Glossary of terms
An alphabetical glossary of terminology and acronyms commonly used in advertising, business, information technology and marketing with a concise explanation of each one. Courtesy of Lightning Bug, the viral advertising, viral marketing and SEO specialists.
This glossary will be updated regularly, so please return to lbug.co.uk for updates.
Glossary
0-9
4 Sheet - 60" x 40" or 1524mm x 1016mm poster commonly used for outdoor advertising. Most larger sizes are multiples of a four sheet.
6 Sheet - Commonly used for pedestrian targeted street advertising. Size varies between 1750mm x 1185mm and 1800mm x1200mm.
12 Sheet - 60" x 120" or 1524mm x 3048mm, equivalent to three four sheets in a row.
16 Sheet - 120" x 80" or 3048mm x 2032mm poster size.
48 Sheet - Standard billboard size, 120" x 240" or 3048mm x 6096mm.
96 Sheet - 120" x 480" or 3048mm x 6096mm suitable for wide format ads.
A
Advertising - Paid for communication from an identifiable source, designed to persuade the receiver to take immediate or future action.
Advertising elasticity - The relationship between a change in advertising budget and product sales.
Advertising plan - An outline of them goals of an advertising campaign, how to accomplish them, and how to determine whether they were achieved.
Advertising research - Research relevant to advertising in general or a specific campaign, conducted to improve the effectiveness of advertising.
Advertorial - Paid advertisement including editorial content generally within a newspaper or magazine.
Ambient advertising - Any kind of advertising on a non-standard medium. Examples include: phone boxes, the reverse of bus tickets, urinals and shopping trolleys.
Appeal - The selling message of an advertisement.
Awareness advertising - Strategy designed to build brand familiarity.
B
B2B - Transactions carried out between businesses.
B2C - Transactions carried out between businesses and consumers.
Banner blindness - The tendency of web users to ignore banner ads, even when they contain information they are actively seeking.
Billboard - Large scale poster advert or the space reserved to it.
Black hat SEO - Black hat SEO attempts to artificially improve search engine rankings using deception. Black hat techniques include using invisible text or presenting a different page to human visitors and search engines. If discovered sites can penalised or even removed from search engines altogether.
Blog - A frequently updated chronological publication of thoughts and web links, often on a common theme.
Body copy - The main text, excluding headlines, of a print ad.
Brief - An outline of the advertiser's aims, as presented to the advertising agency.
Business to business advertising - adverts directed at other businesses rather than the general public.
Buzzword - A jargon word or phrase used more to impress than explain.
C
Circulation - The average number of copies of a print publication distributed.
Click-through - The process of clicking through an online advertisement to the advertiser's destination.
Click-through rate (CTR) - The average number of click-throughs per hundred ad impressions, expressed as a percentage.
Column inch - Unit of measure by which newspapers sell ad space. Measured by the width in columns multiplied by the depth in inches.
Comparative advertising - An advertising approach that explicitly compares a product brand to a competitor brand.
Consumer advertising - Advertising that targets people who will use the product for personal benefit rather than other businesses.
Consumer behaviour - The ways people choose, acquire, use and dispose of products.
Consumer jury test - Testing method that uses consumers to compare, rank and evaluate advertisements.
Consumer stimulants - Promotional devices. such as coupons and samples, designed provoke a short-term increase in sales.
Continuous advertising - Regular scheduling of advertisements, even during periods when consumers unlikely to buy a product, so that they are constantly reminded of the brand.
Conversion rate - The percentage of visitors who take a desired action.
Copy - The text of an advertisement.
Copy testing - Consumer research to determine an ad's effectiveness.
Cost per action (CPA) - Online advertising model in which payment is based solely on qualifying actions such as sales or registrations.
Cost per click (CPC) - The price paid per click-through.
Counter advertising - Advertising that takes an opposing position to an advertising message that preceded it. May be used as a corrective measure to counter an another party's advertising.
Coverage - A measure of a media vehicle's reach within a named geographic area.
CPM - Cost per thousand impressions.
Creative - Member of an advertising agency's team responsible for generating ideas, copy or visuals.
Creative strategy - Outline of the message to be delivered, to whom, and in what tone. Constitutes the guiding principles for all creatives working on an account.
Customer acquisition cost - The average cost of acquiring a new customer.
D
Decay constant - Predicted fall in product sales if advertising were discontinued.
Deceptive advertising - Any representation, omission or practice likely to mislead consumers.
Demographics - Statistical division of a potential market into categories such as age, gender, ethnicity, income, education, consumption habits etc.
Demographic segmentation - Division of consumers into groups based on demographic information so that different groups, such as teenagers and pensioners, can be targeted differently.
Depth interview - Research method where consumers are interviewed individually and asked a series of questions designed to detect attitudes and thoughts not picked up in quantitative research.
