WDTAM: What does that acronym mean?

If you’re like me, you open your inbox each morning to at least 5-10 cold emails from marketers, agencies, or software salesmen. You start reading and there they are -- confusing buzzwords, cheesy platitudes lamenting how they "haven’t heard back from you", and 5 confusing acronyms for every 1 verb. Normally in polite society, we use acronyms for convenience or aesthetic. Who wants to tell someone you have to quickly run to the “Automated Teller Machine”? No, you’d use ATM. Or, how much MORE time would be wasted if we actually told people we were headed to the “Department of Motor Vehicles” rather than the DMV? Acronyms are so common in our lexicon that there are several that people think are actually words (see: SCUBA, LASER, and PIN). But, all convenience (and sometimes a little pride) is lost when we don’t understand their meaning. It can lead to time wasted looking them up, or a tendency to ignore the information all together, sometime to the point of losing opportunities, or even money. So, I, your faithful guide, am here to help. Below is a list of acronyms that you may encounter most in the online advertising world:

CPC: Cost Per Click

An advertising metric used to identify the cost to the buyer of a single user click.
 

CPM: Cost Per Thousand (M)

An advertising metric used to identify the cost to the buyer of one thousand ad impressions. ‘M’ is the roman numeral for 1,000
 

CTR: Click-Through Rate

Usually delivered as a percentage, the ratio of the number of users who click on a specific link to the number of total ad impressions.
 

URL: Uniform Resource Locator

Often referred to as a website address, an address to a resource on the Internet. A ‘link’.
 

GIF: Graphical Interchange Format

A lossless format for image files that supports both animated and static images
 

HTML: Hypertext Markup Language

The most common language of code on the web, used to create web pages and display advertising.
 

JPEG: Joint Photographic Experts Group

The most common file type for static images, provides the best tradeoff of quality and file size.

UTM: Urchin Tracking Method

A string of characters pasted on the end of a URL to help identify the source of an incoming link in Google Analytics.
 

ROI: Return on Investment

The benefits returned from an investment to the investor.

CRM: Customer Relationship Management

Most often used in reference to software databases and services where client and relationship details (i.e. address, phone, notes, etc) are stored.

CTA: Call to Action

A phrase or word used to instruct or persuade an audience to take action, i.e. to click, buy, or read more.
 

SaaS: Software as a Service

A software business model where software is licensed on a subscription basis as opposed to purchased outright.
 

SEO: Search Engine Optimization

The process of optimizing a website’s content to appear higher in search engine results.
 

SEM: Search Engine Marketing

A branch of marketing that improves the visibility and traffic of websites by increasing their visibility in search engine results.

KPI: Key Performance Indicator

A measurable value chosen by an advertiser or company that best demonstrates their desired success or outcome.

RTB:Real-Time Bidding

A method of purchasing unsold inventory by CPM via programmatic auction.

ROS:Run-of-Site

Refers to the distribution method of advertising to the totality of a website and not specific pages.
 

If you’re struggling to make sense of the ever-changing lingo of the online marketing world, give me a call or sign up for a FREE 30 minute consultation below. Together, we can help identify your KPI, get ideas for your SEO, help you decide on the best SaaS for your goals, or STS (shoot the sh*t). Regardless, I’m here to help!