That thing, when you’re reading something but have to go over it eight times in an attempt to understand what has been said. In the world of marketing, jargon can be truly terrifying.
‘Value add’ is a common favourite – apparently “value-added” was too difficult to say. ‘Reach out’ is basically “let’s organise a meeting”, ‘CTR’ is “click through rate” and ‘CRO’ is “conversion rate optimisation”.
You’re left thinking WTF and this emoji = ?
In this blog, we have listed a quick glossary of terms commonly used in marketing, and some jargon classics. To keep content as strong as possible, we go back to Idenna’s mantra – Who, What, Why? Who are we talking to, what do we want them to do, and why should they?
Jargon can overload your key messages and dilute what you’re trying to communicate.
In the words of David Ogilvy – “If you’re trying to persuade people to do something or buy something, you should use their language, the language in which they think.”
See it big and keep it simple. Time to jargon-drop…
Above the fold
This refers to the area of a web page that is visible when the page loads and is what visitors interact with the most. Your most important information and copy should be placed above the fold to make sure users see and engage with it.
Buyer personas
A profile that represents your perfect customer. By creating a buyer persona, you’re then able to tailor your marketing, connect to your target audience and provide solutions to their problems.
Content Marketing
Storytelling that captures the interest of your target audience and helps solve their problems. The goal is to build relationships by delivering relevant and consistent content to your target audience to add value to their lives, so when they’re ready to buy something, you’re the business they think of first. It can include videos, blogs and social media posts.
Conversion
An action taken by a customer that is considered valuable and is encouraged through call-to-action (CTA) messages. It’s simply getting someone to respond to your CTA – it could be opening an email, subscribing for a newsletter, visiting a landing page or the ultimate conversion, buying your product/ service.
CRM
CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management; the process of managing customer relationships. It’s a useful tool that allows a business to manage all the interactions that it makes with its customers and prospects. At Idenna, we use Scoro – which helps us to manage our client communications, our workflow, build sales pipelines, create reports, manage projects and keep track of budgets and expenses.
CTA
Call-to-action. Its sole purpose is to encourage an immediate response, for example, ‘Call to book a table!’ or ‘Click to learn more!’ to view further content. They’re usually a direct instruction using action verbs and lead the customer one step closer to conversion.
CLV
Customer Lifetime Value – this is the total value of a customer to a business over the entirety of the relationship. It’s one of the key bits of info you can track to help you make decisions about how much money to invest in acquiring new customers and retaining existing ones. Anyone like to calculate the CLV of their relationship with Amazon? Didn’t think so…
Disruptor
Disruptor brands challenge the big market leaders by using unconventional, memorable, innovative techniques to speak to audiences not reached by larger businesses. Basically, they take the road less travelled, approach things differently with a view to giving customers what they really want. A disruptor brand reinvents the customer experience by placing innovation at the heart of what they do. Cue a bucket full of creativity and lateral thinking.
DPS
This refers to a double page spread of advertising in a print publication.
Ecosystem
Makes you think of David Attenborough, right? This word is now used in marketing in place of more simple terms such as ‘network’ or even just ‘system’. An ecosystem is a place or platform where you put your message to get the best results, such as Facebook, Mailchimp or LinkedIn.
Inbound Marketing
Essentially, inbound marketing is about helping customers while simultaneously driving business growth. Instead of outbound marketing (such as buying ads and hoping for leads), this is about delivering quality and value to your audience to attract them to come to you. Over time, you naturally build relationships that result in traffic, engagement and ultimately sales. Examples include blogging, content, SEO and social media. Inbound marketing sits perfectly with our increasing demand for a more personal, authentic and customised experience from the businesses we engage with.
Outbound Marketing
You guessed it… the opposite to inbound marketing. This is a shout-it-from-the-rooftops approach to getting your message out to the world. It’s speaking to customers through general media advertising including TV advertising, email marketing, newspaper ads and direct mail.
Keyword
Used in marketing to describe a word someone uses to search within a search engine. Keywords are important and are at the heart of any copy written for a website. Keyword research allows you to find and target the best keywords for your website and therefore attract more visitors.
Gamification
This is a process used to involve ‘gameplay’ in non-game settings to enhance user engagement with a product or service. It’s about adding elements such as rewards or points to trigger a sense of achievement and competitive behaviour. When you create a fun experience for your audience, it helps you to form an emotional connection and eventually brand loyalty. People love to play!
KPI
Key Performance Indicators. Sounds complicated and it’s actually easier to use a simpler word – ‘goals’.
Lead Generation
Or “lead gen” – this is the process of identifying potential customers for your business’s product or services, attracting and converting these customers. This could be an email address in exchange for an exclusive discount.
PPC
Pay-per-click – where businesses pay search engines or publishers to host an advert which then sends traffic to their websites. You literally pay-per-click and it’s a targeted way of buying visits to your website that will hopefully end in conversions.
