Definitions of key marketing terms and concepts

Marketing Terms

Advertising - a series of strategies aimed at increasing the awareness of a company's brand in addition to its products and services. Advertising is both digital and in print, with digital forms beginning to dominate in the 21st century due to their ability to be measured and analyzed.

Advertising objective -- the series of measurable accomplishments that define if a given advertising strategy is effective or not, as defined by the metrics or key performance indicators (KPIs) that are attempting to be attained as a result of coordinated advertising strategies.

Advertising specialties -- the specific areas of advertising strategy focus, including advertising effectiveness research, media planning, Google and Yahoo search engine optimization (SEO), print media planning and creative, television and broadcast media and production are all advertising specialists.

Allowance - the level of tolerance a given strategy has in terms of attaining its goals.

Cash refund offers (rebates) -- a type of incentive used in advertising and promotion strategies to incent or drive initial purchase or use of a product.

Comparison advertising (knocking copy) -- One of the more common approaches to advertising that competitors use on each other to drive up the level of differentiation between their products and services. This is very common in the automotive industry.

Consumer promotion -- a series of strategies in the Business-to-Consumer (B2C) markets to encourage consumers to try and potentially begin purchasing products on ands ongoing basis.

Consumer relationship-building -- a critical catalyst for building trust between prospects and customers to ensure repeat purchasing happens, relationship building is often defined by freely sharing expertise to help customers solve problems first.

Promotions -- Monetary, non-monetary and points reward-based, promotions are used to move sales prospects from intention or consideration to trial of a product or service.

Continuity -- a term that refers to media planning and execution in advertising, where there is a continual "air cover" for specific strategies and initiatives.

Copy testing -- a series of statistical routines and corresponding methodologies to measure advertising and website copy effectiveness over time.

Coupons -- a form of promotion where the customer is given a percentage of the price of the product off, or an actual amount. This form of promotion has been shown to be highly effective in driving sales in recessionary times.

Discount -- Typically defined as a percentage of the purchase price, discounts are used to motivate prospects to try a new product, and to reward loyal customers for repurchasing it.

Frequency -- an advertising term that refers to how often an advertisements runs, both on print or electrically online.

Informative advertising -- a strategy in advertising that seeks to serve prospects and customers by contributing to solutions for their problems.

Media vehicles -- Another term for each media or digital channel, media vehicles include print advertising, digital advertising, radio, television and paid search and search engine optimization (SEO).

Patronage rewards -- a series of incentive programs that seek to motivate customers to be more loyalty by rewarding them for repeat purchase. A common patronage reward is miles given by airlines to customers. The American Airlines Advantage program is a case in point.

Persuasive advertising -- a from of advertising that seeks to communicate the benefits of a given product or service over features or functions.

Premiums -- Often used in the context of bundling, premiums include percentage off given prices, bundling in new products and services, and creating programs that reward loyal customers.

Price packs -- Packs of products bundled at a given price point and managed as a promotional program.

Public relations -- a critical area of marketing, public relations manages analyst, media and executive relations, in addition to shareholder relations in publicly-held companies.

Publicity -- the strategy of promoting brands, products and services, publicity is considered an upper sales funnel strategy.

Pulsing -- a media planning measurement that is comparable to regularly defining dates and times a media plan will be implemented.

Reach -- a media planning term that refers to how many members of a given audience see a message during a specific length of time.

Reminder advertising -- an advertising strategy that uses prompts of recommendations for products and placed reminder-based messaging in front of audiences and customers.

Sales force promotion - Promotion presented by members of the sales force, these often including product bundling and pricing alternatives.

Sales promotion -- a broader type of promotion based on sales activity and sales performance over time.

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Approach -- an essential part of the sales process, the approach is the initial series of meetings and decisions to determine customer interest.

Closing -- the final step of a sales process where a customer signs the contract and places their initial order.

Customer sales force structure -- the approach taken by companies to define the overall framework for how their sales forces are organized for maximum effectiveness.

Follow-up -- a step in the sales process where the salesman contacts the customer and sees if there is any additional work that can be done to help solve their problem or make a decision on a new product or service.

Handling objections - a phase in the sales process where the salesman is expected to respond to objections with potential solutions to keep the sales cycle moving forward.

Inside sales force -- a sales force that supports the outside sales force and manages the many integration points and support teams, ion behalf of the outside sales force.

Outside sales force -- This group has the responsibility of managing the sales cycle, generating new sales and keeping existing accounts satisfied with products and services, increasing the probability of new business.

Presentation -- an event that can be in person or over the Internet where a sales processional shows the prospects the features, value and contributes to solving their problem a given product providers.

Product sales force structure -- in companies that have a product-driven sales and marketing model, this is the structure of the sales organization to capitalize on the differentiation of the firms' product innovation.

Prospecting -- Another word for cold-calling, where the sales teams often are assigned territories and given lists of potential accounts to contact and attempt to turn into closed sales.

Relationship marketing -- a form of selling very prevalent in Business-to-Business (B2B) markets, this approach focused on how companies can become trusted advisors and increase the strength of relationships over time.

Sales force management -- the teams of directors and vice presidents that coordinate to ensure a company is aligning their best possible resources to each major sales goal.

Sales quotas -- the goals or objectives sales people strive for every fiscal quarter or year; these are the primary goals of sales people.

Salesperson -- a person who works in the sales industry, providing services and selling products to customers.

Selling process -- a long-term selling cycle that concentrates on scoping customers;' needs, defining strategies to solve their needs, and ultimately define solution criteria to ensure the customer will have the ability to excel over time.

Team selling -- an approach to selling where a multitude of experts are assigned to a sales team, and together these teams attempt to solve complex customer problems to increase the probability of landing additional business.

Telemarketing -- a sales strategy where marketing team members on telephones call prospects and attempt to assist them in solving their problems, further earning trust and the possibly of selling to the prospect in the future.

Territorial sales force structure -- the approach used for assigning sales processionals to a given geographic area.

Workload approach -- the approach to defining the division of labor for a given sales and marketing strategy, looking to load balance the workloads across departments or divisions.

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Catalogue marketing -- a marketing and selling strategy based on product catalogue attributes, product definitions and pricing. This aspect of marketing has grown significantly online, in digital catalogs.

Commercial online services -- There are many different types, yet the most common are market research and credit bureaus, both of which require subscription fees to participate in.

Corporate Web site -- the main site of many companies, the corporate website is of then the anchor or central point of how a company defines its brand and unique value proposition.

Customer database -- an electronic series of records that define who the customers are for a given product, service or entire company, and also lists their demographic data as well.