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It just so happens ... we've created a digital resources hub

We pride ourselves in the fact that we keep everything simple and accessible for all. One of our pet peeves is overly complicated jargon, albeit within the digital wold, advertising industry or with even from a client. Over the years it has become harder to keep track of the ever changing digital terminology which is why we decided to create a Digital Resources Hub to cover the list of common acroynms and terminology. We’ve also added some bonus downloadable items in some of the sections which you will see linked in the text.

It Just So Happens - Resources - Dictionary alphabet - A

The best way to describe it is old school Avon Lady, new school influencer.

“Affiliate Marketing” is a performance-based marketing strategy where a business rewards one or more affiliates for each visitor or customer brought about by the affiliate’s own marketing efforts. The affiliate is typically a website owner or publisher who promotes the business’s products or services through a unique referral link, and receives a commission for any resulting sales. Affiliate marketing can be a cost-effective way for businesses to increase their online visibility and reach new customers, while allowing affiliates to earn money through their own marketing efforts.

A method used to test two variables to see what generates the better results. This can be used for anything including; copy, designs, lead forms, buttons, etc.

Is a project management methodology usually used in tech or fast paced environments where you require iterations/ sprints to be delivered instead of big chunky sign offs

“AIDA” is a marketing acronym that stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. It’s a framework that describes the process of capturing a potential customer’s attention, building interest in a product or service, creating a desire to buy, and encouraging them to take action and make a purchase. AIDA is a useful model for creating effective advertising and marketing campaigns, it helps to identify the key components of a message and the sequence in which they should be presented to the audience

This metric is used to understand your business revenue from your “active users” and is an average so you will have greater and lesser revenue, but this is the total average.

The formula for is: Monthly Recurring Avenue / # of Active customers = ARPU

An application programming interface (API) is a way for two or more computer programs to communicate with each other. It is typically used to integrate softwares easier as a way of “passing through the information” without any delays to the user.

These the “stuff” produced for your brand, which be animations, fonts, logos, leaflets etc. When you work with third parties they are likely to ask for access to your “assets” so they can create your brand without having to re-create items

Very common used phrase in media buying and web design.  It refers to the space at the top of the page, what can be seen on your whole screen before you need to scroll. 

Used in the context of Advertising/ Marketing to refer to radio, tv, billboards etc. Also known as OOH – Out Of Home.

These are typically set up as part of lead generation funnels. When a customer submits an enquiry then they receive an automatic email reply which may contain key information about your business or manage expectations about when they can expect a reply. Autoresponders can also be set up on social platforms as automatic messages when customers ask certain questions.

A live chat metric. This means completely the conversation with an outcome time frame. A good resolution time is within 5 minutes.

Transactions between one business to another, instead of an individual (see B2C). Examples of successful B2B businesses; G Suite, IBM, Makro, Salesforce, Slack, Zoom

This is where a business sells directly / target demographic is directly the consumer without going through a third party seller. Examples of this are Amazon, Netflix, Nike, Walmart

Technically not a term used, although should be. See also, Employer Branding. 

Also known as business-to-administration/public sector marketing. It refers to businesses that sells/trades products, information and services to the Government and/ or with local authorities.

A link created from one website to another. In reference to your website, this would be talking about other websites linking to yours. This is important in SEO. Other terms include “inbound link / external link”.

Break-Even point (units) = Fixed Costs ÷ (Sales price per unit – Variable costs per unit)

Beta is a prototype of a product or service which is distributed to limited number of users, it is a ” Pre-release version” for testing to check if there is a bugs or a problems. It is often used as part of a Go-To-Market strategy to create a buzz with customers allowing “early access”.

A social media application that allows the user to share their photo once a day for their followers to see what they are doing real-time.

A bounce is a single-page session on your site and then exits without triggering any other requests during that session. A bounce rate in the range of 26 – 40 percent is excellent, 41-55 percent is average.

Ok this may seem like the most simple term but yet the most forgotten part when people are developing their business. Your branding is your identity, everything you do should “match”; look/ feel/ see/ be your brand.

Brand Affinity refers to the positive feelings & loyalty a consumer has towards a specific brand, often leading to repeat purchases and positive word of mouth.

101. Please remember the importance of brand awareness campaigns. These seem to be where people feel they should cut their budget first. The best example is imagine standing in a shop selecting bread … 

The rate at which a company spends it’s money and therefore how long it can survive for. This is especially important for any investors and most important in early stages of a business growth

We also call this “customer profiling”. 

