Marketing and Sales Terms Everyone Should Know

Written by Flight Media | April 27, 2018

Editor’s note: This post was originally published on 1/28/14 and has been updated for

accuracy and comprehension.

Have you ever been in a business meeting or on a sales call, and the potential customer

or business associate uses a marketing term that you just don’t understand?

In order to get the results you want – converting more prospects into customers and

increasing your revenue – you have to know what you’re talking about.

Or at least sound like you do!

Having a handle on these words and phrases will allow you to confidently speak with

prospects, vendors, your sales team, and your marketing partner.

Here are 78 marketing and sales terms that you should know.

1. A/B Testing

Testing two versions of a webpage, email subject line, landing page, CTA, etc. to see

which one performs better.

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2. Advertising

Putting a spotlight on a product, service or business through paid broadcasting – print or

digital.

3. Analytics

Tracking data and creating meaningful patterns from it that inform future marketing

endeavors. The data can come from website traffic, conversions, social media, etc.

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4. Blogging

Originally, the term was web log or weblog and eventually...blog. Individuals, small

business and even large corporations write articles, commentaries, and the like,

publishing regularly on their website. A primary component of the inbound marketing

method, blogging helps to drive website traffic, builds thought leadership and authority,

and drives leads.

5. Bottom of the Funnel

A stage in the buying process, this happens last – when leads move through the top of

the funnel (identifying a problem), the middle (shopping for solutions), and finally, to

the bottom, where they’re ready to buy. At this stage, leads are interested in a demo, a

call, or a free consultation.

6. Bounce Rate

The number of people who land on a page of your website and leave without clicking on

anything before moving on to another page on your site.

7. Buyer Persona

A summary of your ideal buyer, based on market research, data and hypothesis. The

representation helps marketers define their ideal audience and it helps salespeople

determine lead quality.

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8. Brand

Anything that brings about awareness of a specific product, service or business while

separating it from other establishments.

9. Business-to-Business (B2B)

Describing a business that markets – or sells – to other businesses.

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10. Business-to-Consumer (B2C)

Describing a business that markets and sells to consumers (think Apple).

11. ClickThrough Rate (CTR)

This number shows the people that move through your website or marketing

campaigns. It’s actually the “clicks” or actions prospects take, divided by the total

number of actions people could take. Hence, the name “clickthrough rate.”

12. Cold Calling

Approaching prospective clients by phone or face-to-face without having ever had any

interaction with them before.

13. Comparative Advertising

The type of advertising in which a company makes a direct comparison to another

brand, firm or organization.

14. Content Management System (CMS)

A program that manages all of the aspects of creating content. These may include

editing, indexing, navigational elements, etc.

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15. Conversion Path

The path, or course of actions, a prospect will go through to eventually become a lead.

These events can include a call to action, lead form, thank you page, downloadable

content, etc.

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16. Conversion Rate

Percentage of people who take a desired action, such as filling out a form, registering,

signing up for a newsletter, or any activity other than just browsing a web page.

17. Corporate Identity

All symbols, colors, logos, etc., that make up the public image of an organization.

18. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Software that helps you organize all of your marketing and sales activities, including

storing contact information, tracking emails, storing deals, and more.

18. Cost Per lead (CPL)

The total cost marketing pays to acquire a lead. It is an important metric to keep track of

and it influences your Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC).

19. Cost-Based Pricing

A strategic form of pricing intended to cover the expenses of running your business.

20. Customer Acquisition Cost

A measurement that allows you to assess the cost of scaling up your business.

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It can be calculated by dividing the time and money spent on customer acquisition for a

specific period of time by the number of new customers gained.

(Money + Time Spent)/Number of New Customers

21. Customer Loyalty

When a consumer is a repeat buyer of a product, service or brand.

22. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Software that helps you organize all of your marketing and sales activities, including

storing contact information, tracking emails, storing deals, and more.

23. Demographics

A specific profiling aspect that takes into consideration age, gender, income, family life,

social class, etc. It’s often used in segmentation or for focal points in marketing and

advertising strategies.

24. Digital Marketing (Online Marketing)

Marketing to a target audience solely via the internet. Could be email marketing,

content marketing, etc.

25. Direct Competition

Competitors that provide the exact same services as your establishment or firm.

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26. Direct Mail

A means of advertising communication that reaches a consumer where they live or their

place of business, through the mail, often based on demographics and/or geographical

location.

27. Direct Marketing

Dealing Directly with the ‘end user’ rather than a third party or a middle man. Also can

be seen as directly communicating with your primary target audience. Can come in the

form of advertising, marketing or communications.

28. Ebook

Also referred to as a lead magnet, ebooks are generally a piece of longer content

designed to generate leads.

29. E-Commerce

The means of selling products digitally on the internet.

30. Email

A digital message you can send through the internet to contacts, leads and prospects.

Marketing through email takes businesses directly into a consumer’s inbox and provides

the ability to create a connection and build trust.

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31. Engagement Rate

A measurement of likes, shares, comments or other interaction a particular piece of

content receives.

32. Evergreen Content

Content that is valuable to a reader today, in 5 years and in 10 years. This “evergreen”

content is timeless, offers the highest-quality information and offers huge SEO benefits.

33. Friction

Any aspect of your website that is hard to understand, distracting or causes visitors to

move on from your page.

34. Geographic Segmentation

Segmenting a group of audiences based on where they live or where they are located.

35. Hashtag

A keyword phrase, written without spaces, with a # in front of it.

It allows you and your audience to interact and converse about specific topics on social

media.

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36. Inbound Marketing

Advertising your company via content marketing, podcasts, video, eBooks, email

broadcast, SEO, Social Marketing, etc., rather than paid advertising.

37. Infographic

A type of content that is visual in nature, making complex information easy to

understand and digest.

