Marketing Glossary

SEO, PPC, social media, content marketing, and digital advertising terminology

269 terms

A

A/B Testing

A method comparing two versions of a webpage or element to determine which performs better statistically.

Analytics & Data

AI Optimization (AIO)

Optimizing content for AI-driven search engines and recommendation algorithms like Google SGE.

SEO

AI-Generated Search

Search experiences where AI provides synthesized answers instead of traditional link results.

SEO

Account-Based Marketing

A B2B strategy that focuses marketing resources on a set of target accounts using personalized campaigns.

Content Marketing

Account-Based Marketing (ABM)

A B2B strategy that concentrates resources on specific target accounts rather than broad audience marketing.

Content Marketing

Ad Age (Advertising Age)

Leading advertising industry publication covering agencies, brands, media, and marketing trends since 1930.

Branding

Ad Exchange

A digital marketplace where advertisers and publishers buy and sell ad inventory through real-time auctions.

advertising

Ad Extensions

Additional information that expands your search ads with extra business details like phone numbers, links, or location.

PPC & Paid Advertising

Ad Fatigue

The decline in ad performance when audiences become overexposed to the same creative, resulting in decreased engagement and higher costs.

PPC & Paid Advertising

Ad Fraud

Deceptive practices that generate illegitimate ad impressions, clicks, or conversions to steal advertising revenue.

advertising

Ad Position Optimization

Strategic bidding and optimization to achieve optimal ad placement balancing visibility, cost, and conversion performance.

PPC & Paid Advertising

Ad Rank

The score that determines your ad position and whether your ad will show.

PPC & Paid Advertising

Advertising Week

Global conference series exploring the future of marketing, media, and technology across major cities.

Analytics & Data

Adweek

Major advertising industry publication covering creative agencies, brand marketing, media, and marketing technology.

Branding

Algorithm

The automated system determining what content users see in their feeds based on predicted relevance and engagement.

Social Media

American Marketing Association (AMA)

Professional association advancing marketing practice through education, research, and community since 1937.

Branding

Answer Engine Optimization

Optimizing content for AI answer engines and conversational search interfaces.

SEO

Association of National Advertisers (ANA)

Trade association representing brand marketers, providing advocacy, research, and professional development.

Branding

Attribution Model

A rule that determines how credit for conversions is assigned to marketing touchpoints.

Analytics & Data

Attribution Window Analysis

Examining different time periods between initial touchpoint and conversion to optimize marketing attribution and budget allocation.

Analytics & Data

Audience Suppression

Excluding specific user segments from seeing advertising to improve efficiency.

PPC & Paid Advertising

Audience Targeting

Selecting specific user segments for ad delivery based on demographics, behaviors, interests, or other attributes.

PPC & Paid Advertising

Automated Bidding Strategy

Using machine learning algorithms to automatically adjust PPC bids based on likelihood of achieving specific campaign objectives.

PPC & Paid Advertising

B

Backlink

A hyperlink from one website to another, used by search engines as a ranking signal.

SEO

Behavioral Trigger

An automated email sent in response to a specific customer action or inaction.

Email Marketing

Bid Modifiers

Percentage adjustments to PPC bids based on specific conditions like device, location, time, or audience characteristics.

PPC & Paid Advertising

Bid Strategy

The approach used to set and adjust bids for ad placements in paid campaigns.

PPC & Paid Advertising

Bidding Strategy

The approach used to set and adjust ad auction bids, from manual control to automated machine learning optimization.

PPC & Paid Advertising

Bounce Rate

The percentage of visitors who leave a website after viewing only one page without taking any action.

Analytics & Data

Brand Architecture

The organizational structure defining relationships between a parent brand and its sub-brands or product lines.

Branding

Brand Awareness

The extent to which consumers recognize and recall a brand and its products or services.

Branding

Brand Consistency

Maintaining uniform visual identity, messaging, and customer experience across all marketing channels and customer touchpoints.

Branding

Brand Differentiation

The process of distinguishing a brand from competitors through unique value propositions, messaging, or positioning strategies.

