Glossary

Here you will find both the descriptions of some words and phrases that pertain to the concepts in this course and also some words and phrases used in the videos and readings. If you want to add another word or expression that we missed, please suggest it in the forums. If you need to find a description of a brand used in the videos and readings, see the Brand Descriptions page.

A

Amplification rate
The rate at which company followers take company content and share it through their network. For instance, it is the number of likes per post on Facebook, number of +1s per post on Google+, or the number of clicks per post on Twitter.
Applause rate
Term for the rate at which web users like your content in different websites. For Facebook or Twitter, how many likes you receive for a post or a tweet.
Application programming interface (API)
Term used for a set of routines, protocols, and tools for building software applications. An API expresses a software component in terms of its operations, inputs, outputs, and underlying types. In the context of the web, web APIs are the defined interfaces through which interactions happen between an enterprise (Twitter, Google, etc.) and applications that use its assets.

B

Bias
Term used for a particular tendency, trend, inclination, feeling, or opinion, especially one that is preconceived or unreasoned. Sampling bias is collecting data from a biased sample, i.e., the sample considered does not correctly represent the intended population.
Brick-and-mortar stores
Business stores that have physical, rather than virtual or online, presence. In other words, stores (built of physical material such as brick and mortar) that consumers can drive to and enter physically to see, touch, and purchase merchandise.

C

Checkout process
The process that a customer must go through when paying for the items in the shopping cart – in an online or in a brick-and-mortar store.
Clickstream analysis
Clickstream is the recording of the parts of the screen a computer user clicks on while web browsing or using another software application. As the user clicks anywhere in the webpage or application, the action is logged on a client or inside the web server, as well as possibly on the web browser, router, proxy server, or ad server. Clickstream analysis is useful for web activity analysis, software testing, market research, and for analyzing employee productivity.
Competitive intelligence
This is the action of defining, gathering, analyzing, and distributing intelligence about products, customers, competitors, and any aspect of the environment needed to support executives and managers making strategic decisions for an organization.
Consumer decision journey
This framework, presented by consulting firm Mckinsey, captures consumers’ possible actions in a buying decision. This framework helps organizations conceptualize important decision points of customers and connect with customers at those points.

D

Data
Facts and statistics collected together for reference or analysis.
Database
An organized collection of data to model aspects of reality that supports processes requiring information. For example, modeling the availability of rooms in hotels to support finding a hotel with vacancies.
Digital channels
These are communication paths that handle only digital signals. All voice and video signals have to be converted from analog to digital in order to be carried over a digital channel. It is an essential component of digital marketing.
Digital data
Digital data are discrete, discontinuous representations of information or works, as contrasted with continuous, or analog signals, which behave in a continuous manner or represent information using a continuous function.
Display ads
A graphical advertising on the Web that appears next to content on web pages, IM applications, email, etc. These ads, often referred to as banners, come in standardized ad sizes, and can include text, logos, pictures, or rich media.

E

Epochs
Term used for a period of time in history or in a person's life, typically one marked by notable events or particular characteristics.

F

Framework
A set of assumptions, concepts, or practices that constitutes a way of viewing reality. Also defined as a broad overview, outline, or skeleton of interlinked items that supports a particular approach to a specific objective and serves as a guide that can be modified as required by adding or deleting items.

G

H

I

J

K

L

M

Marketing analytics
This is a term used by marketing professionals to describe the analysis and improvement of the efficiency and effectiveness of marketing. It consists of collecting information from different channels and analyzing how marketing efforts of the company and its competitors are going.
Marketing analyst
Marketing analyst contributes through supporting all digital marketing programs (digital display, paid search, SEO, comparison shopping engines, affiliates, etc.) by applying advanced marketing analytics to provide actionable insights.
Marketing analytics tools
These are digital tools to measure consumer web activity. In this way, an organization can look at consumer trends and predict patterns of their own brand. WebTrends is one of the tools that can be used to measure the economic value of a social media channel.
Multivariate and A/B testing
A process in Internet marketing by which more than one component of a website may be tested in a live environment. In simple terms, it can be thought of as numerous A/B tests performed on a single page at the same time. A/B tests are usually performed to determine the better of two content variations; multivariate testing can theoretically test the effectiveness of limitless combinations.

N

New Media
New Media is a 21st century catchall term used to define all that is related to the Internet and the interplay between technology, images, and sound. In fact, the definition of New Media changes daily and will continue to do so. New Media evolves and morphs continuously.

O

P

Processed data
Raw data that is processed with some digital tools to identify patterns and answer brand questions. Output of Google analytics is a good example of processed data.

Q

Qualitative research
A set of research techniques in which data is obtained from a relatively small group of respondents. It is about getting to know the opinions of the people and understand their motivations and feelings. Face-to-face interviews and focus groups are classical examples of qualitative research.

R

S

Search engine marketing (SEM)
A form of Internet marketing that involves the promotion of websites by increasing their visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) through optimization and advertising.
Search engine optimization (SEO)
The process of affecting the visibility of a website or a web page in a search engine's unpaid results, which are often referred to as "natural," "organic," or "earned" results.

T

Tags
A tag is a non-hierarchical keyword or term assigned to a piece of information (such as an Internet bookmark, digital image, or computer file.
Targeting
Targeting or targeted advertising is a type of advertising whereby advertisements are placed so as to reach consumers based on various traits such as demographics, psychographics, and behavioral variables.
Three-step consumer marketing model
The three-step marketing model was developed by P&G in 2005. The model consists of the following steps:

1. Stimulus: A trigger that makes the consumer want a product, probably through an ad or from a friend.
2. First moment of truth: The consumer finds the product at a shelf in store.
3. Second moment of truth: The experience after the consumer makes the purchase and how well the product meets the consumer's expectations.

U

Usability studies
Usability studies focus on measuring a human-made product's capacity to meet its intended purpose. They measure the usability, or ease of use, of a particular product. Examples of products that commonly benefit from usability studies are foods, consumer products, web sites, or web applications.

V

Voice of the customer (VOC)
Term used in business and information technology to describe the in-depth process of capturing a customer's expectations, preferences, and aversions.

W

Web scraping
A computer software technique of extracting information from websites. In general, web scraping programs simulate human exploration of the World Wide Web. Uses of web scraping include online price comparison, website change detection, research, etc.
Web server
An information technology that processes requests via HTTP, the basic network protocol used to distribute information on the World Wide Web. The term can refer either to the entire computer system, an appliance, or specifically to the software that accepts and supervises the HTTP requests.
Web traffic
The amount of data sent and received by visitors to a web site.
Web transaction
The sale or purchase of goods or services, whether between businesses, households, individuals, governments, and other public or private organizations, conducted over the internet.

X

Y

Z

Zero Moment of Truth (ZMOT)
A revolution in the way consumers search for information online and make decisions about brands. ZMOT continues to grow in importance and scale. As consumers’ behaviors evolve, so must the ways in which brands engage consumers in today’s always-connected mobile-first world.