We marketers love an acronym so here is a list of the most common ones you may encounter when you are looking at your marketing and what they mean.
B2B and B2C
B2B is the acronym used for Business to Business. It refers to a business model or form of marketing where one business is selling to another business. B2C (Business to Customer) refers to when a business is selling direct to a customer or end user.
CMS
A CMS is a Content Management System. This is defined as a software system which enables a website owner or administrator to create, add and manage digital content on a website, without specialist technical knowledge. A CMS makes it easier for businesses to update their own digital content. Probably the most well known CMS would be Wordpress, others include DNN, Joomla and Wix.
CPC
The CPC of online advertising refers to the Cost Per Click. This is calculated by dividing the cost of the advert by the number of clicks on that advert.
CPA
CPA is Cost Per Action - sometimes also Cost Per Acquisition. This refers to the cost incurred for a user to perform a specific action in response to some kind of paid for advertising online. This may be a sign-up, online purchase or other measured conversion.
CRM
CRM means Customer Relationship Management. This usually refers to some kind of system or database where a business can keep a record of leads, prospects and customers.
CRO
CRO Means conversion rate optimisation which is a process that attempts to optimise conversions via your website, particularly to improve the percentage of website visitors who take a specific action via a CTA (Call to Action) on a page.
CTA
A CTA is a Call to Action. This would be a link or banner or other device on a website which requests a user to take a particular action using action orientated language - typical examples of CTAs would be things like ‘click here’, ‘buy now’ or ‘sign-up’.
CTR
CTR is the abbreviation used for Click Through Rate. This refers to the percentage of users who click through to a website or landing page from an advert (or some other call to action) relative to the number who have seen it.
KPI
A KPI is a Key Performance Indicator - this is a term which refers to a measurable metric used to assess how well a company is achieving an important business objective. KPIs are used to measure success at achieving targets.
PPC
PPC is short for Pay Per Click which is a kind of advertising or promotion where the advertiser pays each time a user clicks through to a website or landing page from an internet advert.
ROI
ROI Stands for Return on Investment. This is a metric used to measure the amount of money (in revenue) you would get back from your marketing spend in a particular area. Email is considered to be a marketing method with a high ROI. This is because it is generally very cheap and easy to set up and run (small investment). ROI is a key metric when considering if a marketing method is effective.
SEM
SEM stands for Search engine marketing which is a form of Internet marketing that promotes websites by increasing their visibility in search engine results. This is generally through some kind of paid advertising.
SEO
SEO is the acronym for Search Engine Optimisation - this is a term which is used to describe a range of different approaches to improving the visibility of a website in search engine listings. SEO relates to organic search engine traffic rather than paid.
SERP
SERP stands for Search Engine Results Page. The SERPs are the results a user is given after submitting a query into a search engine. The results given to the user aim to match the keyword or keyphrase entered
UGC
UGC is user-generated content. This is written or visual content created by the user of a product or service. UGC may be expressed as product or service reviews, forum posts, blog posts, social media posts, images, videos, etc.
USP
USP (unique selling point): Your business’ USP highlights the unique factor which differentiates your business from your competitors, this could be relating to the model, cost or quality of the product.
UX
UX is the common abbreviation for user experience. This refers to the overall experience of a person using a product such as a website or computer application, especially in relation to how easy, intuitive or pleasing it is to use.
This is by no means an exhaustive list of the marketing terms out there but it does contain the most common ones you are likely to come across and the ones it is most important to understand.