How to use this glossary
Each definition starts with the short answer, continues with the important formula or nuance, and ends with an example. Use the table of contents to jump directly to the term you need.
Marketing funnel
A model of the stages a person moves through, from first discovering a brand to buying and, ideally, becoming a repeat customer.
A marketing funnel simplifies the customer journey into stages such as awareness, consideration, conversion and retention. Its narrowing shape shows that not everyone who sees a message will eventually become a customer.
Real journeys are rarely linear. People compare alternatives, leave and return, or enter close to the decision stage. The model remains useful because it connects each stage to a goal, message, channel and measurable outcome.
Example: A clinic may create awareness with an educational article, support consideration with reviews and service pages, and measure conversion through confirmed appointments.
Read in context
How Patients Choose a Clinic: From Reviews to AI →
CTR, CPC, CPM, CPA and ROAS
Five core metrics used to evaluate the visibility, cost and efficiency of paid campaigns.
These metrics describe different levels of the same campaign. CPM measures exposure, CTR the response to a message, CPC the cost of traffic, CPA the cost of an outcome, and ROAS the relationship between media spend and attributed revenue. Good analysis follows the full chain instead of optimising one number in isolation.
CTR — Click-through rate
Formula: (clicks ÷ impressions) × 100
The percentage of impressions that generated a click. A high CTR may signal relevance, but does not prove that the traffic creates value.
CPC — Cost per click
Formula: total cost ÷ clicks
The average amount paid for a click. It needs the context of conversion rate and outcome value.
CPM — Cost per mille
Formula: (total cost ÷ impressions) × 1,000
The cost of one thousand impressions, useful for reach campaigns and comparing audience costs.
CPA — Cost per acquisition / cost per action
Formula: total cost ÷ conversions
The average cost of the defined conversion — for example, a lead, appointment or purchase. A sustainable CPA depends on margin and lifetime value.
ROAS — Return on ad spend
Formula: attributed revenue ÷ ad spend
The revenue attributed to each unit of media spend. It is not profit because it excludes other business costs.
Example: A campaign costing €1,000 that generates 200 clicks and 10 sales has a €5 CPC and €100 CPA. If attributed revenue is €4,000, ROAS is 4.
Read in context
From Clicks to Customers: PPC, CRO & Lead Generation Guide →
Conversion rate and CRO
The percentage of users who complete a desired action; CRO is the process of improving that percentage.
Conversion rate measures the share of visitors who buy, submit a form, call, request a quote or complete another defined action. The formula is conversions divided by visitors or sessions, multiplied by 100.
Conversion Rate Optimisation combines research, analytics, clearer messaging, reduced friction and controlled testing. A higher rate is not automatically better if the value or quality of conversions falls.
Formula: Conversion rate = (conversions ÷ visitors) × 100
Example: If 40 out of 2,000 visitors submit a form, the conversion rate is 2%.
Read in context
Check Your Website Before You Spend on Ads →
From Clicks to Customers: PPC, CRO & Lead Generation Guide →
Remarketing vs retargeting
Two ways to re-engage people who already interacted with a brand, differentiated mainly by channel and data source.
Retargeting usually means showing ads to people who visited a website, viewed a product or engaged with a social account. Remarketing more often describes reactivating a known audience through email, SMS or audiences built from first-party data.
Ad platforms frequently use the words interchangeably. The useful questions are the audience source, permission to use the data, recency window and message. Both approaches require sensible frequency limits and proper consent.
Example: An ad for a product viewed yesterday is retargeting; an email to customers who have not bought for six months is remarketing.
Read in context
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Buyer persona
A research-based profile of an important customer type, built from evidence rather than decorative assumptions.
A useful buyer persona describes goals, problems, decision criteria, objections, research habits and buying context. A fictional name and photo are optional; details that change the message, offer or distribution strategy are what matter.
Build personas from customer interviews, sales and support conversations, analytics, search data and genuine reasons why opportunities are won or lost. Review them when the market or offer changes, and avoid stereotypes based only on age or job title.
Example: Two people of the same age may choose very differently: one seeks the lowest risk, while another values the fastest implementation.
Read in context
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Customer Lifetime Value (LTV)
The estimated economic value a customer generates over the entire relationship with a company.
Customer Lifetime Value, shortened to CLV or LTV, estimates the revenue or margin produced by a customer over time. A simple model multiplies average order value by purchase frequency and average relationship length. Margin produces a more decision-useful result than gross revenue.
LTV puts acquisition cost into context. A CPA that looks high may be sustainable when retention and margin are strong. Segment the estimate by customer type and update it regularly; a company-wide average can hide important differences.
Formula: Simple LTV = average value × purchase frequency × relationship length
Example: A customer spending €100 three times a year for four years has an estimated revenue LTV of €1,200.
Read in context
Medical Marketing ROI: CAC, LTV & Payback Explained →
SEO vs SEM
SEO earns organic search visibility; SEM covers search engine marketing and is often used specifically for paid search.
SEO, or Search Engine Optimisation, improves the likelihood that pages are found in organic results. It includes demand research, content, technical optimisation, page experience and authority. Its effects accumulate over time without paying for each click.
SEM is the broader term for search engine marketing, although everyday usage often equates it with paid platforms such as Google Ads. The two approaches complement each other: SEO builds durable coverage, while paid search offers immediate access to selected queries.
