matt higgins

The business world has always been plagued with jargon. Marketing seems especially inundated with the buzzword of the week as old concepts get rebranded or terms get invented for the sake of naming everything.

Some terms and acronyms make sense and are helpful, but unfortunately many of these buzzwords, which have gotten out of hand in the age of social media, are hype that exist simply because someone is trying to sell you something. They aren’t making marketing better or easier. They often aren’t new. They simply are more marketing.

ABM (Account-Based Marketing): a strategy focused on targeting specific high-value accounts rather than broad audiences. The tactics employed will be heavily personalized and often coordinated across multiple channels. This is extremely useful for certain business models, especially businesses that rely on a few large clients as opposed to a large volume of smaller clients.

AEO (Answer Engine Optimization): older term for optimization for AI-powered answer engines such as Apple’s Siri or Amazon’s Alexa. Basically, the AI version of SEO.

AIO (Artificial Intelligence Optimization): broad umbrella term for optimizing for AI searches.

ARPU (Average Revenue Per User): more of a business term than marketing specific, ARPU is a metric calculated by dividing total revenue by total users.

ASC (Advantage+ Shopping Campaign): an AI-driven service from Meta for optimized audience targeting on Facebook and Instagram.

AOV (Average Order Value): the average revenue generated per order. Depending on the business, this can be a good KPI if used in conjunction with a campaign and promotion specifically targeting AOV. This can be done by offering bundles or product suggestions at checkout.

ATL / BTL / TTL (Above / Below / Through the Line): ATL is mass awareness advertising (TV, radio, etc.) that is not targeted, BTL is direct or targeted efforts (email, activations, direct mail), and TTL combines both.

B2B (Business to Business): business model and marketing of selling products or services from one business to another. See B2C and DTC.

B2C (Business to Consumer): business model and marketing of selling products or services from one business to a consumer. Usually via distribution and retail outlets. See B2B and DTC.

CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost): average cost required to acquire a new customer.

CDP (Customer Data Platform): a software system that combines customer data from multiple sources to create a single customer profile. Originally a function of CRM software, CDP is sometimes a standalone service or function.

CEP (Category Entry Point): coined by Professor Jenni Romaniuk and highlighted in fellow professor and collaborator Byron Sharp’s book How Brands Grow, these are stimuli that make someone think of a brand. For example, feeling dehydrated after playing basketball might make someone specifically think of Gatorade. The category is sports drinks, but the consumer thinks of Gatorade.

CMO (Chief Marketing Officer): the C-level head of all marketing.

CMS (Content Management System): a software used to manage website content. WordPress and Wix are examples of CMS platforms. CMS is the user interface to a database system.

CPA (Cost Per Acquisition): the amount paid for when an action is taken on a digital ad or post. Also known as Cost Per Action or CPE (Cost Per Engagement). See CPC, CPM, and vCPM.

CPC (Cost Per Click): the amount paid for each click in a digital advertising campaign. See CPA, CPM, and vCPM.

CPD (Cost Per Day): amount paid for an advertisement or promotion to run for one full day.

CPG (Consumer Packaged Goods): these are consumable products that are intended to be purchased, used, and replenished. Examples include cosmetics and cleaning supplies. A vacuum cleaner, toy, or car, while all very different, are durable goods. CPG are sometimes further categorized into FMCG, which are Fast-Moving Consumer Goods. Beverages, snacks, and packaged food are all fast-moving items.

CPL (Cost Per Lead): the amount paid for each delivered lead.

CPM (Cost Per Mille): advertising cost per 1,000 impressions with “Mille” being Latin for thousand. See CPA, CPC, and vCPM. While there is a lot of variety for billing, CPM is the standard and still the most widely used.

CPCV (Cost Per Completed View): video-specific fee rate where advertiser pays for each time a video is watched completely.

CPS (Cost Per Sale): a percentage of revenue paid per actual sale. This is the model affiliate marketing uses.

CPV (Cost Per View): typical video-specific fee rate where advertiser pays per view if view reaches a certain time threshold.

CRM (Customer Relationship Management): typically used to describe a type of software focused on managing customer interactions and sales relationships. Can also be used to describe a customer-relationship-focused business approach.

CTA (Call to Action): visible and specific prompt on a digital advertisement or post directing the user toward a desired action. “Buy now,” “Learn more,” and “Book a demo” are all CTAs. If you A/B test anything, A/B test CTAs.

CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization): the practice and focus of improving websites for increased conversions.

CTR (Click-Through Rate): percentage of people who clicked on advertisement or link after seeing an ad, email, or link.

CTV (Connected TV): a TV connected to a streaming service. CTV is the same as OTT but specifically on a TV and is not cable TV or satellite TV.

