30 Must-Know Marketing Terms for Small Business Owners in Digital Marketing

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Digital marketing can feel like a foreign language when you're just trying to grow your small business, non-profit, or tech start-up.

Digital marketing can feel like a foreign language when you're just trying to grow your small business. Whether you're hiring an agency, doing it yourself, or just want to understand the lingo, here are 30 essential marketing terms you should know — plain and simple.

Traffic & Visibility

  1. SEO – Search Engine Optimization: optimizing your site to rank on Google.
  2. SERP – Search Engine Results Page: where your site shows up in search results.
  3. Organic Traffic – Visitors from unpaid search results.
  4. PPC – Pay-Per-Click: paid ads, like Google Ads, where you pay per click.
  5. Impressions – How often your content or ad is shown.
  6. CTR (Click-Through Rate) – Percentage of people who click on your content or ad.
  7. Reach – The number of unique users who see your content.
  8. Engagement Rate – How much people interact with your content (likes, comments, shares).

Conversions & Sales

  1. Conversion – When a user completes a goal (like a purchase or form submission).
  2. CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization) – Improving your site to increase conversions.
  3. CTA (Call to Action) – Buttons or text that encourage user action (“Buy Now”).
  4. Funnel – The steps users take from discovering your brand to buying.
  5. Landing Page – A focused page designed to convert visitors.
  6. Lead – A potential customer who shows interest (often via sign-up or contact form).

Analytics & Metrics

  1. Bounce Rate – % of users who leave your site without interaction.
  2. Sessions – Individual visits to your website.
  3. KPI (Key Performance Indicator) – A metric that measures success (e.g., sales, leads).
  4. ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) – Revenue generated from advertising.
  5. LTV (Lifetime Value) – The total revenue from a customer over time.
  6. A/B Testing – Comparing two versions of something to see which performs better.

Social & Content Marketing

  1. Content Marketing – Creating valuable content to attract and engage your audience.
  2. Influencer Marketing – Partnering with individuals who have large followings.
  3. UGC (User-Generated Content) – Content made by your customers.
  4. Hashtag – A keyword used to categorize content on social platforms.
  5. Algorithm – The system social platforms use to decide what content users see.

Tools & Tech

  1. CMS (Content Management System) – A platform like WordPress or Webflow for building your website.
  2. CRM (Customer Relationship Management) – Software for managing customer interactions (e.g., HubSpot, Zoho).
  3. Email Automation – Sending scheduled or behavior-based emails using tools like Mailchimp or ConvertKit.
  4. Pixel – A small snippet of code that tracks user behavior (e.g., Facebook Pixel).
  5. Retargeting – Ads shown to users who previously interacted with your site.

Final Thought

Knowing these terms won’t make you a marketing expert overnight—but it will help you ask smarter questions, avoid rookie mistakes, and confidently grow your business online.

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