The A-Z Of Digital Marketing 2023

Keeping up with the ever-evolving digital marketing lingo can be quite confusing and frustrating at times. Whether you’re in search of a digital marketing agency or you are yourself a new member of the field, here’s a comprehensive guide of terms in form of a glossary that will help you get accustomed to the fluidity of online times.

Digital Marketing Terms and Definitions

A

A/B Testing – A method of comparing two versions of a product, typically a website or app, to determine which one performs better by splitting users into two groups, with one group seeing version A and the other group seeing version B.

Ad Manager – A tool used to create, publish, and monitor advertising campaigns published on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, or Audience Network. it provides detailed reporting, analytics and forecasting to help publishers understand the performance of their campaigns, and to make data-driven decisions about their ad inventory.

Analytics – The measurement, collection, analysis, and reporting of data related to a company’s online presence and marketing efforts. It is a way for businesses to gain insight into how their campaigns are performing and make data-driven decisions to improve their return on investment (ROI).

Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) – Important for personalizing and automating marketing campaigns, as well as for analysing data and identifying customer insights.

Attribution Modelling – The process of determining the effectiveness of different marketing channels and campaigns in driving conversions to better allocate budget and resources accordingly.

Awareness – The first stage in the customer journey, in which a customer becomes aware of a problem or need that they have and begins to research potential solutions.

B

B2B (Business-to-Business) – Transactions exclusively between businesses.

B2C (Business-to-Consumer) – Transactions between businesses and consumers.

Backlink – A link pointing from one website to another. They are important for SEO because search engines use them to measure the quality and relevance of a website.

Bid – The amount of money that an advertiser is willing to pay for a specific action, such as a click, a view, or a conversion so that their ads rank higher.

Bid Strategy – A plan or method that an advertiser uses to determine the amount they will bid for a specific action, such as a click, view, or conversion. Advertisers can choose different bid strategies depending on their goals, budget, and the type of campaign they are running.

Brand Awareness – The level of familiarity and recognition that consumers have with a brand. It is a measure of how well-known and recognizable a brand is within a specific market or among a particular target audience.

Breadcrumbs – A navigation element that shows the user their current location within a website or app. Ex. Home > Clothing > Shoes > Brand X > Product. This allows a better understanding of the structure of a website in terms of SEO as well as provides better user experience.

Broken links – A link on a website that is no longer functional because the target page no longer exists. Also known as ‘404 Not Found’, this error can appear when the page has been moved or deleted.

C

Campaign – A coordination of online advertising efforts aimed at promoting a product, service, or brand to drive website traffic, increase brand awareness, and ultimately generate leads and sales. Such efforts include email marketing, social media advertising, pay-per-click advertising, and content marketing.

Content – Various forms of digital media, including text, images, videos, and audio, that are used to promote a product, service, or brand online.

Content Marketing – A digital marketing strategy that focuses on creating and distributing valuable, relevant, and consistent content to attract and engage a specific target audience, with the goal of driving profitable customer action.

Conversion – A specific action that a user takes on a website or digital platform, such as making a purchase, filling out a form, or subscribing to a newsletter. It is usually the ultimate goal of digital marketing efforts.

Conversion API – A way for businesses to track and measure the effectiveness of their digital marketing campaigns by tracking when a user completes a specific action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form. It can be implemented by adding a snippet of code to the website or mobile app, known as a tracking pixel, that sends data back to the marketing or analytics software when a conversion takes place.

Conversion Funnel – A visual representation of the different stages a customer goes through before completing a desired action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form. The stages of a conversion funnel are typically described as awareness, interest, desire, action (AIDA)

Conversion Rate – The percentage of users who take a desired action, such as make a purchase or sign up for a service, out of the total number of users who visit a website or landing page.

Cookies – Small text files that are stored on a user’s computer or mobile device by a website. They are used to remember information about a user’s preferences and browsing history, such as login details, shopping cart contents, and website settings. Their purpose is to remember users’ preferences, keep users logged in, show users relevant ads and measure website traffic and analytics.

Copy – The text used to inform consumers on a product and encourage them to take a certain desired action such as make a purchase etc.

Copywriting – The process of creating written content for your website to inform or persuade consumers on a product or service. SEO Copywriting is the search-engine friendly version that helps both boost rankings and satisfy users.

CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) – The process of optimizing a website, landing page or a campaign to increase the conversion rate. CRO is a continuous process, an ongoing effort to identify new ways to improve the user experience and increase the chances of a visitor taking a desired action.

CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) – The cost of a customer conversion, calculated by dividing the total cost spent on marketing action by the total number of conversions.

CPC (Cost Per Click) – The highest amount that you’re willing to pay for a click on your ad.

CPL (Cost Per Lead) – The amount you pay for each lead generated by a campaign.

CPM (Cost Per Mille) – The amount you pay per thousand impressions.

CRO (Conversion Rate Optimisation) – The process of increasing the percentage of conversions.

CTA (Call to Action) – A text prompt to drive a target audience to take the desired action. It can be anything from a button, a statement or part of a copy.

CTR (Click-Through Rate) – The percentage resulting from dividing the number of people who clicked on your ad by the number of people who saw your ad. Ex. CTR=clicks/impressions

Customer Acquisition – The process of acquiring new customers for a business or organization. It is the first step in the customer lifecycle, and it is critical for the growth and survival of any business. Customer acquisition strategies can include a variety of tactics such as online and offline advertising, SEO, content marketing, referral marketing, and public relations.

Customer Journey – The complete process that a customer goes through when interacting with a company or brand. It includes all the touchpoints and experiences that a customer has before, during and after making a purchase. The customer journey is often depicted as a funnel, with the top of the funnel representing the early stages of awareness and interest, and the bottom of the funnel representing the final stages of decision-making and purchase.

D

Digital Marketing – The act of advertising and selling products through online based digital technologies. It utilises channels such as search engines, social media, emails, and mobile apps to reach its audience and convert potential customers into paying customers.

Display Advertising – The process of advertising through visual media such as banner ads, videos, and other forms of media on websites and other online platforms to promote products or services.

Domain – A unique name that identifies a website or other internet resource and used to access the website or resource through a web browser or other internet application.

E

Ecommerce – ‘Electronic Commerce’ refers to the buying and selling of goods and services through the internet. It includes the use of shopping cart software to allow customers to select and purchase products, and can include features such as online payments, customer reviews, and product recommendations.

Email Marketing – The act of advertising products or services through email by sending targeted, personalized emails to a contact list of subscribers. It allows advertisers to stay in close contact with potential customers and website visitors.

Engagement Rate – A metric that measures interactions in a certain advertising activity and showcases how active your audience is with your content. Calculate it like so: Engagement rate (%) = Likes + Shares + Comments / Total Followers x 100.

Evergreen Content – Content that is SEO friendly, always relevant, and pertinent regardless of the changing of culture, region, and time.

F

Facebook Advertising – The act of advertising products or services within the Facebook community and throughout the Facebook platform. The audience targeting is based on the user information within the platform itself and the cost depends on the demographic, type, and placement of the ad.

Facebook Audience Insights – A Facebook tool that allows the targeting of audiences through demographics, region, behaviour etc. for an easily customizable experience for Facebook Advertising.

Facebook Business Page – A business page on the Facebook platform for marketers or advertisers to promote their brands, products, and services.

G

Google Ads – The Google online advertising service that allows marketers to reach consumers through the platform’s search pages and their display networks.

Google Algorithm – A well-oiled machine of systems that allow its search engine to define where each website presenting in the search results will be placed. It is updated incredibly often to provide the most accurate and trustworthy results possible since it is said to be so complicated as to not allow marketers to manipulate it to get higher rankings.

Google Analytics – A software platform that allows marketers to measure the advertising ROI and track the performance of their websites and applications. The information provided varies from number of visitors, their customer journey etc.

GTM (Google Tag Manager) – A tool that allows you to create and update tags (code fragments) on your website to make customer journey tracking faster and easier.

H

Hashtag – A metadata tag with the symbol ‘#’ that allows social media users to connect to content that is more interesting to them and adversely find information on a topic that is specific or broad.

HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) – The standard language used in code to develop websites.

HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure) – The protocol that secures communication and data transfer between a web browser and a website. HTTP on the other hand lacks encryption and renders your website a non-secure environment prone to cyber-criminal attack.

Hyperlink – Often presented as a highlighted word or image, a hyperlink is an element that when clicked redirects you to a specific URL, described in said text or image.

I

Impression – A metric that measures how often your ads were on screen for your target audience. Not to be confused with Reach, an impression is the times your content has been displayed on a screen not how many people have seen that content (Reach).

Influencer marketing – A marketing strategy involving a partnership with an individual with a strong influence and following on social media platforms to promote a product or a service to larger accumulated audience. It is a strategy expected to bloom even further in 2023.

