Marketing Jargon Buster

Out-of-date jargon derived from traditional accounting practice that treated advertising through television, radio or published media as 'above-the-line' expenditure. Other advertising, such as direct marketing, was accounted for 'below-the-line'.

The act of giving the customer more than they think they are getting included in the purchase price.

An advertisement that is designed to look like an editorial article. It has to be identified as an advertisement in a publication but is not necessarily on a website.

Third-party website ad serving model under which affiliates get compensated on a per sale/click/registration model.

How long the average visitor stays on your website. You may want users to have a long time on site or short time on site depending on your goals.

Advertising or other promotional activity (e.g. Public Relations) whose primary purpose is to increase general knowledge of the company and to make people feel more positive towards it.

Backlinks are one way links from one website to another and are often also called incoming links or inbound links. The quality of the link is determined by the quality and traffic of the website sending the visitors. Therefore a link from a relevant website with a high traffic will always be of more value than any others.

This form of online advertising entails embedding an advertisement into a web page. It is intended to attract traffic to a website by linking to the website of the advertiser via a creative.

Opposite to above-the-line. Advertising media that used to be considered more as promotional channels, including direct mail, telemarketing, electronic media, displays, leaflets and brochures and sales promotion and other media.

World's third largest search engine owned by Microsoft. This search engine was formally called 'Live' and 'MSN'

The SEO practice of using techniques such as keyword stuffing, cloaking or hidden text as a method to improve website rankings. These methods are considered 'unethical' and contravene search engine guidelines, therefore website owners that practice black hat SEO methods beware, as you run the risk of being penalised (or in extreme cases banned) by the search engines.

A web log often used as business or personal diary.

How many visitors bounced off your website. A bounce is a visitor who enters your website from any entry page, then exits the website without visiting pages deeper within the site or clicking on any links. For example: a visitor who enters your website from a search engine, spends 35 seconds on that page, then exits without clicking on any links is considered a bounce.

Brands have become increasingly important components of culture and the economy, and are often described as cultural accessories and personal philosophies.

Brand equity is a set of perceptions, knowledge and behaviours on the part of customers that creates demand and/or a price premium for a branded product—in other words, what the brand is worth to a customer. Brand equity may also be defined as a set of elements such as brand associations, market fundamentals and marketing assets that help distinguish one brand from another.

A document which gives instructions for the use of a brand within communications and marketing collateral. The Guidelines give precise direction for the tone of voice, fonts, colour palette etc and also include the Brand Values, USPs and competitor information. Put simply, they are the ‘bible’ which all staff members within a company (or its agents) should refer to in order to consistently promote a brand.

Brand value is the net present value of future cash flows from this branded product minus the net present value of future cash flows from a similar unbranded product—or in simpler terms, what the brand is worth to management and shareholders. Whilst measuring the brand value of a product or corporation has its usefulness, the act of measurement by itself will not make a brand more valuable or less risky.

Written instructions given to the supplier or suppliers before commencement of a project. This document details the project objectives, reporting procedures, timescales etc.

Lists of business contact details used for marketing purposes, e.g. telemarketing. These lists are available in either electronic format or on labels

Marketing activity directed from one business to another (as opposed to a consumer).

A term given to advertising, promotions or sales. It describes a co-ordinated series of efforts built around a theme and designed to reach an identified goal, usually identified by a time period.

The process of clicking through an online advertisement to the advertiser's destination

Cloaking refers to the practice of websites presenting different content (or URLs) to users and the search engines such as the Google Bot. Serving up different results based on user agent may cause your site to be perceived as deceptive and removed from the Google index.

Content Management System - a CMS is a web based interface that allows a website owner to update and/or create new content without the need for web programming skills

A list (database) of people who have no prior relationship with the advertiser. Cold lists are used as a method of generating sales leads

Lists of names (address and telephone number) of private individuals. These lists are available in either electronic format or on labels.

A Content Management System is a web based interface that allows a website owner to update and/or create new content without the need for web programming skills

Contextual marketing is marketing that occurs when a person is more likely to be interested in a product or service.

Percentage of website users that Take a Desired Action

Customer Relationship Management.

Using a customer's buying history to select them for related offers, e.g. a car alarm for new car buyers.

Customers are grouped according to their needs and value and different offerings delivered to each.

The process of keying-in or scanning data into an electronic format.

Detecting and removing and/or correcting a database’s dirty data (i.e., data that is incorrect, out-of-date, redundant, incomplete, or formatted incorrectly).

Ensuring that data is clean, up-to-date and complies with the Data Protection Act.

This can range from a simple list of names and addresses (on paper or in electronic format) to detailed profile data.

System of removing names and addresses which appear in a list more than once.

Mail sent through the letterbox either to advertise or to sell goods or services

Advertising or selling through any medium inviting the consumer to respond to the advertiser

Advertiser pays an online company for space to display a static or hyperlinked banner or logo on one or more of the online company's pages.

Print which continues over two facing pages, as if they were one page

Direct Response Television, or DRTV for short, includes any TV advertising that asks consumers to respond directly to the company, usually either by calling an 800 number or by visiting a web site. This is a form of direct response marketing.

Drupal is the powerful and extendable open source CMS (content management system) which Cariad Marketing have selected as our software for developing high performance websites.

The use of the internet and related digital information and communications technologies to achieve marketing objectives. Broadly equivalent to digital marketing.

Customer relationship management using or incorporating digital marketing and communications techniques.

The contents of a publication, apart from advertising space.

Electronic magazine

Multimedia interactive technology developed by Macromedia.

A technique in which a group of participants are brought together to provide feedback on ideas, products and services.

The place where the processing of an order takes place. This usually includes the acknowledgement of the order, dispatching of goods and the collecting of payment.

The term used to describe that a person mailed has moved address.