Branding

Brand Dilution

The weakening of brand identity through inconsistent messaging or overextension.

Branding

Brand Equity

The commercial value derived from consumer perception of a brand name rather than the product itself.

Branding

Brand Equity Measurement

Quantifying the financial and perceived value that a brand name adds to products or services beyond their functional benefits.

Branding

Brand Extension Strategy

Leveraging established brand equity to launch new products or services in related or unrelated categories.

Branding

Brand Guidelines

A comprehensive document defining how a brand should be visually and verbally represented across all touchpoints.

Branding

Brand Identity

The visible elements of a brand that identify and distinguish it in consumers' minds.

Branding

Brand Personality

The set of human characteristics and traits attributed to a brand that shape how it communicates and connects.

Branding

Brand Positioning

The strategic process of establishing a unique impression in customers' minds.

Branding

Brand Refresh

An evolutionary update to visual identity and messaging that modernizes a brand without abandoning its core equity.

Branding

Brand Safety AI

AI systems that protect brand reputation by controlling ad placement and content context.

Branding

Brand Salience

The degree to which your brand comes to mind quickly and easily when customers think about your product category.

Branding

Brand Sentiment Tracking

Monitoring and measuring public opinion and emotional associations with a brand across digital channels and conversations.

Branding

Brand Storytelling

Strategic narrative approach that communicates brand values, mission, and personality through compelling stories that resonate with audiences.

Branding

Brand Tracking

Ongoing measurement of brand awareness, perception, and competitive position.

Analytics & Data

Brand Voice

The consistent personality and tone expressed in all brand communications.

Branding

Buyer Intent Data

Signals indicating prospect interest in purchasing specific products or services.

Analytics & Data

C

Call-to-Action (CTA)

A prompt that tells users what action to take next, typically in the form of a button or link with action-oriented text.

Content Marketing

Campaign Budget Pacing

Managing ad spend distribution over time to optimize budget utilization and prevent early exhaustion or underdelivery.

PPC & Paid Advertising

Cannes Lions

The International Festival of Creativity - the advertising industry's most prestigious awards and conference.

Branding

Canonical URL

An HTML element specifying the preferred version of a webpage when duplicate or similar content exists at multiple URLs.

SEO

Category Creation

Strategy of defining and dominating a new market category rather than competing in existing ones.

Branding

Channel Attribution

Measuring the contribution of different marketing channels to conversions.

Analytics & Data

Click-Through Rate (CTR)

The percentage of people who click on a specific link out of the total number who view it.

PPC & Paid Advertising

Cohort Analysis

Analyzing user behavior by grouping them based on shared characteristics or timeframes.

Analytics & Data

Cohort Retention Analysis

Tracking how groups of users acquired during specific time periods behave and engage over extended timeframes.

Analytics & Data

Community Building Strategy

Creating engaged customer communities around shared interests or brand values to foster loyalty and drive word-of-mouth marketing.

Social Media

Community Management

The practice of building, growing, and managing online communities around a brand or interest.

Social Media

Community-Led Growth

Growth strategy centered on building and nurturing engaged user communities.

Content Marketing

Content Amplification

Paid and organic strategies to extend the reach of content beyond owned channels.

Content Marketing

Content Atomization

Breaking one piece of pillar content into multiple smaller formats optimized for different channels and audiences.

Content Marketing

Content Calendar

A schedule that organizes when and where you plan to publish upcoming content.

Content Marketing

Content Cluster

A group of interlinked content pieces covering related subtopics, organized around a central pillar page.

Content Marketing

Content Decay

The gradual decline in organic traffic and rankings that content experiences over time as it becomes outdated or outranked.

SEO

Content Governance

The policies, processes, and standards that ensure consistent, compliant, and quality content across an organization.

Content Marketing

Content Lifecycle Management

Strategic approach to planning, creating, maintaining, and retiring content throughout its useful business lifespan.

Content Marketing

Content Marketing

A strategic approach focused on creating valuable content to attract and retain a defined audience.

Content Marketing

Content Marketing World

The largest content marketing conference featuring education, networking, and innovation in content strategy.