Inbound links – A link that leads to your website, from a different site.

J

JavaScript – A programming language that allows interactive effects within web pages that engage the user.

K

Keyword – A commonly used word to find specific content, giving navigational uniformity to searches and optimise search engine results. SEO is heavily based on those.

KPI (Key Performance Indicator) – It measures how effectively the business objectives of a project, a company or a team are being achieved. Not to be confused with Metrics, these should relate to a specific business outcome ex. Sales Growth.

L

Landing Page – The page that a visitor ‘lands on’ after clicking on an advertisement. Its goal is to increase traffic and conversions.

Landing Page Optimization – The process of improving the content of a landing page with the goal of encouraging customers towards a desired action such as conversions.

Lead – A potential customer or an individual that has interacted with your brand during a marketing effort. Qualified leads are those most certain to result in the desired action ex. purchase.

Lead Generation – The act of converting potential customers to paying customers.

Link Building – The process of acquiring hyperlinks from other websites to your own website with the purpose of increasing visibility and authority of a website in search engine results and drive traffic.

Long-Tail Keywords – Longer, more specific phrases used when searching for a product or a service. They tend to be more targeted and less competitive than generic words but incredibly SEO-friendly with potential to drive more qualified traffic to a website.

M

Marketing Funnel – A visual representation of the journey that a customer goes throught as they become aware of a product consider buying it and then making the actual purchase. Otherwise know as the AIDA model the stages include Awareness, Interest, Evaluation/Desire, Purchase/Action.

Metric – A measurable value of a specified action in a digital marketing campaign that tracks performance and progress of the activity or the project. Not to be confused with KPIs, these are operational and tactical measurements without a specific goal set.

Micro-moments – Moments in a customer journey that are high-intent and impulse-heavy that can be described as the use of mobile devices to explore or research that result in a desired action such as a purchase. Winning micro-moments is defined by having highly relevant, high-quality content, easily accessible through mobile devices with strong CTAs.

Mobile-first – A digital marketing strategy that prioritizes the mobile version of a website and an approach that favours a mobile friendly design that has become increasingly common in the last years.

Mobile Marketing – A multi-channel marketing strategy that aims at advertising through SMS, push notifications, mobile apps, mobile-optimized websites, and social media. Its benefits lie in that they reach customers in a more personal and personalized way.

Multi-Channel Marketing – The coordinated use of multiple marketing channels such as website, social media, email, print etc. to reach more customers and impressions.

O

Off-Page Optimisation – A set of strategies outside the website itself that improve its performance in search results. Such strategies may include high-quality backlinks, social media presence or video marketing. These factors build brand trust and recognition and bring higher rankings.

Omnichannel marketing – A strategy that uses multiple channels to connect with customers, such as email, social media, mobile apps, and in-person interactions. The goal is to provide a seamless and consistent customer experience across all channels, increasing in that way customer loyalty and sales.

On-Page Optimisation – A set of strategies within the website that improve its performance in search results. Such strategies may include optimizing the content, images, and structure of a webpage, as well as the use of keywords and meta tags. These factors help search engines understand the content and context of a webpage and determine its relevance to a user’s search query, which in turn leads to higher engagement and conversion rates.

Organic Traffic – The visitors who come to a website through unpaid search results, as opposed to paid advertising or other paid promotions.

P

Page View – A metric that measures the number of times a specific webpage on a website has been viewed by users. This metric is used as a basic measure of website traffic and can be tracked and measured using web analytics tools.

Paid Media – Any type of advertising that requires payment to reach a target audience. Paid media includes a wide range of advertising platforms, such as television and radio commercials, newspaper and magazine ads, billboards, and online ads. Paid media campaigns can be beneficial to businesses as they allow them to target specific audiences and measure the results of their advertising efforts through various metrics.

Performance Max Campaigns – marketing campaigns that are specifically designed and optimized to maximize performance, or the desired outcome such as sales, leads, or click-throughs. Commonly implemented using sophisticated marketing technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, these campaigns need constant monitoring and optimizations for best results.

Personalization – The process of tailoring products, services, or content to the individual needs, interests, and preferences of a specific customer.

PPC (Pay-Per-Click) – An online advertising model in which advertisers pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked. Typically used on search engines and social media networks, this model is a cost-effective way for businesses to drive targeted traffic to their website.

Q

Quality Score – A metric used by search engines, specifically Google, to measure the relevance and usefulness of an ad for the user. A higher Quality Score typically results in a lower CPC and higher ad position.