It Just So Happens - Resources - Dictionary alphabet - B
It Just So Happens - Resources - Dictionary alphabet - C

ChatGPT is a grand language model crafted by the minds at OpenAI. It generates human-like responses to an array of prompts, and has been trained on a vast array of internet text. It can assist you in tasks such as text completion, text generation and even engage in conversations. 

Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) is a prediction of the net profit attributed to the entire future relationship with a customer. It takes into account revenue, retention and referral.

Content is not to be confused with copy. Content is everything “including” copy; this is all of your “stuff” images, copy, videos etc.

Read more on our post about content.

A content matrix is a visual aid that organises your content based on two dimensions: conversion funnel and tactic. It is used to assist in prioritising content production.

This one is sounds delicious, but there’s another term for that. When we talk about website, cookies are the small files that identify the users information, your habits online. There is a lot of laws changing about how cookie data is handled so watch this topic.

Turning copy into craft through refinement of writing according to one’s tone of voice

Your cost per acquistions is probably the most important metric and most “wanted to know” metric in business. This tells you the average cost for you to acquire a customer. Typically it is used for paid for media, however a true representation of the business should include all business costs associated as well.

To calculate your CPA = total costs / number of conversions

Read more on our post about CPA.

Applies to any app install albeit tablet, desktop or mobile.

Ad spend / number of installs = CPA

Cost Per Lead (CPL) is a metric that measures the cost of acquiring a new lead (a potential customer) and is calculated by dividing the total cost of a marketing campaign by the number of leads generated. It’s important to track CPL as it helps to determine the efficiency of lead generation efforts and optimize marketing spend

Typically used by the Sales team; however the best CRM’s are integrated end to end across the business especially with Marketing with several different types of funnels

Also known as artistic license, dramatic license, poetic license, or narrative license etc. Creative License refers to freedom of use of content. A notable website to understand more is: https://creativecommons.org/

Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) is the process of improving the percentage of website visitors that take a desired action, such as making a purchase or filling out a form. It is calculated by dividing the number of conversions by the number of visitors and multiplied by 100. Tracking and optimizing CRO helps to increase revenue, leads, and customer satisfaction.

This refers to the number of clicks you receive with your advertisement. The click through rate % will vary depending on the platform e.g. Google vs Facebook. The formula to measure your CTR is : clicks / impressions

Copyright is a legal term that refers to the exclusive right of creators of original works, such as literature, music, art, and software to reproduce, distribute, display, and sell their creations. It also gives creators the right to prevent others from using their works without permission. Copyright laws protect creators’ rights and encourage the creation of new works.

Just like money that we used, Crypto or Cryptocurrency can also be used for buying or trading. E.g Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tether and many more. Its a digital asset that can circulate without the need of government or a bank.

Also known as B2C. It is the business model of selling services/ products directly to customers without any third-party retailers, wholesalers etc. E.g. Gmail, Spotify, Nike (from their own store),

In the digital world this is not related to your car. It is a business intelligence tool that allows you to track, analyze and report on KPIs and metrics. This can be in many formats, within an application as an overview, or created as a live data reporting e.g. Google Data Studio. The primary intention is to provide information at-a-glance

The measurement of users who are active/ using your app or website every day. The formula for this needs to be defined by a business as to what qualifies a “active user” e.g. what actions / activity should be completed. DAU is also used to calculate MAU – monthly active users.

One of our favourite channels if used correctly. Also known as behaviour marketing. The methodology behind display networks is bidding and profiling activity

Used as language on social media platforms, e.g. “send us a DM of your details”

DNS is like a phone book for the internet. It helps match easy-to-remember website names (like www.example.com) to their actual internet address, an IP address (e.g. 192.0.2.1) so you can easily access a website or other resources

These are set up as automated emails based on actions/ timings of a user. They are mapped out to be a continuous flow of marketing material without annoying the customer/ receiver. Most common uses of this method is:

  • Events: in person or webinar
  • Abandoned cart
  • Registering for a report/ white paper
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The idea that if you were in an elevator/ lift with a potential investor/ new business client and you had to describe your business / sell it in within 2 minutes. Most recently this has been shorted to the “New York Minute”.

Engagement rate reflects how relevant your audience is and how much they interact with your brand profile/ page (likes + comments + shares / followers)

Content that is only accessible for a brief period of time – widely popular is “stories” and platforms like Snapchat. The idea that as it is temporary content it takes advantage of FOMO (fear of missing out) and is designed to elicit an immediate response from a user / continuous viewing to “keep up”.

