Glossary: Common Terms in Social Media and Advertising

• Awareness — The ability of a random customer to identify a business by name and product or service.
• B2B — Business-to-business. A term used when one business sells goods or services to other businesses.
• B2C — Business-to-consumer. A term used when a business sells goods or services to individuals.
• Banner Ad — An advertisement that runs on a website or in a newsletter or email.
• Bulk Email — A common email send to a group of recipients featuring the same offer or message.
• Call to Action — A specific request to a reader or viewer to take a specific action such as making a phone call, visiting a store or clicking on a web link.
• CAN-SPAM Act — A federal law that regulates the delivery of any email that promotes content on commercial websites. The law defines these messages as “any electronic mail message the primary purpose of which is the commercial advertisement or promotion of a commercial product or service,” including email. The law makes no exception for business-to-business email. That means all email – for example, a message to former customers announcing a new product line – must comply with the law. More information about the CAN-SPAM act can be found at: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/ecommerce/bus61.shtm
• Click-through — A mouse click on an advertisement or article headline.
• CPM — Cost per thousand. Typically indicates the cost to reach a thousand viewers or readers with one impression.
• CTR — Click-through rate expresses as a percentage the number of times someone clicks on an ad compared to the number of times the ad was shown (impressions).
• Disposable Content — An item of web content that has a limited time value.
• Frequency —The number of times a viewer or reader sees a particular advertisement or article.
• HTML — The markup language used to define a web page to a web browser. Contains specific layout and image information.
• Impression —A single view of an advertisement or article.
• Neighborhood Brand — A business’ identity in the neighborhood in which it is located. A neighborhood brand is made up of a combination of a business name + niche + consistency + customer engagement. A neighborhood brand is the stories that one local customer would tell another about the business.
• Offline Promotion — The advertising posters, signage or sales verbiage used to engage customers in a business’ online efforts.
• Online/Offline Integration — The ability for business to attract, engage and motivate customers through seamless in-store and online efforts.
• Open Rate — The number of times an email message is opened by a recipient as opposed to being deleted without viewing.
• Persistent Content — An item of web content whose value does not diminish over a period of weeks or months.
• Persona — A profile of a customer that includes their location, attributes, needs and behaviors.
• Reach — The number of viewers or readers of a website or newsletter.
• Reach x Frequency — The total number of times an advertisement or article is viewed.
• Response Rate — The number of viewers or readers who react to a particular incentive.
• Safe Harbor — The European Union prohibits the transfer of personal data to non-European Union nations that do not meet the European “adequacy” standard for privacy protection. The U.S. Department of Commerce in consultation with the European Commission developed a “Safe Harbor” framework that non-EU companies can implement to allow the storage of data about EU citizens on non-EU servers. More information is available at: http://www.export.gov/safeharbor/
• Share of Voice (SOV) — A business’ percentage (or effective percentage) of mentions or advertisements in a particular market. Share of Voice can be greatly increased through word-of-mouth or social network amplification.
• Target Customer — The persona of a person likely to purchase a business’ products or services.
• Unique Selling Proposition (USP) — A business’ special selling advantage over competitors.

Sarah Griffith

Sarah Griffith is Executive Editor of BubbleLife.com, an Advice Interactive Group product. She’s worked with BubbleLife since 2011, transitioning to Advice during BubbleLife’s acquisition in 2017. Sarah has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism-Public Relations from Baylor University and has a passion for all things related to content. She has formerly served in multiple roles at BubbleLife, including Digital Marketing Consultant, Account Executive, Business Editor, and Neighborhood Editor, helping expand the company from eight community websites in Dallas-Fort Worth to more than 250 nationwide. When out of the office, Sarah can typically be found listening to live music and engaging in a never-ending hunt for the best queso in Dallas.