Welcome to our handy guide of commonly used terms used in the digital marketing world, designed to help you better understand the terminology (or jargon!) used by digital marketers like us, and others across the world wide web!
Carry on reading to become a digital marketing expert…
A
A/B Testing: A method of comparing two versions (A and B) of a webpage, email, or advertisement to determine which one performs better in terms of engagement or conversion rates.
ABM (Account-Based Marketing): A marketing approach that focuses on targeting and engaging specific, high-value accounts or companies rather than a broad audience.
Ad: (Short for advertisement), refers to a promotional message intended to reach and engage a target audience and to generate awareness, attract customers, and drive conversions.
Affiliate Marketing: A marketing strategy where other businesses (affiliates) earn a commission for promoting another company’s products or services and driving sales through their own marketing efforts.
B
B2B (Business-to-Business): Businesses selling products or services to other businesses.
B2C (Business-to-Consumer): Businesses selling products or services directly to consumers.
Backlink: A hyperlink on one website that directs users to another website.
Blackhat SEO: Marketing tactics that are used to rank a website that violates search engine guidelines.
Blog: An online platform or webpage where businesses can regularly publish content to inform their audience on industry or business updates or trending topics.
Brand: The overall identity and perception of a company, product, or service represented by a distinctive name and visual and written identity.
Brand Awareness: Represents the extent to which consumers are aware of a brand’s existence, its values, products, and overall reputation.
Brand Equity: A marketing term that describes a brand’s value, determined by consumer’s perception of and experiences with the brand. If people think highly of a brand, it has positive brand equity.
Broken Link: A hyperlink on a website that no longer exists or is inaccessible.
Buyer Persona: A fictional representation of a business’ target customer based on market research and data, to help understand the needs of their target audience.
C
Call to Action (CTA): A specific instruction or prompt to encourage the audience to take a desired action, such as “Buy Now,” “Subscribe,” or “Learn More.”
Campaign: A series of marketing strategies using various digital marketing channels and tactics aimed to achieve specific objectives and target audiences.
Click-Through Rate (CTR): The percentage of people who click on a specific link or advertisement compared to the total number of impressions it receives, used to measure the effectiveness of online campaigns.
Competitor Analysis: The process of evaluating and analysing the strengths, weaknesses and performance of competitors to identify opportunities within your own business and marketing strategy.
Content Marketing: A marketing approach focused on creating and sharing valuable content to attract and engage a target audience.
Conversion Rate: The percentage of visitors or users who complete a desired action, such as making a purchase, filling out a form, or subscribing, in comparison to the total number of visitors or users.
Crawler: (Also known as a spider) A program used by search engines to browse, analyse and collect data from web pages in order to index them.
Customer Acquisition: The process of attracting and converting new customers through various online channels and strategies.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM): A strategy used to manage and analyse interactions and relationships with customers throughout the customer lifecycle that aims to improve customer satisfaction and retention.
Customer Retention: A metric that businesses use to measure customer loyalty over time.
D
Demographics: Statistical data that describes the characteristics of a population or target audience, such as age, gender, income, education, occupation, and location.
Digital Marketing: Marketing efforts conducted through digital channels, such as websites, search engines, social media, email, mobile apps, and online advertising.
Direct Mail: Marketing materials, such as letters, postcards, or brochures, that are sent directly to a targeted audience via traditional mail services.
Directory: An online platform or website that lists and organises businesses that can be used to increase brand exposure and number of backlinks.
E
E-Commerce: Stands for Electronic Commerce and refers to the process of buying and selling goods and services online.
Email Marketing: The use of email to communicate and engage with a target audience to promote products, deliver personalised content, nurture leads etc…
Engagement: The level of interaction, involvement, or attention that an audience has with a brand or its marketing content, often measured by metrics such as likes, comments, shares, or time spent on a webpage.
E-WOM (Electronic Word-of-Mouth): Sharing opinions, recommendations, or experiences about a brand through online platforms, such as social media, review sites, forums etc…
Evergreen Content: Search-optimised content that is always relevant and stays “fresh” for readers over a long period of time.
F
Frequency: The number of times an advertisement is presented to a target audience within a specific timeframe.
Funnel: The journey that a user goes through from initial awareness to the desired action (conversion), represented as a funnel shape and divided into stages like awareness, consideration, and conversion.
G
Geotargeting: A marketing technique that delivers tailored content or advertisements to individuals based on their geographic location or proximity to a specific area.
GIF (Graphics Interchange Format): A small image file that most people use to create animated images to share on social media.
H
Hashtag: A word or phrase that starts with the “#” symbol (e.g., #milkandtweed) used on social media to categorise content around a specific topic, often used to increase brand exposure.
H tag (Header Tag): HTML tags used to set apart headings and subheadings from the rest of the content on a webpage which helps with SEO
Heatmap: Visual representations of data that display the areas of a website or web page where users interact the most
Hyperlink: A link that can be displayed as an icon, graphic or simply text that links to another file, object or website page page.
I
Impression: The number of times a form of digital media is displayed on a user’s screen, regardless of whether it was clicked or not.
