Marketing Definitions
If you aren’t working in the marketing world then there are probably many marketing terms that you aren’t aware of. These marketing terms are words that you’ll see regularly online. I do think that they can sound a bit intimidating when actually there are super simple processes. So i’ve replaced some of the words to help you remember what they are - and also given them names that are less intimidating!
Funnel
I call it your ‘Client Flow’
Your Client Flow is a term that describes how people flow into your business and how they reach your ultimate goal of becoming a customer. They go through different stages. At the top of your flow, you are creating awareness around your brand through adverts, and content that people can find.
They then flow down into becoming more interested. They’ve seen your content. They are learning about your solutions. You’ve got their attention.
They flow further down and have a real desire now. They know you can fix their problem.
At the bottom of the flow they take action. They buy! You made it super clear for them and they made that call. They are now a customer.
The customer journey doesn’t stop there – we want to turn those people into advocates. you are going to provide such an amazing service for them that they will recommend you to other people.
Lead Magnet
I call it your ‘Audience Attractor’
This is a piece of free content, a gift, something that your client would love that they can use that will make some sort of small difference. It’s got to be something that they can actually value and use - not copied or regurgitated content. The reason being, that there will be a fair exchange. Your potential client will give you their email address and agree to be in your world and receive your emails. In return, you will give them some actionable content. A download, a meditation, a discount or part of a course. There are lots of things you can do. It will attract the right people in your audience. So for example, if you are a virtual assistant, you wouldn’t offer a free cake recipe. It’s going to be something they can use on the first step of thier journey with YOU.
SEO
This stands for Search Engine Optimisation. This is a term used for the actions you take to improve your website to help it rank higher in SERPs (Search Engine Results Page) and in turn, get more traffic.
Optimising your website so that it ranks higher in searches can be done in many ways. And usually, you would employ an expert to do this. Some people specialise in this area completely. Most digital marketers have enough knowledge to make a difference to your rankings.
Think of this simply as ‘Increase your Google search rankings’
a/b testing
A term used in email marketing. Where you create two emails, (or two landing pages) and send 50% of your list one email, with the other email going to the remaining 50%. It’s a way to test the success and performance of the email or sales page. You can set it to test both emails or sales pages, and then after X amount of days send all of the incoming traffic to the winning page or email.
It’s a great thing to do if you are experimenting with the problems that people are facing, and you’re not sure what’s really important to them right now. Or maybe you want to test imagery, or perhaps you want to test a long sales page versus a short sales page.
B2B
Business to business. This is where one business serves another business. For example, at Sam Milburn Digital Marketing we are classed as B2B.
B2C
Business to consumer. This is where a business is dealing directly with a consumer - an individual that is not a business. If you were selling jewellery to the public for example you would be a B2C. But you may want to sell to retail and that part of your business would be B2B. So it is possible to service both businesses and individuals.
Backlinks
This comes under the umbrella of SEO. Remember we said that there are many ways to improve how high you are appearing in Google searches? Well having lots of links from other sites back to yours are called backlinks, and they tell Google that you are a website to be trusted and improve your rankings. Especially if they are from reputable and highly rated (by Google) websites.
CTA - Call to Action
Call to action. When you write content on your website, social media, email or lead magnet (audience attractor).
What’s the next step? You need to tell people what action they need to take next. This is called the call to action. It really is as simple as ‘click here’ or ‘download this’ or ‘call me’
A lot of marketers will tell you there must be a call to action everywhere. Possibly? But my view is that you don’t need to SELL SELL SELL all the time. Sometimes it’s okay just to give your audience some content. And that’s it. Just enjoy it and see you next week!
CTR - click through rate
Click through rate. The number of people that are clicking on a link in an email or on a page. This is a percentage calculated using the total number of visitors compared to the number of clicks. Its a way to measure performance. You can tell how well a piece of content is performing ( and by performing we mean how well it is connecting and resonating with your audience) through the click-through rate.
Conversion
Conversion is a blanket term used when someone performs a desired action. It might be to sign up to a mailing list, book a call or buy a product. In marketing, we would be recording the success of that conversion. But the measure of whether someone converted, is if they performed the action you intended them to take.
Paid Media
This is promoting content through paid methods such as online adverts and pay-per-click (search adverts).
Owned Media
This is promoting content through your own channels such as blogs, websites and social media.
Earned Media
This is when your content is shared through other avenues that aren’t yours. Such as people sharing your blogs, articles or influencers sharing your content.
Evergreen
This refers to content that doesn’t date. Content that you can post any day of the year and it will always be relevant. Hence Evergreen trees and shrubs are green all year around! It’s your WOW content that people will always relate to at any time of the year.
Infographic
This is a term used for a piece of informative content shared as a graphic. Great for visual learners and it makes understanding numbers/facts and figures a lot easier and more pleasant to look at.
Metric
Metrics and KPIs often get confused. A metric is a measure of something in your business that you are keeping an eye on. For example how many new followers on Facebook you have this month.
KPI - Key Performance Indication
Key performance indicator. This is a set of indicators to measure against how well you are doing. For example, you might decide that a KPI in your business will be to have 20 new Facebook followers a week. If you drop below that KPI you may need to do something about it or investigate. It’s a flag to give you an overall look at your business. It’s an indication of how ‘well’ you are doing. KPIs can be set by industry or you may set your own KPIs for your business.
Brand Positioning
Brand Positioning refers to the way you set yourself apart from your competitors. For example, you might position yourself with a strong set of values that are very different to your competitors. Positioning can be done in many ways and how you market yourself through your channels, content and visuals will give people a clear idea of your brand positioning.
Persona/Avatar
It’s helpful to have at least one (if not several) personas for your business. This is a fictional character with characteristics that make up your ideal client. It will go into detail about thier likes and dislikes and demographics. When you have a large team, and various client types it helps to have persons in mind so that everyone understands which products and/or content is aimed at which persona. For example, when all the teams get together to launch a new product, you can go straight in with ‘Okay everyone, this product is going to be aimed at our Persona ‘Sally’’ Sally will have a list of her demographics, is she a parent, is she single, what are the problems that Sally faces right now that this product solves. That way any content/marketing or sales that is carried out around this has Sally in mind at all times. Some businesses have several Peronas as they have several types of products or services.
Landing Page
A landing page is a page that people land on. It’s really that simple! It’s a website page.
What is on that page really varies. It could be to join a mailing list. It could be selling a product (sales page) it could be to download a lead magnet (audience attractor)
I really hope this has helped you understand a few marketing terms and why they might be important in your business.
