Glossary of digital marketing.
If you are a business owner and are approaching the world of digital marketing you probably encounter terms ‘specific’ to this field that are not entirely clear to you.
When I started working in digital marketing, I had to familiarize myself with terms such as bounce rate, long-tail keywords or black hat that were unfamiliar to me.
Although some of them sound silly, they describe processes, metrics and strategies used by digital marketing.
And the list grows every year.
As the technology landscape changes, the industry vocabulary changes along with it.
New words are introduced, others fall out of fashion, and it is our job as marketers to keep up with them.
Affiliation
In an affiliate marketing campaign, a company pays a publisher (most often a blog) to promote its products.
In return, the publisher receives a commission for each click, sale or sign-up.
So, let’s imagine you are a blogger who writes about food and cooking. To earn money, you can link to products and ingredients you use in cooking. Every time someone clicks on the link and buys the product, you will earn a percentage as commission.
Analytics
In marketing, the term analytics refers to a combination of:
- The processes used to analyze and evaluate the success of a marketing campaign.
- The technology used in analysis and monitoring.
A great example of analytics is Google Analytics, which helps you learn about the people who visit your website, your customers.
With a simple Google Analytics identifier on your site, you can find out who visits your site, where they live, their gender and age, and how they found out about your site (organic search, social media, etc…).
This information makes it easier to identify your target audience and shows you where you can improve your marketing efforts.
Related topics: Beginner’s Guide to Google Analytics: find out who visits your website.
Big Data
Collectively, humans generate an enormous amount of data (1.7 MB per second, per person).
The cumulative sum of all this information is what we call big data.
This term is so popular because big data is a huge opportunity for almost every industry.
It is an especially rich resource for marketers.
After all, this data can teach us a lot about consumer buying patterns.
Black Hat / White Hat
The terms black hat and white hat are used in many fields.
Originating in old Western movies, where the bad characters wore black hats and the good guys wore white, these terms usually describe a right and wrong way of doing things.
In the content marketing industry, we use these terms with regard to SEO.
White hat SEO aims to gain visibility by providing relevant, high-quality content.
Black hat SEO aims to generate clicks and visibility by tricking search engine algorithms.
Some common black hat techniques include:
- Selling and buying links from other sites.
- Spamming forums with links.
- Filling pages with the same keyword.
- Redirecting visitors to a new page they did not click on.
There are many other black hat SEO techniques besides these but using one of them can lead to search engine penalties, which decreases visibility in organic search.
Google recognizes the main black hat techniques, so if you want to avoid a penalty and still get traffic to your site, focus on creating strong content and don’t try to trick the search engine.
Related topics: Understanding Google’s algorithms and penalties.
Brand Awareness.
If the general public knows your company and the products you offer, you are said to have high brand awareness, in Italian brand awareness.
Google, Coca-Cola, and Amazon all have high brand awareness because most people recognize these products.
If very few people know about your company, even those in your industry, you have work to do.
You need to create awareness around your brand.
Keep in mind, however, that not all brand awareness is good.
If you have a reputation for providing a high-quality product or service, brand awareness is good.
But you can also earn a reputation for being a bad brand, which is obviously not good.
Content marketing tactics such as blogs and social media can help you create awareness around your brand. But it’s up to you to provide the best possible product if you want a good reputation.
Related topics: How to increase visits to your blog in 4 easy steps.
Clickbait
Clickbait is a hyperlink that uses tricks to encourage users to click.
Usually, they try to solicit the reader’s emotionality to earn the click, but the target content does not deliver on the promise.
If you have already happened to read headlines such as ‘You can’t believe …’ or ‘I’ll tell you the secret of …’, then you are familiar with clickbait.
CMS: Content management system
A content management system, or CMS, is software that helps you organize your website content.
Most content management systems are designed for collaboration between programmers and non-programmers.
In other words, they are made so that a webmaster can create a site using HTML, CSS and Javascript, so authors and content editors can edit the site without touching the code.
WordPress is one of the most popular content management systems.
Each of these CMS programs is designed for users at different skill levels and with different needs.
Wix, for example, is notoriously easy to use, though limited in capabilities; WordPress has endless potential, though it requires some technical skills or the help of a web development professional.
Related topics: How to use WordPress to build your website and why.
Content Marketing
The goal of content marketing is to use words, photos and videos to get (and keep) the attention of people, especially potential customers.
The classic example is a business website. Your blog can help you increase search engine visibility, attract new customers and keep current ones engaged.