Query – The specific request for information that is entered into a search engine or database. When a user submits a query, the search engine or database will search through its indexed content to find the most relevant results.

QR code (Quick Response code) – A two-dimensional barcode that stores various types of data, such as website URLs, contact information, and text. They can be easily scanned by a smartphone camera or QR code reader app and are used to promote products, services, or events by providing easy access to more information or websites.

R

Rankings – The position of a website or a web page in the search engine results pages (SERP) when a user conducts a search with certain keywords or phrases. Websites are ranked based on the relevance and authority of their content, as well as the relevance of their website to the search query.

Reach – The number of people or households that are exposed to a marketing message, advertisement, or campaign. Not to be confused with Impressions, Reach is how many people have seen your content, not the times your content has been displayed on a screen (Impressions).

Referral Marketing – A strategy that encourages existing customers to recommend a product or service to their friends, family, and networks. It is a form of word-of-mouth marketing for effective customer acquisition since people tend to trust recommendations from friends and family more than traditional advertising.

Remarketing – A form of online advertising that allows businesses to target users who have previously interacted with their website, app, or social media page. The goal of remarketing is to reconnect with users who have shown an interest in a business’s products or services but have not yet converted into a customer.

Retention Marketing – A strategy used to keep customers engaged and coming back to a business over time. It’s focused on maintaining and improving the relationship with existing customers, rather than solely acquiring new ones. Retention marketing efforts can include things like email campaigns, loyalty programs, personalized offers, and excellent customer service.

ROAS (Return on Advertising Spend) – A metric used to measure the profitability of an advertising campaign. It is calculated by dividing the revenue generated by the advertising spend.

ROI (Return on Investment) – A metric used to measure the profitability of an investment. It is calculated by dividing the return on an investment by the cost of the investment.

S

Search Engine – A software program or service that searches through a collection of web pages, images, videos, or other types of online content in response to a user’s query such as Google, Bing, or Yahoo.

Search Intent – The reason why a user conducts a search, or the goal that they are trying to achieve with their search query. Understanding this helps marketers create more relevant and useful content and improve their SEO and PPC campaigns.

SEM (Search Engine Marketing) – The process of promoting a website or a web page by increasing its visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) through paid advertising.

SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) – The process of improving the visibility and ranking of a website or a web page in the organic (non-paid) search results of a search engine.

SERPs (Search Engine Results Pages) – The page that appears in a web browser after a user enters a query into a search engine. It appears as a list of links to web pages that the search engine considers relevant and authoritative based on the user’s query.

Sitemap – An XML file that lists the URLs for a website, along with additional information about each URL such as when it was last updated, how often it changes, and how important it is relative to other URLs in the site. Sitemaps are used by search engines to index the pages of a website more efficiently and therefore produce results more accurately.

Site Navigation – The way in which visitors move around a website. It refers to the links and menu systems that allow visitors to access different pages and sections of a website. Navigation should be clear and intuitive and offer a satisfying user experience.

Social Media Marketing – The use of social media platforms and networks to promote a product or service. It involves creating and sharing content on social media channels to increase brand awareness, generate leads, and drive website traffic.

Social Media Traffic – The number of visitors and engagement on a website or page coming from social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. This can include likes, shares, comments, and clicks on links shared on social media. Analysing this can improve social media strategy and understand the audience better.

Social media platforms – Online applications or websites that enable users to create and share content or participate in social networking. They are designed to facilitate communication, collaboration, and the sharing of information and media among users. Such platforms include Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter, LinkedIn, and many others.

SSL Certificate (Secure Sockets Layer Certificate) – A type of digital certificate that is used to establish a secure, encrypted connection between a web server and a web browser. They are used to secure online transactions and protect sensitive information such as credit card numbers, login credentials, and personal data.

Storytelling – Storytelling in digital marketing refers to the use of storytelling techniques to create compelling and engaging content that helps to build a connection between a brand and its audience. A narrative might be used to help to create an emotional connection, make the message more memorable and create a more personalized customer experience.

Style Guide – A document that outlines the guidelines and best practices for creating and distributing content across digital channels to ensure consistency and coherence in the messaging and branding of a company or organization. It includes information on the brand voice/tone, the brand messaging, visual elements etc.

T

Target Audience – The specific group of people (in terms of demographic, geographic, behavioural, or psychographic information) that a business or organization is trying to reach with its marketing efforts. Identifying and understanding it is an important step in creating effective marketing campaigns and building a successful business.

