When entrepreneurs get in touch with marketing and business automation for the first time, they often find themselves in a jungle of terminology that everybody else but them seems to understand. That makes getting started even more intimidating. But, don’t worry. We’ve got you covered!
We’ve put together a comprehensive list of the most important terms that every entrepreneur should know. Plus, we offer helpful resources here and there if you’d like to dig deeper into certain topics. Go ahead and bookmark this post so you can come back to it whenever you need it.
Marketing and Business Automation Terms You Should Know:
A
A/B Testing
This is the process of testing two versions of something to determine which one performs better. It’s often used in email marketing (to find out which subject lines produce the highest open rates), on landing pages (to determine which content leads to the highest conversion rate), and CTAs (to check which colour or text produces the most clicks).
B
Blog
A blog is what you’re reading right now. It’s where you can publish articles, pictures, videos, and commentaries on your website. As a core component of your inbound marketing strategy, a blog can help you accomplish a lot of things like driving traffic to your website, generating leads, and establishing your thought leadership in your industry. We’d recommend that you focus on topics that your audience cares about.
C
Case Study
A case study is a piece of content that illustrates how you achieved success for a specific client of yours. It’s a way for you to showcase to leads who are still on the fence about hiring you, that you can, in fact, deliver results (with concrete proof).
Consult
A consult, or consultation, is a meeting or call that leads can book with you (ideally via an automated booking system like ScheduleOnce or Calendly). Once you have your prospect on the phone, you can learn about their specific situation, determine how you can help them best, and convert them into buying your service or product.
CTA (Call-to-Action)
A CTA can be a text link, button, or image that you want your audience to click on. It might lead them to a landing page, trigger a download, or subscribe them to your email list. “Download Your Free Guide” or “Book Your Call” are examples of CTAs. They should always be enticing and tied to a great offer.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management)
This is a software tool that, on the basic level, lets you store all of your prospect’s and client’s information and keep track of all interactions with them. A CRM might also help you schedule appointments, send one-to-many emails, send invoices and collect payments. Curious to know more about CRMs? Check out our blog post that compares two of the most popular CRMs on the market: Infusionsoft by Keap vs. Active Campaign.
Customer Lifecycle
The customer lifecycle is the journey that your leads and clients take through your business. It starts with generating leads, which are then nurtured into becoming paying customers, which in turn can provide you with referrals. When you fully leverage and optimise your customer lifecycle, you’ll be able to provide better service, earn a higher return on your marketing efforts, and ultimately grow your sales.
E
Email List
Your email or subscriber list are your contacts which have opted in to receive emails from you. This is one of your most important assets because you now own these contact information and have full control over the communication. Sure, you might have a big following on social media, but you’ll never know how these platforms might change their algorithms and influence how you can reach your audience. Your email list will always be your own and maintaining and growing it should be a main focus.
ESP (Email Service Provider)
This is an email marketing platform that lets you maintain a subscriber list and send emails to them. Mailchimp and Mailjet are examples of popular ESPs. Note that most CRMs include the same functionalities and signing up for a separate ESP might not be necessary.
Evergreen Content
Content is evergreen when it provides value to the reader even long after it has been published because its of high quality and timeless. When you produce content that will stay up to date, you’ll make your life a lot easier as you don’t have to constantly update it or produce new content.
F
Form
A form is the place where your website visitors will supply information in exchange for your offer, for example, a lead magnet. Generally, this will be the first name and email address. The form collects this information and adds it to your CRM.
Funnel
A funnel is a sequence of steps your audience follows that leads them to an offer. A typical funnel might look like this:
- Views your video on Facebook
- Reads your Facebook ad
- Clicks to your landing page
- Opts in to receive your lead magnet
- Books a consultation with you
I
Ideal Client
Depending on who you talk to, ideal clients are also called buyer personas, target audiences, or customer avatars. They are a representation of real people that you want to attract to your business. When you know your ideal client intimately, you can tailor your marketing messages much better and ultimately get more high-quality leads. Read here how to easily define and research your ideal clients.
K
Keyword
A keyword is a particular word or phrase that describes what’s on a webpage. Search engines use keywords to index websites and provide results when a certain keyword is searched for. When you find out which keywords your target audience is searching for, you can optimise your website and blog posts to include these. As a result, you’re more likely to be found by them.
KPI (Key Performance Indicator)
KPIs are metrics that are used to track the performance of an initiative or process and compare it to a goal. Here are some of the most important KPIs in marketing:
Bounce Rate
On your website, the bounce rate is the percentage of visitors who leave or navigate to another page without clicking on anything. With regard to emails, the bounce rate is the percentage of emails that could not be delivered to your subscriber’s inbox.
