22 English Vocabulary Words You Need to Discuss a Marketing Plan for Your Business

Talking About Brands

Whenever you’re having a conversation about marketing, it’s common to hear people talk about a company’s “brand.”

Your company’s name, how recognizable the name is and how people view it are all part of your brand. You
want customers to think and feel something specific when they hear your company’s name. For example, a lot of
Apple lovers automatically think things like “quality” and “cutting edge” when they hear the brand mentioned. The
creators of Apple wanted these ideas to be part of the brand. Today, the Apple brand holds a lot of value.

Brand Identity —This is the message a brand wants to send to its customer. Perhaps you want your company to be
seen as professional and exclusive.
Or maybe you want it to be young and vibrant. Adjectives like these help to make a brand identity.

Example: Their new logo is fresh and hip, giving them an almost entirely different brand identity.

Brand Guidelines —This is a document that explains a brand’s identity entirely. This is usually used by marketing
professionals and graphic designers. It is basically a set of do’s (things you should do) and don’ts (things you
shouldn’t do) for presenting the brand in any marketing material. It will include things like:

Colors to use
Where and how to use the logo
Acceptable fonts
Types of images
Thickness of borders
Packaging guidelines

Brand guidelines can be a few pages or a hundred pages, depending on the size of the brand. This document
allows a business to maintain consistency in presentation.

Example: All designers must refer to the brand guidelines whenever they are making new marketing material.

Look and Feel — This is a way of talking about things in the brand guidelines. The “look and feel” is exactly what
it sounds like. It is how the brand looks and how it makes people feel. It is the way someone experiences a brand
through its packaging, website and marketing efforts.

Example: The spa’s look and feel is very minimalist, but at the same time relaxed and inviting.

Visibility — The word visibility refers to something’s ability to be seen. Something that has good visibility is
something that can be seen easily. When talking about a brand’s visibility it means the same thing. How often
does your audience see your brand through your marketing activities? The more people see or hear about your
brand, the more visibility it has.

Example: We should put up a big billboard on the interstate to increase our offline visibility

Talking About Marketing in General

Marketing includes every way you try to get people to hear about your brand.

Online Marketing Activities — Online marketing activities are any activities to increase visibility that
happen through the Internet and through smartphone apps. This could include email campaigns, text
messages and digital advertising.

Offline Marketing Activities — These are any marketing activities that do not happen on the Internet. This
could include billboards, print ads, mailed newsletters, flyers, live demos and much more.

Marketing Campaign — This is a marketing message that you want your audience to remember. It is one single
message that is sent by multiple different methods. You will spread this message through online and offline
marketing activities. A company usually pushes a specific marketing campaign for a predetermined duration.
However, if the marketing campaign is a huge success, they may continue to use it.
Example: Have you ever heard of the phrase “Just Do It”? This was a marketing campaign Nike introduced in the
late 1980s, but it has since become an important part of the Nike brand identity.

Marketing Objective — This is what you are trying to accomplish with your campaign. Maybe you have a
sales goal or you want to reach a certain number of people. A marketing objective is your reason for
activating the marketing activity.

Example: Our marketing objective for the spring print campaign is to get at least 10,000 people to walk into our store in
the month of April.

Campaign Reach — To know if your campaign is successful, you should have someone who is tracking and
analyzing the data. Data will show you how many people see or engage with the campaign material. This is a
phrase often used with digital marketing, but it can be used when talking about other marketing activities too.

Example: I have spent $1000 on the ads, and the campaign reach is about 10,000. That works out to be 10 cents per ad
view.

Marketing Collateral — This refers to the media and material used to sell your product. Rather than ads, most
of the time this refers to things such as PowerPoint presentations, brochures, white papers and so on

Example: We need to update our marketing collateral and create some more appealing brochures and flyers.

Talking About Digital Marketing

Digital marketing is any form of marketing that takes place in the digital world, online.

SEO — This is an acronym which stands for Search Engine Optimization. SEO uses special techniques to get
your website (or certain pages of your website) to rank higher for search engines. This means that people will be
able to find your website when they are looking for something related to your company.

For example, if you type “potato chips” into the search bar on Google, Lays (a very popular and well-known
brand of potato chips) will appear. They use good SEO to have their brand seen by people on the Internet who
are searching for potato chips.

