Marketing & sales

target audience

the group of people a product or message is aimed at

buyer persona

an imagined profile of a typical customer

brand

the name, image and identity of a company or product

brand awareness

how well people know and recognize a brand

campaign

a planned series of marketing activities with one goal

market research

collecting information about customers and the market

competitor

a company that sells similar products or services

USP (unique selling point)

what makes a product different from and better than others

value proposition

a clear statement of why customers should choose your product

go-to-market strategy

a plan for launching a product and reaching customers

lead

a person or company that might become a customer

prospect

a potential customer who fits your target group

sales funnel

the stages a customer goes through before buying

pipeline

all the potential deals a salesperson is working on

conversion rate

the percentage of people who take a desired action, e.g. buy

CTA (call to action)

a message telling people what to do next, e.g. 'Sign up now'

landing page

a web page made for one specific marketing goal

engagement

how much people interact with content, e.g. likes or comments

reach

how many people see your content

impressions

how many times your content is shown

CTR (click-through rate)

the percentage of people who click a link after seeing it

SEO

improving a website so it appears higher in Google results

content marketing

attracting customers by creating useful content

newsletter

a regular email sent to subscribers

influencer

a person with many followers who can affect what people buy

A/B testing

comparing two versions to see which one works better

pricing

deciding how much to charge for a product

discount

a lower price than usual

upselling

encouraging a customer to buy a more expensive version

cross-selling

encouraging a customer to buy an additional, related product

cold call / cold email

contacting a potential customer who doesn't know you

deal

a business agreement, often a sale

to close a deal

to finally agree on and complete a sale

quota

the sales target a salesperson must reach

commission

money a salesperson earns for each sale

CRM

software for managing customer contacts and sales

B2B

a business selling to other businesses

B2C

a business selling directly to consumers

churn

when customers stop using or paying for a product

retention

keeping customers for a long time

CAC (customer acquisition cost)

how much it costs to get one new customer

customer journey

all the steps a customer goes through, from first contact to purchase and beyond

touchpoint

any moment a customer interacts with a brand

brand positioning

how a brand wants to be seen compared to competitors

brand equity

the extra value a brand has because people know and trust it

market segmentation

dividing a market into groups of similar customers

niche market

a small, specialized part of a market

market share

the percentage of a market's sales a company has

market penetration

how much a product is used by its target market

share of voice

how much a brand is talked about compared to competitors

organic reach

people reached without paid advertising

paid / earned / owned media

ads you pay for / free publicity / your own channels

retargeting

showing ads to people who already visited your website

programmatic advertising

buying online ads automatically using software

attribution

working out which marketing activity led to a sale

ROAS (return on ad spend)

revenue earned for every unit of money spent on ads

CPC (cost per click)

how much you pay each time someone clicks an ad

CPM (cost per mille)

how much you pay for 1,000 ad views

lead magnet

something free offered in exchange for contact details, e.g. an e-book

lead nurturing

building a relationship with leads until they are ready to buy

lead scoring

ranking leads by how likely they are to buy

MQL (marketing qualified lead)

a lead interested enough for marketing to pass on

SQL (sales qualified lead)

a lead ready for direct contact from sales

inbound marketing

attracting customers with useful content so they come to you

outbound marketing

reaching out to customers directly, e.g. with ads or calls

account-based marketing (ABM)

marketing aimed at specific key companies

growth hacking

fast, creative and low-cost experiments to grow quickly

word of mouth

customers recommending a product to others

user-generated content (UGC)

content created by customers, e.g. reviews or photos

thought leadership

sharing expert ideas to be seen as a leader in your field

discovery call

a first sales call to understand a client's needs

objection handling

responding to a customer's doubts or concerns

decision-maker

the person who has the final say on buying

gatekeeper

a person who controls access to the decision-maker

procurement

the department or process of buying goods and services

RFP (request for proposal)

a document asking suppliers to send offers

sales cycle

the time and steps from first contact to closing a deal

NPS (net promoter score)

a measure of how likely customers are to recommend you

net revenue retention

how much revenue you keep from existing customers, including upgrades

freemium

a basic free version with paid extra features

loss leader

a product sold at a loss to attract customers

penetration pricing

starting with a low price to quickly win customers

price elasticity

how much demand changes when the price changes