Direct mail - Marketing communications delivered directly to a prospective purchaser by post.
Direct marketing - The sending of promotional messages direct to the consumer rather than via a mass medium, e.g. direct mail and telesales.
Directory advertising - Advertising that appears directories like the Yellow Pages or trade directories. Aimed at customers already seeking to acquire a product or service.
Drive time - In radio, the programming broadcast during the morning and evening commute.
Duplicated audience - The part of an audience reached by more than one media vehicle.
E
Earned rate - A discounted media buying rate based on volume or frequency of media purchase.
E-marketing - The entire range of internet enabled marketing activities, including but not limited to advertising, customer communications and branding.
Exposure - The number of consumers who have seen or heard a media vehicle.
Eye tracking - A research method that tracks eye movements to discover what parts advertisements consumers tend to look at.
Ezine - An electronic magazine, delivered via a website or an email newsletter.
F
Flat rate - A media rate that allows for no discounts.
Flighting - An placement method that schedules more advertising at certain times and less during other periods.
Focus group - Research method that engages small groups of consumers in guided discussions of products or advertising.
Four Ps - Product, Price, Place, and Promotion, also known as the marketing mix.
Frequency - Number of times an average person or household is exposed to a specific media vehicle within a given time period.
Frequency cap - Restriction on the amount of times a specific visitor is shown a particular advertisement.
Fringe time - In TV, the period directly preceding and directly following prime time.
Full position - An ad surrounded by editorial content in a newspaper, making it more likely to be read.
Full service agency - An advertising agency that handles the entire advertising process, including planning, design, production and placement, and possibly also PR, sales promotion, and direct marketing.
G
Gatefold - Folded double or triple size pages, generally in magazines, that expand into a large advertisement.
Galvanometer test - Research method that measures physiological changes in subjects when asked a question or shown some stimulus material.
Generic brand - Non-brand name products.
Green advertising - Advertising that uses a product or service's environmental credentials as an appeal to consumers.
Gross audience - The combined total of audiences for all media in a campaign. People exposed to more than one type of advertising will be counted for each instance.
Gross impressions - Total of unduplicated people represented by a given media schedule.
Guerrilla marketing - Unconventional marketing strategies intended to get maximum results from minimal resources.
H
Hierarchy of effects theory - A series of stages by which consumers receive and use information in reaching decisions about what actions they will take.
Hit - Request of a file from a Web server. Although often used as such, not the same as a visit, unique visit, or page view.
Holding power - Percentage of total audience retained throughout the entirety of a broadcast.
Horizontal discount - Discount on media purchasing offered in exchange for long-term commitment to buy advertising space.
Horizontal publications - Business publications appealling to people of similar interests or status across a variety of industries.
I
Ident - Short clip, often sponsored, identifying a TV programme or channel.
Image advertising - Promotion of the image or perception of a product or company, rather than its functional attributes. Commonly used for positioning brands and products in crowded markets.
Impression - A single instance of an online advertisement being displayed.
Industrial advertising - Business-to-business advertising aimed at manufacturers; usually promoting parts, equipment and raw materials.
Infomercial - A TV commercial that gives the appearance of being part of regular programming.
Inherited audience - The percent of a programme's audience that watched or listened to the programme immediately preceding it on the same channel.
Insert - Promotional matter produced by an advertiser to be physically inserted into a magazine or newspaper.
Integrated Marketing Communication - Unified marketing concept that aims make all parts of marketing communication, such as advertising and PR, work as a whole rather than independently.
Interactive agency - An agency offering a mix of web development, internet marketing, or E-Commerce consulting.
Interstitial - An advertisement that loads between two content pages.
Island position - An advert surrounded by either editorial material (print) or programme content (broadcast media), with no adjoining advertisements to compete for audience attention.
J
Jingle - Short catchy tune intended to embed an advertising message in consumers' minds.
K
Keyword - A word a user enters when searching for information.
Keyword density - Number of keywords on a page as a percentage of indexable text words.
Keyword marketing - Putting your message in front of people who are searching using particular keywords and phrases.
Keyword research - The search for keywords related to a website, and the analysis of which ones yield the highest return on investment.
L
Lifestyle segmentation - Division of consumers into groups based on their hobbies, interests, and other lifestyle factors.
Lifetime Customer Value (LTCV) - statistical estimation of a consumer's lifetime economic value to a company.
Linage - The size of a print ad, based on the number of lines of type taken up by it.
Local advertising - Advertising only to a local area as opposed to regional or national advertising.
M
Marginal analysis - Way of setting advertising budgets by assuming the point at which an additional money spent on advertising equals additional profit.
Marketing - The activities involved in the transfer of goods from the producer or seller to the consumer or buyer.