Example: We can improve our SEO if we add a blog to our website.

Big Data — Just like it sounds, the phrase “big data” is used when talking about massive amounts of data.
Analysts use this data to figure out trends and human behavior to better understand markets.

Example: We can use big data to figure out which products our customers might prefer the most.

Social Media — Any platform that connects people, including: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and
Snapchat. Many companies want to have a good social media presence, which means that they will have
good visibility to people who use these social media sites.

Example: We should improve our brand’s social media presence by opening Instagram and Pinterest accounts.

Keywords — When you set up an online advertisement, you can select keywords that are relevant to your
product. Then your advertisement will target people who have searched for things similar to your keywords. As
shown in the previous example, “potato chips” is a keyword for the Lays company’s website.

Example: Since we are selling hand-crafted chairs, we should add “furniture,” “chair” and “décor” to our list of keywords.

Real-time engagement — This is when a brand interacts with audiences right now. Instead of only following a
marketing plan that was designed weeks ago, real-time engagement means a brand reacts in “real-time.” Your
company might do some real-time engagement by interacting with its followers on Twitter or Facebook.

Example: Since #summerholiday is now trending on Twitter, let’s mention some fun things for people to do.
That way we can increase our real-time engagement.
Online Presence — When someone hears about a new business or product, the first thing they’ll do is go to
Google. This is the modern world. We go to the Internet to do research and see what we can learn about any
business or product that interests us.

When someone searches for your business online, which website pages come up? This is your online presence.
If people can find your business online, then your business has an online presence. If someone searches for your
name and finds your personal website, then you have an online presence!

Example: There are only ten websites that come up when I search for our business’ name. We really need to
improve our online presence and get some other websites to start talking about us.

Email Blast — When you send the same marketing email out to a large list of email addresses, it’s called an email
blast.

Example: Let’s send out an email blast informing our database that the store will be having a huge sale before
Christmas.

Talking About Content Marketing

Content marketing uses strategic material that’s put out for the world to see, but which doesn’t necessarily appear
to be an advertisement. This can be an interesting video, a story or a single Facebook post.

Clickbait — This is when a headline is worded in such a way that readers feel tempted to click it to find out what the
article will say.

Example: Headlines like “This woman lost her dog. You’ll never believe what happened next” and “5 things you
must absolutely try today” are nothing more than clickbait to increase page views.

Organic Content — This is content that happens naturally. The marketing team did not plan or create this
content. It’s usually something that a customer writes or promotes.

Example: A high school student wrote organic content by reviewing our product in a Facebook post and 3,500 people
liked it.

Influencers — Influencers are people who have a big social media following. They may be traditional celebrities
or Internet celebrities. Either way, when they post something on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook, a lot of people
see it.

Celebrity-Driven Content — When brands pay an influencer to post about their product, it’s considered to be celebrity-
driven content.

Example: Ally has 100,000 followers on Instagram, so brands pay her to post celebrity-driven content.

Native Advertising — This is advertising that disguises itself to look as though it isn’t marketing. It is a property
which looks like other non-advertising properties on the same site or platform.

Example: The beauty blog will feature a post about the quickest way to remove pimples. The post is native advertising
provided by a face wash company.
English for Marketing: 12 Current Phrases for Keeping Up in a Growing, Changing Field
fluentu.com/blog/business-english/english-for-marketing/
tracybowens June 15,
2016
Maybe you thought you already knew business English.

You may know how to introduce yourself and others, and how to talk on the phone in a business setting.

Having those skills can make you feel pretty confident, and it should!

But now you need to talk about a marketing plan for your business.

Or maybe you’ve decided to pursue a career in marketing.

Marketing is an innovative (progressing and developing) field that has its own specialized (specific) vocabulary.

You need this vocabulary to brainstorm and discuss ideas for selling products or services.

The language in marketing is always changing and developing, which means that there are always new words, phrases
and idioms to learn.

But hey, it’s okay. We have you covered.

You’re about to learn 12 impressive phrases that will make your marketing vocabulary current and effective.

Let’s get started by looking at a business conversation that might happen in a marketing department.

