Where every click is a journey and every impression counts.
When someone actually does what you want—buy, sign up, call—the rare moment that justifies your entire marketing spend.
A semi-fictional character representing your ideal customer—basically a detailed stereotype you convince yourself is data-driven.
Brief windows when someone's intent to act is highest—catching them right when they're deciding to buy, search, or share.
The organized chaos of deciding what to wear based on what celebrities wore six months ago. A trillion-dollar industry built on convincing humans that last season's colors are now morally wrong.
A professional manipulator of mass consciousness who gets paid to make you emotionally invested in purchasing decisions you didn't know you needed to make.
A system allowing users to authenticate across multiple platforms with one login, convenient for users and a gold mine for marketers tracking behavior. It's basically opt-in surveillance that people appreciate.
A paid message designed to convince you that you desperately need something you probably don't—weaponizing psychology, humor, and celebrity endorsements to make 'buy this' sound like 'this will change your life.' Surprisingly, it works often enough to fund the entire internet.
The art of convincing plants to grow in your yard instead of wildly reproducing elsewhere. Marketed as relaxing, but it's really just controlled warfare against weeds, insects, and your own poor planning.
Giving credit for a conversion to multiple marketing touchpoints rather than just the last click. It's acknowledging that marketing is a journey, not a moment.
Automatic auction for ad impressions in milliseconds, where advertisers compete and the highest bidder's ad shows. It's the stock market, but faster and for eyeballs.
Advertising in search engine results, where ads appear above or alongside organic listings. The art of paying to interrupt someone's research for your benefit.
A controlled test measuring changes in brand perception, awareness, or purchase intent resulting from advertising exposure. The expensive research that proves your ads mostly don't work as advertised.
Something that was already made by someone else and is therefore available for immediate use without your input. In fashion, it's the alternative to custom tailoring; in business, it's the escape route from actually thinking about originality.
What you pay each time someone completes a specific action—purchase, signup, download, etc. It's the advertiser's way of only paying for results that actually matter.
The cost to display your ad to 1,000 people, regardless of whether they click it. The advertiser's relationship with a brick wall—you pay to exist, whether anyone looks or not.
Google's targeting option for people with demonstrated interests in specific topics. Less creepy than behavioral targeting, only slightly.
Testing different ad designs, videos, images, or messaging to see what resonates. Like A/B testing but for the actual advertisement itself.
A 1x1 invisible image or JavaScript code placed on websites to track user behavior, conversions, and retargeting data. The tiny digital footprint that creates a giant surveillance network.
The percentage of people who see your ad and actually click it, calculated as clicks divided by impressions. It's the metric that separates ads people tolerate from ads people actively ignore.
A series of emails or content designed to move prospects through the sales funnel by providing relevant information at each stage. It's patience, automated.
Statistical characteristics of a population (age, gender, income, location, education) used to define and target audience segments. The lazy marketer's first attempt at precision.
A word or phrase preceded by '#' that categorizes content and enables discoverability on social media. A democratic tagging system that devolved into corporate spam within five years.
Revenue generated divided by advertising costs. Every dollar spent on ads should return multiple dollars in revenue, or you're funding other people's businesses.
Ads that automatically customize content based on the viewer's interests, behavior, or demographics. The algorithm does the personalization work for you.