Marketing terms explained by a digital marketing agency

You know the feeling: you’re on a marketing call and it sounds like everyone is speaking a different language. Well, they kind of are.

At Vanguard 86 our core values include transparency and ensuring digital marketing is uncomplicated, which means we do our best to remove jargon every step of the way. That doesn’t stop the odd word from sneaking in, so we created this handy guide.

While we’ve done our best to include many popular marketing terms in this guide it’s also a work in progress as we find new terms to add.

In alphabetical order, here are the most common terms you'll hear when working with a marketing agency, and what they mean.

Contents:

A/B Testing

A/B testing, or split testing, is more or less what it sounds like. It’s when you compare two versions of a webpage, email, or ad to see which performs the best. You’re testing version A against version B. The benefit of A/B testing over other forms like focus groups or surveys is that you're getting real-world data. By showing different versions to different segments of your audience, you can see which approach works best.

Example: A digital marketing agency in NZ might test two email subject lines to see which one garners a higher open rate. If "Unlock Exclusive Deals" outperforms "Special Discounts Just for You," they’ll know which hook is stronger.

Above the fold

Describes the section of the web page that can be seen on certain device sizes when it’s first loaded. If the visitor doesn’t scroll down, this is all they will see.

API - Application programming interface

While very technical this often comes up when discussing how to get two different software platforms to talk to each other. While an integration is the most common and preferred method an API is used by a developer to build a custom connection between these programmes.

B2B - Business-to-business

When a company sells to other companies this is defined as B2B selling. This market differs from selling directly to the user in that there are multiple buyers to sell to, often with differing purchasing power and decision-making capabilities.

B2B2C - Business-to-business-to-consumer

A more complex ‘go to market’ approach is typically seen when a business sells its products or services through a reseller. Primarily the company needs to sell in to resellers, who then sell to the end user. 

B2C - Business-to-consumer

Companies that sell directly to the person who will be consuming or using the product or service are in the B2C space. There is often only one decision-maker and that is the person making the purchase.

Blog/blogging

The practice of publishing long-form written content on your website. This commonly takes the shape of articles that are informative and educational. Blog articles are condensed into a blog listing page, with each article able to be found on search engines, which benefits SEO efforts.

BOFU - Bottom-of-the-funnel

Content at the bottom (commonly abbreviated to BOFU representing Bottom Of Funnel) typically focuses on content that converts a visitor into a new contact for your CRM. Common examples of this include premium content lead magnets, like these.

Bounce rate

Expressed as a percentage this shows how many of the total page viewers left the website having only seen this page. A high bounce rate indicates that many visitors are leaving having only viewed that one page while a low bounce rate shows most visitors further explore the website.

Buyer persona

This is a detailed representation of a fictional ideal customer used as a guide to create content targeting potential buyers matching that individual. Commonly this centers on a person experiencing a problem, and the options they may consider to solve this issue.

CTA - Call-To-Action

A call-to-action is a prompt that encourages users to take a specific action. "Sign Up Now" or "Learn More” are both common examples. It’s the nudge that drives conversions and guides your audience to the next part of the customer journey.

Example: On a digital marketing agency’s website, an effective CTA might be, “Contact us today to transform your online presence!” This prompt directs potential clients to take the next step in engaging with the business.

CTR - Click-Through Rate

Click-through rate measures the ratio of users who click on a specific link to the total number of users who view the ad, email, or webpage. While cost per click is measured against total cost, click-through rate is measured against total impressions (users who saw the ad). Click-through rate is crucial in understanding how well your content captures interest.

Example: If an email sent by a HubSpot agency is viewed by 1,000 people and 100 of them click, the CTR is 10%. A high CTR indicates that the content is compelling and engaging.

CMS - Content Management System

A Content Management System (CMS) is a software application that allows users to create, edit, organise, and publish digital content without needing extensive technical knowledge. It provides a user-friendly interface for managing websites, blogs, or other online platforms.

Example: WordPress is a popular CMS, HubSpot also has a user-friendly CMS.

Content Strategy

Content strategy is all the planning, creation, and management that goes into achieving your goals. Think of it as the blueprint for your digital marketing.

