Your quick reference guide to essential marketing and sales terminology. Bookmark this page.
A
A/B Testing: Comparing two versions of a marketing asset (email, landing page, ad) to see which performs better. Example: Testing two subject lines to see which gets more opens.
Account-Based Marketing (ABM): Targeting specific high-value accounts with personalized campaigns instead of broad audiences.
Attribution: Determining which marketing channels deserve credit for a conversion. Models include first-touch, last-touch, and multi-touch.
B
B2B (Business-to-Business): Selling products or services to other businesses.
B2C (Business-to-Consumer): Selling directly to individual consumers.
BANT: Sales qualification framework?Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline. Used to qualify leads.
Bounce Rate: Percentage of visitors who leave your site after viewing only one page.
Buyer Persona: Semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on research and data.
C
Call-to-Action (CTA): A button or link prompting users to take a specific action (e.g., "Buy Now," "Download Free Guide").
Churn Rate: Percentage of customers who cancel or don't renew their subscriptions.
Click-Through Rate (CTR): Percentage of people who click on a link out of total who saw it. Formula: (Clicks ? Impressions) ? 100.
Cold Calling: Reaching out to prospects who haven't expressed interest yet.
Conversion Rate: Percentage of visitors who complete a desired action (purchase, sign-up). Formula: (Conversions ? Total Visitors) ? 100.
Cost Per Acquisition (CPA): How much it costs to acquire one customer. Formula: Total Marketing Spend ? Number of Customers Acquired.
Cost Per Click (CPC): Amount you pay each time someone clicks your ad.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM): Software for managing customer interactions, sales pipelines, and data.
D
Domain Authority (DA): Moz's metric (1-100) predicting how well a site will rank. Higher = better.
Drip Campaign: Automated series of emails sent on a schedule or triggered by user actions.
E
Email Marketing: Sending commercial messages to a list of subscribers to nurture leads or drive sales.
Engagement Rate: How much your audience interacts with your content (likes, shares, comments).
F
Funnel: The journey from awareness to purchase. Stages: Awareness ? Interest ? Consideration ? Conversion.
G
Growth Hacking: Using creative, low-cost tactics to rapidly grow a business.
I
Impressions: Number of times your content is displayed, regardless of clicks.
Inbound Marketing: Attracting customers through valuable content (blogs, SEO, social media) rather than interrupting them with ads.
K
Key Performance Indicator (KPI): Measurable value showing how effectively you're achieving objectives. Examples: conversion rate, CAC, churn rate.
Keyword: Words/phrases people type into search engines. Central to SEO and PPC strategies.
L
Landing Page: Standalone page designed for a single goal (capture leads, sell product).
Lead: Someone who's shown interest in your product/service.
Lead Generation: Process of attracting and converting prospects into leads.
Lead Nurturing: Building relationships with leads through targeted content until they're ready to buy.
Lead Scoring: Assigning points to leads based on behavior/demographics to prioritize follow-up.
Lifetime Value (LTV): Total revenue you expect from a customer over their entire relationship with your business.
Long-Tail Keywords: Longer, more specific keyword phrases with lower search volume but higher conversion rates. Example: "best CRM for real estate agents" vs. "CRM."
M
Marketing Automation: Using software to automate repetitive marketing tasks (emails, social posts, lead nurturing).
Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL): Lead who's engaged with marketing but not ready to buy yet.
Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR): Predictable revenue generated each month from subscriptions.
O
Onboarding: Process of getting new customers set up and using your product successfully.
Open Rate: Percentage of email recipients who open your email.
Organic Traffic: Visitors who find your site through unpaid search results (not ads).
P
Pay-Per-Click (PPC): Advertising model where you pay each time someone clicks your ad (Google Ads, Facebook Ads).
Pipeline: Visual representation of where deals are in your sales process (Lead ? Qualified ? Proposal ? Closed).
R
Retargeting: Showing ads to people who've previously visited your site but didn't convert.
Return on Investment (ROI): Measure of profitability. Formula: (Revenue - Cost) ? Cost ? 100.
S
Sales Cadence: Sequence of touchpoints (calls, emails, social) used to contact prospects.
Sales Enablement: Providing sales teams with content, tools, and training to sell more effectively.
Sales Qualified Lead (SQL): Lead that's been vetted and is ready to talk to sales.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Optimizing your website to rank higher in organic search results.
Service-Level Agreement (SLA): Agreement between marketing and sales defining lead handoff criteria and response times.
Social Media Marketing: Using platforms like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn to promote your brand.
T
Target Audience: Specific group of people most likely to buy your product.
Top of Funnel (TOFU): Awareness stage?attracting visitors who don't know your brand yet.
U
Unique Selling Proposition (USP): What makes your product different/better than competitors.
Upsell: Convincing customers to buy a more expensive version or add-ons.
W
Win Rate: Percentage of deals closed-won out of total opportunities. Formula: (Closed-Won Deals ? Total Opportunities) ? 100.
Conclusion
Bookmark this glossary and reference it whenever you encounter unfamiliar marketing or sales terms. Understanding these concepts is essential for effective marketing and sales alignment.