Indexing: The process by which search engines, (like Google), analyse and crawl web pages or content in order to include them in their search results and database.
Influencer Marketing: A strategy that involves partnering with relevant influential individuals or content creators to promote a product, service, or brand to their audience.
Interactive Content: Content that actively engages and involves the audience, encouraging them to interact and participate, rather than just consume.
J
Journey Mapping: A visual that shows how customers experience a product or service and how they feel along the way.
Just-in-Time (JIT) Marketing: A marketing strategy that aims to deliver targeted content to consumers at the precise moment they need it.
K
Key Performance Indicator (KPI): A measurable value or metric that indicates the performance or success of a marketing campaign, strategy, or objective.
Keyword Research: The process of identifying and analysing the keywords and phrases that people use in search engines when looking for information around a specific product or service.
L
Lead Generation: The process of identifying and attracting potential customers (leads) who have shown interest in a product or service.
Lead Magnet: A marketing tool that aims to generate new leads through offering a free resource or tool in exchange for their email address or contact information (cheeky right?)
Long Tail Keyword: A specific and targeted keyword phrase that typically contains three or more words. For example “design agency that creates websites”
M
Market Research: The collection, analysis, and interpretation of data about a target market, customers, competitors, and industry trends in order to make informed decisions.
Meta Data: Data that describes other data. For example: who created it, when it was created, how big the file is etc…
Meta Description: An HTML element that summarises the contents of your web page for the benefit of users and search engines.
Mobile Marketing: Marketing strategies that target mobile device users through channels like mobile apps, SMS (text) marketing, location-based advertising etc…
N
Newsjacking: Taking advantage of current news or trending topics to align with your own product or brand in order to gain attention and stay relevant.
O
Organic Keywords: Search terms used to attract free website traffic through search engine optimization (SEO).
Organic Reach: The number of people who see a piece of content or advertisement through unpaid (organic) distribution, such as appearing in their social media feed or search engine results.
Off Page SEO: Activities done outside of a website in an effort to increase the website’s search engine rankings.
On Page SEO: The practice of optimising web pages to improve a website’s search engine rankings.
Online Reputation Management (ORM): The process of monitoring, influencing, and managing the online reputation and perception of a brand.
P
Page views: The number of times a web page is viewed by users. Page views can help measure website traffic, user engagement, and popular content.
Persona: A fictional representation of a target customer used to understand their needs, preferences, and motivations to achieve more specific marketing strategies.
PPC (Pay-Per-Click): An online advertising model in which advertisers pay a fee each time their ad is clicked, commonly used in search engine advertising (Google Ads) and social media advertising (Facebook Ads).
Q
Quality Score: A metric used in online advertising platforms to assess the quality and relevance of keywords, ads, and landing pages on a website.
QR Code (Quick Response Code): A two-dimensional barcode that can be scanned using a mobile device to quickly and conveniently access digital content.
R
Redirects: URLs or links used to direct you to another location, like this one!
Referral Marketing: A marketing strategy that encourages customers to recommend their services, products or experiences to other people in order to gain new leads.
ROI (Return on Investment): A way to measure the profitability or effectiveness of a marketing campaign relative to how much it cost.
Rebrand: The process of changing the branding elements and identity of a company in order to alter the way the company is perceived.
S
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO): The process of optimising a website or online content to improve its visibility and ranking in search engine results pages, therefore increasing organic (unpaid) traffic.
Short Tail Keyword: A broad and general keyword phrase which is highly popular but also highly competitive, typically consisting of one or two words, such as “design agency”
Site Audit: The process of analysing a website to see how well it is optimised for search engines
Social Media Marketing: The use of social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn, to promote a business and to engage with their target audience.
T
Target Audience: A specific group of people that is the intended audience for a brand, product or service and should be targeted within every marketing strategy.
Tone of Voice (TOV): The consistent and distinctive way that a brand communicates its messages, personality, and values through written or spoken language. You might have noticed that we try to keep ours chatty and humorous (or we like to think so!)
Traffic: The number of visitors or users that a website, web page, or digital platform receives. It can be organic, direct, as a referral or through paid advertising.
Trending: Topics, hashtags, keywords, or content that is currently popular or gaining significant attention online through social media or other online platforms.
U
Unique Selling Proposition (USP): A distinctive (unique) feature or benefit of a product, service, or business that sets it apart from competitors and provides a clear reason for customers to choose it.
User-Generated Content (UGC): Content created by consumers rather than the brand. This can include reviews, social media posts, videos etc and can help build authenticity and trust.
W
White Paper: A comprehensive and authoritative document that provides an in-depth analysis, explanation, or solution to a particular problem, industry topic, or technology.
Word-of-Mouth Marketing: The organic spread of positive information from one person to person, often through sharing positive experiences with others through conversations, reviews, social media posts etc…
Phew, that was a lot! We hope that this comprehensive guide has been helpful and that you leave a little more knowledgeable than you were before! Make sure to save this page for when you next need a better understanding of the most popular digital marketing terms.
If you would like to find out more about how we can help to grow your business with a kick-ass digital marketing strategy, get in touch! We’d love to hear from you