Example: A HubSpot agency crafts a content strategy for a client. The strategy defines the target audience, sets content goals, and includes a mix of blog and social posts for the campaign.

Conversion Rate

Conversion rate (sometimes shortened to CVR) is the percentage of visitors to a webpage who complete a desired action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form. It’s the ultimate measure of your marketing campaign’s success, reflecting how well you’re able to convert prospects into customers.

Example: If a digital marketing agency’s landing page receives 1,000 visits and 50 people sign up for a webinar, then the conversion rate is 5%. This could be optimised further by tweaking a headline or changing the call to action.

CPC - Cost Per Click

Cost per click is the amount an advertiser pays each time someone clicks on their online ad. It’s a critical metric in pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, helping you measure the cost-effectiveness of your campaigns. Lower CPC means it costs less to get your audience to a product or landing page.

Example: A business running a Google Ads campaign sets a CPC bid of $1. If the ad is clicked 100 times, they pay $100. By analysing CPC alongside conversion rates, they can determine their return on investment.

CRM

A common abbreviation for Customer Relationship Management it broadly refers to platforms that enable businesses to store and manage client data. Specific examples of CRMs include HubSpot, Zoho, Odoo, Insighlty, and Salesforce.

EDM

A shortening of Email Direct Marketing, a term commonly used to refer to email marketing where the email is sent to a large group of people through a mass-distribution platform such as Mailchimp or HubSpot. While most regions simply refer to email campaigns as 'emails' or 'e-blasts' this colloquial term remains in the antipodes.

Gated content

Premium content that can only be accessed by submitting details via a form is gated content. This information will typically be the visitor's first name and email so that the content can be sent to their inbox for future reference. This also enables the visitor to be added to the CRM for future marketing campaigns.

Impressions

How many times the content was served online. This could be as a small thumbnail to the side of a news article someone is reading or in the social media feed of someone scrolling through.

Inbound marketing

The opposite of outbound marketing this philosophy focuses marketing efforts on groups of people actively seeking your solutions. By honing marketing efforts on those people searching for your services online you reduce reach (by only focusing on people seeking your services) but increase contact acquisition and opportunities created because these people are looking to buy.

Integration

The ability for two, or more, software platforms to share data between each other. This could be the CRM sending data to an accounting platform to ensure contact details are up-to-date, or for a sales platform to send details of completed orders to a marketing platform for confirmation emails to be sent.

Keyword

Used in both organic search and advertising conversations this is a focus word. Typed into a search engine by your target buyer the use of this word will cause adverts using it to appear, and can mean blog articles and web pages are shown, if they feature this word correctly.

KPI - Key performance indicator

These are metrics that define successful marketing. A business may have a KPI (goal/target) to achieve 30 website enquiries a month, or 5,000 followers within a financial year.

Lead Generation

Lead generation is the process of attracting and converting strangers into leads who are interested in your service or product—better positioning them to convert further down the funnel. It’s the lifeblood of any marketing strategy, ensuring a steady flow of prospects.

Example: A HubSpot NZ agency might use a combination of gated content, like eBooks and webinars, and social media advertising to generate leads. By capturing contact information, they are able to build a pipeline of potential customers to nurture.

MOFU - Middle-of-the-funnel

Content at the middle (commonly abbreviated to MOFU representing Middle Of Funnel) typically focuses on offering more specific and technical content to visitors. It assumes a basic level of knowledge already exists and focuses on comparisons, considerations, and common pitfalls. Many businesses use the They Ask, You Answer framework at this stage of the funnel.

MQL - Marketing Qualified Lead

An MQL is a contact that has shown a higher level of interest in a business's marketing collateral than a casual visitor, and/or shows indicators of being a good-fit prospect. Often surfaced via CRM-based scoring systems a contact could become a marketing qualified lead by engaging with online calculators, brochures, marketing emails, or through explicit data such as job title and company size or geography.

Outbound marketing

This type of marketing centres on a wide-reaching communications strategy to cast a message out to as many people as possible. The approach assumes that some of those that are reached will be interested in the offering, and will reach out as a result. This is the opposite approach to inbound marketing.