Content Marketing

Content Performance Analytics

Measuring and analyzing how content performs across metrics like engagement, conversions, and business impact to optimize strategy.

Content Marketing

Content Pillar

A comprehensive, authoritative piece of content on a core topic that serves as the foundation for a cluster of related, more specific content pieces.

Content Marketing

Content Pillar Strategy

A strategic framework organizing content around core topics or themes that support business goals and audience interests.

Content Marketing

Content Pillars

Core themes or topics that guide all content creation efforts, ensuring consistent messaging and comprehensive coverage of key areas.

Content Marketing

Content Refresh Strategy

Systematic approach to updating existing content with new information, improved SEO, and current best practices to maintain relevance.

Content Marketing

Content Repurposing

Adapting existing content into different formats to reach new audiences.

Content Marketing

Content Strategy

A plan for creating, publishing, and managing content that achieves specific business goals and serves audience needs.

Content Marketing

Content Velocity

The speed at which content is created, published, and distributed across marketing channels to maintain audience engagement.

Content Marketing

Conversion Path Analysis

Examining the complete sequence of interactions that lead users from initial touchpoint to desired conversion actions.

Analytics & Data

Conversion Path Optimization

Analyzing and improving the sequence of steps users take from initial contact to conversion to reduce friction and increase completion rates.

Analytics & Data

Conversion Rate

The percentage of visitors who complete a desired action on your website or campaign.

Analytics & Data

Conversion Rate Optimization

Systematic testing and improvement of website elements to increase conversions.

Analytics & Data

Cookieless Tracking

Analytics and advertising methods that identify and track users without relying on third-party cookies.

Analytics & Data

Core Web Vitals

Google's metrics measuring real-world user experience: loading performance, interactivity, and visual stability.

SEO

Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)

The average cost to acquire one customer through a specific marketing campaign or channel.

PPC & Paid Advertising

Cost Per Click (CPC)

The amount an advertiser pays each time a user clicks on their online advertisement.

PPC & Paid Advertising

Cost Per Mille (CPM)

The cost an advertiser pays per one thousand impressions of their ad, used as a standard pricing model in display and programmatic advertising.

advertising

Crawl Budget

The number of pages a search engine will crawl on your site within a given timeframe.

SEO

Crawl Depth

The number of clicks required to reach a page from the homepage, affecting how search engines discover and index content.

SEO

Crawlability

How easily search engine bots can access, read, and index a website's pages and content.

SEO

Creative Fatigue

Declining ad performance as audiences become overexposed to the same creative.

PPC & Paid Advertising

Creative Velocity

The speed at which marketing teams can produce and deploy new creative assets.

Content Marketing

Creator Economy

The economic ecosystem of independent content creators monetizing their audiences.

Social Media

Customer Acquisition Cost

The total cost of acquiring a new customer, including marketing and sales expenses divided by number of customers acquired.

Analytics & Data

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

The total cost of acquiring a new customer, including all marketing and sales expenses.

Analytics & Data

Customer Data Platform (CDP)

Software that creates unified, persistent customer profiles by collecting data from multiple sources.

Analytics & Data

Customer Health Score

A composite metric predicting customer retention risk based on usage patterns, engagement, and other behavioral signals.

Analytics & Data

Customer Journey Analytics

Tracking and analyzing all customer interactions across touchpoints to understand the complete path from awareness to purchase and beyond.

Analytics & Data

Customer Journey Mapping

Visual representation of all touchpoints and interactions customers have with a brand throughout their entire purchasing process.

Analytics & Data

Customer Lifetime Value

The total revenue a business can expect from a single customer account throughout their entire relationship.

Analytics & Data

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)

The total revenue a business can expect from a single customer over their relationship.

Analytics & Data

Customer Path Analysis

Detailed examination of the routes customers take through websites, apps, or marketing funnels to identify optimization opportunities.

Analytics & Data

D

Dark Funnel

The untrackable buyer journey activities that happen in private channels before prospects engage with your brand publicly.

Analytics & Data

Dark Social

Social sharing that occurs through private channels and cannot be tracked by analytics.