Marketing company - A business that seeks to affect the distribution and sales of goods and services from producer to consumer; including product development, pricing, packaging, advertising and merchandising.
Marketing mix - The elements of marketing, including product features, pricing, packaging, advertising, merchandising, distribution and marketing budget.
Marketing research - The gathering, recording, analysing and use of data related to the sale of goods and services.
Market profile - Summary of a market containg information on purchasers, competitors and other relevant background information.
Market segmentation - Strategy aiming to gain a large portion of the sales to a subgroup, rather than a smaller share of purchases by all consumers in the category.
Market share - The percentage of a product category's total sales, obtained by a product, brand or company.
Media concentration theory - Technique of scheduling media that involves buying large amounts of space in only one medium.
Media dominance theory - Media scheduling strategy that involves buying a large amounts of space in one medium, then shifting to another after achieving optimum coverage and frequency.
Media plan - Plan designed to choose the correct advertising media for a defined demographic.
Media strategy - A plan for bringing advertising messages to consumers through the usage of appropriate media.
Medium - A vehicle, such as television, used to convey information to an audience.
Motivation research - Research investigating the psychological reasons why individuals buy specific products, or respond to specific advertising appeals.
Mousetrapping - The use of browser tricks in an effort to keep a visitor captive at a site, often by disabling the "Back" button or repeatedly generating pop-up windows. Inadvisable. Like spam, not a good way to endear customers to your brand.
N
Narrative copy - A type of advertising body copy that uses storytelling techniques to set up a problem then solves it using the key sales features of the product.
Narrowcasting - Use of a broadcast medium to appeal to special interest audiences, e.g. advertising on a travel channel.
O
Open rate - The highest advertising rate payable for a single insertion in a publication before discounts are applied.
Outdoor advertising - Any outdoor sign promoting a product or service including billboards, bus shelters and phoneboxes.
Out-of-home advertising - All media and advertising exposure outside the home including outdoor, point of purchase and radio.
P
Page view - Request to load a single HTML page. One of a number of ways of measuring popularity.
Pass-along rate - The percentage of people who pass on a message or file. An excellent measure of the effectiveness of a viral campaign.
Pay per click (PPC) - Online advertising model in which payment is based solely on qualifying click-throughs.
Pay per click search engine (PPCSE) - Search engine where results are ranked according to the bid amount and advertisers are charged only when a searcher clicks on the search listing.
Pay per lead (PPL) - Online advertising model in which payment is based solely based on qualifying leads.
Pay per sale (PPS) - Online advertising model in which payment is based solely based on qualifying sales.
Permission marketing - Marketing centred around getting customer's consent to receive information from a company.
Persuasion process - The process used by advertising to influence attitudes, especially purchase intent and product perception by appealing to reason or emotion.
Pitch - The presentation of the campaign strategy to the client by the advertising agency.
Point of purchase display - Advertising display in retail stores, usually placed at the checkout.
Pop-under ad - An ad that displays in a new browser window behind the current browser window. Perceived by many as a form of spamming, often blocked by browsers.
Pop-up ad - An ad that displays in a new browser window. Perceived by many as a form of spamming, often blocked by browsers.
Post-testing - Testing of the effectiveness of an ad after placement.
Poster panel - An outdoor advertising billboard displaying ads generally comprised of 24 to 30 paper sheets.
PPPP - See Four Ps.
PR - Public relations.
Preferred position - A position in a print publication, such as the back cover of a magazine, that attracts most reader attention and is sold at a higher rate.
Pre-testing - Testing of an advertisement on an audience sample prior to media placement.
Primary demand advertising - Advertising designed to increase interest in the generic product category, rather than a specific brand or product.
Prime time - The broadcast periods that reach the largest audiences and for which broadcasters charge the most for air time.
Product differentiation - The development of product uniqueness to increase demand.
Product life cycle - A marketing theory which states products or brands progress through introductry, growth, maturity, and sales decline stages.
Product placement - The practice of paid placement of products within film or TV productions.
Product positioning - The establishment and targeting of a market niche for a product relative to its competition.
Product related segmentation - A method of identifying consumers by product consumption.
Professional advertising - Advertising directed toward professionals such as doctors and pharmacists, who can then promote products to their patients or customers.
Promotion - All types of communication other than advertising that call attention to products and services by adding extra values toward the purchase. Including discounts, allowances, offers, coupons and contests.
Promotional mix - The use of several different communication types to support marketing goals including advertising, publicity and sales promotions.
Psychographics - Employment of psychological profiling to target consumers.
Publicity - Public relations activities in the form of news items or stories conveying information about a product, service, or idea in the media.
Public relations - Communication with the public to influence their attitudes and opinions.
