13 Marketing Terms You Need to Know

It’s all geek to me.

Marketers love acronyms. We’ll always find a way to shorten business concepts into non-sensical strings of letters.

Unfortunately, this only works if everyone knows what the acronym actually means. And don’t get me started on acronyms that are the same as other acronyms that mean something completely different.

If you are starting in marketing or working with a marketing consultant like Corporate Prose, here are the 13 marketing terms you need to know.

Lucky 13 - Must Know Marketing Terms

1. SEO – Search Engine Optimization

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is all about getting your website to rank higher on search engines like Google. It focuses on key elements like keywords, meta descriptions, and user experience.

SEO is a diabolical mix of making awkward phrases repeat and algorithm wrangling. It’s a necessary evil - emphasis on evil.

2. PPC – Pay-Per-Click

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is a model where you only pay when someone clicks your ad. Done right, it’s a fast way to drive traffic and generate leads.

Done wrong, and you are handing over your rent check to Google for junk clicks by bots or fake digital marketing agencies trying to sell you PPC services.

3. ROI – Return on Investment

ROI measures the profitability of your marketing efforts. A basic formula is: (Revenue – Cost) ÷ Cost = ROI.

ROI is also a statistic that most businesses make up. It’s actually really hard to quantify ROI because cost is subjective. But, ROI is a great term to toss around if you are chatting with a CFO.

4. CTR – Click-Through Rate

CTR shows the percentage of people who click your ad or link compared to the number of people who saw it.

CTRs are essentially a popularity contest for buttons. Who is going to get clicked the most?

5. CTA – Call to Action

A Call to Action (CTA) is the part of your content that tells the audience what to do next. Examples include “Sign up now,” “Learn more,” or “Buy today.”

Marketers love ‘learn more’ CTAs because they drive up page views. Sales love ‘buy now’ CTAs because they pay for lunch.

6. KPI – Key Performance Indicator

KPIs are measurable values that show how effectively your marketing efforts achieve goals.

We will be honest on this one: KPIs are usually meaningless. We love a good vanity metric to keep our jobs.

7. UTM – Urchin Tracking Module

UTM codes are small tags you attach to a URL to track marketing campaign performance.

I always thought the U stood for unique. Whoever named it urchin obviously has read a lot of Charles Dickens. UTMs are like scrubby Victorian-era kids cleaning internet chimneys for a five-pence.

8. A/B Testing

A/B testing compares two variations of a marketing element to see which performs better.

A/B testing is like never having to decide what flavor of ice cream you want to eat. Why stick with Vanilla when you can test Strawberry too?

9. UX – User Experience

UX refers to how users interact with your website, app, or product. A good UX is intuitive, fast, and engaging.

A bad UX is like being stuck in the Maze Runner series. You keep thinking that you’ve found your way out of the maze, but another sequel or prequel is always waiting for you.

10. LTV – Lifetime Value

LTV measures the total revenue you can expect from a single customer over their entire relationship with your brand.

The keys to driving up customer lifetime value are auto-renewing subscriptions and hidden cancellation buttons.

11. NPS – Net Promoter Score

NPS measures customer loyalty by asking how likely customers are to recommend your brand to others.

Again, NPS generally means nothing. Only very happy or very angry customers reply. Most people can’t be bothered or give you a courtesy five.

12. MQL – Marketing Qualified Lead

An MQL is a lead that has shown interest in your brand but isn’t sales-ready yet.

MQLs are great to toss on the screen of a slide presentation. Make that number as BIG as possible. It’s about quantity!

13. SQL – Sales Qualified Lead

SQLs are leads that are ready to be contacted directly by sales teams. They’ve shown strong buying intent, such as requesting a quote or signing up for a free trial.

SQLs are ‘quality’ leads. These are people who might actually want to buy something. If you are marked an SQL in a CRM, be aware that you WILL have about 5 SDR voicemails and 10 cold emails in your inbox in 15 minutes.

Want more marketing terms?

Want more marketing terms? Great! I’m working on an ebook. Because I am the only person who still reads ebooks…

And special credit to an incredible team of marketers who shall remain nameless who gave me this idea.