Marketing glossary
Plain-English definitions of the marketing terms founders run into, from SPF and MRR to robots.txt, each linked to the guides that go deeper.
81 terms.
A
- A/B testWebsite
- An A/B test shows two versions of a page or email to different people and counts which one gets more results.
- Above the foldWebsite
- Above the fold is the part of a web page people see before they scroll.
- Activation rateSaaS metrics
- Activation rate is the share of new signups who reach the first moment where your product proves its value.
- Ad creativeAds
- Ad creative is what people see in an ad: the image or video, the words on it and the headline.
- AI OverviewsSearch and AI
- AI Overviews are short answers written by AI at the top of some Google results, with links to the pages they used.
- Alternatives pageSearch and AI
- An alternatives page lists other options to a well-known product, including yours, for people who search for alternatives to it.
- Anchor textSearch and AI
- Anchor text is the clickable words in a link.
- ARRSaaS metrics
- ARR, or annual recurring revenue, is the money your subscriptions bring in over one year, if nothing changes.
- AttributionMeasurement
- Attribution is how you decide which channel or action gets the credit for a signup, sale or deal.
B
- BacklinkSearch and AI
- A backlink is a link from another website to yours.
- Bounce rateWebsite
- Bounce rate is the share of visitors who leave your site without doing anything after the first page.
- Build in publicSocial and community
- Build in public means sharing your work, numbers and lessons openly online while you build your business.
- Bulk senderEmail
- A bulk sender, in Gmail's rules, is anyone who sends more than 5,000 messages a day to Gmail accounts.
C
- Call to action (CTA)Website
- A call to action (CTA) is the button or line that tells a person the one thing to do next.
- Canonical URLSearch and AI
- A canonical URL is the one address you tell search engines to use when the same page can be reached at several addresses.
- Churn rateSaaS metrics
- Churn rate is the share of paying customers who cancel in a set period, usually one month.
- Click-through rate (CTR)Ads
- Click-through rate (CTR) is the share of people who saw a link, ad or search result and clicked it.
- Cold emailEmail
- A cold email is a personal email to someone who does not know you yet, about a problem you can help with.
- Conversion rateWebsite
- Conversion rate is the share of people who did the thing you wanted, such as sign up, buy or book a call.
- Cost per click (CPC)Ads
- Cost per click (CPC) is the average amount you pay an ad platform each time someone clicks your ad.
- CPMAds
- CPM is the cost of showing your ad 1,000 times.
- CrawlerSearch and AI
- A crawler is a program that visits web pages and follows their links, so a search engine or AI tool can use them.
- CRMOutreach and sales
- A CRM is a tool that keeps a record of every lead and customer, and every conversation you have with them.
- Customer acquisition cost (CAC)SaaS metrics
- Customer acquisition cost (CAC) is how much you spend, on average, to win one new paying customer.
- Customer interviewOutreach and sales
- A customer interview is a short call where you ask a buyer about their problem and how they solve it today.
D
- Decision-makerOutreach and sales
- A decision-maker is the person who can say yes to buying and approve the money.
- Discovery callOutreach and sales
- A discovery call is a first sales call where you learn about the buyer's problem before you show or sell anything.
- DKIMEmail
- DKIM is a signature added to each email you send, so inboxes can check it came from your domain unchanged.
- DMARCEmail
- DMARC is a setting on your domain that tells inboxes what to do with email that fails SPF or DKIM checks.
- Domain warm-upEmail
- Domain warm-up is sending a small, slowly growing number of emails from a new domain, so inboxes learn to trust it.
E
- Email deliverabilityEmail
- Email deliverability is how often your emails land in the inbox, instead of in spam or nowhere at all.
- Email listEmail
- An email list is the group of people who asked to get email from you.
F
- Follow-upOutreach and sales
- A follow-up is a second or later message to someone who has not answered yet.
- Free trialSaaS metrics
- A free trial lets people use a paid product for free for a set time, such as 14 days, before they pay.
- FreemiumSaaS metrics
- Freemium means a free plan people can use forever, with a paid plan that adds more features, use or seats.
G
- Generative engine optimization (GEO)Search and AI
- Generative engine optimization (GEO) is the work of getting your brand named and linked in answers from AI tools like ChatGPT.
- Go-to-market (GTM)Strategy
- Go-to-market (GTM) is your plan for how you will reach buyers, sell to them and win your first customers.
- Google Search ConsoleSearch and AI
- Google Search Console is a free Google tool that shows how your site appears in Google search and which searches bring visitors.
I
- Ideal customer profile (ICP)Outreach and sales
- An ideal customer profile (ICP) describes the kind of company or person most likely to buy from you, get value and stay.
- IndexingSearch and AI
- Indexing is when a search engine stores a page in its database, so it can show that page in results.