CX (Customer Experience): the overall experience a customer has interacting with a brand across all touchpoints.

DBA (Distinctive Brand Assets): items such as logos, color combinations, jingle or sound, and slogans that are unique to a brand.

DMP (Data Management Platform): system using third-party data for ad targeting.

DOOH (Digital Out of Home advertising): video screens, digital billboards. Really a somewhat unnecessary term. If OOH advertising is digital, it’s pretty obvious.

DTC (Direct to Consumer): business model and marketing of selling products or services from the brand directly to the consumer. See B2B and B2C). While DTC has been around for as long as goods have been sold, the digital age and specifically e-commerce has made DTC accessible to any brand.

EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness): to determine content and therefore website quality these are the qualities Google states it builds its algorithm to identify. No magic, no secret, no tricks. Want to rank organically? Make sure your content EEATs. If content is king, which it is, quality content is the emperor.

ESP (Email Service Provider): software platform used to manage and send large email campaigns.

FMCG (Fast-Moving Consumer Goods): these are items such as beverages, snacks, and packaged food are fast-moving items and turnover quickly in stores. These are a subcategory of CPG.

FMOT (First Moment of Truth): first time a consumer sees or becomes aware of a product.

FOMO (Fear of Missing Out): psychological phenomenon describing anxiety regarding missing out on an experience or product.

GEO (Generative Engine Optimization): optimization for AI-generated search and answer engines. Basically, the AI version of SEO. A key part of GEO is cross-platform presence. In the same way it is for SEO, content is king for GEO. The more quality content the better, but if you can think of likely questions that might be asked of AI, use them to write your own FAQ page. And if you’re not already, get on YouTube and Reddit.

GTM (Go To Market): the full process and plan used for launching a new product. This includes positioning, messaging, target audience, and more.

IC (Individual Contributor): typically a non-managerial, skilled role that works on specific tasks or category of business solo. This phrase is really only used in job listings.

ICP (Ideal Customer Profile): this is a somewhat newer spin on audience targeting. At the widest is target market, which is fairly general, and at the narrowest is persona marketing, which can get extremely specific. In the middle is ICP, which focuses on identifying customer types or groups with the highest value. Don’t worry about the latest buzzword and just focus on persona-based marketing. You should know your audience.

KPI (Key Performance Indicator): standard business term for a measurable outcome that has been determined to be of importance. Take KPIs deeper and use S.M.A.R.T. goals, which are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time bound. S.M.A.R.T. goals are KPIs that have been vetted and not picked at random.

LLMO (Large Language Model Optimization): AI optimization specifically focused on large language AI models such as Claude and ChatGPT.

LTV (Lifetime Value): this is the value of a customer over the entire time they are a customer. Sometimes CLV (Customer Lifetime Value) is used.

MER (Marketing Efficiency Ratio): metric highlighting how effectively a marketing spend on advertising across all channels turns creates revenue. MER = (Gross Revenue / Total Marketing Spend). MER is best used to track performance from quarter to quarter. If too short of a window of time is used, even a month, the revenue realized isn’t calculated with the marketing spend made to generate that revenue.

MMM (Marketing Mix Modeling): this is an analysis of all marketing efforts using a common metric or metrics to compare them.

MOPs (Marketing Operations): the management of the systems, processes, data, and technology infrastructure of a marketing team. Doesn’t really need a term.

MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead): a potential customer, provided by a marketing effort, that meets a specified criteria making the customer a likely sale.

NPS (Net Promoter Score): created by business consultant and author Fred Reichheld in 2003, NPS measures, via survey, customer loyalty, satisfaction, and likelihood to recommend.

OOH (Out of Home advertising): billboards, signage. Advertising you encounter outside of the home.

OTT (Over the Top): streaming TV programming on any internet connected device such as phone, tablet, or TV.

PLG (Product Led Growth): strategy where the product sells itself through tactics such as free trial offers.

PMM (Product Marketing Manager): marketing manager that specifically works with products.

PPC (Pay Per Click): a campaign that is using CPC for a billing model. The advertising pays a set amount for each click.

ROAS (Return on Ad Spend): revenue generated from advertising spend. Different from ROI (see below), ROAS considers related revenue, not calculated profit. ROAS = (Revenue / Cost of ad campaign). Most team members outside of marketing will want ROI calculated.

ROI (Return on Investment): standard business term defining what you receive for the investment made. ROI = (Net Profit / Cost of Investment) × 100. The biggest problem with ROI is true net profit is hardly ever calculated. Whether you use basic, standard, or fully loaded net, it’s key that you’re consistent.

SaaS (Software as a Service): business software created and offered as a service via the cloud.

