The digital marketing world is full of technical terms that can leave you feeling confused.

To help you navigate all the jargon, here’s a glossary of 31 common terms.

Acquisition: the fact of acquiring new prospects or clients via digital marketing actions, such as initiatives on social media, for example.

AdWords: an advertising technique developed by Google that consists in using keywords in order to positively influence the display of content in Google’s search engine results.

Algorithm (of a social network): the system that “sorts” posts or prioritizes the order in which they appear in a user’s newsfeed.

Analytics: refers to data relating to the performance of a digital marketing initiative.
You’ve probably already heard of Google Analytics, a popular tool for measuring the performance of your website, among other things.

Bounce rate: the number of Internet users who land on your website and then leave without having clicked on any links. A high bounce rate is an indicator that your content does not encourage interaction and needs to be rethought!

Brick-and-click: refers to a business model used by companies that offer integrated retail channels combining a physical store (bricks) and an online store (clicks).

Call-to-Action: a hyperlink, button or image that encourages an Internet user to take a specific action.

CMS (Content Management System): software used for creating, editing and managing a website. The most well-known examples are WordPress, Squarespace and Joomla!.

Conversion rate: percentage of Internet users who take a specific action.

Example: for a site with 100 unique visitors per day, four of whom fill out a contact form, the conversion rate would be 4%.

CTR (click-through rate): the proportion of people who click on a hyperlink, in a newsletter for example. The CTR is a valuable KPI.

Data: any information related to an identified or identifiable entity, such as a name, an open rate, a family status, etc. The information could be associated with a company, a physical person or a product.

Engagement: a performance indicator. The engagement rate is a measure of how many people liked, shared, commented or clicked on a post, an ad or any other online content.

Follower: a person who subscribes to a page or account on a social network.

Hashtag: a keyword preceded by the symbol # that allows Internet and social media users to find published content related to the subject of the hashtag, without necessarily being a follower of the page of the person who posted the content.

Impression rate: a metric used mainly in an advertising context. The click-through rate is not taken into account here: each time content appears, it represents an impression (not to be confused with the number of views, which is unique).

Inbound marketing: a strategy that consists in “making potential clients come to you” by posting targeted content using various web tools, such as a website, a blog or social networks.

Key performance indicators (KPI): set of measurements used to gauge the success and most effective elements of a marketing campaign. Examples include the number of visits to a website, conversion rate, etc.

Keywords: words or phrases selected when writing content, the aim of which is to positively influence where the content appears in search engine results.

Lead: term used to designate a client or prospective client who shows interest in a company’s products or services by taking an action, such as visiting the website, sending a form, etc.

Open rate: the percentage of emails (newsletters) opened in relation to the number of people who received it.

Opt-in: the action of voluntarily subscribing to a mailing list in order to receive e-mail communications.

Opt-out: the action of unsubscribing from a mailing list.

Outbound marketing: traditional marketing (commercials on television and radio, advertisements in print media and banners on Internet sites).

Persona: fictional customer who embodies the characteristics of your various target audiences or clients. Among other things, the development of personas can help in determining which communication channels to target or which subjects, tone or level of information to include in your marketing content.

Reach: the total number of users who have been exposed to digital content.

Referencing: techniques used to optimize different pages of a website in order to earn the best ranking in search engine results pages.

Responsive design: the ability of your website to adapt to the screen of the user’s device (computer, smart phone, tablet, etc.). Responsive design makes website navigation easier and improves the online experience of the user.

SEM (Search Engine Marketing): use of search engines to target a specific audience, using either SEO strategies or online ads.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization):strategy aimed at enhancing a website in order to increase visibility and obtain the best ranking in organic search engine results by researching the best keywords to target.

Traffic: indicator that measures the number of users who visit a website.

UX (user experience) Design: refers to the process aimed at enhancing the user experience on a website by taking into account elements such as the content, design or structure of the site in order to facilitate its navigation by the user.