K
- KeywordSearch and AI
- A keyword is the words people type into a search engine when they look for something.
- Keyword difficultySearch and AI
- Keyword difficulty is a score from SEO tools that guesses how hard it is to reach the first page of Google for a keyword.
L
- Landing pageWebsite
- A landing page is a web page built for one goal, where people arrive from an ad, email or post.
- Lead listOutreach and sales
- A lead list is a list of people who fit your ideal customer, with their name, company, role and contact details.
- Lead magnetEmail
- A lead magnet is something useful you give away in exchange for an email address, such as a checklist, template or free tool.
- Lifetime value (LTV)SaaS metrics
- Lifetime value (LTV) is the total money you expect one customer to bring in before they leave.
- llms.txtSearch and AI
- llms.txt is a proposed file on your website that gives AI tools a short, plain guide to your most useful pages.
M
- Marketing channelStrategy
- A marketing channel is a place or method you use to reach buyers, such as cold email, LinkedIn, search or ads.
- Micro-influencerSocial and community
- A micro-influencer is a creator with a small, loyal following in one topic, far smaller than a celebrity's.
- MRRSaaS metrics
- MRR, or monthly recurring revenue, is the money your subscriptions bring in each month.
O
- OAI-SearchBotSearch and AI
- OAI-SearchBot is the crawler OpenAI uses to find websites for the search features in ChatGPT.
- OnboardingSaaS metrics
- Onboarding is the first steps a new user or customer goes through, from signup to their first real result.
- Open rateEmail
- Open rate is the share of delivered emails that were opened.
P
- Payback periodSaaS metrics
- Payback period is how many months it takes a customer to pay back what you spent to win them.
- PositioningStrategy
- Positioning is how you want buyers to see your product: what it is, who it is for, and why it beats their other options.
- Product HuntLaunch
- Product Hunt is a website where people launch new tech products each day, and the community votes and comments on them.
- Product-led growth (PLG)SaaS metrics
- Product-led growth (PLG) is when people find, try and buy your product themselves, without a sales call.
- Product-market fitStrategy
- Product-market fit is when a clear group of buyers wants your product enough to pay, keep using it and tell others.
R
- Reply rateEmail
- Reply rate is the share of people who answered your message.
- RetargetingAds
- Retargeting is showing ads to people who already visited your site or used your app.
- ROASAds
- ROAS, or return on ad spend, is how much revenue you earn for each dollar you spend on ads.
- robots.txtSearch and AI
- robots.txt is a small text file at the root of your website that tells crawlers which pages they may visit.
S
- Sales pipelineOutreach and sales
- A sales pipeline is the list of all your open deals, sorted by how close each one is to buying.
- Scaled content abuseSearch and AI
- Scaled content abuse is Google's name for making many pages mainly to rank in search, not to help readers.
- Schema markupSearch and AI
- Schema markup is code that labels what a page contains, such as a product, price or review, so search engines can read it.
- Search volumeSearch and AI
- Search volume is about how many times people search for a keyword in a month.
- Self-promotion rulesSocial and community
- Self-promotion rules are community rules that limit how and how often you may post about your own product.
- Self-reported attributionMeasurement
- Self-reported attribution is asking each new customer, in their own words, how they heard about you.
- SEOSearch and AI
- SEO, or search engine optimization, is work that helps your pages show up in search results for your buyers' questions.
- SERPSearch and AI
- A SERP, or search engine results page, is the page you see after you search on Google or another search engine.
- Show HNLaunch
- Show HN is a type of post on Hacker News where you share something you made that people can try.
- SitemapSearch and AI
- A sitemap is a file that lists the pages on your website, so search engines can find them.
- Social proofWebsite
- Social proof is evidence that other people use and like your product, such as reviews, testimonials, customer logos or user counts.
- Spam complaint rateEmail
- Spam complaint rate is the share of your emails that people mark as spam.
- SPFEmail
- SPF is a line in your domain's settings that lists which servers may send email for you.
- SubredditSocial and community
- A subreddit is a community on Reddit about one topic, with its own name, like r/startups, and its own rules.
U
- User-generated content (UGC)Social and community
- User-generated content (UGC) is photos, videos, reviews or posts about your product made by customers, not by you.
- UTM parametersMeasurement
- UTM parameters are short tags added to the end of a link that tell your analytics tool where a visitor came from.
V
- Value propositionStrategy
- A value proposition says who your product is for, what problem it solves and why it beats the other options.
W
- WaitlistLaunch
- A waitlist is a list of people who signed up to hear when your product is ready or to get early access.
- Warm outreachOutreach and sales
- Warm outreach is contacting people who already know you, such as friends, past colleagues, clients or followers.