Ultimately, content marketing can drive sales and give you a real return on the time and money you invest in it.
The key to content marketing is quality. Publishing exceptional content that provides real value to your audience is the winning idea.
Related topics: Content marketing, what it is and how to use it for your business.
Conversion
In marketing, a conversion occurs when you convince someone to do what you want them to do.
It is typically used in sales (i.e., converting a potential customer into a buyer). But not only that.
In email marketing for example, you get a conversion when someone signs up for your mailing list.
If you want site visitors to fill out a survey, each completed survey is a conversion.
Convincing potential customers to call you for a free consultation generates a conversion with each call.
Related topics: Converting visitors to customers with effective landing pages.
CPC: Cost per click
CPC or Cost Per Click is a term used when discussing pay-per-click marketing campaigns.
It describes the amount of money paid per click on advertising services such as Google Ads.
Related topics: Selling with Google Ads and not wasting your money.
CRM: Customer relationship management
A customer relationship management system, also known as CRM software, allows you to keep track of all your customer information in a single application.
All lead generation data, communication history, email marketing campaigns, and sales success information are organized in this system.
There are a lot of CRM products on the market, and they all offer different functionality.
Some, for example, offer lead scoring features that allow you to qualify leads to determine which are most likely to convert. This can show you and your team where to focus your sales and marketing efforts.
Others integrate with your content management system so you can track how customers interact with your Web site.
This can teach you a lot about how successful your website is at converting customers and where it needs to be improved.
CRO: Conversion rate optimization
Conversion rate optimization, or CRO, is a confusing term.
Everyone wants to optimize their conversion rate, isn’t that the goal of a business?
Well, yes. But this term specifically refers to optimizing your website’s conversion rate, turning as many website visitors into customers as possible.
To increase website conversions, you need to:
- Demonstrate clear value: Show your audience that you have something they need.
- Encourage action: Get your visitors to sign up for your mailing list, follow you on social media, make a purchase, or take some kind of action.
- Prevent bounce: Optimize your website for speed and usability so that visitors have no desire to return to the search moteore, away from your site.
CRO involves a lot of testing. Techniques that work for one company’s site may not work for another.
Related topics: What is inbound marketing and does it really serve your business?
CTA: call to action
In marketing, a CTA is any type of request that encourages a response from the audience.
For example, a link on a website might prompt visitors to Buy Now! , or a pop-up might encourage them to Join the mailing list.
Calls to action come in various forms, including:
- Text links.
- Buttons.
- Banners.
- Graphics.
- Contact forms.
CTR: click-through rate
Click-through rate, or CTR, (click to rate) is a metric used to measure the number of people who “click” on a particular link.
We use this term in many different contexts, including:
- Pay-per-click ads: How many people clicked on an ad?
- Email marketing: How many recipients opened an email or clicked on the CTA within the email?
- SEO: How many users clicked on an ad on a search page?
A high click-through rate is usually a good sign. It shows that the link is attractive enough that a higher percentage of users are prompted to click on it.
A low click-through rate, on the other hand, suggests that the link is not attractive enough to encourage the audience to click.
Therefore, something needs to change, whether it is the link itself, the content in which it is embedded, or the target audience.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is the use of e-mail to promote products and services.
Email marketing takes many forms. Businesses use e-mail to send coupons, stay in touch with existing customers, and contact new prospects who have signed up for mailing lists.
User experience – customer experience
Customer experience is your customers’ perception of their experience with your brand.
When we talk about customer experience, we are talking about how they feel during the entire interaction with your business, from the moment they start looking for your product, during the buying process, and even after they have purchased it.
If you want to optimize the customer experience you should:
- Organize your website to make it easier for customers to learn about your products and services.
- Send a welcome e-mail and contact address to each new customer.
- Improve the quality and timing of customer service.
More and more companies that offer subscription services (think subscription services such as Netflix), are focusing on improving the customer experience.
After all, if you want customers to not abandon you, you need to make sure their experience is a positive one.
Bounce rate
This term refers to the percentage of people who abandon your website after visiting the first page.
It is an important metric, especially if you run an online store. If people never click past your home page, you will need to understand why.
The main reasons for a high bounce rate can be:
- Slow loading pages.
- Confusing and inconsistent information.
- Using the wrong keywords and as a result, ‘attracting’ an uninterested audience.
Related topics: How to increase the loading speed of web pages.
Gamification
Gamification is a common practice in our time, both in marketing and more generally in our culture.