Social Media

Dayparting Strategy

Scheduling ads to run during specific hours or days when target audiences are most active and likely to convert.

PPC & Paid Advertising

Deliverability Reputation

Email service provider ratings that determine whether messages reach inboxes or spam folders based on sender behavior and engagement.

Email Marketing

Deliverability Warming

Gradual process of building sender reputation with ISPs by slowly increasing email volume and maintaining engagement metrics.

Email Marketing

Demand Generation

Marketing programs designed to drive awareness and interest in a company's products or services.

Content Marketing

Demand Side Platform (DSP)

Software that allows advertisers to buy digital ad inventory across multiple exchanges through a single interface.

PPC & Paid Advertising

Demand-Side Platform (DSP)

Software used by advertisers to automatically purchase digital ad inventory across multiple ad exchanges through a single interface.

advertising

Display Network

A network of millions of websites, apps, and videos where visual ads can appear, reaching users across the internet.

PPC & Paid Advertising

Domain Authority

A search engine ranking score that predicts how well a website will rank on search engines.

SEO

Double Opt-In

A two-step subscription process requiring email confirmation before adding someone to your list.

Email Marketing

Drip Campaign

An automated series of emails sent on a schedule or triggered by specific actions.

Email Marketing

E

E-E-A-T

Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness - Google's content quality guidelines.

SEO

Email Automation Workflows

Triggered email sequences that respond to specific user behaviors or characteristics to deliver personalized messaging at scale.

Email Marketing

Email Bounce Rate

Percentage of sent emails that fail to reach recipients' inboxes due to delivery issues or invalid addresses.

Email Marketing

Email Deliverability

The ability to successfully deliver emails to subscribers' inboxes rather than spam folders.

Email Marketing

Email Deliverability Monitoring

Tracking email placement rates, spam complaints, and inbox reputation to ensure messages reach intended recipients successfully.

Email Marketing

Email Frequency Testing

Systematic testing of email send frequency to optimize engagement rates while minimizing unsubscribes and spam complaints.

Email Marketing

Email List Building

Strategies and tactics for growing an email subscriber list with qualified, engaged potential customers.

Email Marketing

Email Open Rate

The percentage of email recipients who open a given email.

Email Marketing

Email Personalization

Customizing email content, subject lines, and timing based on individual recipient data, behavior, and preferences.

Email Marketing

Email Segmentation

The practice of dividing email subscribers into smaller groups based on set criteria.

Email Marketing

Email Warm-Up

The process of gradually increasing email volume from a new IP or domain to build sender reputation.

Email Marketing

Engagement Pod Strategy

Coordinated groups of social media users who mutually engage with each other's content to boost algorithmic visibility and reach.

Social Media

Engagement Quality Score

Metric evaluating the depth and meaningfulness of social media interactions beyond basic likes and follows.

Social Media

Engagement Rate

A metric measuring the level of interaction that content receives relative to reach or followers.

Social Media

Evergreen Content

Content that remains relevant and valuable long after its publication date.

Content Marketing

F

G

H

I

K

L

Landing Page

A standalone web page created specifically for a marketing or advertising campaign where visitors "land" after clicking a link.

digital

Landing Page Optimization

Improving pages where ad traffic lands to increase conversion rates and maximize return on ad spend.

PPC & Paid Advertising

Lead Generation

The process of attracting and converting prospects into potential customers who have shown interest in your products or services.

SEO

Lead Magnet

A free resource or incentive offered to potential customers in exchange for their contact information, typically an email address.

Content Marketing

Lead Nurturing

The process of building relationships with prospects at every stage of the buyer journey through targeted, relevant content and communication.

marketing-automation

Lead Scoring

A methodology that assigns numerical values to leads based on their behavior and demographics to prioritize sales follow-up.

marketing-automation

Link Building

The process of acquiring hyperlinks from other websites to your own, a key factor in search engine ranking algorithms.

SEO

LinkedIn

The professional networking platform essential for B2B marketing, recruiting, and thought leadership.

social-platforms

LinkedIn Newsletter

A recurring article series published through LinkedIn that subscribers receive via notification and email, building an owned audience on the platform.

social-platforms

List Decay Rate

The percentage of email subscribers who become inactive or unsubscribe over time, affecting email deliverability and engagement.