Open Rate
This is the percentage of subscribers that opens one of your emails at least once. You want your open rate to be as high as possible, and the subject line is usually the most important factor here.
Clickthrough Rate
The percentage of your audience that continues from one part of your funnel to the next, for example, by clicking on a CTA. This is also measured in email marketing and shows how many subscribers clicked on the links contained in your email.
Conversion Rate
This is the percentage of people who completed an action on your website or on one of your landing pages. For example, they might have filled out a form to receive your lead magnet.
Engagement Rate
This is a measure for social media platforms and describes the number of interactions, for instance, likes, shares, and comments, that a piece of your content has received. High engagement shows that the content is resonating with your audience.
ROI (Return-on-Investment)
The ROI is a popular metric to measure the profitability of a certain initiative. It’s calculated by subtracting the costs from the gains and dividing the result by the cost. If the result is negative, the initiative is losing you money.
L
Landing Page
This is a web page that contains a form to capture your prospect’s information in exchange for something you offer. You can set up a landing page to promote a lead magnet, a webinar, an event, or anything else you can dream up. It’s easier than you might think. Tools like Clickfunnels or Infusionsoft by Keap offer simple landing page builders.
Lead
A lead, or prospect, is a person who has shown interest in what you have to offer in some way or form. Maybe they have opted in for your newsletter or downloaded your lead magnet.
Lead Generation
Also called top-of-funnel (TOFU) marketing, is the process of warming up strangers to your brand, so they eventually want to hear and buy from you. Basically, it’s the very first step to getting new clients and not optional for any entrepreneur looking to grow her business. Check out our in-depth blog post about the 6 easy steps to automatic lead generation.
Lead Nurturing
Lead nurturing is the process that comes right after lead generation in the customer lifecycle. It’s how you keep the leads who are not quite ready to buy from you yet engaged, so you bring them closer to converting into a paying client. Read our blog post to find out how you can set up an automated lead nurturing process that lets you close more sales.
Lead Magnet
A lead magnet, sometimes called freebie offering, is something you give away for free in exchange for the contact information of your audience. That could be an ebook, a guide, a video series, a template, a checklist, a cheat sheet … the list goes on. When you think about what lead magnet to create, think about one important question: How can I solve a real problem that my audience is struggling with right now?
N
Niche
A niche is a very specific segment of a market that has common needs, wants, and requirements. When you apply niche marketing as a strategy, you’re serving a small population instead of trying to appeal to a mass market. That way, you can be more successful as a big fish in a small pond and become the most thought-after solution in your niche.
Nurture Campaign
A nurture campaign is a series of emails that are designed to engage your subscribers and lead them towards a specific goal. That goal could be booking a consultation with you.
R
Referral
This is someone who has been referred to you by a current or previous client of yours. Referrals are a great way to get new customers and accelerate your business growth. If you’re wondering how you can get more referrals, check out our blog post on how to nail the customer experience for more referrals and upsells.
S
Sales Letter
A sales letter is a long-form piece of content with one specific goal: to sell one of your products, services, or even just a consult. With regards to length, there’s no right or wrong here. Your letter should be long enough to establish a reasoning for your lead to take action. Long copy is ok, as long as it’s not long-winded. And always remember to make your letter engaging and fun to read.
Segmentation
It’s the process of dividing your subscriber list based on different characteristics with the aim to be more specific in your communication with them. For example, you could segment all contacts who clicked to book a consultation with you but did not complete the booking. Then you could follow up with this group and nudge them to take action.
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
It’s the practice of improving a website’s performance in search results. By adjusting different elements of the web page and including the right keywords, you can increase the chances of appearing higher in the search results. Elements that influence the ranking are title tags, keywords, image tags, internal links as well as outbound links, and much more.
Subscriber
A subscriber is a person on your email list who has agreed to receive email communication from you.
T
Testimonial
A testimonial is a short piece of writing created by one of your current or previous clients that describes their experience with your business. Placed on your website, landing page, or sales letter, a testimonial can act as powerful social proof to show prospects the value that your solutions can provide.
U
Upsell
When you “upsell,” you offer your current clients another service or product that provides additional value for them. Upselling your customers is often much more cost-effective than trying to acquire new clients. Check out our blog post for tips on how to upsell the right way.
USP (Unique Selling Proposition)
A USP is a factor that differentiates your product or services from the competition. That could be anything from the highest quality to outstanding customer service. Ask yourself, what makes your offer unique and make an effort to showcase this in your marketing.
Got questions?
Wow, we’ve covered a lot of terminologies here. We understand if your head is spinning now. If you still have some questions or if you’re wondering how all these things work together to form a marketing strategy that actually brings in new clients for you, we’re here to help.
Why not jump on a call with us and we can discuss the details? Simply click the button below to secure your call, and we can get you on the way to more clients and revenue.