This is a company’s people promise. Just like how you have a USP for a business to consumer, this is the reason why for their people

E-Privacy refers to the laws and regulations that protect the privacy of personal data when it is collected, stored, and processed through electronic means, such as on websites, mobile apps, and social media platforms. It’s mainly applicable in the EU through GDPR and ePrivacy Directive.

Used in pricing models, this is typically where a business has an experience or package that is basic to their premium offering. A business may encourage the user to experience their premium product/ service for a period of time as a free trial

A funnel is a visual representation of a customer’s journey through a series of stages, from initial awareness to conversion. It helps to identify bottlenecks and track the performance of marketing campaigns, allowing businesses to optimize their sales process and increase conversions.

Freedom Of Movement – Being used more and more on Instagram

First Of Month – A lot of people like to use these days to address the new month whether social content, goal setting, refresh of mind

Front Of Mind – Also known as Top of Mind, in Marketing Metrics is defined as the first brand which comes to mind when someone is asked an unprompted question about a category or industry

FAO is a notation used in written communications to indicate the specific person or department that a message or document is intended for. It helps to ensure that the right person receives and responds to the message or document in a timely manner.

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And you may even hear it being referenced as G4 (Google Analytic’s new product version). This is the holey grail of your website data.

General Data Protection Regulation – UK & EU – May 2018. An updated and much needed regulation in UK and Europe, under this regulation we, as consumers/ users are entitled to know what data companies are capturing/ storing about us and how they are planning to us it. As a business, you need to ensure you have the right data controls and yes it does apply to any company worldwide the moment you interact with anyone from UK/ Europe.

No we don’t mean in the football context. However similar thinking – A completed activity/ conversion as set up in Google Analytics

Google Search Console is a free tool offered by Google that helps website owners monitor, maintain and improve their website’s performance on Google Search. It provides data and insights on how Google crawls and indexes a website, as well as any technical issues, keyword rankings and click-through rates, allowing you to optimize your site for better visibility and performance.

Go To Market – So you have your brand, your product/ service offering and now you need a plan of action of how you will get sales/ users. How you will build your reputation in the market.

Google Tag Manager

Number of followers gained ÷ previous number of followers x 100

Software integrated on your website which gives you a visual colour coded overlay of user activity to see where they click/ engage most. The brighter the colour and the omre “red”, the “hotter” the spot.

Software like HotJar and Crazyegg.

A new type of work model which has a combination of working form home and working form an office. Many companies are choosing this route for their employees since COVID.

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https://ifttt.com/

It Just So Happens .. If you ever see us reference our name in this way to abbreviate for shorthand text

This is the eyeballs that saw your advert not considering if they did anything further. A top-level metric into understanding your conversion funnel

Typically used in influencer marketing. Someone’s whose opinion can sway “influence” others attitudes and behaviours which can lead them to purchase.

  • Nano: 1K-10K Followers
  • Micro: 10K-100K Followers
  • Mid: 100K-500K Followers
  • Macro: 500K-1M Followers
  • Mega: 1M+ Followers

Also see Virtual Agency

This is your digital address, and will remain the same for that physical location unless you use a VPN. It is important to add this “address” (and your teams) as a filter on your Google Analytics data to ensure you aren’t skewing your website traffic data. If you want to find yours out; either type “what is my ip” into Google and you will be served a result or use websites like What Is My IP or 

In Real Life

Something we promise to all try to decipher and ensure we are being transparent so you do not ever feel like Advertising and Marketing is a foreign language.

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These are the quantifiable measures used to evaluate the effectiveness of marketing/ business strategies. These should be established upfront and are important to report against as they should inform decisions about ROI.

Age old, but still relevant and good

Some things are meant to be forever – this is true with promotional campaigns e.g. Christmas, Buy One Get One Free, Black Friday etc. Landing pages are used for specific campaigns and set up as “no crawl” so they are not a permanent feature of your website according to Google. You will usually link the page back to your website but may choose not to link to the page from your website, and rather keep these for the specific campaigns you are running only.

Also known as “Prospect”. It refers to those who can be your future potential customers. These are the people who are actively interested in the products / services that you offer.

Loyalty Rate measures the percentage of repeat customers out of all customers. It can be calculated by dividing the number of repeat customers by the total number of customers and multiplied by 100. It’s an important metric for businesses as it reflects customer satisfaction and the effectiveness of retention efforts.

