A/B testing (split testing) – Testing two versions of the same ad or directing a single ad to two different audiences to see which performs better.
AdWords – Google’s paid search service that allows you to buy a place at the top of Google’s search results.
Algorithm – A formula that search engines and social sites use to determine your ranking in their listings.
ALT tags – HTML tags used to describe website graphics that help search engines categorize the graphic.
Audience – Social media fans and followers who can see what you post.
Average response time – The average time it takes for a company or an individual to reply to someone’s request, comment, or question.
Business to business (B2B) – Business that is conducted between businesses as opposed to between businesses and consumers.
Benchmark – A standard or point of reference against which performance data can be assessed.
Boost – Turning a Facebook post into an ad that’s seen on the right-hand side of people’s newsfeed and as a sponsored story in their newsfeed.
Bounce rate – The percentage of people who go to a website’s homepage but leave without visiting another page.
Branding – The act of establishing a significant or differentiated presence in the market.
Click-through rate (CTR) – Shows how many times people click on an ad or post out of how many times it is shown (number of clicks divided by number of impressions).
Content marketing – Online marketing that provides useful content to potential and current customers in order to generate brand awareness, engagement, and conversions.
Contextual advertising – When search engines place your ads next to related news articles and websites.
Conversion rate – The percentage of people who are converting, or responding to your call to action (CTA), such as signing up for a newsletter, filling out a survey, downloading content, and making a purchase.
Cost per acquisition (CPA) – The amount you pay for online advertising per a specified thing, such as number of leads, registrations, and sales.
Cost per click (CPC) – The predetermined amount you pay a search engine each time someone clicks on your ad or goes to your site.
Cost per impression (CPM) – The set amount you pay for every 1,000 impressions your ad receives.
Editorial calendar – The schedule you make for publishing content.
Engagement – When a user interact with a brand or post on a social site by liking, commenting, or sharing.
Geofilter – Snapchat graphics or stickers that you can add to your images to communicate where you are.
Geo-targeting – Targeting and reaching potential customers by their specific location.
GIF (graphics interchange format) – A short animated file or image that’s used to inform or entertain.
Handle – A username on Twitter, preceded by an “@” sign, such as @johnsmith.
Hashtag – Used on social to group posts by category or subject. The “#” sign is placed in front of the text.
Impressions – The number of times a post or ad is displayed and could potentially be seen.
Influencer – Someone who is active on social and has the knowledge, reach and authority to influence people about a certain subject. Often used to promote a brand or product.
KPIs (key performance indicators) – The metrics used to measure success on a particular platform.
Landing page – The page that a person sees after clicking an ad or a link. It can be a homepage, a page on your website, or a specially designed page for a particular purpose or audience.
Local search – When search engines allow allows users to search for businesses and websites within a specific local area.
Marketing channel – A method by which you can reach your audience in order to deliver messaging to them.
Market segmentation – Dividing a market into groups of people who have needs and qualities in common.
Mention – When you, your brand, or your business is mentioned online.
Meta tags – Text included in a website’s code that’s not visible to visitors. Describes the content of the site so search engines can find it and rank it.
Organic – Organic search results are those that have not been paid for.
Pain point – Problems that a user is facing that your product or service can help address.
Persona – A description of a business’s target customers to help design a marketing strategy that reaches them. Includes customers’ goals, needs, demographics, and behaviors.
Post – A link, photo, video, or status that is shared to a social platform.
Power user – An experienced user of your products or services.
Promoted – Posts that have been paid for to increase their reach and engagement.
Reach – Reach is defined as the total number of people who have received impressions of a post. The same person reading a post multiple times will create further impressions, but will not impact reach.
Rich media – More advanced online ads that have animation or interactivity, such as video or audio.
Rank – The position a web page has in a search engine’s results.
Sentiment – How people feel about a brand, business or post.
Snackable content – Media that is consumed in bite-sized pieces to allow for short attention spans.
Stock photos – Photos that are licensed for specific purposes and that can be used by people who purchase them.
Targeting – Creating marketing campaigns to appeal to certain specified audiences.
Traffic – How many visitors a website gets.
Tracking code (UTM code) – Code placed at the end of the URL for a web page so Google Analytics can track where visitors to that page are coming from.
Tracking pixel – A tiny image embedded in an ad that allows for tracking various metrics.
Twitter cards – A type of tweet that allows users to see rich media such as video right in the tweet rather than linking off to it.
Use case – Examples of how a user interacts with your product or reason why they’re using your service.
User-generated content – Content produced by a business or brand’s followers or customers. Usually posted on the company’s social channels in order to promote engagement.
