Marketing Glossary
Your comprehensive guide to marketing metrics, creative terminology, and platform-specific concepts. Master the language of modern marketing.
Marketing Metrics & KPIs
Essential metrics and key performance indicators for measuring marketing success across channels and campaigns.
Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)
A performance metric measuring revenue generated relative to advertising spend.
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
The percentage of ad impressions that result in a click.
Cost Per Action (CPA)
The average cost to drive a specific user action or micro-conversion.
Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)
The average cost to acquire a customer or generate a full conversion.
Conversion Rate
The percentage of users who complete a desired conversion action.
Ad Frequency
The average number of times a unique user is exposed to an ad.
Cost Per Mille (CPM)
The cost to deliver 1,000 ad impressions to target audience.
Cost Per Click (CPC)
The average cost paid for each click on an advertisement.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC)
An advertising model where advertisers pay only when users click their ads.
Engagement Rate
The percentage of users who interact with content through measurable actions relative to total reach or impressions.
Add-to-Cart Rate
The percentage of product page views or interactions that result in an add-to-cart event, typically on e-commerce sites.
Initiate Checkout Rate
The percentage of shopping sessions that begin the checkout process, with definitions that can vary by context.
Video Completion Rate (VCR)
The percentage of video ad impressions where users watch to completion (100%).
Cost Per View (CPV)
The average cost paid for each qualified video view based on platform-specific view criteria.
View Through Rate (VTR)
Percentage of users who convert within the attribution window after viewing but not clicking an ad.
Cost Per Completed View (CPCV)
Average cost paid for each full video view completion (100% viewed).
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
The predicted total revenue a business expects from a customer throughout their relationship.
Creative Terminology
Key concepts and terminology related to creative assets, design principles, and content strategy.
Creative Testing
The systematic process of evaluating ad creative variations to identify optimal performance through controlled experiments.
Creative Fatigue
The measurable decline in ad performance metrics as audiences become overexposed to creative assets.
Creative Optimization
Data-driven process of improving ad creative performance through systematic testing, analysis, and iteration.
User-Generated Content (UGC)
Authentic content created voluntarily by customers and brand advocates without direct compensation.
Creator-Generated Content (CGC)
Content produced through formal partnerships between brands and professional creators/influencers.
Organic Content
Content that gains visibility through natural audience engagement rather than paid promotion.
Testimonial
Authentic customer statements sharing specific experiences and results with a product or service.
Unboxing
Content format documenting the authentic first experience of opening and discovering a new product.
Social Proof
Psychological principle where people validate decisions through the demonstrated experiences and behaviors of others.
Credibility Appeal (Ethos)
Strategic persuasion technique establishing trust through verified expertise, authority, and demonstrated reliability.
Dynamic Creative
Advanced ad technology automatically combining and optimizing creative elements for personalized experiences.
Social Proof Ads
Ad creative that strategically incorporates authentic customer validation through testimonials, reviews, or social metrics.
Animation
The technique of creating motion and visual change through sequential frames or programmatic transitions.
Motion Graphics
The art of animating graphic design elements to create dynamic visual communication.
Render
Computer-generated imagery created through digital rendering processes.
Thumb-Stopping Creative
Ad creative strategically designed to halt users' scrolling behavior through powerful visual impact.
Creative Hooks
Strategic attention-grabbing elements that create immediate interest and drive deeper engagement.
Visual Hierarchy
The arrangement of visual elements to guide viewer attention in ad creative.
Charts & Visualizations
Common chart types and data visualization techniques for marketing analytics and reporting.
Area Chart
A chart that displays quantitative data using the area between the line and axis.
Stacked Area Chart
A variation of the area chart where multiple series are stacked on top of each other.
Line Chart
A visualization that displays data points connected by straight lines to show trends and patterns over a continuous interval.
Sparkline
A small, word-sized data visualization that shows trends without axes or coordinates.
Vertical Bar Chart
A chart that uses vertical bars to represent data values.
Grouped Bar Chart
A chart that displays multiple bars for each category to compare different metrics or groups.