A Conversation in a Marketing Department

After the sample conversation below, we’ll look at some of the vocabulary used in detail. When reading
through the conversation, just do your best to follow along. Don’t worry if you don’t understand everything right
away.

This conversation takes place between Joseph and his manager, Sophie. Sophie has just called Joseph into
her office to talk about a new product the company has put out, Carrot Bites.

Joseph: Hi, Sophie. What’s this about? The company’s launch of Carrot Bites?

Sophie: Yes. I just want to review a few things. I have a meeting with the board next week, and I want to make sure I
have all of the information I need.
Bob will be there.

Joseph: Ah, Bob. I understand why you want to be prepared, then. Everyone knows that Bob would like to see Carrot
Bites flop (fail).

Sophie: Unfortunately, you’re right. You know Bob’s history with the company, don’t you?

Joseph: Yeah. He has a reputation for (is known for) challenging the status quo. That’s what he did when he
pioneered the Apple Fusion. “A squeeze a day keeps the doctor away.” What a great product to sell to children and
their parents: Fruit that’s easily accessible in tubes, that you can just squeeze to get the same nutrients (food-based
benefits) you get from eating an apple. I remember parents stocking up on them and kids sucking on them like
candy.

Sophie: You sound like a commercial. And you’re right. Without Bob and the success of that product, we probably would
not be here today.

Joseph: You mean the company would have gone out of business?

Sophie: Oh no, nothing that extreme. The company was doing fine before Bob came up with the Apple Fusion
idea. It’s just that the company wasn’t seeking step-change growth.
Joseph: Well, it sure got it with the Apple Fusion.

Sophie: The product’s success amazed us all. Bob did such a good job of driving demand for the product by
co-opting the tactics of the fast food companies.

Joseph: Coming from a fast food company myself, I can tell you how impressive the whole campaign was. I mean,
no one had ever thought of selling fruit in the same way as junk food before. People love potato chips. You don’t
have to convince them to buy more. But it’s a challenge to get people, especially kids, to eat food that’s good for
you. So, when I got the call from the headhunter (a person hired to find a job candidate) about my current position,
I jumped at the opportunity to join the company.
Sophie: I’m glad you did. We really need people like you to help lead the change effort and move us away from
being just another agricultural business. Which brings me back to the board meeting. What Bob did was great. We
all know that. The problem is that he wants to keep all the glory for himself. But we can’t rest on our laurels. We
need to keep moving forward with Carrot Bites, and show that the Apple Fusion wasn’t a fluke (an accident). Bob
is going to try to stop me, but with a strong story, I should be able to override (make up for, cancel out) his
objections.

Joseph: That’s pretty much what I thought. I have all the information you’ll need here.

Sophie: I knew I could count on you.

Joseph: So, as you know, the concept for Carrot Bites came out of a focus group (a group of people brought together
to give their opinions). We talked to kids and they said that having carrots that you can easily munch on, like baby
carrots, is great. But they said that it would be better to have even smaller carrots that come in different flavors.

Sophie: Thus the name “Carrot Bites.”

Joseph: Exactly. Listening to them allowed us to log an early win. Biting into a Carrot Bite is like biting into a
potato chip. And Carrot Bites have flavors, so kids like them, but they’re still good for you. We also decided to
sell them in single-serve packages.

Sophie: Bob did the same thing with the Apple Fusion. So both products were adopted because they were sold
in single servings—like soft drinks and potato chips.

Joseph: That’s right. And, of course, along with the packaging strategy, we’ve been tweaking our pricing.

Sophie: Joseph, you’re a genius. You’ve just given me a solution for how to win over Bob (to get Bob to agree with me).

Joseph: I did? Fill me in (give me the information I’m missing). How are you going to do that?

Sophie: I’m going to make Bob look like a hero. In launching Carrot Bites, you did many of the same things he did
with the Apple Fusion. All I have to do is stress the fact that he laid the blueprint (created the model/plan) for
future success. There’s no way he can argue with that.

Joseph: Sounds like the perfect strategy to me.

Sophie: It is, I’m sure. Thanks for your input. I’ll let you know how it goes, but I no longer foresee having problems with
Bob.

Talking About the Product

1. To launch a product

When a company launches a product, it places the product into the market. Consumers can buy a product once it is
launched.

