Marketing glossary

A/B testing compares two versions of a single element (an ad creative, a headline, a landing page) on live traffic to see which one performs better. You test one variable at a time and let the data decide.

Ad frequency is the average number of times each person reached has seen an ad: impressions divided by reach. It shows whether a campaign is reaching new people or wearing out the same ones over and over.

Advantage+ is a family of automation tools in Meta Ads in which the algorithm takes over targeting, creative selection and budget allocation. You set the goal and supply the assets, and the system looks for the cheapest results across the entire available audience.

Audience retention in video is the percentage of viewers who are still watching at a given point. A retention graph shows where people drop off. It's the main signal for algorithms: the longer viewers stay, the more widely the platform distributes the content.

B-roll is supplementary footage in a video: shots of the product, the place, details and people at work, edited over the main narration (the A-roll). It gives a video rhythm and saves it from being a minute-long talking head.

Bounce rate is the percentage of visits in which the user didn't interact with the page: no clicks, no scrolling further down, a quick exit. A high rate on a campaign page usually means the page doesn't match the promise made in the ad.

A content calendar is a publishing schedule for social media and your blog: what you publish, where, when and why, planned in advance. It turns a chaotic 'we need to post something' into consistent communication tied to the company's goals.

A conversion is any action you want a user to take: a purchase, a form submission, a phone call or a newsletter sign-up. The conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who took that action.

The Conversions API (CAPI) sends conversion data directly from your website's server to Meta, bypassing the browser. It fills the gaps the pixel leaves where ad blockers and iOS restrictions cut off tracking.

CPA (cost per action) is the cost of a single desired action: a purchase, a form submission or a phone call. You calculate it by dividing the campaign budget by the number of actions. It's the metric that links advertising most closely to business goals.

CPC (cost per click) is the cost of a single click on your ad. You calculate it by dividing the budget spent by the number of clicks. It's the core billing metric in Google Ads and one of the main ones in Meta Ads.

CPM (cost per mille) is the cost of a thousand ad impressions. It's the basic rate for buying reach in Meta Ads and display campaigns: you pay for your ad being shown, whether or not anyone clicks on it.

A CTA (call to action) is a button or message that tells people what to do next, such as 'Book a consultation', 'Buy now' or 'Get a quote'. A good CTA is specific and promises something of value.

CTR (click-through rate) is the percentage of people who click on an ad, link or search result after seeing it. You calculate it by dividing the number of clicks by the number of impressions and multiplying by 100.

A domain is your website's address on the internet, e.g. threewaves.agency. You don't own it outright: you register it with a registrar for a year or longer. It's the foundation of your brand online: the address of both your website and your business email.

Engagement rate is the sum of reactions, comments, shares and saves divided by reach or by follower count. It shows whether your content actually means something to the people it reaches.

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is Google's free analytics tool for websites and apps. It measures events: visits, clicks, form submissions, purchases. It shows where users come from and what they do on your site before they become customers.

A hook is the first 1-3 seconds of a video, or the first line of copy, designed to stop someone scrolling. The hook determines whether anyone watches the rest, since the average user chooses whether to scroll past in a split second.

Impressions are the number of times content or an ad is shown, with every display counted separately. One person can generate many impressions. Reach counts unique people; impressions count every time the content is seen.

KPIs (key performance indicators) are the few numbers you use to judge whether your marketing is meeting its business goals. Good KPIs measure business results: sales, leads, cost of acquisition.

A landing page is where a campaign sends people: a single page they reach after clicking an ad, designed for one goal (an enquiry, a sign-up, a purchase). It has no distractions and one clear call to action.

A lead is a person or business that has left you their contact details and agreed to a conversation: they filled in a form, called or sent a message. Leads are the fuel of service and B2B businesses: every sale begins with one.

A logotype is a brand's name set in distinctive lettering. In everyday use, 'logo' covers the whole mark: the logotype (the lettering) and the logomark (the graphic symbol, like our waves). A good logo works at any size and in any version.

A lookalike audience is a Meta Ads target audience created automatically and modelled on your customers. The algorithm analyses who is in your source audience and finds users with similar characteristics and behaviour.

A marketing funnel is a model of the path a customer takes from first contact with a brand to a purchase: awareness, interest, consideration, decision. Each stage loses some people (hence the funnel shape) and needs a different message.

Meta Business Manager (now called a business portfolio) is the control centre for a company's assets across Meta: Pages, ad accounts, the pixel and team access. It keeps business assets separate from personal profiles.

The Meta Pixel is a piece of code on your website that sends Meta's advertising system information about what visitors do: page visits, items added to the basket, purchases. Without it, Meta Ads campaigns run blind.

Organic reach is the number of unique people who saw your content without paid promotion: through your followers' feeds, algorithm recommendations, shares and search. It's free visibility that you compete for with the quality of your content.

Performance Max is a Google Ads campaign type in which the system distributes your budget and ads across all of Google's channels: Search, YouTube, Gmail, Maps, Discover and the Display Network. You supply the assets and the goal, and the algorithm handles the rest.

Quality Score is a 1-10 rating that Google Ads gives a keyword based on expected CTR, ad relevance and landing page experience. The higher it is, the less you pay for the same position.

Reels are short vertical videos on Instagram and Facebook, Meta's equivalent of TikTok. They're the format with the biggest organic reach: the algorithm also shows Reels to people who don't follow your profile.

Retargeting (also called remarketing) means showing ads to people who have already come across your brand: they visited your website, added a product to their basket or watched a video. It's usually the part of a campaign with the lowest cost per sale.

ROAS (return on ad spend) is the return you get on your advertising budget: it shows how many pounds of revenue each pound spent on ads has generated. A ROAS of 5 means every £1 of budget brought in £5 of revenue.

A slogan, also called a tagline or strapline, is a short line that accompanies a brand and sums up its promise or character. A good slogan is short, specific and about the customer.

Social proof is any signal that others have already trusted you: reviews, customer numbers, examples of work, brand logos, content from users. It makes the decision feel less risky to the customer and raises conversion rates.

An SSL certificate encrypts the connection between a visitor's browser and a website (the padlock and https in the address bar). Without one, browsers warn 'Your connection is not private', which is enough to scare customers away.

UGC (user-generated content) is content that looks as if ordinary users made it: reviews, unboxings, videos shot on a phone. In advertising, creators make it on commission for a brand, and the footage keeps a genuine, unproduced feel.

A UGC creator is someone brands pay to film ad content in a genuine, natural style. Unlike an influencer, they don't need a big following: what they sell is the ability to make believable content.

UTM parameters are tags added to a URL (utm_source, utm_medium, utm_campaign) that tell your analytics exactly where a visitor came from: which campaign, which channel and which specific ad or post.

Visual identity is a brand's consistent graphic system: logo, colours, typography, the style of photos and graphics, and the rules for using them. It lets people recognise the brand at a glance, before they read its name.

Web hosting is a service that stores your website's files and database on a server connected to the internet 24/7. If the domain is the address, hosting is the plot the house stands on. The quality of your hosting determines how fast and stable your site is.