World's largest search engine. In the UK roughly 80% of all search is conducted via Google

Large text carrying the main selling message

To carry out business processes within a company rather than employing an outside supplier.

'Extras' designed to increase response rates to a marketing message, e.g. a prize draw.

One way links from one website to another and are often also called backlinks or inbound links. The quality of the link is determined by the quality and traffic of the website sending the visitors. Therefore a link from a relevant website with a high traffic will always be of more value than any others.

An interview is any form of contact intended to obtain information from a respondent or group of respondents

Person involved in the collection of data for market, opinion and social research purposes

The process of re-contacting 'former' customers and following up on 'lost orders/old quotations' with the objective of generating new leads.

The process of finding people (consumer or business) with a qualified interest in a certain product or service.

The process of developing the number of one way links into your website.

This can range from a simple list of names and addresses (on paper or in electronic format) to detailed profile data.

A specialist who acts as an intermediary between the list owner and the list buyer.

The process of gathering names and addresses and compiling them into a database for direct marketing purposes (e.g. telemarketing).

The process of telephoning an individual/business to verify the contacts name, job title and address prior to a mailing.

The process of renting a list of names from a broker or list owner.

Merging a mailer template with contact details in order to personalise a mailer.

Often described as 'salesmanship in print'. Direct mail (or a mailer as it is known in the marketing industry) is a personally addressed advertising piece sent through the post. A personalised advertisement sent through the post.

Research which seeks and analyses information from the market as a basis for decision making

The unique blend of products, pricing, promotion and distribution targeting a specific group of people.

The use of individuals trained to experience and measure any customer service process, by acting as potential customers and in some way reporting back their experiences in a detailed, objective way.

A business referral network established with the objective of providing a structured environment for the growth and development of the business membership through the exchange of quality referrals.

Off-Page SEO (search engine optimisaton) includes all the marketing activity you do to promote your website outside the design of the website itself. Getting more inbound links to your site, registering with directories relevant to your industry, and getting more pages into the search engine indexes are all parts of Off-Page SEO.

On-page SEO (search engine optimisation) is the process of placing your selected keywords in the right places on your web pages. On-page SEO involves optimising page titles, headings, content, and URLs to improve search engine rankings,

When users give marketers explicit permission to send them information

When users do not give marketers explicit permission to send them information.

This refers to the importance placed by the search engines on each individual web page, which determines where it will appear within organic search results

The number of web pages within your website have been viewed. This is the total amount of page views from all visitors within a given amount of time.

The number of pages the average visit generates. This is an average number

Marketing to customers who have opted-in.

Broadcasting of rich media files over the internet (i.e. video or audio).

Ad displaying in a separate browser window

A website gateway to other websites

Pay-Per-Click

Pay-Per-Lead

Pay-Per-Sale

A list of contacts who have been identified and/or qualified as being a potential customer

Research that is not subjected to quantitative analysis

Research conducted for the purpose of obtaining empirical evaluations

The total number of readers of a publication as distinct from its circulation.

Marketing that helps companies develop long-term relationships with its customers.

A respondent is any individual or company from or about whom data is collected or is approached for interview

The level of replies to a particular campaign. Usually portrayed as a percentage

The measurement of the business generated in relation to the amount of money spent on a marketing campaign.

Rich Site Summary or Really Simple Syndication. Technique used to distribute dynamic content (i.e. news headlines).

The addressing of a mailer to a particular individual, e.g. Dear Mr White

A programme that indexes documents, then attempts to match documents relevant to the user's search requests. The primary UK Search Engines are Google, Yahoo, Live (MSM) and AltaVista

Search Engine Optimisation is the marketing discipline of ensuring that your web pages rank highly with the search engines via the application of best practice web build techniques, keyword placement and copywriting. There are two types of search engine optimisation practices, a combination of which is essential for a website to perform well in 'organic' or 'natural' search results generated by search engines:- (a) On-page SEO and (b) Off-Page SEO

The use of information collected through primary research

The list owner's own details placed into a mailing list in order to identify whether a rented list is being used more than the agreed level

Search Engine Friendly - a website that complies to best practice SEO (search engine optimisation) web build standards

Search Engine Marketing. Marketing that focuses on helping companies rank higher in search engine results using a variety of techniques

SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. This is the art of ensuring that your web pages rank highly with the search engines via the application of best practice web build techniques, keyword placement and copywriting. There are two types of search engine optimisation practices, a combination of which is essential for a website to perform well in 'organic' or 'natural' search results generated by search engines:- (a) On-page SEO and (b) Off-Page SEO

Search Engine Results Page - this is the results page that appears when you input a search term into a search engine such as Google, Yahoo or Bing

Short Message Service (same as text message).

Information content created by people using highly accessible and scalable publishing technologies and often refers to the use of popular websites such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube etc. At its most basic sense, social media is a shift in how people discover, read and share news, information and content

Software used by search engines to identify web pages.

Page that leads to the home page of a website

Outbound telemarketing is the process of telephoning potential customers from a targeted list of names (database).
Inbound telemarketing is where respondents reply to a telephone number, usually as a response to a mailer or an advertisement

The process of using the telephone as a medium to sell products and/or services. Where 'telemarketing' is used to market products and/or services over the phone, 'telesales' is the process of actually 'closing' the sale over the phone. Telesales is often associated with low value sales.

Banner ads that trick people into clicking them

The defining reasons that provide a competitive advantage over the competition

Marketing that leverages customers to promote a company's products or services.

The number of visitors entering your website. Keep in mind that visits are recorded by IP address, so this figure is not unique

White Hat SEO is the term given to the execution of ethical SEO practices which embrace search engine guidelines and enhance a website's ranking and traffic.

A form of viral marketing

World's second largest search engine.