Marketing Terms Glossary

The below section has been designed to provide a brief description of common terms often used by marketers. We hope you find this glossary of terms useful.

A

Above the line
Definition: Promotional activities using mass media like television, radio, newspapers and billboards.
Advertorial
Definition: An advertisement that has a balance of being both a news article and editorial.
AdWords
Definition: Google's advertising product for selling digital pay per click advertising for text and banner ads.
Affiliate marketing:
Definition: Revenue sharing between online advertisers/merchants and online publishers/salespeople, whereby compensation is based on performance measures including sales, clicks and registrations.
Acquisition strategy:
Definition: A strategy a company adopts when they want to acquire new customers and will use the marketing tools to promote their organisation, products and services to a new potential market.
Auto responder:
Definition: Often used as an e-marketing tool (usually an email) to immediately provide information to a prospective client after their initial enquiry.

B

Banner ad
Definition: A graphical web advert, typically a large headline, footer or title extending across the full web page width. Typical banner measures 468 pixels wide and 60 pixels tall.
Below the line marketing:
Definition: Promotional activities using non media communication/advertising including PR, direct mail and sales promotions.
Blog:
Definition: A type of website, usually updated by an individual providing a commentary or description of events often news and video footage. Twitter is the latest generation of blogging.
Boilerplate:
Definition: Usually positioned at the bottom of press releases, they are generally a short ‘about' section, providing independent background on the issuing company, organisation, or individual.
Brand:
Definition: Process by which companies distinguish their product offerings from the competition.
Brand identity:
Definition: How you want the consumer to perceive your product or your brand and also your company, product or service.
Business to business marketing:
Definition: Marketing directed to other businesses, rather than to consumers.
Business to consumer marketing:
Definition: Marketing directed to consumers, rather than other businesses.

C

Caption:
Definition: A caption can be an advertisement or article's headline or the text accompanying an illustration or photograph.
Card rate:
Definition: Media rates published by a print, digital or web publication on a rate card.
Channel distribution:
Definition: An organised network of agencies which in combination perform all the functions required to link producers with end customers to achieve the marketing objective.
Circulation:
Definition: The circulation of a print or digital publication and the average number of copies sent. For outdoor advertising this refers to the total number of people who have an opportunity to observe a billboard or poster.
Classified advertising:
Definition: Print advertising that is limited to certain classes of goods and services, and usually limited in size and content.
Click through rate (CTR):
Definition: A way of measuring the success of an online advertising campaign. CTR is measured by dividing the number of users who clicked on the advert by the number of impressions.
Content management system (CMS):
Definition: CMS systems are designed to simplify the publication of website content to web sites, in particular allowing creators to submit content without requiring vast amounts of technical knowledge.
Copyright:
Definition: Copyright gives the right and protection to the creator of material to prevent use without express permission or acknowledgement of the creator.
Copywriting:
Definition: The use of words to promote a person, organisation, concept or product/service.
Cost per thousand (CPM):
Definition: The cost per 1000 of people reached, of buying advertising space in a given media activity including online, advertising and radio.
Creative:
Definition: A general marketing term used for the material used to generate leads and sell advertising developed, usually designed by a marketing agency.

D

Demographics:
Definition: The classification of consumers, such as their age, income, size of household, ownership of home etc.
Differentiation:
Definition: By a company distinguishing the differences of its product/service offering from competitors by making it more attractive to their target market.
Digital marketing:
Definition: Promoting products, services and brands through the internet, mobile and interactive channels to market.
Direct mail:
Definition: Marketing communications delivered directly to a prospective purchaser via post or inserted into a printed publication.
Direct marketing:
Definition: The sending of a promotional message directly to consumers, methods include Direct Mail, telemarketing and electronic.

E

Eblast:
Definition: Targeted email promotional message usually containing images and
text. Eblasts are usually delivered in HTML and text format.
Ecommerce:
Definition: The buying and selling of products and services via the internet.
End user:
Definition: The person who actually uses a product.
Email marketing:
Definition: A form of direct marketing using email to communicate messages to the target audience.

F

Fast Moving Consumable Goods (FMCG):
Definition: A form of marketing of products which are sold quickly and usually at a relatively low cost.
Flat rate:
Definition: A media rate that allows for no discounts.
Four P's of marketing
Definition: The basic 4 P's of marketing – Product, Price, Place (i.e., distribution), and Promotion.
Full service agency:
Definition: An agency that handles all aspects of marketing communications including planning, design, production, public relations, sales promotions, Internet and direct marketing. – Basically Bright Marketing Solutions!

G

Gantt chart:
Definition: A project schedule illustrating the start and end dates and a summary of events within the project.
Guerrilla marketing:
Definition: An unexpected and unconventional form of marketing. Guerrilla marketing requires highly creative ideas to make a strong and truly memorable impact on its audience.

H

Horizontal marketing:
Definition: When an organisation singles out its target audience that shares other characteristics. Typically organisations will horizontally market by company size, by geography or by job title.

I

Integrated marketing communications:
Definition: Designed to make all aspects of marketing communication tools consistent such as advertising, direct mail, public relations and digital marketing work together.

J

Jingle:
Definition: A short song, usually mentioning a brand or product benefit, used in a commercial, typically for radio and television.

K

Key success factors:
Definition: The factors that are a necessary for success in a given market or project.

L

List broker:
Definition: An agent who sells lists of sales prospects.
Loyalty marketing:
Definition: A strategic marketing approach where a company focuses on growing and retaining existing customers through incentives.

