As a health tech B2B marketer, you will come across a wide range of marketing acronyms and terms. Which are the main marketing abbreviations that you should know? Well, here you go!
I have researched some of the top digital marketing acronyms and terms that I believe you should be acquainted with.
The 25 Top Digital Marketing Acronyms
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization)
- SERP (Search Engine Results Page)
- CTA ( Call To Action)
- CPC (Cost Per Click)
- CPL (Cost Per Lead)
- CPT (Cost Per Thousand)
- CTR (Click Through Rate)
- BR (Bounce Rate)
- KPI (Key Performance Indicator)
- CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization)
- CMS (Content Management System)
- DDM ( Data-Driven Marketing )
- VTC (View Through Click)
- CPA (Cost Per Acquisition)
- PPV (Pay Per View)
- SEM (Search Engine Marketing)
- RON (Run of Network)
- ROS ( Run-Of-Site)
- DMA (Designated Market Area)
- SOV (Share of Voice)
- DSP (Demand Side Platform)
- IAB (Interactive Advertising Bureau)
- RTB (Real-time Bidding)
- CX ( Customer Experience)
- PR (Page Rank)
Now, let’s go into what each of these online marketing abbreviations and terms means, and their significance.
A. Digital Marketing Acronyms Linked To Google & Search Engines
#1. SEO – Search Engine Optimization
SEO is one of the most common digital marketing abbreviations and stands for Search Engine Optimization. It is a digital marketing approach that aims at ranking websites higher on the Search Engine Result Pages (SERP).
In other words, SEO is about driving more organic traffic to your site.
Effective use of targeted keywords, and most importantly, content quality and relevance are critical here.
This is how healthlaunchpad approaches SEO
#2. SERP/ SERPS – Search Engine Results Page
This digital marketing acronym refers to search results that Google or other search engines display on pages following search queries.
They can, therefore, be in the form of graphs images, videos, or featured snippets e.g. a list, table, or paragraph.
#3. SEM – Search Engine Marketing
This is a digital marketing strategy that focuses on promoting your website’s visibility through paid-for Search Engine advertisements.
Examples of SEM channels include Google, Yahoo, and Bing among others. Listen to our partner, Paul Vandre talk about our approach to SEM.
#4. PR – Page Rank
This acronym is also known to mean Public Relations. However, in Digital marketing, it refers to how Google’s Search Algorithm ranks webpages in their respective search engine results following a search query.
B. Digital Advertising Acronyms
#5. CTA – Call To Action
Basically, this is the action you need your potential customer to take.
Some examples can be: “Buy Now”, “Follow Us”, “Sign-up”, “View Webinar”, “Shop Now”, “Schedule a Meeting” etc.
On Hubspot and other Marketing Automation Systems, CTA refers to the image and feature that you place on your website, and specifically to invite site visitors to take action.
#6. CPC – Cost Per Click
CPC is the unit cost you incur from one click on your digital advertisement.
So, when one clicks on your ad irrespective of their next action, you are charged for the total number of clicks.
In short, Total Cost Charged = Number of Clicks X The Unit Cost per Click (Cost Per Click)
#7. CPL – Cost Per Lead
CPL is the amount of money you pay for getting new prospects or leads.
Therefore, it is one of the fundamental metrics in demand generation and is calculated by dividing the cost of a lead generation program by the number of leads.
#8. CPT or CPM – Cost Per Thousand | Cost Per Mille
CPT also called Cost Per Mille or Cost Per Thousand, is the amount you are required to pay for 1000 views or impressions from your digital ad within a single webpage.
#9. CPA – Cost Per Acquisition | Cost Per Conversion
CPA is a digital marketing abbreviation that refers to Cost Per Acquisition and is a metric that measures the cost incurred in acquiring one paying customer per campaign or advertisement channel.
And so, in order to evaluate CPA, you simply divide your total campaign cost for getting new customers by the total number of new customers that you acquire from the same channel.
CPA = Total cost spent on campaign or channel to acquire customers/Total Number of New customers acquired by the same campaign or channel
#10. PPV – Pay Per View
PPV is an online digital marketing strategy where payment is made every time your advertisement or offer is viewed.
