Marketing Terms

Marketing Terms Glossary

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We’ve assembled a few key terms to help you build your understanding of marketing concepts. We've included both traditional & internet information. This is in no way exhaustive, and we hope to add to it over time. Another good definition source is the American Marketing Association.

Advertising - A non-personal form of promotion delivered through media outlets that generally require the marketer pay for message placement.

Advocacy Advertising - A type of advertising intended to influence a target audience on some matter, such as political or social issue, that also impacts the marketing organization.

Audience Tracking - Media market research technique to monitor and learn how customers access and use media (e.g., television viewing, website activity).

Autoresponder - An Autoresponder is a computer program that acts like your answering machine for e-mail messages from your friends. You can write out your message in advance and the message will be delivered when you are contacted. A Sequential Autoresponder is a computer program that will AUTOMATICALLY send out MORE THAN ONE pre-written e-mail to an address that has contacted you. You can specify the interval between each pre-written messages and as many e-mail messages as you wish.

Banner Ad - a graphical web advertising unit, typically measuring 468 pixels wide and 60 pixels tall (i.e. 468x60).

Branding - Involves marketing decisions that have the objective of establishing an identity for a product using brand names, symbols and other distinctive measures with the goal of distinguishing the product from those offered by competitors.

Brand Licensing - Contractual arrangement whereby a marketer owning a brand name negotiates (for fee or percent of sales) with other companies to allow these companies to produce and supply products carrying the marketer's brand name.

Breakeven Analysis - A forecasting tool used by marketers that considers product price, fixed cost and variable costs in order to determine the minimum sales volume required before a company realizes a profit.

Business-to-Business (B2B) Selling - A type of account management selling where salespeople sell products to be used by a business and do so with the intention of being involved in additional transactions as the relationship between the buyer and seller grows.

Click-through - the process of clicking through an online advertisement to the advertiser's destination.

Click-through rate (CTR) - The average number of click-throughs per hundred ad impressions, expressed as a percentage.

Conversion rate - the percentage of visitors who take a desired action and actually buy.

Cost-per-action (CPA) - online advertising payment model in which payment is based solely on qualifying actions such as sales or registrations.

Cost-per-click (CPC) - the cost or cost-equivalent paid per click-through.

Co-Branding - A branding strategy where a marketer with its own brand seeks to partner with an established brand owned by another organization in hopes the synergy of the two brands is even more powerful than a single brand alone.

Cookie - information stored on a user's computer by a Web site so preferences are remembered on future requests.

Descriptive Research - Generally considered the most popular form of market research, this research method has the objective of providing an accurate description for something that is occurring (e.g., monthly sales volume, customer preference).

Diffusion of Innovation Theory – A line of thinking that develops different marketing strategies and tactics for products based on where the product lies in it’s Life Cycle (see PLC) and the potential buyers at each stage. Market segments include:

Innovators - The first category within the Diffusion of Innovation concept that consists of a small percentage of a market who are primarily characterized as being at the forefront of adopting new products and eager to try new things, often without regard to price.

Early Adopters - The second category within the Diffusion of Innovation consisting of a sizeable though not large percentage of a market who are primarily characterized as being enthusiastic but practical about new products and often communicate their experiences with the next category (i.e., Early Majority) and in this way serve as Opinion Leaders.

Early Majority - The third category within the Diffusion of Innovation consisting of up to one-third of the overall market who represent the beginning of the mass market and who are primarily characterized as liking new products but prefer to wait until they have received positive opinions for other (e.g., Early Adopters) before purchasing.

Late Majority - The fourth category within the Diffusion of Innovation consisting of up to one-third of the overall market who are primarily characterized as preferring to take a wait-and-see approach before trying something new.

Laggards - The fifth category within the Diffusion of Innovation consisting of a sizeable though not large percentage of a market who are primarily characterized as being reluctant to accept new products and may only do so if they have no other choice.