SAM (Serviceable Addressable Market): the realistic amount of revenue a product can achieve based on its market share. See SOM and TAM. SAM, SOM, and TAM are buzzwords for the obvious. Revenue forecasts should be realistic and based reliable data and history.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization): the practice and focus of improving websites for increased organic search results. SEO is never done. It’s a constant practice.

SEM (Search Engine Marketing): paying for promoted search ranking.

SERP (Search Engine Results Page): the page of search results returned by a search engine.

SMB (Small & Medium Business): this term is used to designate a category of client targeted by a B2B. These include local, private businesses from the truly small mom and pops to those who have expanded to multiple locations. A small business typically has fewer than 100 employees and under 50 million in revenue. Medium or mid-sized typically have fewer than 1,000 employees and an annual revenue of under $1 billion) and enterprise businesses (rebrand of the big business term). With or without defining terms, nobody confuses a local one-location coffee with the Starbucks corporation. What’s important from a marketing perspective is knowing your audience. With big businesses you often have the more complicated situation where you’re not directly marketing to the key decision maker(s). Simpler put, your first point of contact is likely a gatekeeper, not the decision maker. Big businesses will also involve a more in-depth and slower process.

SMM (Social Media Marketing): digital marketing specific to social media platforms.

SMP (Single-Minded Proposition): a purposely narrow and highly focused value proposition statement. Really just a rebrand of value proposition.

SMP (Strategic Marketing Plan): a marketing plan. This is a bit of a buzzword. All marketing plans have strategy and tactics. That said, sometimes a SMP is a standalone, high-level plan. It covers the why and the what but doesn’t cover the how (tactics).

SMS (Short Message Service): text message marketing digital service limited to 160 characters per message.

SOE (Share of Experience): market share metric that measures the share of actual experiences a brand has. This metric is valuable, but keep in mind it exists because a company needed a product to sell.

SOM (Serviceable Obtainable Market): also known as Share of Market. This is the amount of the SAM that a product can reach in a specific timeframe such as a launch month, quarter, or year. See SAM and TAM.

SOV (Share of Voice): the percentage of attention or visibility a brand owns compared to competitors. Market share is percentage of sales. In addition to surveys and third-party research, one useful way to measure this is by social reach.

SQL (Sales Qualified Lead): a potential customer, deemed qualified by the sales team, that meets a criteria making the customer a likely sale.

SXO (Search Experience Optimization): the combination of SEO with UX. This is basically the idea of making user the user experience is being forgotten in the focus of SEO.

TAM (Total Addressable Market): theoretical total amount of revenue if a product had 100% of market share in its segment. Think of it as the maximum possible revenue. See SAM and SOM.

TOFU / MOFU / BOFU (Top / Middle / Bottom of Funnel): conversion funnel-stage terminology for where a prospect is in the buying process or journey to conversion. The key point is the messaging differs for where in the funnel the potential customer is.

UI (User Interface): this is the visual experience a user has on a brand’s website. This includes the images, graphics, colors, fonts, buttons, etc.

UGC (User-Generated Content): typical social content created by users or customers rather than the brand’s content creators, influencers, or partners.

USP (Unique Selling Proposition): the defining feature or value proposition that differentiates a product or company from competitors. In general, USP, value proposition, point of difference are all the same.

UTM (Urchin Tracking Module): tracking parameters added to URLs to measure campaign traffic and attribution.

UX (User Experience): also known as UE. This is the overall experience a user has on a brand’s website. UX makes sure the website easy to navigate and provides what the user expects and needs. UX is sometimes used to describe the overall experience a customer has with a product.

vCPM (Viewable Cost Per Mille): advertising cost per 1,000 impressions if view on screen for a specific minimum time. See CPA, CPC, and CPM.

ZMOT (Zero Moment of Truth): Google coined term explaining when a consumer has gathered enough online information to make a purchase decision. See FMOT.

7/11/4 Rule: The Google 7/11/4 Rule states consumers need 7 hours of engagement, 11 touchpoints, and interactions across 4 locations or platforms to build trust and make a purchase decision. The concept, which is built off the old adage of eight touchpoints before purchase decision was finalized, is certainly sound but most products or even brands don’t have seven hours of owned, paid, or earned content. And the mix can vary. If someone encounters a product on six platforms, six touchpoints for a total of six minutes may be all that’s needed.

80/20 Rule: this is the classic Pareto Principle and is applied to a variety of scenarios such as 80% of your revenue is driven by 20% of your audience or 20% of your products efforts are responsible for 80% of your new customers. The lesson is focus on high impact actions. focus on what truly matters. The 80/20 is an especially good remind with social media where new platforms are being constantly released. It is a better to do the ones that really matter and do them well than to try to do every single platform.

90/10 Rule: this rule is a rebrand of the 80/20 rule and states, among other things, 90% of your success comes from 10% of your efforts.