following |
| insertion order | contract for ad placement stipulating dates, position, sizes, formats, etc. |
| inventory | in media, available ad slots |
| issuing bank | in payment processing, the financial institution of the consumer credit instrument |
| IVR | Interactive voice response systems help marketers automatically collect information from callers through pre-programmed scripts and technology |
| keyword | word or phrase used to find results on websites |
| KPI | key performance indicator, a metric to track campaign performance, such as sales, clicks, leads, etc. |
| landing page | web pages designed to provide specific information promised by a previous message |
| long-form | in infomercials, the twenty-eight minute, thirty-second length |
| makegood | in media, a replacement for an ad not run, or not run correctly in date, placement due to preemption or error |
| manage preferences | a method for subscribers to opt-out and choose what emailings they subscribe to, usually present at the footer of email blasts |
| media plan | a comprehensive detail of objectives, target audience, strategies and tactics across geographies to designed to meet budget and other goals |
| medium | one chosen channel, such as radio or print |
| merchant | commonly used to describe an advertiser in an affiliate network |
| merchant ID | known as an MID, a unique identifying number given by the payment processor representing card brands such as MasterCard and Visa, needed to process credit card transactions |
| meta description | up to 155 characters that describe the content of a page used by search engines in results |
| meta title | page title as visible in browser for both search engine robots and web visitors |
| metatag | HTML elements of a web page that are not readily visible and displayed as hidden in the code at the top of the page |
| milestone | an important stage in development |
| mind map | data visualization, such as an organizational chart or steps in a process |
| Native ads | ads placed within editorial content that closely resemble the format of that content |
| network tv | U.S. group of company owned as well as affiliated local market broadcast stations, such as CBS, NBC and Fox |
| offer configuration | product or service with any other items packaged and priced together |
| optimization | efforts to improve results of a campaign, such as using keywords in search marketing on web pages to improve visibility, traffic and results |
| opt-in | single selection of agreement, for instance, to give permission to send an email newsletter |
| opt-out | selection to remove a name from a list |
| organic search | in search marketing, entering one or more words into a search engine yielding results at no charge to companies |
| outbound marketing | messages sent by organizations |
| outbound telemarketing | calls by operators and recordings automatically sent to prospects |
| overbook | act of buying more media than required to meet goals |
| payment processor | company between card brand, such as Visa, and an end-user merchant that provides the ability for the merchant to accept credit cards |
| payout | fixed amount or percentage that an business allows its web site vendors and affiliates |
| PCI | Payment Card Industry's Data Security Standard is an industry rule requiring credit card merchants to protect consumer data and complete annual questionnaires and/or scans to show compliance |
| performance-based | marketing efforts built to generate response at a fixed price per action |
| permalinks | URL address for a web page including a domain followed by words used to find the content |
| pfishing | fraudulent practice of duping email recipients to reveal their personally identifiable information |
| PII | personally identifiable information to be protected in the U.S. and abroad |
| pixel | small piece of code or measure of an image on a digital screen |
| plugins | software component that adds a specific feature to an existing computer program, such as connecting spam blocker to a WordPress blog |
| podcasting | audio recordings posted online |
| post-analysis | study of statistics to find areas for improvement and track success |
| PPC | pay-per-click: method of search marketing to fix a price per web visitor action to click on a link |
| preemption | removal of an ad from a schedule due to another advertiser paying more, breaking news event, program overrun or error |
| psychographic | combination of demographic, geographic, income and other information to create a lifestyle segment |
| publisher | web site or print entity |
| radio station format | type of niche audience served, such as country & western, rock and roll and the like |
| rate cards | schedule of prices for media set on a sliding scale for volume and including special sections, sponsorship and combinations |
| rating point | 1% of any given target audience; used as a measure to buy TV time |
| reach | the percentage of an audience to receive a message |
| rebook | commercial that is rescheduled after preemption |
| remarketing | pay-per-click and email methods to touch a prospect after one or more previous touches |
| remnant advertising | discounted media based on last-minute availability and pre-approved creative |
| repurposing | reusing all or part of content in one or more formats and/or platforms |
| reserve | funds held by payment processor, notably for high-risk merchant accounts |
| retargeting | pay-per-click method to touch a prospect after one or more previous touches |
| robocall | automated telephone call (see IVR) |
| rollout | ad schedule after successful testing which is gradually increased with continued success |
| ROS | Run-of-station allows the widest rotation of commercials, anytime during the broadcast day or week |
| rotation | placement of ads to be equally spaced out during a time period or for creatives to each get equal exposure |
| RSS feed | Really Simple Syndication, automatic delivery of blog or site content after subscription |
| run date | date an ad will air or publish |
| satellite | media channels available through satellite distribution, such as Sirius XM, DirecTV or Dish |
| search marketing | efforts to insert keywords into content and pay for visitors who click through search ads |
| SEM | search engine marketing includes both organic (free) and pay-per-click efforts |
| SEO | search engine optimization |
| short-form | in TV, commercials two-minutes or shorter in length |
| spot | a radio or TV commercial |
| spot tv | TV broadcast stations in local markets |
| streaming | web content delivered live or for immediate playback |
| submaster | in television, a copy of a commercial with a unique phone number and/or URL |
| suppression list | group of email addresses that have opted out and unsubscribed |
| SWOT | strategic planning technique used by businesses to identify strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats |
| syndication | newspaper column or broadcast show published or aired across many such individual media outlets |
| tags | word or words used to label and identify blog topics and images, for instance |
| target audience | segment of an audience whether geographic, demographic or psychographic for given campaigns and messages |
| tear sheet | physical page of a magazine or newspaper proving an ad was published; may be emailed as a PDF file |
| terrestrial | description of radio or TV stations using over-the-air broadcast signals |
| touch | one message to a prospect |
| tracking pixel | small piece of code added to a web page to identify, count and credit actions |
| underwriting | in payments, the processor staff who review applications to accept credit card payments |
| Unique Selling Proposition | known as USP or unique value proposition, the unique benefit a business offers its prospects |
| unsubscribe | the act to remove from a subscription, such as to an email newsletter or print publication |
| upfront | in network TV time buying, the period when new fall primetime shows are previewed and sold, around May |
| upsell | upon completion of an order, an additional order, usually the same price or less |
| URL | Uniform Record Locator or web address |
| vanity number | toll-free number with digits that spell our one or more words |