Below is a holistic glossary of terms for marketers:
A/B Testing: Comparing two variations of a single variable to determine which performs best. This test is often used in email marketing (with variations in the subject line or copy), calls-to-action (variations in colors or verbiage), and landing pages (variations in content). A/B Testing Best Practices
Analytics: Referring to meaningful patterns in data.
Anchor Text: Wording of a link on a website, in an email, or within another digital asset.
Backlink: When one website links to another with an anchor text. What Are SEO Backlinks? | Mailchimp
Banner Ad: Standard horizontal ad placement at the top of a web page.
B2B: Companies that sell to other businesses. (Like Oracle)
B2C: Businesses that sell directly to consumers. (Like Nordstrom)
Blogging: Short for web log or weblog; A core component of inbound marketing that website traffic growth, promotes thought leadership, and boosts leads. Regularly adding blogs to a website can improve SEO (or search engine optimization). Blog — Rebel Road Creative
Bounce Rate: Percentage of visits to a website where only one page was viewed. What is Bounce Rate? Mailchimp
Brand: A recognizable feeling a product or business evokes. What's In A Brand? — Rebel Road Creative
Brand Identity: Elements such as a brand’s name, logo, color palette, and type style that conveys a distinct image to customers. It also includes consistent standards for words, images, voice, and tone.
Buzzword: A word or phrase that is fashionable at a particular time; also known as jargon. Avoiding Buzzwords — Rebel Road Creative
Cache: Copies of web files downloaded locally to speed up display of webpages already visited; sometimes the cache needs to be cleared to view new content instead of the out-of-date, cached version.
Call-to-Action (CTA): A text link, button, image, or web link that motivates a reader to do more; go one step further in the customer journey. A CTA clearly articulates the next step: learn more, contact us, shop now, follow us, sign up. 5 Call to Action Example That Actually Work | Mailchimp
ChatGPT: A chatbot powered by artificial intelligence (AI) developed by OpenAI and launched in November 2022. Thoughts on ChatGPT and Clouds — Rebel Road Creative | Five Reasons Why Your Company Needs Original Content in 2025
Clickthrough’s: How many times a weblink is enabled or clicked, which leads readers to more content.
Conversion Rate: Percentage of people who completed a desired action on a web page, like downloading a document. Conversion Rate: What Is It & How to Calculate It | Mailchimp
Corporate Identity Style Manual: A unique guide for employees and consultants on how to refer to, identify and write about your company. Create A Style Guide For Your Corporate Identity — Rebel Road Creative
Cost-Per-Lead (CPL): Cost of efforts to acquire a viable lead. What Is Cost Per Lead? How To Calculate CPL (With Examples) | Indeed.com
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): Add up everything your company spent in a defined period to acquire customers (including salaries and bonuses) and divide by the number of customers you gained in that time frame. Customer Acquisition Cost: How to Calculate CAC [+Benchmarks & Formulas to Know] (hubspot.com)
Customer Relationship Management (CRM): Software that allows for sales tracking. (Think Salesforce or Cosential) The program can be customized to work with your business. CRM Meaning: What Is It & Why You Need It | Mailchimp
Digital Press Kit: Providing information about your company in digital formats on your website to make it easier for reporters. What’s In A Digital Press Kit? — Rebel Road Creative
DPI (dots per inch): Unit of measurement used to determine the resolution of an image.
Drip Email Campaign: A series of automated emails sent to prospects and clients. Six Email Marketing Tips For Better Open Rates — Rebel Road Creative | Mailchimp blog
Direct Mail Marketing: Sending a physical document through the US mail promoting a company or a service.
Ebook: Long form content used to generate leads and promote thought leadership.
Editorial Calendar: A plan for content often used in publications and social media strategies.
Email Bounce Rate: The rate at which an email was undeliverable to a recipient's inbox.
Engagement Rate: Used in social media to determine how well a post interacts with viewers. (Think likes, shares, and comments)
Evergreen Content: Pieces that are referenced long after they were originally published because the content remains valuable to the reader. [Example: Check out Rebel Road Creative’s Creativity Camp.]
Favicon: Very small, customized icons displayed in the location bar in most web browsers next to the web address. (Check out Rebel Road Creative’s favicon…)
Hashtags: # sign that allows for social media interaction and conversations around a particular piece of content. Hashtags tie public conversations on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram together into a single stream. (#marketing)
Infographic: Visual content that conveys complex concepts in a simple format.
Holiday Marketing: Planning reach outs to clients during the busy holiday season. Begin Your Holiday Marketing Plan Now — Rebel Road Creative
Ideal Client: A person who is loyal to your company by frequently buying products or using services. Define Your Ideal Client Early — Rebel Road Creative
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Ways to measure success. Marketers look at website traffic, clickthrough’s, website SEO, and homepage views.
Keywords: Topics that webpages get indexed for in search results by engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Learn more about keywords here.
Landing Page: A website page containing a form used for lead generation. What is a Landing Page? Definition and How to Use | Mailchimp
Marketing Consultant: An individual hired on a temporary basis with an expertise in marketing. Five Things You Shouldn’t Expect From Your Marketing Consultant — Rebel Road Creative | Five Reasons Why Your Company Needs Original Content in 2025
Marketing Plan: Mapping out how a marketing department will promote services. For the best outcomes, marketing leaders should consult and update their plans regularly. Marketing Plans — Rebel Road Creative
Original Content: Starting with the blank page and NOT using Generative AI tools like ChatGPT. Original content promotes better SEO results and audience trust. Five Reasons Why Your Company Needs Original Content in 2025
Pay-Per-Click: Amount of money spent to get a click on a digital advertisement.
Pillar Page: Pillar pages are pieces of content that serve as the cornerstone of a topic cluster. They provide a comprehensive overview of a broad topic and link to related content pieces. Generally, pillar pages are longer than traditional blog posts. 9 Pillar Page Examples to Get You Started With Your Own (hubspot.com)
QR Code (Quick Response code): A unique matrix barcode (or two-dimensional code) that is readable by dedicated QR barcode readers and camera telephones.
Return on Investment (ROI): Another way to determine a marketing campaign’s success. Gain from Investment minus Cost of Investment, all divided by Cost of Investment.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Using keywords, backlinks, video links, tags and images to improve how a website shows up in search results. What is SEO? Basics of Search Engine Optimization | Mailchimp | SEO Primer for Small Business Websites
Society for Marketing Professional Services® or SMPS is a membership organization that engages, inspires, and empowers A/E/C professionals for leadership and lifelong learning.
Top of the Funnel: The first stage of the buying process.
Unique Visitor: A person who visits a website more than once within a period.
Vector: A file format that doesn’t use an array of dots to store image information but instead stores it as a set of mathematical properties that describe its attributes, dimensions, and positions.
Video Marketing: Using video to promote a product or service. A 4-Step Guide to Get Small Business Owners Started on Video Marketing — Rebel Road Creative
Check out these articles on the Rebel Road Creative blog:
Enlist Sales Insight to Create Content That Boosts Revenue
SEO Primer for Small Business Websites
How Can Content Marketers Optimize Email Performance?
SMS Marketing 101 For A/E/C Firms
Elizabeth Tuico’s LinkedIn profile portrait was taken by Kristina Sherk Photography. Check out Kristina Sherk’s portfolio at: kristinasherk.com