The marketing glossary

Metric Ad frequency Impressions divided by reach, with a worked example and the signs that frequency is too high. Concept Attribution model The rule that decides which ads, emails and visits get credit for a sale, and which models Google still supports. Metric Attribution window The lookback period for crediting ads, with Google Ads, GA4 and Meta defaults side by side. Metric Average order value Average order value: what customers spend per order, and why a bigger basket leaves more margin to pay for ads.

Metric Break-even ROAS The minimum ROAS your ads need before every sale stops costing you money, and how margin sets it. Concept Buyer persona What a buyer persona includes, how B2B, B2C and B2G differ, and a worked example with SAR figures.

Metric CAC Customer acquisition cost: what you spend to win each new customer, and why it only means something next to lifetime value. Metric CAC payback period How many months of gross margin it takes to earn back the cost of winning a customer, with SaaS guidelines. Metric Churn rate Customer and revenue churn formulas, monthly to annual conversion, and how churn cuts lifetime value. Metric Contribution margin What each sale leaves after product, shipping, fees and returns: the number behind break-even ROAS and maximum CPA. Metric Conversion rate The share of visitors or clicks that buy, sign up or enquire, and why Google Ads and GA4 never quite agree on it. Concept Conversions API Server-to-server conversion tracking explained, with Meta, TikTok, Snapchat and Google versions compared. Metric CPA Cost per acquisition: the average ad spend behind each purchase, lead or sign-up, and the most you can afford to pay. Metric CPC Cost per click: what each ad click costs on average, and how to work out the most you can afford to pay. Metric CPM Cost per mille: the price of one thousand ad impressions, and how to compare reach costs across channels. Concept Creative fatigue Why ads wear out, the signals to watch, Meta's fatigue rule and how to fix it, with a SAR example. Metric CTR Click-through rate: the share of impressions that become clicks, and why it is an early signal rather than a verdict. Metric Customer lifetime value Customer lifetime value: the margin one customer brings over the whole relationship, and how much you can afford to win them. Metric Customer retention rate The CRR formula with a worked example, plus how retention links to churn and lifetime value.

Concept Data-driven attribution How machine-learning attribution assigns credit, what Google's model needs and where it falls short. Metric De-duplicated conversions Counting each sale once across pixel, server and every ad platform, with Meta, TikTok and Snap rules.

Metric First-click attribution The model that gives 100% of the credit to the first touchpoint, with a worked example and its limits.

Metric Incrementality The sales a campaign actually caused, with lift and iROAS formulas and a worked holdout test.

Metric Last-click attribution The model that hands the whole sale to the final click: simple and still in Google's tools, but blind to what created demand. Metric Linear attribution The model that splits conversion credit equally across every touchpoint, with a worked £600 example. Metric LTV to CAC ratio Lifetime value divided by acquisition cost: the unit economics test behind the famous 3:1 rule of thumb.

Metric Marketing mix modeling How MMM estimates each channel's contribution from aggregated data, compared with attribution and lift tests. Concept Marketing operating system One connected platform to plan, run, measure and improve marketing, compared with a martech stack. Metric Marketing ROI Return on marketing investment: profit from marketing against its full cost, and why it can disagree with ROAS. Metric MER Marketing efficiency ratio, or blended ROAS: total revenue over total marketing spend, immune to platform double counting. Metric Multi-touch attribution Attribution that splits credit across the touches before a sale, from linear to custom weights, and where it falls short.

Metric POAS Profit on ad spend: ROAS with margin built in, so break-even is always 1.0 whatever you sell. Metric Position-based attribution The 40/20/40 U-shaped model that credits the first and last touch most, with a worked SAR example.

Metric Reach Unique people who saw your ad, with reach vs impressions, the formulas and a worked AED example. Metric ROAS Return on ad spend: the revenue your ads earn for every unit spent, and how to tell if yours is profitable.

Metric Share of voice Your share of category advertising, with SOV formulas, ESOV and a worked SAR example.

Metric Target ROAS The ROAS you ask Google Ads or Meta bidding to hit, and how to set it above break-even without choking delivery. Metric Time-decay attribution The model that gives more credit to touches closer to the sale, with the half-life math worked through. Metric Total addressable market (TAM) TAM, SAM and SOM explained with formulas, bottom-up sizing and a worked AED example.

Concept View-through conversion Conversions credited to ads people saw but didn't click, with Google Ads and Meta defaults compared.