Understanding Digital Marketing Acronyms

When Digital Marketers discuss what they do, you’ll hear a multitude of acronym usage. To better help you decipher those acronyms and maintain a conversation with a digital specialist, continue to read the print below.

CTR

Click Through Rate – Total number of users that visit a certain link, page, or advertisement pertaining to a particular website.

The Alfred Way: We determine how relevant ads are to the targeted audience based upon the rate of actions being taken vs. the number of views. A high CTR correlates with good targeting and an engaging ad.

CPC

Cost Per Click – Accurate price you pay for every click within your digital marketing campaigns.

The Alfred Way: We verify how much that action costs and what the value of that action is. Is the action worth the cost? Is there a more cost effective option that will provide the same, or better value? Adjust accordingly.

CPM

Cost Per Thousand Impressions – Determines the cost that an advertiser pays for a thousand views of their online advertisement.

The Alfred Way: We monitor CPM in conjunction with CTR and CPC. Does the CTR and CPC justify the CPM? Where are we seeing the most value with placements? We want to see a high CTR with the lowest possible CPM, and/or CPC to ensure optimal performance.

KPI

Key Performance Indicator – Displays how successful a company is at reaching core business values.

The Alfred Way: We identify KPIs based on the goals of the client. What metrics indicate success? Which metrics indicate movement through the consumer journey? How do we continually improve those metrics to maximize conversion?

PPC

Pay Per Click – Is when a company places an ad on a website and pays the ‘host website’ a certain price point, based on the user’s number of clicks on that specific advertisement.

The Alfred Way: We spend smart. PPC can be one of the more expensive forms of online advertising. While some advertisers take the shotgun approach with millions or billions of dollars in available spend, we take a granular approach. Not everyone has millions to spend to capture every search and click. We leverage custom audience segments, remarketing, and demographic information to layer targeting. This allows us to bid on the most valuable keywords and potential clicks.

SEM

Search Engine Marketing – To use paid advertisements to promote websites by enlarging their appearance in search engine results. (SEM is an umbrella term for PPC and SEO)

The Alfred Way: In addition to paid strategies, we identify opportunities to capture our target audience organically. Keyword rich content, high authority back-links, and site usability/structure are all important factors in organic search engine rankings and traffic.

CVR

Conversion Rate – Number of website purchasers vs. the number of visitors.

The Alfred Way: We identify the industry standard and obliterate it to maximize conversions. Alfred is always making adjustments to improve CVR. Adjustments to ad placement, messaging, images, website flow, landing page, and conversion flow are just some of the optimizations we make to continually improve CVR.

TTR

Tap Through Rate – It’s the mobile CTR (typically used in app marketing). The number of prospects that “tap” an advertisement vs. the number of views.

The Alfred Way: We utilize our CTR strategies and translate them to a mobile environment to maximize clicks and minimize costs.

DSP

Demand Side Platform – Maximizes and controls the impact of advertisements, such as data and ad exchange through interface for buyers of digital inventory.

The Alfred Way: We eliminate the middleman by connecting to and buying directly from the ad placement supply. Leveraging an internal DSP opposed to buying from a 3rd party media company gives us total control to ensure optimal performance, minimal costs, and complete transparency.

DMP

Data Management Platform – The use of a third-party data system to fill in blanks within a company’s data.

The Alfred Way: We analyze information to better optimize our opportunities. Creating tracking points along the consumer journey allows us to capture and leverage data at each touch point in our advertising.