Where every click is a journey and every impression counts.
The practice of encouraging customers to purchase a more expensive or upgraded version of what they're already buying. It's the art of making people feel inadequate about their original choice.
Dividing audiences based on psychological attributes like values, attitudes, interests, and lifestyles rather than just demographics. It's the difference between targeting '35-year-old males' and 'anxiety-ridden millennials seeking validation through consumer choices.'
A semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on research and data, complete with demographics, behaviors, and a name like 'Marketing Mary' or 'Developer Dan.' It's an imaginary friend who justifies your marketing decisions.
The systematic evaluation of competitors' strategies, strengths, and weaknesses to inform your own marketing approach. It's professional stalking with PowerPoint deliverables.
The first brand that comes to mind when a consumer thinks of a particular product category. It's the ultimate marketing achievement: occupying mental real estate rent-free.
The art of assigning credit to various marketing touchpoints in a customer's journey, often sparking heated debates about which channel deserves the glory (and budget). Think of it as marketing's version of dividing credit for a group project where everyone claims they did the most work.
An experimental method to measure whether your marketing actually caused an outcome or if it would have happened anyway. It's the uncomfortable question every CMO avoids: did we waste our money?
Suggesting complementary products to customers based on what they're already purchasing. It's the retail equivalent of being a helpful friend, if that friend worked on commission.
Any marketing channel where you pay for placement or exposure, from Google ads to billboards. It's the straightforward 'give us money and we'll show your stuff' approach that makes traditional advertising feel honest by comparison.
A methodology for ranking prospects based on their perceived value and likelihood to convert, assigning points for behaviors and demographics. It's hot-or-not for potential customers, but with spreadsheets.
Placing ads based on the content of the page rather than user tracking, showing car ads on automotive sites instead of following users around. It's the old-fashioned targeting approach that's suddenly new again as privacy regulations tighten.
Using automated technology and algorithms to purchase digital ad inventory in real-time, replacing human media buyers with machines that work faster and complain less. It's the robot apocalypse, but for ad placement.
A sudden decrease in quantity, participation, or performance, or the place where you abandon your kids/packages/passengers for someone else to deal with. In business metrics, it's that terrifying moment when your chart takes a nosedive and you need to explain to your boss why engagement fell off a cliff. Also conveniently describes what happens to New Year's gym memberships by February.
The corporate equivalent of getting a makeover and pretending you're a completely different person—changing a company's name, logo, or image to distance from past failures or chase new markets. It's what happens when focus groups decide your perfectly good brand needs $2 million worth of "refreshing." Sometimes transformative, often just expensive window dressing on the same old product.
In medical terms, how aggressively a disease can mess you up. In marketing, how quickly and devastatingly a campaign can spread (for better or worse). The measure of potency, whether it's a virus destroying cells or a brand message destroying your competitor's market share.
The holy grail of marketing where you transform casual browsers into paying customers, or skeptics into believers. It's the art of turning window shoppers into wallet openers through a carefully orchestrated dance of persuasion, psychology, and sometimes sheer annoyance. Every marketer's favorite verb and every CFO's favorite metric.
A specialized market segment so specific that you're either a genius for discovering it or desperately grasping at straws. It's where businesses go to avoid competing with Amazon by selling something like artisanal yak wool iPhone cases. The sweet spot between 'untapped opportunity' and 'there's probably a reason nobody else is doing this.'
Software that automatically sends emails, scores leads, and nurtures prospects based on behavioral triggers, allowing marketers to annoy people at scale without manual effort. It's how brands pretend mass communication is personalized.
Social media content with integrated purchasing capabilities, allowing impulse buyers to complete transactions without leaving the platform. It's Instagram's answer to QVC, turning mindless scrolling into mindless spending.
An advertisement disguised as editorial content, wearing a journalistic trench coat to sneak past readers' skepticism. The chameleon of marketing that makes disclosure labels work overtime.
A continuous marketing approach that maintains constant brand presence rather than campaign bursts, like keeping the lights on instead of throwing occasional raves. The marathon runner's philosophy applied to advertising spend.
Selling products by associating them with the lifestyle customers want rather than the one they have, dangling the carrot of a better version of themselves. The reason luxury brands show yachts instead of minivans.
An algorithmic technique in programmatic advertising that reduces your bid to just above the second-highest bidder, saving money while still winning auctions. The poker player's bluff applied to ad tech.
The final stage where prospects are ready to convert, having survived the grueling journey through awareness and consideration. Where marketing hands the baton to sales and hopes they don't fumble.