20 ESSENTIAL DIGITAL MARKETING TERMS

This list dives into the heart of digital marketing, exploring terms that both beginners and veterans might find valuable. We'll focus on practical concepts with real-world applications, not just trendy buzzwords.

20 digital marketing key terms

1. Conversion Rate: The percentage of visitors who take a desired action, like signing up for an email list or making a purchase. It's a crucial metric for measuring marketing campaign effectiveness.

2. Push Marketing: Sending targeted messages directly to potential or existing customers. Examples include email campaigns, TV ads, and digital signage.

3. Pull Marketing (Inbound Marketing): Attracting customers to your brand through valuable content and strategies like SEO and social media marketing.

4. Customer Acquisition: All marketing and sales activities focused on obtaining new customers.

5. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): The average cost of acquiring a customer. It's calculated by dividing sales & marketing expenses by the total number of new customers.

6. Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): The total revenue a customer generates for your business over their relationship with you.
   Understanding CAC and CLV helps you assess your business model's profitability.

   • A CLV / CAC ratio greater than 1 indicates healthy customer profitability.

   • A ratio less than 1 suggests each new customer acquisition loses money.

   • Ideally, your CAC should be around a quarter to a third of your CLV for a strong foundation.
   

7. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO): Increasing your website's visibility in unpaid search results. This drives organic traffic from potential customers actively searching for your offerings.

8. Search Engine Marketing (SEM): Combining SEO with paid advertising to increase website traffic. In simpler terms, SEO + paid ads = SEM.

9. Search Engine Results Page (SERP): The list of results displayed by a search engine when a user enters a query. A higher ranking on the SERP for relevant keywords increases the chance of users clicking on your website.

10. Impression: An instance of your online content being displayed. It's often used in paid advertising, where click-through rate (CTR) is calculated based on impressions.

11. Click-Through Rate (CTR): The percentage of people who click on your ad or content compared to the total number of times it's displayed. A higher CTR suggests your campaigns resonate more effectively with viewers.

12. Cost per Mille (CPM): The cost for every thousand impressions of your ad. It's a pricing model often used in paid advertising campaigns.

13. Cost per Click (CPC): The cost you pay for each click on your ad in a paid search campaign. It's a popular pricing model on platforms like Google Ads.

14. Customer Relationship Management (CRM): Building, maintaining, and enhancing relationships with your customers. CRM software helps manage contacts, segment customers, automate marketing efforts, and analyze sales data.

15. Content Management System (CMS): Software that simplifies website creation and content publishing. Popular platforms like WordPress streamline content management, SEO, and user management.

16. Marketing Analytics: A data-driven approach to measuring marketing effectiveness. By analyzing data from social media, web forms, and other channels, you gain insights to improve future campaigns.

17. Bounce Rate: The percentage of visitors who leave your website after viewing only one page. A lower bounce rate is generally better, but context matters. For example, press releases and contact pages might naturally have higher bounce rates than product pages.

18. Return on Investment (ROI): The percentage of return you get on a marketing investment. While there are many marketing metrics, ROI remains a fundamental measure of success. Attributing sales to specific campaigns can be tricky, but marketing analytics tools and email marketing software can help you track ROI more effectively.

19. A/B Testing (Split Testing): Comparing two variations of the same thing (web page, ad, email) to see which performs better. Effective A/B testing requires controlling variables, avoiding bias, and collecting enough data. CRM or email marketing software can often assist with A/B testing.

20. Customer Segmentation (Market Segmentation): Grouping customers based on shared characteristics like needs, interests, and budget. Effective segmentation allows you to send targeted, relevant information that resonates more with your audience and potentially boosts conversion rates and overall marketing ROI.