38. Internal Marketing

Efforts to offer a marketing plan to individuals and executives within your own firm to

gain their approval and/or support.

39. Keyword

A specific word or phrase that describes the content of a webpage.

It should always align with your target audience.

40. Key Performance Indicator (KPI)

A means to measure the performance of various factors, from employee functions to

marketing tactics. Tracking KPIs will help your organization achieve its goals.

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41. Landing Page

A page on your website that houses a form that prospects will fill out and exchange their

personal information for a lead magnet or free offer (such as an ebook, demo or

consultation).

42. Lead

An individual or a company that has show interest in one of your products or services.

Could be either a MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead) or an SQL (Sales Qualified Lead).

43. Lifetime Customer Value

A prediction of the net profit attributed to the entire future relationship with a

customer.

44. Margin

The profit gained from a product or service after all expenses for selling that product or

service are covered.

45. Marketing Automation

This is the tool that lets you “automate” your marketing campaigns. Through lead

nurturing, behavior-based strategies and more, you can use marketing automation to

send the right marketing messages to the right people at the right time.

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46. Marketing Qualified Lead

A lead that is ready to be handed over to the sales team. An MQL has had some sort of

positive interaction with the company such as a discussion, downloading marketing

products, etc., that deems them worthy to move to the next level of the sales funnel.

47. Market-Based Pricing

Similar to competitive based pricing in the sense that this type of pricing is based off of

the streamlined/current pricing for a specific product or service within the same

industry.

48. Market Development

The act of taking an existing product or service to a new market.

49. Market Penetration

A strategy used to sell more of an existing product within the current markets it is being

sold.

50. Market Research

High-intelligence research and development of a specific industry for the betterment of

sound business decisions.

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51. Marketing

The process of identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements in a

profitable way.

52. Monthly Recurring Revenue

The amount of income produced each month from subscriptions to your products or

services.

53. Middle of the Funnel (MOFU)

The stage of the sales funnel which a buyer enters after they have identified a problem.

This is the point at which you position your business as the solution to their problem.

54. New Product Development

The creation of a new product that involves research, development, product testing and

launching.

55. Niche Market/Business

A very specific segment of a market in which you are trying to meet the needs of that

market.

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56. Offer

This is an asset that you’ll offer prospects on a landing page. The offer is designed to

help you generate leads, and they can include everything from a webinar, ebook,

checklist, template, demo and more.

57. Pay Per Click (PPC)

A method of advertising on the internet where you only pay when someone “clicks” on

your ad.

58. Personal Development Plan

Developed for individuals who are looking to evaluate their S.W.O.T. analysis to plan

their future achievement and success.

59. Portfolio

A series of case studies that provide proof of value to potential customers.

60. Public Relations

A series of media releases, conferences, social images, etc., that make up and maintain

the reputation of an organization and its brands.

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61. Qualified Lead

A lead that is qualified meets your company’s criteria, or buyer persona attributes, and

is more likely to buy. A marketing qualified lead meets marketing objectives, while

a sales qualified lead meets sales objectives.

62. Research and Development

The process of discovering and developing new products and services.

63. Responsive Design

A website that changes based on the device the consumer uses. Mobile, laptop, and

desktop devices offer different views of a website, and responsive design accommodate

for each view, without having to build separate websites for each one.

64. Return On Investment (ROI)

A way to measure the profitability of the investment you make in marketing, sales, etc.

If the ROI on an investment is negative, it generally means you’re losing money on that

endeavor. Measuring the ROI on marketing effortsis a savvy way to ensure you’re

putting your money into the strategies that bring results.

65. Referral

A prospect or lead generated from someone who may be interested in what the

salesperson is selling.

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66. Relationship Marketing

Establishing relationships with the intent of developing a long term association with a

prospect or potential customer. This strategy is much less expensive that gaining new

customers.

67. Sales Funnel

The entire sales process as a whole – from prospect to paying customer – and all

marketing, advertising and sales processes in between.

68. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

A method to increase a webpage’s performance in web search results. By tweaking

elements on a webpage (there are on-page and off-page SEO factors), you can move a

webpage up on a search result “page.” Marketers generally want to get their website

page to appear on page 1 of a search results, ideally at the very top of the page. SEO

elements include keywords, title and image tags, links, and more.

69. Smarketing

The integration of sales and marketing.

It improves the skill sets and knowledge of both teams.

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70. Social Media

Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat that help users connect.

Marketers use these networks to increase awareness, grow their customer base and

achieve business goals.

71. S.W.O.T. Analysis

An internal study often used by organizations to identify

their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.

72. Target Marketing

A group of customers toward which a business has decided to aim its marketing efforts

and merchandise.

73. Top of the Funnel (TOFU)

Whereas Bottom of the Funnel (BOFU) prospects are in the ready-to-buy stage, TOFU

customers are at the initial stages of the buying process. They are looking for answers to

a problem they just realized they are having. Marketers create TOFU content that help

prospects identify the problem and leads them to solutions.

74. Unique Selling Proposition

A factor that differentiates a product from its competitors, such as the low cost, the

quality, etc.

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75. User Experience

The experience a user has with your brand/website, from the moment they discover

you, through the purchase and beyond – where customers become advocates.

76. Viral Marketing

A method of product promotion that relies on getting customers to market an idea,

product or service on their own.

77. Website

A series of webpages that are connected, beginning with a homepage and generally

includes other pages like “contact,” “about,” and “services.” Serving an individual or

organization, your website should be strategically designed to attract visitors, convert

users into leads and then turn leads into customers.

78. Workflow

A series of emails designed to nurture leads. A powerful marketing asset, you can use

workflows to engage leads, learn more about prospects, segment lists, and much more.

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