#11. VTC – View Through Click/View Through Conversion
VTC measures the performance of a marketing campaign based on the customer’s action to click on an advert or convert after previously viewing the same ad without taking any action.
#12. CTR – Click Through Rate
CTR is a metric that measures the performance of your ads or emails by evaluating the ratio of those who view your digital ads or receive your email and those who actually click on them.
So, it is expressed as a percentage by taking the total number of clicks from your website divided by the total number it has been shown or viewed (impressions) multiplied by 100.
CTR (%) = Total Number of Clicks / Impressions or views X100
#13. RTB – Real-time Bidding
RTB refers to the automatic and programmatic auctioning system or buying and selling of digital advertising inventory.
In this process, authorized purchasers must have ad servers (advertising software), or bid engines. The process takes less than one second.
Buyers can be charged based on different models such as CPA, C PM, or CPC.
C. Other Digital Marketing Abbreviations
#14. CX – Customer Experience
CX is yet another of the most common digital marketing abbreviations for the Customer Experience. It basically refers to how a customer perceives your services or brand throughout their buying process.
Establishing a positive customer experience is key in building customer loyalty.
Through this, customers can help in promoting your solutions either through social media channels or by word-of-mouth.
#15. BR – Bounce Rate
BR refers to the ratio or percentage of the target customers or those who visit your website but leave/exit ( ” bounce” ) without navigating to any other pages.
It is, therefore, a method of analyzing your website performance. Web sites with lower bounce rates have higher engagement.
#16. KPI – Key Performance Indicator
Key Performance Indicator(s) are metrics that you need to measure in order to gauge your marketing success, or how your digital marketing campaigns are performing.
This interview has some very interesting insights about KPIs
#17. CRO – Conversion Rate Optimization
CRO is a marketing acronym for Conversion Rate optimization which is is a strategy to increase the number of target website or landing page visitors that perform your desired action.
For example, filling a form, signing up for a specific service, purchasing, clicking a specific link such as “Add to Cart”, or filling a specific form.
#18. CMS – Content Management System
CMS is a commonly used marketing acronym for Content Management Systems (CMS ) Basically, this refers to application systems or software with a user interface that allows you to create, edit and produce digital content.
And so, when it’s well-designed, it helps in optimizing the customers’ experience. Examples of some f the CMS for creating websites or blogs include WordPress, Wix, and Shopify among others.
Note not to be confused with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
#19. DDM – Data-Driven Marketing
As it implies, this is a digital marketing strategy that is based on relevant data derived from different sources to help in marketing campaign decision-making.
#20. RON – Run of Network
Run of Network refers to a digital marketing campaign that targets a network of websites. And so, this means you have little control over which specific websites your advertisements should be displayed in.
RON strategy ensures that you have a wider target reach because your ad will automatically appear where traffic is available.
#21. ROS – Run of Site
In digital marketing, ROS or Run of Site is a type of digital marketing strategy where campaigns or advertisements can appear on any page within your selected advertisement website.
In other words, with ROS, advertisements within a particular website are not page-specific.
#22. DMA – Designated Market Area
Initially, DMA focused on television advertising. However, in the current marketing space, it refers to geographical regions, areas, or countries that can be targeted with digital marketing campaigns.
#23. SOV – Share of Voice
Share of Voice is the percentage share that your brand commands within the market compared to your competitors.
Unlike before where this focused only on the advertisement sector, the current meaning includes brand performance within a wide range of measurable marketing areas such as:
- Website traffic
- Digital Marketing Platforms
- Digital Press Release
- Social Media Mentions
#24. DSP – Demand Side Platform
DSP refers to a technology-driven and digital marketing platform. It allows advertisers and other media purchasing agencies to automatically bid and purchase multiple digital marketing spaces or ad inventory in real-time.
Examples of the DSP platforms you can consider for your digital marketing campaigns include Adelphic, Critereo, AcuityAds, and Amazon DSP among others.
#25. IAB – Interactive Advertising Bureau
For digital publishers, IAB refers to the organization that focuses on setting industry standards for effective digital advertising.
They provide specifications or set standards that guide the digital marketing industry.
Conclusion
As you advance and focus on different online campaign strategies, you are more likely to come across other different online marketing terms and acronyms.
If you come across any that you don’t understand, let me know.