Q
Quad - Small size poster format, 30" x 40" or 762mm x 1016mm.
Qualitative research - A method of research that records deeper consumer attitudes, recording them in words.
Quantitative research - A method of research that statistically records and measures consumer trends and responses.
R
Rate - The fee charged by a communications medium to an advertiser per unit of space or time purchased.
Rate card - Information provided by media to advertisers containing information concerning advertising costs, issue dates, closing dates, cancellation dates, circulation data, etc.
Rating point - In TV or radio, one percentage of all receiving households who are listening to or viewing a particular channel at a given time.
Reach - The percentage of the target audience exposed to an ad at least once during a defined period of time.
Recognition - The ability of research subjects to recognise a particular ad or campaign when they see or hear it.
Referral premium - An incentive offered to customers for helping sell a product to a friend.
Road block - The practice of simultaneously broadcasting identical commercials on several different channels, thus making them unavoidable.
S
Sales promotion - Marketing activities that stimulate consumer purchasing.
Sales-response function - The measurable effect of advertising on sales.
Search engine optimization (or optimisation) - The process of choosing targeted keyword phrases related to a site, and ensuring that the site places well when those keyword phrases are searched for.
Selective demand advertising - Advertising promoting an individual manufacturer's brand rather than a generic product.
Semiotics - Theories regarding the symbolism of words, sounds and pictures. Sometimes applied in advertising planning.
SEO - See search engine optimization.
SERPS - Search Engine Results Pages.
Situation analysis - Method of gathering and evaluating information to identify the target group and strategic direction of an advertising campaign.
Slogan - Line of copy summing up campaign message in a single memorable sentence.
Soft sell - The technique of using subtle, low pressure appeals in advertisements and commercials.
Spam - Unwanted, unsolicited email. Generally counter-productive.
Storyboard - A scripted, illustrated and annotated blueprint for a film, viral or TV commercial.
Stickiness - the amount of time spent at a site over a given time period.
Strategic planning - Process that determines the actions required to achieve the optimum fit between an organisation and the marketplace.
Stratified selection - An equally measured statistical sample representing all the categories a population has been divided into.
Subliminal persuasion - A method of presenting a visual or aural message to be perceived below the threshold of consciousness.
Supplementary media - Non-mass media vehicles such as point of sale advertising.
T
Tagline - Short, memorable advertising phrase designed to keep an advertiser's message in the consumers mind. Essentially a slogan.
Target audience - A specified audience or demographic group that an advertising message is aimed at.
Target market - The group that comprises the intended recipients of an advertiser's message.
Teaser campaign - A campaign aimed at arousing interest in, and curiosity about, a product.
Telemarketing - The use of the telephone as a medium to sell or promote goods and services.
Tracking studies - A research study following the same subjects over an extended period of time.
Trade advertising - Advertising specifically designed to increase sales for retailers and wholesalers.
Trade stimulants - Sales promotions designed to motivate retailers and distributors to increase sales.
Traffic builder - A promotional tactic designed to draw consumers to an advertiser's physical or virtual location.
Transit advertising - Advertising that appears on public transport, waiting areas and bus stops.
U
Unique visitors - Number of individuals who have visited a Web site during a fixed time frame.
USP - Unique Selling Point or Proposition, benefit that differentiates a product its rivals.
V
Values and lifestyles research - Research method psychologically grouping consumers on characteristics such as demographics, values and lifestyles.
Vehicle - An individual, named channel or publication chosen to carry the advertising message to the target audience.
Vertical publications - Publications with editorial content pertaining to the interests of a specific industry.
Viral advertising - Advertising distrubuted using the methodology of viral marketing.
Viral marketing - Marketing phenomenon that facilitates and encourages people to pass along a marketing message.
VO - Voiceover.
W
Waste circulation - Advertising to those who are not potential consumers.
Wave scheduling - A strategy that uses intermittent bursts of advertising to attract attention.
Wear out - The point at which an advertising campaign becomes ineffective due to repeated exposure to ads.
Web 2.0 - The second generation of Internet-based services. Definitions differ, but Web 2.0 made the internet more personal and interactive and is epitomised by social networking sites and wikis such as Facebook and Wikipedia.
Website traffic - The number of visitors and visits a website receives.
White hat SEO - SEO techniques that conform to search engine guidelines and involve no deception, ensuring that what the search engine indexes and ranks is the same content a user will see. White hat SEO generally involves creating content for users, not search engines.
Word painting - A copywriting technique that employs highly descriptive words to evoke images
X
XML - Extensible Markup Language is an advanced general purpose markup language like HTML.
Y
Yield - The percentage of clicks generated from the number of impressions delivered.
Z
Zombie - An abandoned website that remains online, also a virus infected PC that can be used to deliver spam without the owner's knowledge.