Glossary: Marketing
Marketing glossary.
Terms used in paid media, organic growth, and marketplace advertising, as they function in real campaigns, not textbook definitions.
10 terms in this category
ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)
- Definition
- Revenue generated per unit of advertising spend. Expressed as a ratio or multiplier.
- Operator context
- A ROAS of 4x means £4 revenue for every £1 spent. High ROAS without profit margin context is meaningless. A 6x ROAS on a 15% margin product may still be unprofitable after fees.
ACoS (Advertising Cost of Sale)
- Definition
- The percentage of attributed sales spent on advertising. Inverse of ROAS.
- Operator context
- ACoS = Ad Spend ÷ Ad Revenue × 100. A 25% ACoS means 25p of every £1 in ad-attributed revenue was spent on ads. Target ACoS depends on margin, not industry benchmarks.
TACoS (Total Advertising Cost of Sale)
- Definition
- Ad spend as a percentage of total revenue (not just ad-attributed revenue).
- Operator context
- TACoS captures halo effect. If ads drive organic visibility, TACoS may improve even as ACoS stays flat. A rising TACoS with flat organic sales signals ad dependency.
CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)
- Definition
- Total cost to acquire one new customer, including all marketing and sales expenses.
- Operator context
- CAC should be compared to LTV (Lifetime Value). A CAC:LTV ratio above 1:3 is generally considered healthy for sustainable growth.
LTV (Lifetime Value)
- Definition
- Predicted total revenue from a customer relationship over time.
- Operator context
- LTV calculations must account for churn, repeat purchase rates, and margin, not just revenue. A high-LTV customer on a low-margin product may still be unprofitable.
CTR (Click-Through Rate)
- Definition
- Percentage of impressions that result in clicks.
- Operator context
- CTR = Clicks ÷ Impressions × 100. High CTR with low conversion often indicates misleading creative or poor landing page experience.
CVR (Conversion Rate)
- Definition
- Percentage of visitors or clicks that result in a desired action (usually purchase).
- Operator context
- CVR = Conversions ÷ Clicks × 100. Platform-reported CVR often differs from actual checkout CVR due to attribution windows and session definitions.
Attribution Window
- Definition
- The time period during which a conversion can be credited to an ad interaction.
- Operator context
- Amazon uses a 14-day click attribution window. A sale on day 13 credits the original click. Shorter windows undercount, longer windows overcount. No window is 'correct.'
Organic Rank
- Definition
- A product's position in non-sponsored search results.
- Operator context
- Organic rank is influenced by sales velocity, conversion rate, relevance, and reviews. Paid ads can boost organic rank through increased sales velocity, but the effect is temporary without sustained performance.
Search Term Report
- Definition
- A report showing which customer search queries triggered your ads and resulted in clicks or sales.
- Operator context
- Essential for negative keyword harvesting and identifying high-intent terms. The report has a 48-72 hour delay and only shows terms with sufficient volume.