Essentially, it means using game elements (scoring, competition, prizes, etc.) to encourage a particular behavior.
For an example of gamification in marketing, you can think of point collection or rewards programs, such as cards like “10 coffees, the 11th is on us.”
Promotions are also examples of gamification, in that they incentivize people to make purchases in order to achieve an end goal.
Corporate identity
Your corporate identity, or brand identity in English, consists of all the visual elements that distinguish your company from all others.
It has everything in it, from your logo and website graphics to your banner ads, including the images you use on your social profiles.
Your corporate identity is made up of everything that influences the public’s perception of your company.
Infographics
Reading data can be tedious.
Infographics present information in a visually appealing way that is easy to read and understand.
Using bright colors, fun illustrations, and eye-catching designs make the infographic content more digestible.
Internet of Things (IoT)
The term Internet of Things (IoT) describes the entire network of devices connected to the Internet.
Ten years ago, it meant mostly computers and smartphones, but with the influx of smart technology everything from dishwashers and refrigerators to toothbrushes is wired.
By looking at the data generated by a smart refrigerator, you can learn a lot about the owner’s buying habits. By analyzing the collective data generated by all refrigerators in a particular city, you can learn about the buying habits of that entire population.
Long Tail
In marketing, the term long tail refers to niche consumers and their hyper-specific behavior.
The phrase comes from the image of a distribution chart. In these types of graphs, the most popular products and frequent behaviors are found in the upper left, while everything else moves to the lower right.
In content marketing, this term is most often used in the context of keywords.
Long-tail keywords although searched less frequently, are typed in search engines.
In other words, someone somewhere is typing them, even though most content marketing is focusing its efforts on high-volume search terms.
If you can target these keywords and phrases in your content, you may be able to capture the attention of long-tail ‘searchers’.
According to Ahref, 92 percent of all keywords get less than ten searches per month, which means there is a lot of traffic out there to target by including long-tail keywords.
Content length
A text content is considered ‘long’ if it exceeds 1000 words and ‘short’ if it contains 300/600 words.
Several studies show that ‘long’ content ranks well on Google’s search results page, gets shared and brings visitors to your site.
But ‘short’ content also has its merits, especially on social media, where it is difficult to keep people’s attention for long.
Facebook posts, for example, tend to register the most engagement if they are less than 80 characters long.
Related topics: 9 tools to optimize business presence on social media.
Metrics
Metrics in marketing, represent tracking the progress of a campaign or project.
The number of comments on your Instagram posts is a metric. Website traffic is another metric.
In essence, it is a way to record how your audience reacts to your content over time.
Mobile optimization
We have learned by now that a website does not look the same on a desktop computer as it does on a smartphone or tablet.
After all, screen sizes are completely different.
So if you only have a desktop version of your site online, users will experience problems when they try to view it on a mobile device.
Also, desktop and mobile device usage is different. You cannot touch the desktop screen with your finger and you cannot right-click on a mobile.
Therefore, you need a responsive site that detects the user’s device and adapts accordingly.
The process of creating responsive sites is known as mobile optimization.
It is estimated that by the end of 2021, 3.8 billion people will own a smartphone. That is almost half of the world’s population.
In other words, optimizing for mobile devices is a necessity if you want visitors to stay on your site.
Pay-Per-Click
Pay-per-click involves buying ads on a website or search engine and then paying a commission every time someone clicks on the ad.
It is an excellent marketing technique for gaining immediate visibility for one’s ads. Through Google Ads, for example, you can list your ad on the first page of Google Search for your chosen keywords.
Related topics: How much does it cost to get on the first page of Google.
Potential customer
This is the one who is interested in your product or service, but has not yet been converted into a customer.
The potential customer meets these criteria:
- Falls within your target market.
- Fits your vision of an ideal customer.
- Has shown interest in your brand.
For example, they may have downloaded a brochure from your website, or filled out a survey.
Ultimately, the potential customer is who you should focus your marketing efforts on.
Retargeting
Retargeting is a technique that aims to bring customers back to a website they have previously visited.
It is often used to get potential customers who have almost converted to convert permanently, particularly those who have abandoned the shopping cart without finishing the process.
Retargeting ads can be placed on social media, in sidebar ads, or even in emails or text messages.
Related articles: What is retargeting and what is it for.
ROI: Return on investment
The purpose of any investment is to make money back, in a higher quantity than you spent. The ‘higher quantity’ is your ROI, or your return on investment.
In marketing, ROI is used to justify spending. If you spend 1000€ on online marketing and your efforts generate 3000€ in sales, your return is 2000€.
