Marketing Glossary

Strategic communications is a focused approach to delivering messages that align with an organization’s goals, ensuring consistent and targeted communication across all channels.

In the context of marketing and business, communications is a practice that involves the strategic dissemination of information to build relationships, inform stakeholders, and create meaningful engagement with a target audience.

A communications strategy is a comprehensive plan outlining how a brand or individual will deliver key messages to its target audience.

A press release is a formal, written communication published by organizations to announce news or offer updates to the media and their public audience.

Media outreach is the proactive process of contacting journalists, bloggers, editors, and influencers to pitch stories, news, or content ideas with the goal of gaining earned media coverage.

Media relations is a component of public relations (PR) focused on building and managing relationships with journalists, editors, influencers, industry analysts, bloggers, and media outlets.

Public relations (PR) is the strategic practice of managing the communication and relationship between an organization and its public audience.

Product positioning is the process of defining a product's key messaging, including target audience, the problems it solves, and the value it delivers to customers.

Brand positioning is the process of defining how your brand is perceived and the value it delivers to customers.

Employer branding is the process of promoting a company as a desirable place to work by communicating its values, culture, and the benefits of working there.

Brand standards are a set of rules and best practices that outline how a brand’s identity should be represented across all marketing and communication channels.

Product branding is the process of creating and promoting a unique identity for a specific product or product line.

Brand values are the core principles that a brand believes in and stands for.

Brand messaging refers to the communication strategy and assets that convey a brand’s core values, mission, and unique value proposition.

Brand building is the process of creating and strengthening a brand’s identity, reputation, and perception.

Brand management is the process of creating, maintaining, and improving a brand’s image, reputation, and value.

Brand marketing is the process of promoting a company’s brand as a whole, rather than focusing on individual products or services.

Brand identity is the collection of all the visual, emotional, and strategic elements that define how a brand presents itself to the world.

A brand is the personality and identity of a business or individual.

Branding is the process of creating and shaping the identity of a company, product, or service in the minds of consumers.

Social media branding is the use of social media platforms to establish and promote a brand’s identity, values, and voice.

Brand equity refers to the perceived value, strength, and credibility of a brand in the eyes of consumers.

Brand awareness is the extent to which consumers are familiar with a particular brand and can recognize it when they encounter it.

Affiliate marketing is a performance-based marketing strategy where businesses reward individuals (affiliates) for promoting their products or services and driving traffic, leads, or sales through the affiliate’s marketing efforts.

A landing page is a standalone web page designed specifically for a marketing or advertising campaign.

Marketing automation refers to the use of software and technology to streamline, automate, and measure marketing tasks and workflows, allowing businesses to increase efficiency and drive more personalized, effective campaigns at scale.

Organic traffic refers to the visitors who come to your website through unpaid, natural search engine results and other unpaid channels.

Engagement rate is a metric used in digital marketing and social media to measure the level of interaction that an audience has with a brand’s content.

A Call to Action (CTA) is a prompt in marketing content that encourages the audience to take a specific action.

Inbound marketing is a strategy focused on attracting, engaging, and delighting potential customers by creating valuable content and experiences tailored to their needs.

AI avatars are digital characters generated through artificial intelligence (AI) that are increasingly being used in social media, marketing, and content creation.

A virtual influencer is a digital character or avatar created using computer-generated imagery (CGI) or artificial intelligence (AI) technology that appears on social media platforms to engage audiences, just like human influencers.

Personal branding is the process of developing and promoting an individual’s unique identity, expertise, and values to build a public image that resonates with a specific audience.

The creator economy refers to the ecosystem of independent content creators who build audiences, generate revenue, and establish personal brands through digital platforms like YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, and others.

A content creator is someone who produces and publishes content—such as blogs, videos, social media posts, podcasts, or graphics—aimed at engaging, informing, entertaining, or educating a specific audience.

Demand generation is a marketing strategy focused on creating awareness, interest, and buying intent for your products or services.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM) is the process of promoting businesses and content in search engine results page (SERPs) via paid advertising and organic content marketing efforts.

Product-market fit occurs when your product or service satisfies the needs of a specific market, generating demand for the product among people in that target market.

User-Generated Content (UGC) refers to any form of content—such as photos, videos, reviews, blog posts, or social media updates—created and shared by your customers or audience, rather than by your brand.

Influencer marketing is a strategy where businesses collaborate with influencers—individuals who have a dedicated and engaged following on social media or other digital platforms—to promote their products or services.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) refers to the strategies, practices, and technologies that businesses use to manage and analyze customer interactions throughout the customer lifecycle.

Click-through rate (CTR) is a key metric in digital marketing that measures the percentage of people who click on a link or advertisement after seeing it.

Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is a digital advertising model where advertisers pay a fee each time one of their ads is clicked.

A conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who complete a desired action—whether it’s making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or filling out a form—on your website, social media ad, or other marketing channel.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process of optimizing a website to rank higher on search engine results pages (SERPs), such as Google, to increase the quantity and quality of organic (non-paid) traffic.

Lead generation is the process of attracting and converting strangers into prospects who have shown interest in a company’s product or service.

Discover the essentials of digital marketing in this comprehensive guide.

Discover the essentials of content marketing in this comprehensive guide.

Social media marketing is the process of using platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Twitter to promote your business, build brand awareness, connect with your audience, and ultimately, drive sales or other desired actions.

Email marketing is a direct form of communication that allows businesses and creators to send targeted messages to their audience via email.