If you’re new to Marketing (and by this I mean either as an employee or a student), you will come across many acronyms. It can be difficult to understand when you’re reading about SERPs and PPC and all the other fun stuff. Here is a beginner’s guide to common acronyms you will encounter as a new Marketer:
A/B Testing – A technique used to compare two versions of a marketing campaign to determine which is more effective.
B2B – Business-to-business. Marketing that targets other businesses rather than consumers. For example, a company that specialises in office equipment (and only targets businesses)
B2C – Business-to-consumer. Marketing that targets individual consumers rather than businesses. Think Game, CottonOn, etc
CAC – Customer acquisition cost. The cost of acquiring a new customer, calculated by dividing the total marketing spend by the number of new customers.
CMS – Content management system. A software platform used to create and manage digital content. WordPress is a CMS so if you have used WordPress in the past, feel free to add it on your CV as an example of having used a CMS.
CPA – Cost per action. The cost of each desired action, such as a click or a purchase, taken by a customer as a result of a marketing campaign.
CPC – Cost per click. The cost of each click on an ad in a pay-per-click advertising campaign.
CPL – Cost per lead. The cost of each new lead generated by a marketing campaign.
CRM – Customer relationship management. A strategy and software used to manage customer interactions and relationships.
CTA – Call to action. A prompt that encourages the viewer to take a specific action, such as “Sign up now” or “Learn more.” Whenever a CTA is used, it is important to use one CTA to avoid confusing your audience.
CTR – Click-through rate. The percentage of people who click on a specific link or ad.
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KPI – Key performance indicator. A measurable value used to evaluate the success of a marketing campaign or strategy.
PPC – Pay-per-click. An advertising model in which the advertiser pays each time someone clicks on their ad.
ROI – Return on investment. The profit or loss generated by a marketing campaign, calculated by subtracting the cost of the campaign from the revenue generated. This term gets thrown around often by businesses so if you remember just one thing from this list it should be this one.
SEO – Search engine optimization. A strategy used to improve a website’s ranking in search engine results.
SERP – Search engine results page. The page of search results displayed after a user enters a query.
UGC – User-generated content. Content created by users, such as reviews, testimonials, and social media posts. Think TikTok posts that are perfectly curated by not posted by the business itself. UGC is growing in popularity on all social networks.
USP – Unique selling proposition. A factor that differentiates a product or service from its competitors and makes it more attractive to customers.
I hope this makes it easier to decode marketing jargon. Are there any acronyms I might have missed? Let me know below.