TOF Marketing (Top-Of-Funnel Marketing) – The first stage of the customer journey and is focused on building awareness and interest in a product or service. The goal of TOF marketing is to attract potential customers and introduce them to a brand, product, or service.

Tracking cookie – A small text file that is placed on a user’s device when they visit a website. The cookie is used to track the user’s browsing activity and preferences to personalize the user’s experience on the website or to serve targeted ads.

Traffic – The number of visitors or users who visit a website. It is a measure of its he popularity and visibility, and an important metric for businesses and website owners to track and analyse.

U

UGC (User-Generated Content) – Any form of content created by users of a website, mobile app, or other digital product. It can include things like comments, reviews, photos, videos, and social media posts. It falls under organic marketing, in which the users create and distribute content on behalf of the brand.

UI (User Interface) – The part of a software or digital product that a user interacts with, including the layout, design, and overall look and feel of the product. The goal of UI design is to make the product easy to use and navigate, and to provide a seamless and intuitive experience for the user.

URL (Universal Resource Locator) – The address of a specific webpage or resource on the internet. It is what you see on the top of your browser when you visit a website, and it is used to locate and retrieve the webpage or resource.

User Engagement – The level of interest and participation that users have in a website, mobile app, or other digital product. Measuring the time spent on the website or app, the number o pages visited or the number of returning visits can prove useful information for marketers when building their next campaign for that product.

UX (User Experience) – The overall experience of a person using a product, system, or service. It encompasses all aspects of the end-user’s interaction with the company, its services, and its products. The goal of UX design is to create a positive experience that meets the user’s needs and satisfies their goals, while also being efficient, easy to use, and aesthetically pleasing.

V

Video Marketing – The use of video content to promote a product, service, or brand. It can include a variety of video formats such as live streaming, explainer videos, product demos, customer testimonials, and animated videos. It is known to increase brand awareness, generate leads, and drive sales in a more effective way for its versatility and ease of engagement.

Visits – A single instance of a user accessing a website. It is a way to measure the number of unique users who have accessed a website or specific web pages. The number of visits to a website can indicate its popularity and can be used as a metric to measure the success of a website or a digital marketing campaign.

Voice search – A technology that allows users to perform a search query by speaking into a device rather than typing it. Optimizing for voice search involves making sure that your website has high-quality, informative, and easily readable content that answers the questions users are likely to ask when searching by voice.

W

Webinar – A live online event that allows participants to interact with the presenter in real-time. Webinars can be used for a variety of purposes such as lead generation, product demonstrations, and customer engagement.

Website Analytics – The collection, measurement, analysis, and reporting of data about website usage. This information is often used to optimize the user experience, improve website performance, and make data-driven decisions about content and marketing strategies.

Wireframe – A simplified visual representation of a webpage or application, used in the initial stages of designing a user interface. It typically shows the layout of elements such as text, images, and buttons, but does not include colour, typography, or detailed graphics. It is commonly used to plan the structure and functionality of a website or app, and to communicate design ideas to stakeholders.

X

XML File (Extensible Markup Language File) – A markup language that is used to store and transport data. It is a flexible and extensible format that allows developers to create their own tags and attributes, making it suitable for a wide range of applications.

Y

YouTube Advertising – The process of placing ads on the YouTube platform to reach a specific audience and promote a product or service. YouTube offers a variety of ad formats, including skippable and non-skippable video ads, display ads, and sponsored cards.

Why is it important to stay on top of terms and trends in digital marketing?

Understanding the key terms and trends in digital marketing will help you stay up to date with the latest technologies, platforms, and strategies, which will give you an edge over competitors who are not as well-informed. This can include staying current on the latest social media platforms, ad targeting options, and analytics tools.
By staying informed about digital marketing trends, you can identify new opportunities to reach and engage your target audience. For example, if your business understands the growing popularity of a certain social media platform or trend, you can develop a strategy to take advantage of it to reach your target audience.
Understanding digital marketing trends can also help you adapt to changes in consumer behaviour. For example, if you understand that more and more consumers are using mobile devices to browse the web, you can optimize your website and marketing campaigns for mobile, which will help you reach and engage those consumers more effectively.
Businesses that understand the latest trends in digital marketing will be better equipped to measure and analyse the results of their marketing campaigns, which will help them optimize their strategies and improve their return on investment.

In summary, staying informed about the key terms and trends in digital marketing will help you stay ahead of the competition, identify new opportunities, adapt to changes in consumer behaviour, and improve the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns in 2023. fgd

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