Horizontal Bar Chart
A chart that uses horizontal bars to represent data values.
Stacked Bar Chart
A bar chart variation where bars are divided into segments that represent different components of a total.
Scatter Plot
A chart that displays the relationship between two numeric variables.
Pie Chart
A circular chart divided into sectors representing proportions of a whole.
Donut Chart
A ring-shaped chart that displays proportional data with enhanced readability and nesting capabilities.
Word Cloud
A visual representation of text data where size represents frequency.
Stream Graph
A variation of stacked area chart with smooth, flowing curves and a centered baseline.
Histogram
A chart that displays the distribution of continuous data using adjacent bars.
Bubble Chart
A multi-variable chart that plots points with size representing a third variable.
Heat Map
A two-dimensional visualization using color intensity to represent values.
Box Plot
A standardized way of displaying data distribution based on quartiles.
Density Plot
A smoothed representation of the distribution of a numeric variable.
Platform-Specific Terms
Terminology specific to major advertising platforms and marketing tools.
Meta Advantage+ (formerly AAA)
Meta's automated ad solution that uses machine learning to optimize creative and targeting.
Meta Ads Manager
Centralized campaign management platform for advertising across Meta's family of apps.
Meta Catalog
A container for product inventory that integrates with Meta ad solutions.
Pinterest Rich Pins
Enhanced pins that automatically sync information from websites.
Pinterest Shopping
Pinterest's integrated e-commerce features and solutions.
Pinterest Visual Search
Pinterest's AI-powered image recognition technology for product discovery.
TikTok Ads
TikTok's comprehensive advertising platform offering multiple ad formats and targeting capabilities.
YouTube Shorts
YouTube's vertical short-form video format and dedicated content ecosystem.
Snapchat Discover
Snapchat's content platform featuring publisher and creator content.
TikTok Spark Ads
TikTok's native ad format that turns organic posts into ads.
Snapchat Story Ads
Full-screen, immersive ad format within Snapchat Discover.
Pinterest Promoted Pins
Pinterest's native ad format that looks like regular pins.
LinkedIn Sponsored Content
Native ads that appear in LinkedIn members' feeds.
YouTube TrueView Ads
YouTube's skippable video ad format that charges advertisers only for engaged views.
Google Performance Max
Google's AI-driven campaign type that runs across all Google inventory.
TikTok Custom Audiences
TikTok's audience targeting feature for retargeting and lookalike creation.
Meta Reels Ads
Vertical video ads that appear between and during Meta Reels content.
General Marketing Terms
Foundational marketing concepts and industry terminology.
Marketing Attribution
The process of identifying and assigning credit to marketing touchpoints that lead to conversions within defined time windows.
Attribution Window
The time period during which marketing touchpoints are credited for conversions.
E-commerce
Digital buying and selling of goods and services through online platforms and marketplaces.
Conversion Tracking
The systematic measurement and analysis of user actions that indicate business value.
Earned Media
Brand exposure gained through organic sharing and word-of-mouth.
Paid Media
Marketing channels and placements that require direct payment for exposure.
Owned Media
Marketing channels and assets directly controlled by a brand.
Word of Mouth
Organic sharing of brand experiences between consumers.
Viral Marketing
Marketing strategy designed to encourage rapid content sharing across networks.
User Experience (UX)
The overall experience of a person using a product, system, or service.
Social Commerce
Integration of e-commerce functionality within social media platforms.
Product Feed
Structured data file containing product information for e-commerce advertising.
Product Catalog
Platform-specific database of product information used for advertising and commerce.
Influencer Marketing
Individual with the ability to affect purchase decisions of others through social media.
Branding
The process of creating and maintaining a distinct brand identity.
Brand Marketing
Marketing activities focused on building and strengthening brand awareness and perception.
Landing Page Optimization (LPO)
Strategic refinement of post-click landing pages to maximize conversion rates and ROI.
Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
Systematic process of improving ad creative and user experience to increase conversion rates.