Domain Name - Basically, your domain name is the internet address of your website or a website you might be searching for. It looks something like this: www.yourdomainname.com Once the domain name has been selected and registered, no one else can register the same domain name just as there can never be two houses with the same address. The domain name can also be your Internet Business name.

Ezine - an electronic magazine, whether delivered via a Web site or an email newsletter. Ezine directory - directory of electronic magazines, typically of the email variety.

Focus Groups - Method of data collection, often associated with Qualitative Research, in which a group of respondents (generally numbering 8-12) are guided through discussion by a moderator in the hope that group interaction will stimulate comments that may not otherwise be elicited.

Forum - an online community where visitors may read and post topics of common interest.

Guerilla Marketing - unconventional marketing intended to get maximum results from minimal resources.

Image Advertising - A type of advertising that focuses on enhancing the perceived image of the organization rather than promoting specific products.

Innovation - Anything new that offers solutions to needs by providing a significant advantage (e.g., more features, ease of use) over existing products, services or methods.

Internet - The Internet stands for Integrated Network. The Internet is a GLOBAL network of computers with hundreds of millions of computers all over the world all linked to each other.

Inbound Link - a link from a site outside of your site.

Keyword - a word used in a performing a search. Keywords are used in a variety of ways to find information you are seeking as well as have others find your message.

Keyword density - keywords as a percentage of indexable text words.

Keyword marketing - putting your message in front of people who are searching using particular keywords and keyphrases.

Keyword research - the search for keywords related to your Web site, and the analysis of which ones yield the highest return on investment (ROI).

Keywords tag - META tag used to help define the primary keywords of a Web page.

Loyalty Programs - A form of sales promotion, used in both consumer and business markets, that offers customers rewards, such as price discounts and free products, based on purchase frequency or other activity.

Links – Items or text that when clicked in a message or website send the visitor to a new location.

Link checker - tool used to check for broken hyperlinks.

Link popularity - a measure of the quantity and quality of sites that link to your site.

Link text - the text contained in (and sometimes near) a hyperlink.

Market Segmentation - A key element of a target marketing strategy in which large markets, where customers possess different characteristics, is divided into smaller market segments in which customers are grouped by characteristic shared by others in the segment.

Marketing Mix - Describes the decisions made by marketers to appeal to their target markets and includes product, distribution, promotion, pricing and services.

Media Kit - a resource created by a publisher to help prospective ad buyers evaluate advertising opportunities.

META Tags - tags to describe various aspects about a Web page. These tags can help search engines find a website.

Niche Marketing (also Concentrated Marketing) - A target marketing strategy that uses a single marketing strategy to appeal to one or more small sub-segments within a larger market segment.

Navigation - that which facilitates movement from one Web page to another Web page.

Opinion Leaders - A concept in consumer buying behavior which relates to people or organizations within a group who a consumer looks to for advice or direction and, consequently, may hold influence on what a consumer purchases.

Opt-in Email - email that is explicitly requested by the recipient. Email receivers can also “Opt-out” of email if they wish.

Pass-along Rate - The percentage of people who pass on a message or file.

Pay Per Click (PPC) - online advertising payment model in which payment is based solely on qualifying click-throughs.

Pay Per Click Search Engine (PPCSE) - search engine where results are ranked according to the bid amount and advertisers are charged only when a searcher clicks on the search listing.

Permission Marketing - marketing centered around getting customer's consent to receive information from a company.

PLC - Product Life Cycle - Used as a tool for depicting the concept that products go through several stages of “life” with each stage presenting the marketer with different challenges that must be met with different marketing approaches.

Introduction Stage - Stage which occurs when a product is released to the market and sales begin though often sales start out slow as the market becomes aware of the product.

Growth Stage - Stage which occurs when a product is widely accepted and often reaches rapid growth characterized by a large percentage sales increase over previous periods.

Maturity Stage - Stage which occurs when product growth slows with total sales increasing but at decreasing rates compared to previous periods.

Decline Stage – Occurs as product sales actually decline from previous periods.