M

Marketing plan:
Definition: Written document which details the actions to achieve one or several objectives.
Marketing Strategy:
Definition: A process whereby a company looks to secure and retain profitable relationships with customers, increase sales and sustain a competitive advantage. The marketing strategy will be implemented by using the marketing mix.
Market Profile:
Definition: A summary of the characteristics of a market, including information of purchasers, competitors and often general information on the economy.
Microsite:
Definition: A microsite is an individual web page or cluster of pages which are meant to function as a supplement to the company's primary website.
Market research:
Definition: The gathering of data and information on a market, usually consisting of primary and secondary research.
Market segmentation:
Definition: To divide a market by a strategy directed at gaining a major portion of sales to a subgroup in a category.
Market share:
Definition: A company's sales revenue from its market, divided by the total sales revenue available in the entire market.
Marketing mix:
Definition: The marketing mix is a framework for the tactical customer relationship, including product, price, place, promotion, process, people and physical evidence.
Market penetration:
Definition: Occurs when a company enters/penetrates a market with current products.
Mission Statement:
Definition: A short statement which guides the company in terms of its goals and direction.
Mobile marketing:
Definition: Marketing on a mobile device (like a mobile phone) though short SMS messages to the target audience.
Multimedia:
Definition: Usually media and content using a combination of content forms including text, audio, images, animation and video.

N

New product development (NPD):
Definition: The complete process of bringing a new product or service to market.

O

Objectives:
Definition: The desired or needed result to be achieved by a specific time. An objective is broader than a goal, and one objective can be broken down into a number of specific goals.
Open rate:
Definition: The email open rate is a measure used as an indication of how many people “view” or “open” the email/digital marketing activity.

P

Pay per click (PPC)
Definition: An internet advertising model which is used on search engines, advertising networks and content sites which advertisers pay their host only when their ad has been clicked on.
PEST analysis:
Definition: Standing for Political, Economic, Social and Technological analysis and is used to conduct the macro environment of the organisation's market to help gain a better understanding of the market, positioning and forming of strategies.
Podcast
Definition: A podcast is a series of digital media files, usually either digital audio or video that is made available for download via the website.
Positioning:
Definition: An organisation will create an identity in the minds of their target market for its product, brand or organisation which is relative to the position of its competitors.
Product life cycle:
Definition: A process in which products or brands follow a sequence of stages which include, introduction, growth, maturity, and sales decline.
Promotional mix:
Definition: Where a company uses several different types of communication to support marketing objectives including advertising, website, PR and Sales promotions.
Public relations (PR):
Definition: A process an organisation adopts to protect/increase the reputation of the organisation by providing a flow of information from the company to its target audience press.
Push strategy:
Definition: When an organisation has a new product or development or which is unknown to the consumer or market. The product and information is then pushed to the consumer and marketing through promotion and distribution.
Pull Strategy:
Definition: Where the user requests the product/service through the delivery channel (for example a company that only produces products when ordered by its customers)

Q

Questionnaire:
Definition: A document that is used to guide what questions are to be asked respondents and in what order, usually containing qualitative and quantitative questions.

R

Reach:
Definition: The estimated number of individuals in the audience of a promotion that it has reached at least once during a specific period of time.
Retention strategy:
Definition: Similar to loyalty marketing, it's a process an organisation adopts to retain its existing customers through promotions, incentives and value added initiatives.
Resolution:
Definition: Technical term relating to the detail an image holds. Usually relating to digital images, the higher the resolution means the higher the image detail.
Rich media:
Definition: An interactive form of media which engages the user and allows for active participation from the user. Examples of rich media include flash animation.

S

Search engine optimization (SEO):
Definition: The process of improving the volume or quality of traffic to a website from search engines via search results.
Social networking:
Definition: The use of technology combined with social interaction to create or co-create value. Examples of social media include Facebook and Linkedin.
Spam:
Definition: Also known as junk e-mail that involves nearly identical messages sent to numerous recipients by email. A common term for spam is unsolicited bulk e-mail (UBE).
Strapline:
Definition: The term strategy is used to emphasise a phrase a company wishes its audience to remember it by, usually in connection with corporate image, products and services.
SWOT analysis:
Definition: A Strategic planning model adopted by organisations to their evaluate strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The SWOT forms the basis for identifying objectives and setting strategies for an organisation.

T

Target audience:
Definition: The target audience or demographic group for which a marketing message is designed.
Through the line:
Definition: Refers to a promotional strategy involving both above and below the line marketing communications, in which one form of promotion points the target to another form of promotion, therefore crossing through the line.
Target market:
Definition: A group of individuals/companies who are the intended recipients of an advertiser's message.

U

Unique selling point/proposition:
Definition: Unique product benefit that the competition cannot claim.
Unique open rate:
Definition: Unique open rate is calculated as the number of recipients which are tracked as having viewed the message, divided by the total number of messages sent. Each recipient is only counted once (even if they have opened the same message more than once), hence counting as a unique open.

V

Value added marketing:
Definition: The enhancement added to a product or service by an organisation which it offered to its customers and used to differentiate itself from its competitors.
Vertical marketing:
Definition: A term used to define a company's approach towards targeting by focusing on specific industries.
Viral marketing:
Definition: Promoting information or products that other customers feel compelled to pass onto friends, colleagues and family.
Vision:
Definition: Used as a source of inspiration for the organisation as it outlines where the organisation wants to be in the future.
Visuals:
Definition: Often another term for images or creatively design ideas, usually referred to in the creation of promotional collateral.

W

Website:
Definition: A collection of web pages, images and multimedia components which are addressed with a common domain name.
Webseminar:
Definition: A presentation, lecture, workshop or seminar that is transmitted over the website, streamed either live or recorded.
Win back strategy:
Definition: A strategy a company adopts to win back its old customers. An organisation will usually achieve this through adopting the marketing mix to promote its value added products and services and incentivising customers.
Word of mouth:
Definition: Advertising that occurs when people share information about products or promotions with friends/other companies.