Email Marketing

List Hygiene

The practice of maintaining a clean, engaged email subscriber list.

Email Marketing

List Segmentation Strategy

Dividing email subscribers into targeted groups based on behavior, demographics, or preferences for personalized messaging.

Email Marketing

Local Pack Optimization

Optimizing business listings to appear in Google's local search results map pack for location-based queries.

SEO

Local SEO

Optimization strategies to improve visibility in location-based searches and Google Maps listings.

SEO

Long-tail Keywords

Specific, multi-word search phrases with lower volume but higher intent and less competition than broad keywords.

SEO

Lookalike Audience

A targeting option that finds new users who share characteristics with your existing customers or high-value audiences.

PPC & Paid Advertising

M

Marketing Attribution

The process of identifying which marketing touchpoints contribute to conversions and assigning credit to each interaction.

Analytics & Data

Marketing Automation

Technology that automates repetitive marketing tasks across channels.

Email Marketing

Marketing Automation Workflow

Automated sequence of marketing actions triggered by user behaviors or conditions.

Email Marketing

Marketing Dashboard

A visual display consolidating key marketing metrics and KPIs for monitoring performance and making decisions.

Analytics & Data

Marketing Data Clean Room

Secure environments for analyzing combined first-party data with partners while maintaining privacy.

Analytics & Data

Marketing Flywheel

Self-reinforcing growth model where customer success drives new customer acquisition.

Analytics & Data

Marketing Funnel

A model representing the customer journey from initial awareness through to purchase and beyond.

Analytics & Data

Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM)

Statistical analysis to measure marketing channel effectiveness using aggregate data.

Analytics & Data

Marketing Operations

The function managing marketing technology, data, processes, and campaign execution infrastructure.

marketing-automation

Marketing Ops

Function managing marketing technology, data, and processes to enable campaign execution.

Analytics & Data

Marketing Qualified Account

A company account that meets criteria indicating sales readiness based on aggregate signals.

Analytics & Data

Marketing Qualified Lead

A lead that has been deemed more likely to become a customer based on engagement with marketing activities.

Analytics & Data

Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)

A prospect who has been evaluated by marketing and determined to meet specific criteria indicating they are likely to become a customer.

marketing-automation

Marketing ROI

The return on investment from marketing activities, measuring revenue generated relative to marketing spend.

Analytics & Data

Marketing Technology Stack

The collection of software tools and platforms a marketing team uses to plan, execute, analyze, and optimize their campaigns and operations.

digital

Marketing Week

UK-based marketing publication covering brand strategy, marketing effectiveness, and career development.

Branding

Marketo

An enterprise marketing automation platform now owned by Adobe, focused on B2B engagement.

marketing-automation

Media Buying

The process of purchasing advertising space and time across media channels to reach a target audience at optimal cost and placement.

advertising

Meta Description

An HTML element providing a brief summary of a webpage, often displayed in search results below the title.

SEO

MozCon

Premier SEO and search marketing conference featuring advanced tactics and thought leadership from industry experts.

SEO

Multi-Touch Attribution

A model that credits multiple marketing touchpoints for contributing to a conversion.

Analytics & Data

N

O

P

Page Speed

How quickly a webpage loads and becomes interactive, affecting both user experience and search engine rankings.

SEO

Paid Media

Marketing channels where brands pay for visibility, including social ads, search ads, display advertising, and sponsored content.

advertising

Pay-Per-Click (PPC)

An online advertising model where advertisers pay each time a user clicks on their ad.

PPC & Paid Advertising

Performance Max

Google Ads AI-driven campaign type that optimizes across all Google properties using machine learning.

PPC & Paid Advertising

Pillar Content

Comprehensive, authoritative content that covers a broad topic and links to related subtopics.

Content Marketing

Pillar Page

A comprehensive, authoritative page covering a broad topic that links to and from related cluster content.

Content Marketing

Predictive Lead Scoring

Using machine learning to predict which leads are most likely to convert.