Remarketing
This is a form of online advertising that gives people a second chance to become your customers. It’s the process of reconnecting with previous visitors of your website, and position targeted ads as they browse other pages on the internet. Kinda like stalking…
SEO
Search Engine Optimisation – the practice of increasing the number and quality of visitors to a website by improving rankings in search engine results. It’s about getting your website to the top of search engines so that it attracts more visitors. Search engines use algorithms to review the content on a page to decide what the page is all about to be able to find content that matches what you’re searching for.
Top of the funnel
We can’t miss out on calling it ToFu, although it’s not to be confused with soy for your stir-fry. This refers to efforts that are focused on awareness in a new market or of a new product – it’s the first phase of a buyer’s journey where marketers focus on brand awareness to generate leads.
Thought leader
An individual or business whose expertise in a specific area is highly regarded and in demand by employees, clients, customers and competitors. Thought leadership can build your audience’s trust in what you do and in-turn, your company gains exposure and ultimately sales. The primary benefit is that when a buyer has a problem they are trying to solve, they will search for a thought leader’s advice and guidance.
Guerrilla Marketing
Not part of the ape family, but equally fascinating. This is a technique that uses really unconventional methods to promote a product, service or business to attract customers’ attention. It relies heavily on creativity to surprise and delight – leaving a last impression and causing a stir. From super fun billboard designs to pop-up events and viral internet videos, it’s about harnessing the power of word-of-mouth marketing.
Lookalike Audiences
Wouldn’t it be great if you could copy and paste your top spending customers so they could keep buying from you again and again? Oh wait. Lookalike audiences are those that are similar and/ or replicate specific data from your existing customer base. The likes of Facebook and Google can then identify other people who have similar characteristics so you can target these consumers to buy from you. Magic.
Leverage
Essentially this noun has been changed to a verb – “we are leveraging our assets” meaning to manipulate or control. It’s basically a posh way to say “use”.
Meme
This a visual idea – usually a funny image or video, that is shared from person to person. They’re a worldwide social phenomenon which can spready rapidly through social media, emails and forums and represent the thoughts and feelings of a specific audience. They connect people across the internet through humour, emotions, ideas and actions.
User Generated Content
Any type of content that is created by users and can be anything from videos and photos to blogs and reviews. Businesses can repurpose user generated content for their own benefit. Check out GoPro – a brand which does an incredible job of collating and utilising content created by their followers. It’s about letting your fans do the work for you.
Storytelling
At Idenna’s core. Storytelling in marketing allows a business to develop a connection with the audience – to engage with them on a much deeper level, pull at their heartstrings and evoke an emotional response. It’s about telling the story behind your brand, not ‘what’ you sell, but ‘why’. People are inherently more perceptive towards stories than they are to straight facts and information, meaning they’re more likely to listen and engage with your content if you’re effectively using storytelling. It’s the fundamental human experience that unites us all. Think of Aldi’s TV campaign – genuine people in front of the camera, comparing products with bigger brands. They’re funny, engaging and most of all – real. You instantly feel like Aldi is a brand you can trust for being down-to-earth and genuine. All hail the unbranded, cheap supermarket.
Viral
A form of word-of-mouth marketing which is about your message spreading exponentially – hence taking its name from a virus. Viral marketing campaigns can lead to content being shared quickly to huge audiences in a short amount of time, allowing for incredible brand exposure. Think about a funny meme; you’ll see it shared everywhere you look because it resonates with people at the perfect time, making them smile and in-turn, they want to engage with it to make other people smile.
Viral campaigns are organic and timely. Remember the World Record Egg on Instagram which beat Kylie Jenner’s record for likes on a single post? It took the internet by storm, became Instagram’s most popular photo ever and was actually part of a mental health campaign, eventually ‘cracking’ after feeling the pressure of social media. An incredible example of a viral campaign with a simple idea at its core combined with a powerful message which resonated across the world.
Virtual Reality
All the rage in the context of 2020’s pandemic, virtual reality uses technology to create physical environments for the viewer to interact with. It’s now being used for training, work meetings and to showcase physical spaces at a time when people are have faced months in lockdown. Virtual festivals, gigs, hotel tours, property viewings, lectures… the list goes on. In a post-COVID-19 world, there’s a real chance that virtual reality will reach all aspects of our daily lives.
So now you know a selection of key marketing terms, you’re clued up on what means what.
We’re all guilty of using words to be interesting or mix it up a bit, but sometimes, simplicity is best. In keeping messages clear and easy to understand, it helps customers to speak your language, feel connected and leads to stronger relationships.
Crystal clear communication – whether it’s on your website, social media, on air or in promotional material – requires jargon-dropping and careful use of acronyms to keep content as engaging as possible for your audience.
Professionals speaking in a way which can only be understood by others in their own industry can be indirect, unhelpful and ambiguous. It can even make you appear untrustworthy; when something is easy to understand, recall and picture, it’s more readily believed.
Look at your audience and your goals, and create your message in line with their needs and in their language. Let’s try not to baffle and bamboozle.
Time to join the AAAJ.
Sorry… that’s Association Against Acronyms and Jargon.