A glossary of terms to demystify marketing automation R-W.

It’s Time to Get ‘In the Know’

For businesses involved in digital marketing, marketing automation has quickly become a game-changer. Customisable and scalable platforms are available to businesses of just about any size. We’re here to help you get familiar with some basic automated marketing and sales concepts. As with many industries, this niche may seem buried under its own confusing jargon. The good news is that the basic ideas really aren’t that complicated. Breeze through this guide to learn the terms you need to know.

Marketing Automation Glossary Automation is for everyone — from the sole entrepreneur to the CMO, and everyone in between. Here are some basic marketing automation terms with which you should be familiar before getting started.

Render Testing

Render testing is a form of crossplatform quality assurance for marketers who use email marketing as part of their campaigns. It offers the capacity to test emails and email campaigns for potential problems that might show up on the different email platforms and devices that recipients use (e.g. Gmail, Outlook, Apple Mail, mobile devices, etc.).

Responsive Templates

Responsive templates are prebuilt sites and pages that utilise a responsive design, meaning the design is effective on all device types. The templates allow for a variety of different looks while maintaining a reliable and efficient implementation.

ROI

ROI stands for “return on investment.” The formula is: ROI = (Net Profit / Cost of Investment) x 100 and it is usually expressed as a percentage. It is one of the most important metrics for a business — it compares all investments made in marketing against the resulting conversions, i.e. sales. Marketers can prove ROI with a marketing automation platform.

RSS Email Syndication

A “Rich Site Summary” or “Real Simple Syndication” (RSS) feed is a means of automatically collecting new or recently updated content from your own site (e.g. blog posts) and syndicating it via email to subscribers.

Sales Funnel

Sales funnel (or conversion funnel) is a term used in e-commerce to describe the journey a consumer takes through marketing and nurturing until a conversion results. The metaphor of a funnel is used to describe the decrease in numbers of potential customers that occurs at each step of the process.

Sales Pipeline

A sales pipeline is a visual representation of prospects and where they are in the sales process, the final step being conversion into a sale. The term is also used to describe | Sales Funnel Awareness Purchase Interest the process through which sales teams work to convert a lead into a paying customer. The sales pipeline is typically visually presented in a customer relationship management system (CRM).

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Refers to various strategies employed to ensure that a site appears high on the list of search engine results for specific terms. The purpose of SEO is to maximize web traffic. There is a distinction between paid results, i.e. Google AdWords or other programs using paid placement, and “organic” results, i.e. listings that appear on the site as a result of relevancy determined by the search engine’s algorithm. SEO applies only to organic results. In order for content to be found by users online, it needs to be optimized for search. Most marketing automation platforms incorporate blog SEO analysis and recommendations to assist marketers in optimising content.

Segmentation

The process of separating your target audience into groups that act similarly. Messaging will ideally be tailored to specific segments in a way that reflects their specific experiences or interests. In a marketing automation platform, these segments can be turned into lists and then used to send targeted messages.

Site Visitor

A site visitor is anyone who lands on a website. Typically they are anonymous, and an IP look-up is required to determine who they are, what sites they have come from, and numerous other behaviors and traits. Reverse IP look-ups typically work only on businesses as opposed to individual visitors. Analysis of a site visitor can be used to suggest specific site options or content.

Social Media

Social media websites and applications allow users to create and share content or to participate in social networking. Blogs were the first form of social media, but in recent years, most social media applications tend to exist within the context of a proprietary platform. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Snapchat are examples of social media. A key feature of a marketing automation platform is its ability to integrate with social media.

Social Media Conversions

Social media conversion refers to social media visitors who are guided towards the sales funnel and ultimately become sales. Social Media Engagement Social media engagement usually refers to any kind of interaction by a visitor with a brand’s social media profiles. A “like” on Facebook or a “retweet” on Twitter are examples of this type of interaction.

Social Media Monitoring

Social media monitoring is the tracking of social media for information about an individual, organization or business. Marketing automation platforms integrate all monitored social media accounts into one dashboard for easier management.

Social Media Profiling

A social media profile is a description of an individual’s social characteristics as identified through social media sites such as LinkedIn and Facebook. As with brand personas, social media profiling enables marketers to create better targeted messaging and also to connect with thought leaders and online communities.

Social Media Publishing

Social media publishing is any form, new or emerging, of online content creation that allows for interactions such as sharing, likes, comments, etc.

Split Testing

See: A/B Testing

Third-Party Postback

Marketers using a third party datacollection tool (like a CRM) outside their marketing automation platform can use postback URLs to direct any information collected on their site to that third party. Postbacks are visible on URLs in shopping carts and other e-commerce transactions with an embedded code such as “id=”. The id tells the site what information to share and where to send it.

Time-Based Automation

Time-based automation, also known as “time-based event automation,” enables an action based on a pre-set schedule or a delayed delivery after a lead completes a specific task. For the marketer, the automation of recurring tasks produces increased efficiency and usability.

Trigger

A trigger initiates an action or series of actions with a lead, typically after the lead has engaged in specific behaviors. Also called: Automation Rules, Workflow Starting Condition, Program Feeder

Workflow

A sequence of emails sent using automation. Also called: Program, Automation Program

WYSIWYG

WYSIWYG stands for “what you see is what you get” and refers to the interface of a text editor. Drag-anddrop and point-and-click editors are alternative forms of WYSIWYG. The alternative would be an HTML editor, which requires in-line coding.

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