Analytics & Data

Preference Center

A self-service page where subscribers manage their email preferences including frequency and content types.

Email Marketing

Privacy-First Marketing

Marketing strategies built around data minimization and user consent as core principles.

Analytics & Data

Product-Led Growth

A go-to-market strategy where the product itself drives customer acquisition, conversion, and expansion through user experience rather than traditional sales.

Content Marketing

Product-Led Growth (PLG)

A go-to-market strategy where the product itself drives customer acquisition, conversion, and expansion.

Analytics & Data

Programmatic Advertising

Automated buying and selling of digital advertising using AI and real-time bidding technology.

PPC & Paid Advertising

Programmatic SEO

A strategy of creating large numbers of search-optimized pages programmatically using templates and structured data.

SEO

Q

R

S

SERP (Search Engine Results Page)

The page displayed by search engines in response to a query, containing organic results, ads, and featured snippets.

SEO

SERP Features

Special result formats in search listings beyond standard blue links, including featured snippets, knowledge panels, and local packs.

SEO

Salesforce Marketing Cloud

Salesforce enterprise digital marketing platform for email, mobile, social, and advertising.

marketing-automation

Schema Markup

Structured data code added to webpages that helps search engines understand content and display rich results.

SEO

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

The practice of optimizing websites and content to rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs).

SEO

Search Intent

The underlying goal or purpose behind a user's search query, determining what type of content will satisfy their needs.

SEO

Search Intent Optimization

Aligning website content with the specific purpose behind user searches, whether informational, navigational, commercial, or transactional.

SEO

Search Query Analysis

Examining actual search terms users type to find content, revealing opportunities for optimization and content creation.

SEO

Sentiment Analysis

Using AI to determine whether text expresses positive, negative, or neutral opinions.

Analytics & Data

Server-Side Tracking

Analytics implementation where data collection occurs on web servers rather than in users' browsers.

Analytics & Data

Session Duration

The total amount of time a user spends on a website during a single visit or session.

Analytics & Data

Shopping Campaign Optimization

Strategic management of Google Shopping ads through product feed optimization, bid management, and negative keyword implementation.

PPC & Paid Advertising

Signal Loss

Degradation of marketing measurement accuracy due to privacy changes and tracking limitations.

Analytics & Data

Signal-Based Marketing

A targeting approach that uses real-time behavioral signals and intent data to trigger personalized marketing actions.

Analytics & Data

Signal-Based Selling

Using behavioral data signals to identify and prioritize prospects showing buying intent before they directly engage.

Analytics & Data

Smart Bidding

AI-powered automated bidding strategies that use machine learning to optimize ad auction bids for specific performance goals.

PPC & Paid Advertising

Social Commerce

Buying and selling products directly through social media platforms.

Social Media

Social Listening

Monitoring social media channels for mentions of your brand, competitors, products, and industry topics.

Social Media

Social Media Automation

Using tools and workflows to automatically publish, respond, and engage on social platforms without manual intervention.

Social Media

Social Media Calendar

A planning document scheduling social media content across platforms with dates, times, and content details.

Social Media

Social Media Crisis Management

Planned response strategies for addressing negative events, PR issues, or viral controversies across social media platforms.

Social Media

Social Media Marketing

Using social media platforms to connect with audiences, build brand awareness, drive website traffic, and increase sales.

Social Media

Social Media Reach

The total number of unique users who see social media content, indicating the breadth of audience exposure across platforms.

Social Media

Social Proof

The psychological phenomenon where people copy the actions of others to make decisions.

Social Media

Social Proof Marketing

Using customer testimonials, reviews, and endorsements to build trust and influence purchasing decisions through peer validation.

Social Media

Sonic Branding

The strategic use of sound and music to reinforce brand identity and create emotional connections.

Branding

Sunset Policy

The systematic process of removing unengaged subscribers from your email list to maintain list health.

Email Marketing

Supply-Side Platform (SSP)

Technology used by publishers to manage, sell, and optimize their available advertising inventory across multiple ad exchanges and demand sources.

advertising

T

U

V

W

Z

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