Below are some of the key acronyms that I have talked about in the book. This is by no means an exhaustive list. But, it covers some of the main ones you will hear often.

AIDA – Awareness, Interest, Desire, Action: A marketing framework used to define where the customer is in the sales cycle.

ABM – Account-Based Marketing: Marketing micro-targeted to a specific company.

B2B – Business to Business: Marketing activity targeting a business customer.

B2C – Business to Consumer: Marketing activity targeting a consumer.

B2G – Business to Government: Marketing activity targeting government entities.

BOFU – Bottom of Funnel: This means the customer has gone from the top of the funnel (TOFU, to the middle of the funnel (MOFU) and is now close to buying the product.

CAC – Customer Acquisition Cost: The total sales and marketing cost to acquire a customer.

CMS – Content Management System: A solution that enables a marketer to create, publish and manage a library of content related to the company on a website.

CPC – Cost Per Click: The amount it costs to get someone to click on your digital ad.

CPC – Cost Per Conversion: The amount it costs to get a user to take a specific action (i.e., sign up for a demo, submit contact information, download an app).

CPL – Cost Per Lead: The amount it costs to generate a lead or contact for the business.

CPA – Cost Per Acquisition: The amount it costs to acquire a user as a customer.

CPM – Cost Per Thousand: The cost for 1000 advertising impressions. This is what an advertiser would pay to get 1000 impressions for an ad or campaign.

CR - Conversion Rate: The percentage of leads converted at a specific stage or touchpoint in the buying process. Also used to refer to the number of people on a website that convert into a contact.

CRM - Customer Relationship Management: A software program (Salesforce, Hubspot, Sugar CRM, Microsoft Dynamics) that enables an organization to track engagement with clients and prospects.

CTA – Call to Action: The key message on a marketing asset that communicates what a person needs to do next. Examples: buy now, get a demo, schedule an appointment, learn more.

CTR – Click Thru Rate: Shows the percentage of people who have clicked on an ad or link compared to the number of people who saw it.

KPI – Key Performance Indicator: Key metrics that show the overall performance of a marketing program over time.

LTV – Lifetime Value: The financial value of a customer over the estimated lifetime of their engagement with the company. Also can be called Customer Lifetime Value (CLTV or CLV).

MOFU – Middle of Funnel: The customer is in the evaluation process for buying the product. The next step is to get the customer to the bottom of the funnel.

MQL – Marketing Qualified Lead: A lead that has been generated and qualified by marketing as viable for the sales team to follow up on.

NPS – Net Promoter Score: A customer satisfaction metric that measures how likely customers are to recommend your business to others.

PPC – Pay for Click: Digital advertising model requiring the advertiser to pay every time a person clicks on the ad.

PR – Public Relations: The promotion of a business to the public through various media channels. PR placement is earned through a relationship with a journalist rather than paid for (like advertising).

ROI – Return on Investment: The financial return a company will get on any investment made.

ROAS – Return on Ad Spend: The company's financial return on specific investments in advertising.

RON – Run of Network: A way of buying digital ads that will run across an entire publisher’s network versus just one website.

ROS – Run of Site: A way to buy online ads from publishers that runs your ads throughout the entire site versus a specific section or page.

RTB – Real-Time Bidding: A real-time auction of digital advertising inventory that enables a marketer to buy ads in real-time based on supply and demand.

SaaS – Software as a Service: Subscription-based software that companies use for various tasks (CRM, email, social media, etc.). SaaS products charge a monthly subscription which can also be paid annually.  

SEO – Search Engine Optimization: The activity of making your web content accessible by the search engines.

SEM – Search Engine Marketing: Leveraging the search engines for marketing activities. Includes Search Engine Optimization (SEO), paid search ads, company profiles, photos, videos, reviews, etc.

SQL – Sales Qualified Lead: A MQL that has been vetted and qualified by the salesperson.

TOFU – Top of Funnel: The customer is just learning about the product. The next step is to get the customer to the middle of the funnel (MOFU).

USP – Unique Selling Proposition: The value proposition of the product/service to the customer that differentiates the offering from the competition.

UX - User Experience: The overall experience a customer has when interacting with a business at all the different possible touchpoints.

VTC – View Through Click: This means the user saw your ad, did not click, but eventually visited your website. This is an indicator that the ad was effective in influencing the user.

WTF - What the F&@K: What you say when you see this long list of marketing acronyms. 

WOM – Word of Mouth: A marketing tactic that generates buzz where people talk to each other about the company.