Like all professions, marketing has a ton of acronyms and jargon. For the average person, it is a struggle to understand what these terms stand for, let alone how they could help your business. So if you don’t know your SEO from your SEM or your PPC from your CRM, check out this handy guide below for an explanation of some of the most common marketing terms and what they mean.
| TERM | MEANING | EXPLANATION |
| B2B | Business to Business | The process of one business selling their products or services to another business. For example: commercial fitness equipment suppliers sell their products to gyms. |
| B2C | Business to Consumer | The process of one business selling their products or services directly to the final consumer. For example: Physiotherapy clinics sell their services directly to clients (consumers). |
| CPC | Cost Per Click | The price you pay every time an online ad is clicked on as part of a PPC (Pay per Click – see below) campaign. |
| CTA | Call to Action | This is the action you want your potential member or client to take as a result of your marketing effort. All marketing activity you undertake should have a strong call to action, making it the next step you’d like your customer to take. |
| CRM | Customer Relationship Management | This is the process of managing the relationship you have with your members or clients. This includes all communication you have with them that influences the sales process. |
| GA | Google Analytics | A free tool that Google provides to track and report on traffic to your website. Businesses can use this information to make marketing decisions. |
| LAM | Local Area Marketing | Local area marketing involves marketing tactics that you implement in your local geographic area. This includes both digital and non-digital forms of marketing. For example: sponsorship of your local sporting team. |
| LTV | Lifetime Value | This is the projected total financial value of your member or client over the lifetime they are a customer. |
| PPC | Pay Per Click | An online advertising model that allows advertisers to only pay for an ad when it is clicked on. Often also referred to as Paid Search or Search Engine Marketing (see below). |
| ROI | Return on Investment | A way of measuring how much profit or revenue is generated by marketing activities undertaken. It is a way of measuring success of marketing efforts. |
| SEM | Search Engine Marketing | The process of driving traffic to your website by purchasing ads on search engines. Google Ads is the most commonly used platform. |
| SEO | Search Engine Optimisation | The process of making your website as visible to search engines as possible. The objective is to appear at the top of the results when a potential customer is searching for terms related to your business. |
| SMM | Social Media Marketing | Using social media channels to promote your products or services. Social Media channels include Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Snapchat and Pinterest. |
| USP | Unique Service Proposition | A definition that businesses use to describe what sets you apart from your competitors. What makes you different? |
| UX | User Experience | The process of understanding what customers need and want and how they consume a produce or service and incorporating that information into all aspects of every interaction from conception to implementation. |
| WOM | Word of Mouth Marketing | Word of Mouth Marketing occurs when your members or clients, recommend your business to people they know based on a positive experience they have had with your business. Best of all…it’s FREE |
These 15 acronyms are truly just the tip of the iceberg and ones I get asked about most! What other ones do you think should be added?