Premium content

Attracting new contacts into your CRM is a key goal of marketing. This is commonly achieved by having content on your website that people want to download, in exchange for their details. Commonly crafted as guides or whitepapers these are valuable resources for prospects interested in your solutions.

PPC - Pay-Per-Click

This far-reaching term encompasses all advertising where the advertiser (you) are charged on a per-click basis. Commonly this includes Google Ads where your advert can be shown to many people, but only those engaging with your advert will incur a charge.

ROAS - Return on ad spend

This measures the revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising. It is a key performance indicator used to evaluate the effectiveness of ad campaigns. ROAS is calculated by dividing the total revenue from ads by the total ad spend

ROI - Return on investment

Many businesses seek to generate revenue from their marketing spend. In this case, they’re looking for a financial return on their investment in marketing. Marketers commonly abbreviate this down to ROI and use it in reporting to show the revenue that has been gained from a particular expense.

SEM - Search Engine Marketing

Search engine marketing (SEM) involves promoting websites by increasing their visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) through paid advertising and organic search ranking (also called SEO). It’s a powerful tool for driving targeted traffic to your site and standing out from the online crowd.

Example: A business might invest in Google Ads and develop search engine-optimised content to ensure their website appears at the top of search results for relevant keywords. This visibility drives high-intent traffic, increasing the chances of conversions.

SEO - Search Engine Optimisation

Search engine optimisation (SEO) is the art of having a webpage (or pages) appear higher in search engine results. This enables your website to be shown to people seeking your services. As these people are actively looking for solutions that have higher buyer intent, and are more likely to purchase. This makes them a very desirable audience target and makes SEO a popular marketing strategy. Learn more about SEO services.

SERP - Search Engine Results Page

When you type a question or term into a search engine (such as Google, or Bing) the page that is presented is the Search Engine Results Page. It lists ranked results, from one to ten, of recommended web-based content.

Google presents many pages of results but if you don't rank in the first ten then you're generally bundled in the 100+ category from a ranking perspective.

SKAG - Single Keyword Ad Group

A Single Keyword Ad Group (SKAG) is a targeted PPC strategy where each ad group contains only one keyword. This approach allows for highly specific ad copy and landing pages, improving relevance, quality score, and click-through rates. SKAGs offer tighter control over bidding and performance optimization for individual keywords.

SQL - Sales Qualified Lead

An SQL is the natural next step for an MQL to take. This stage is often reached when an MQL has been identified in the CRM and a member of the sales team has assessed that they are worth some form of sales outreach. Often an SQL will receive a tailored outreach referencing their recent engagement with marketing assets and open the conversation to identify a potential deal.

The Funnel

A visual model that helps marketers understand and optimise a buyer's journey - going from awareness at the top to the end conversion down the bottom. Identifying where there might be leaks in your funnel is crucial in optimising your marketing strategy.

Example: Another digital marketing agency in NZ might create awareness through social media posts, drive consideration with informative blog content, and convert leads with targeted email campaigns. Each stage of the funnel is meticulously crafted to move prospects closer to becoming customers.

TOFU - Top-of-the-funnel

Content at the top (commonly abbreviated to TOFU representing Top Of Funnel) focuses on attracting people to your company. It is broad-brush content aimed at people with little knowledge, or who are early in their research journey.

USP - Unique selling point/proposition

The unique point of difference for your business. Commonly achieved through patents, inventions, innovations, licenses, and exclusive distribution rights this is an element of your offering that cannot be copied. If your business proposition is not unique then see value proposition.

Value proposition

When your offering isn’t unique but is special it’s often referred to as your value proposition, or value prop. It is the thing that makes you stand out to customers. Attributes like having better customer service than your competitors, or faster delivery times are all value propositions.

Vanguard 86 Digital Marketing Agency NZ

Understanding the language of digital marketing can seem daunting but it starts to get easier when you can understand the jargon. Getting an idea on how to understand marketing terms that your marketers might be using, will help you to better understand how to speak to your audience.