Example: A page appearing naturally for a question is an SEO result; the sponsored listing above it is an SEM/PPC result.
Read in context
SEO Basics for Small Businesses: Get Found on Google →
Comprehensive SEO Services 2025: Boost Your Online Presence →
Google Business Profile
The free profile through which an organisation manages how it appears in Google Search and Google Maps.
Google Business Profile, formerly Google My Business, can display a company name, category, address, opening hours, phone number, photos, services and reviews. It is central to local search visibility.
Google identifies relevance, distance and prominence as the main factors behind local results. Profile completeness, reviews, accurate business information and the wider web presence help build a strong local presence. Review responses should be treated as part of the customer experience.
Example: For a search such as “dermatology clinic near me”, local map profiles may appear before traditional organic results.
Read in context
Why Worse Clinics Outrank You on Google Maps (And Fix It) →
Local SEO Services 2025: Win “Near Me” Searches →
Marketing automation
The use of rules and automated workflows to send messages or perform actions in response to customer behaviour.
Marketing automation coordinates recurring activities such as email, segmentation, notifications, CRM updates and lead scoring. Common examples include welcome series, abandoned basket recovery and reactivation flows.
Good automation starts with a clear journey and reliable data. Its purpose is not to send more messages to everyone, but to use context to send fewer, more relevant ones. Workflows need monitoring, testing and retirement when their original assumptions stop being true.
Example: After downloading a resource, a contact receives confirmation and then a follow-up only if their behaviour shows interest in that subject.
Read in context
Done-For-You Email Marketing: How Businesses Turn Emails into Revenue →
Email Marketing in 2025: Trends, Strategies, and Why It Still Works →
Quality Score (Google Ads)
A diagnostic score from 1 to 10 that compares the quality of a keyword, ad and landing-page experience.
Quality Score is shown at keyword level and is based on expected click-through rate, ad relevance and landing-page experience compared with other advertisers. It helps locate weak parts of a campaign.
It is not a business KPI and should not be optimised in isolation. The live Google Ads auction uses real-time signals, and a high score cannot rescue an unprofitable offer or incorrect conversion tracking. Economic results and user relevance remain the priorities.
Example: If an ad promises a specific service but sends users to a generic company page, relevance and landing-page experience may be below average.
Read in context
Mastering Google Ads Activation: Strategies for Immediate Impact →
Leveraging Google Ads for Strategic Growth in 2025: Insights and Innovations →
Search intent
The likely purpose behind a search: what the user is trying to learn, compare, find or buy.
Search intent explains why someone entered a query. Common categories are informational, navigational, commercial and transactional, although many searches contain mixed intentions.
Intent is inferred from the wording and from the result formats a search engine prioritises. A technically optimised page can still underperform when its format does not satisfy the dominant purpose. For a “what is” query, a direct definition is usually more useful than a sales page.
Example: “What is CRO?” asks for an explanation; “CRO agency London” suggests supplier evaluation and commercial intent.
Read in context
Transforming Keyword Strategy: The Pinnacle of AI in SEO for 2025 →
E-E-A-T
Google’s framework for assessing the experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trust demonstrated by content and its source.
E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. It is not a single score or technical switch, but a framework used when evaluating result quality. Trust is the central component.
Useful signals include identified authors, demonstrated first-hand experience, verifiable sources, current information, clear policies, reputation and transparent separation of opinion from fact. Subjects affecting health, money or safety require a higher standard of trust.
Example: A medical article signed and reviewed by specialists, dated and supported by primary sources demonstrates stronger E-E-A-T than anonymous copy.
Read in context
How to Make Your Brand Visible in AI Overviews | 2025 Guide →
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Inbound vs outbound marketing
Inbound attracts demand through useful content; outbound proactively takes a message to a selected audience.
Inbound marketing creates resources people discover while solving a problem: articles, guides, tools, newsletters and communities. Outbound marketing takes a message to a selected audience through advertising, prospecting, calls, events or partnerships.
The distinction is not good versus bad. Inbound may need months to build distribution, while outbound can test a message and generate demand quickly. Mature strategies combine them: outbound insights improve content, and inbound assets improve campaign efficiency.
Example: A guide discovered through organic search is inbound; promoting the same guide to a relevant audience is outbound.
Read in context
How Medical Brands Scale With Integrated Digital Marketing Systems →
Marketing KPIs
Key indicators directly tied to an objective; not every metric available in a dashboard is a KPI.
KPI means Key Performance Indicator. Selection starts with the objective: acquisition may use new customers and CAC; efficiency may use conversion rate and CPA; retention may use repeat rate and LTV; organic growth may use conversions and relevant search coverage.
A healthy set combines outcome indicators with diagnostic indicators and defines the data source, formula, owner and reporting frequency. Impressions, followers and clicks can explain performance, but become KPIs only when closely connected to the desired result.
Example: For a clinic, form submissions alone are not enough: confirmed appointments, attendance rate and cost per new patient are closer to the business outcome.
Read in context
Digital Marketing Audit 2025: Boost ROI with a Data‑Driven Strategy →
Clinic Reception: Turning Marketing into Appointments →
A term becomes useful only in context
No metric can tell you on its own whether marketing works. Always connect the indicator to its objective, time period, data source and the economic result it represents.