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Marketing automation platform is a software that allows businesses to automate and streamline repetitive marketing tasks such as email campaigns, social media management, lead generation, and customer segmentation. It helps to save time, increase efficiency and improve the effectiveness of marketing efforts. Some examples of software that offer marketing automation features are HubSpot, Marketo, Pardot, Infusionsoft, ActiveCampaign, and Mailchimp.

Particularly important for apps. This is a more relevant metric than total users, as it shows the demand for your app by users returning back. As of May 2022, Facebook has 2.9 billion MAU.

Paid for advertising channel of distribution; tv, radio, podcast etc

Mental health refers to a person’s overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It affects how a person thinks, feels and behaves and can vary from person to person. Mental health can be impacted by various factors such as stress, trauma, genetics, and environment, and it’s important to take care of it as much as physical health.

This sounds futuristic.. The Metaverse is a network of 3D virtual worlds which focuses on social connections. It is owned and constructed by Meta (the parent company of Facebook)

in 140 characters summarise the purpose/ content of your webpage. It is part of SEO best practise and used by Google for crawling your pages/ scoring the quality of your page content

Since there are now more searches being conducted on mobile devices than desktop browser, this is a way for Google to ensure the majority of users find content that is optimised for their screen. If a site does not have a mobile-friendly version then Google will still crawl and index it as is.

A metric used in reporting to compare months

Refers to the act of focusing on one task at a time, without being distracted by other tasks or distractions. This approach to work or personal activities is believed to lead to higher productivity, as well as improved focus, creativity, and stress levels. Monotasking contrasts with multitasking, which involves attempting to complete multiple tasks simultaneously.

A “Mood Board” is a visual representation of a concept or theme, typically used in design, fashion, and marketing to gather ideas, colors, textures, and inspiration. It helps to establish a visual direction and communicate a concept. It’s used to create a cohesive aesthetic and to get the buy-in from stakeholders before the project goes into production.

Much like how you need to establish MVP, you should do the same for your brand. This is the minimum branding to get your product/ service over the line to Beta/ Launch. This can and will be evolved over time.

What is the minimum criteria that you need to deliver as an example of your product/ service to test your hypothesis and ensure you have product market fit

Net Promoter Score (NPS) is a customer loyalty metric that measures the willingness of customers to recommend a company’s product or service to others. It’s calculated by asking customers to rate their likelihood of recommending a company on a scale of 0-10 and dividing the percentage of promoters by the percentage of detractors. It is a widely used metric to measure customer satisfaction.

NFT stands for “non-fungible token”, it’s a digital asset that represents ownership of a unique item or piece of content, such as an image, video, or audio file. Unlike traditional digital assets, NFTs are stored on a blockchain, making them unique, scarce, and verifiable. They are used in the digital art, collectibles and gaming industry. NFTs started to gain mainstream popularity in late 2020 and early 2021, with a number of high-profile sales of digital art and collectibles taking place on various marketplaces. This trend was driven by the growing acceptance of blockchain technology and the increased interest in using it to create unique and verifiable digital assets. Additionally, the pandemic lockdowns also played a role in the rise of NFTs as more people spent more time online, which led to a new way of collecting and owning digital assets.

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Not to be confused with “multi-channel”. Omnichannel refers to an integrated approach to customer engagement that allows businesses to interact with customers across multiple touchpoints, such as in-store, online, mobile, and social media. The goal of Omnichannel is to provide a seamless and consistent customer experience across all channels.

Also see Above The Line. Out Of Home refers to advertising activity that is offline – radio, tv, billboards, posters, leaflets, brochures. To note, still to this day, these activities are the hardest to track performance.

Software that scans to convert printed characters into digital text.

Whether it is copy, music, art, design, video; open source means it is publicly accesible.

A point of contact (POC) or single point of contact (SPOC) is a person who will be the focal point for a project. It will be the responsibsiliy of this person to co-ordinate internal teams / departments to relay back information on a project. This is usually established at the beginning of a project for both client side and agency side.

A podcast is a collection or series of digital audio files that are made available for downloading or listening via the Internet. Each individual audio recording is known as a podcast episode. Podcasts are typically hosted by an individual or individuals who lead a conversation, share stories, or report the news. Typical software you can use to listen to Podcasts are; Apple Podcasts, Audible, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Tune In.

Little bit of a dirty word for us. It is an overlay window or box that appears on a webpage usually promoting an offer or encouraging visitors to sign up e.g. to a newsletter. 

The vital proof point for any startup business. Does the market actually require your product/ service?

Project Management methodology. 

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