ROI is often expressed as a percentage, the percentage by which your investment has grown.
You can calculate this percentage by dividing the return amount by the initial investment, multiplying it by 100 percent.
Related topics: Calculating ROI – formulas and examples – effects on marketing campaigns.
SEO: Optimization for search engines.
SEO, or search engine optimization, is the practice of driving free organic traffic to a website through search engines.
Or, to put it more simply:
It’s about getting your website ranked higher in Google’s search results when people search for terms related to your business.
A website ranking on the first page of Google is a great asset, as it increases the likelihood that people will discover your business.
If someone is looking for accounting software and you can get your site displayed on the first page of that search, you will have a better chance of selling than a business on the second or third page of search results.
The way to show up on that first page for important search terms is:
1.Creating content pages that provide useful information for people searching for those terms.
2.Promoting your content to earn backlinks from reputable sources in your niche, which shows Google that your site is also reputable.
3.Optimizing your site from a technical standpoint to make sure it works properly and that Google and other search engines can find and index it.
SEO is a complex field that involves many different activities. But in the end, it’s about publishing killer content to show Google that you have a relevant and authoritative website.
Related topics: Improving SEO – 9 practical tips to improve your Google ranking.
Marketing efforts
Marketing efforts include the money, time and attention with which you promote your brand.
They help you grow your audience, build a reputation and create demand for your products and services.
In traditional marketing, your marketing efforts might involve ads (e.g., television, radio, billboards); in online marketing, social media, SEO, and content marketing.
Hiring people is important of your marketing efforts. You need talent to promote your brand, so hiring content writers for your blog or a web developer to build your website is a marketing effort.
Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing is a great way to reach your customers where they are already spending time: on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and other social media platforms.
This type of marketing involves posting text, images, videos and other shareable content. Depending on the campaign, it may also include sharing promo codes or discounts or paying for sponsored ads to increase visibility.
When done well, social media marketing can be very effective. Not only does it help raise brand awareness and increase your reputation, but it can also drive traffic to your website. It also gives your customers and potential customers a way to interact directly with your brand, which improves the customer experience.
Related topics: 10 tips for using social media for your business.
Content strategy
Your content strategy is one component of your overall digital marketing strategy.
When building a content strategy, you need to understand:
- What your content is about.
- What format your content will take (blog, video, social posts, etc…).
- Where you will publish your content.
When we are determining what to write about (either for our own website or for our clients’ websites), we do some keyword research to identify what the audience is looking for.
We also look for search terms that we know we can write really well about. After all, our number one goal is to create really good content that actually helps the person who clicks on it.
Once we know what we’re going to write about, we determine what kind of article we’re going to write about (a short blog article, a very long important page like the one you’re reading, etc…) and where we’re going to publish it.
We aim to publish our articles on sites with an audience interested in the topic we are writing about, but also with enough authority to give the article search value.
Three things are accomplished in this way:
1.You provide valuable information to the reader.
2.You create authority for the site.
3.You increase brand awareness.
Related topics: Content marketing what it is and how to use it for your business.
Marketing strategy
Your marketing strategy is the set of actions planned to reach potential customers.
To build an effective marketing strategy you need to:
- Understand who your average customer is.
- What social platforms he uses in his spare time.
- What kind of content he is interested in (you need to get his attention).
- How to convert them into customers.
In marketing, there is no one strategy that applies to every industry.
Depending on your business and audience, your strategy may include a blog, posts on certain social media, videos and infographics.
A sound digital strategy also includes monitoring the progress of the campaign and reviewing it based on results.
Related topics: Digital marketing-what it is and why it is so important.
Target
Your target audience, the group of people you want to reach with your marketing efforts.
These are the people you think will spend to buy your product or service.
When determining your target audience, you need to consider basic demographic factors such as age, gender, income, and geographic location.
Identifying your target audience is critical in marketing because it helps you understand where to focus your investments.
Once you know who you want to buy your product, you can figure out how to communicate with them.
Ux – User experience
UX, short for user experience, is an area of marketing that focuses on how people feel when they interact with a product, service or interface.
It is similar to customer experience (CX), except that CX is focused on the customer’s perception of the entire brand.
User experience is much more granular, focusing on individual products or aspects of the brand, such as the website.
The goal of any UX designer is to make the product or service in question as intuitive as possible.
This not only makes the experience dNot only does this make the customer experience more pleasant, which is always crucial, but it can also help drive sales.
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