POP Display (also Point-of-Purchase Display) - A form of trade sales promotion that are generally found in retail outlets and allow products to be prominently presented thereby increasing the probability the product will standout.

Press Kits - A media relations tool used as part of Public Relations that includes information such as company background, key managerial biographies and other supporting materials intended to be useful to members of the news media.

Press Release - A document issued by a company and intended to gain news media attention or to provide information to other company stakeholders (e.g., customers, investors).

Product Placement - A form of advertising that intentionally inserts products into entertainment programming (e.g. movies, TV programs, video games) such as showing product use by an actor, placing product in background or having product name mentioned.

Product Positioning - Relates to marketing efforts that are intended to affect customers' perception of the marketer's offerings (e.g., products, company image) when compared with how customers perceive competitors' offerings.

Product-Oriented Advertising - A type of advertising directed toward the promotion of a specific product to a targeted audience.

Public Relations (also Publicity, PR) - A method of promotion that involves the use of a variety of communications channels and tools in an effort to cultivate favorable relations with key publics, particularly the news media, with the objective of gaining favorable mentions of the marketer’s company or product without direct payment to the publisher of the information.

Research - The process of gathering information to learn about something that is not fully known.

Research Design - A plan to collect information within a specific type of research method.

Research Instrument - Research method used to record information gathered during a research study that range from basic methods, such as a questionnaire that record participant responses to research questions, to highly advanced electronic measurement where respondents are connected to sophisticated equipment.

RSS - Really Simple Syndication - Internet technology that allows a company to send information quickly and to a large number (i.e., subscribers) with little manual effort compared to traditional methods.

Search Engine - a program that indexes documents, then attempts to match documents relevant to the users search requests. Google is the largest today.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) - the process of choosing targeted keyword phrases related to a site, and ensuring that the site places well when those keyword phrases are part of a Web search. There are also many other factors that may be considered to improve SEO.

Search Engine Submission - the act of supplying a URL to a search engine in an attempt to make a search engine aware of a site or page.

Segmentation Marketing (also Differentiated Marketing) - A target marketing strategy in which the marketer appeals to multiple smaller market segments with a unique marketing strategy for each market.

Sig File - a short block of text at the end of a message identifying the sender and providing additional information about them.

Splash Page - a branding page before the home page of a Web site.

Sponsorships - A form of advertising where marketers pay or offer to provide resources (e.g., free product, services) for the purpose of being seen as a supporter of an event, program or product offering (e.g., section of a website).

Survey Research - Method of data collection, often associated with Quantitative Research, that captures information through the input of responses to a research instrument containing questions (i.e., questionnaire).

Tactics - Actionable steps or decisions made in order to follow the strategies established.

Target Marketing - A strategic approach in which an organization attempts to get the most from its resources by following a planned procedure for identifying customers who possess the greatest potential to respond to the marketer’s efforts and help the marketer meet objectives.

Text Ad - advertisement using text-based hyperlinks.

Trade-In Promotion - A form of sales promotion, used in both consumer and business markets, that allows customers to obtain a price reduction in exchange for something the customer possess, such as an older product that the new purchase will replace.

URL – Uniform Resource Locator - Also known as website address. The URL would include a domain name as well as other information.

Viral Marketing - marketing phenomenon that facilitates and encourages people to pass along a marketing message.

White Papers - Detailed, sometimes highly researched, documents intended to establish credibility or offer insight into the capabilities of a company and its products or services.

Website - A website can act as a brochure or sales letter but in electronic form, viewable only in your computer. A website can also act as your physical business premises. A website displays products in the form of photos or illustrations and words that describe what it is. People can browse your website for the products you carry from any PC with an Internet Browser without having to go there in person to see them.

Website Traffic - the amount of visitors and visits a Web site receives.

Web Hosting - The host of your website is the server. Your website sits on the hard disk of a big computer called a server that is connected to the Internet 24 hours a day. The server can also host other websites simultaneously.