Consumers are anticipating the company’s launch of its next generation of smartphones.
2. To adopt a product

When consumers accept a new product and decide to buy it, they adopt it. Marketers refer to different categories of
adopters, which include:

Those who buy the product as soon as it comes out.

Those who wait to hear the opinions of others before deciding to buy the product.
Those who buy the product because they have no other choice.

There are many people who do not adopt new technology until the old technology is obsolete (out-of-date).

3. To pioneer a product

Pioneering a product means to introduce a new product into the current environment. This is not just a new
product like all of the others, though. It is innovative (original).

The company pioneered the “baby carrot.”

Talking About Competition

4. To log an early win

When a company gains significant market share (gets a significant amount of the sales in a certain industry) soon
after the launch of a product, they can log an early win (meaning they can record their early success).

Apple logged an early win in the smartphone market by focusing on usability features.

5. To drive demand

When people want a product, there is demand for it. Companies want to create demand for their products. As
simply introducing a product is often not enough to do this, companies create tactics, or ways to make
consumers want to buy their product.

In some emerging markets, a company has to drive demand for the product category before it can drive demand for its
product.

6. To jump at an opportunity

Jumping at an opportunity means enthusiastically taking advantage of an opportunity.

We lost Sue to a startup that competes with us. She jumped at the opportunity to work there because of
the new challenge and higher financial rewards. We couldn’t match the financial package they offered her.

7. To co-opt someone’s tactics

In this sense, to co-opt something means to take it and use it for your own purposes. So when someone (or a
company) co-opts the competition’s tactics, they are taking the way the competition does something and making it
work for them.

The advertising campaign was so successful that other advertisers co-opted the style.

8. To rest on one’s laurels

Resting on one’s laurels means being happy with what one has done, and not trying to improve things in any way.

Many people believe that the company went out of business because it rested on its laurels.

Talking About Change

9. To change the status quo

Changing or challenging the status quo means changing the way things are currently done.

Surviving in this economy means shaking things up. We can’t keep on operating in the same way. It’s not
working for us anymore. We have tochange the status quo.
10. To lead the change effort

A change effort is trying to implement (apply) change within a company. When someone in the company leads
this effort, it is their responsibility to make sure that the transition is smooth, and that the change is accepted.

He hired several others in top management roles to help him lead the change effort.

Talking About Pricing

11. To make tweaks to the pricing

Tweaking something means making small changes to it. Companies tweak prices to find the right price at which to sell a
product.

Demand for the product was very low at first. We suspected that we had priced it too high. So wemade tweaks
to the pricing, and then the product flew off the shelves.

Talking About Growth

12. To seek step-change growth

Growth that shows significant improvement is called step-change growth. When a company looks for ways to
achieve significant improvement, it seeks step-change growth.

Acme Inc. wasn’t seeking step-change growth when it introduced the new widget. But now that the company
has achieved step-change growth, they are looking for ways to sustain it.

Now that you have these 12 impressive marketing phrases, don’t waste your new knowledge.

Write the words down wherever you store new vocabulary words, and look for opportunities to use them.

Or, go even further by doing some reading on driving demand, leading a change effort, adopting a product

Article

Do Standing Desks Really Improve Your Health?

Some people say that standing desks can help you lose weight, and also help you feel less tired
and more focused at work. But how do standing desks really affect your health?

A 2015 study in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health compared the amount of calories people
used while sitting, standing, and walking. It found that there wasn't much difference between sitting
and standing, with people using about 80 calories an hour while sitting, compared to just 88 calories
an hour while standing. Walking used the most, at 210 calories an hour.

This means that standing at your desk for three hours a day only uses an extra 24 calories, about
the same amount that's in a carrot. Compare this with taking a half hour walk during your lunch
break, which burns an extra 100 calories a day, or about the same that's in a spoon of butter.

A 2019 study found that while there are small benefits to using a standing desk, they did not do
much to improve people's health or help them lose weight. Dr. April Chambers, one of the study's
authors, said standing desks can help a small amount with some things like blood pressure and
back pain. However, they need to be used in the correct way, and more study is needed.

That being said, sitting all day is still bad for you, and can cause a number of health problems,
including diabetes. So if you spend a lot of time sitting, it's probably better to exercise for at least an
hour a day instead of spending money on a standing desk.