Marketing Glossary

ROAS(Return on Ad Spend)

ROAS is the revenue earned for every dollar spent on advertising, expressed as a multiple (4x means $4 back per $1 spent).

CPA(Cost per Acquisition)

CPA is the average advertising cost to acquire one customer or conversion, calculated as total ad spend divided by total conversions.

CPC(Cost per Click)

CPC is the average cost you pay each time someone clicks your ad, calculated as total ad spend divided by total clicks.

CPM(Cost per Mille (Cost per 1,000 Impressions))

CPM is the cost an advertiser pays for 1,000 ad impressions, used to compare media costs across platforms and campaigns.

CTR(Click-Through Rate)

CTR is the percentage of people who click your ad after seeing it, calculated as clicks divided by impressions times 100.

CVR(Conversion Rate)

CVR (conversion rate) is the percentage of visitors who complete a desired action — a purchase, signup or lead — after clicking through to a landing page.

AOV(Average Order Value)

AOV is the average dollar amount spent per order, calculated as total revenue divided by total number of orders.

LTV(Customer Lifetime Value)

LTV is the total revenue or profit expected from a single customer across their entire relationship with your brand.

CAC(Customer Acquisition Cost)

CAC is the total cost of acquiring a new customer, including all marketing and sales spend across every channel.

MER(Marketing Efficiency Ratio)

MER is total revenue divided by total marketing spend across all channels, giving a blended view of marketing efficiency.

POAS(Profit on Ad Spend)

POAS is the gross profit generated for every dollar of ad spend, giving a more accurate profitability measure than ROAS.

Break-Even ROAS(Break-Even Return on Ad Spend)

Break-even ROAS is the minimum ROAS needed to cover product costs and fees — anything above it is profit on the contribution margin.

Ad Frequency

Ad frequency is the average number of times a single user sees your ad within a given time period.

UGC(User-Generated Content)

UGC is content created by real customers or creators rather than the brand itself, often used in ads because it feels authentic and native to social feeds.

VSL(Video Sales Letter)

A VSL is a long-form video designed to educate, build desire and close a sale — the video equivalent of a sales page.

Square (1:1)

A 1:1 aspect ratio video format (1080×1080 px) that works across most placements on Meta, LinkedIn and X without cropping.

Vertical (9:16)

A 9:16 aspect ratio video format (1080×1920 px) for full-screen mobile placements like TikTok, Reels and Stories.

Horizontal (16:9)

A 16:9 aspect ratio video format (1920×1080 px) standard for YouTube pre-roll, desktop placements and traditional video ads.

Story

Stories are full-screen, vertical, ephemeral posts on Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat — typically 15 seconds or fewer — widely used as an ad placement.

Reel

Reels are short-form, looping vertical videos on Instagram and Facebook, up to 90 seconds, designed for entertainment and discovery.

Short(YouTube Short)

YouTube Shorts are vertical videos up to 60 seconds that appear in YouTube's short-form feed, competing with TikTok and Reels.

Hook

A hook is the opening 1–3 seconds of a video ad, designed to stop the scroll and compel the viewer to keep watching.

B-Roll

B-roll is supplementary footage intercut with the main shot to add visual variety, context or product demonstration to a video ad.

Voiceover(Voiceover (VO))

A voiceover is narration recorded separately and layered over video footage, commonly used in ads to deliver the script while b-roll plays.

Captions

Captions are on-screen text overlays that display spoken dialogue or narration, essential for sound-off viewing on social platforms.

Jump Cut

A jump cut is an abrupt edit within the same shot or angle, used in short-form ads to maintain fast pacing and hold viewer attention.

Native Ad

A native ad is an advertisement designed to match the look, feel and function of the platform it appears on, reducing ad resistance.

Ad Creative Fatigue

Ad creative fatigue occurs when an audience has seen the same ad too many times, causing declining CTR, rising CPM and worsening performance.

Meta Ads(Meta Advertising (Facebook & Instagram Ads))

Meta Ads is the platform for Facebook and Instagram ads, supporting reach and conversion campaigns across Feed, Stories and Reels.

TikTok Ads(TikTok Advertising)

TikTok Ads is TikTok's self-serve ad platform, specialising in full-screen vertical video ads that appear in the For You feed.

YouTube Shorts Ads(YouTube Shorts Advertising)

YouTube Shorts Ads are vertical video ads shown between organic Shorts in YouTube's short-form feed.

Google Ads(Google Advertising)

Google Ads is Google's advertising platform spanning Search, Display, YouTube, Shopping and Performance Max campaigns.

Targeting(Audience Targeting)

Targeting is the process of defining which users see your ads, based on demographics, interests, behaviours or custom data.

Retargeting(Retargeting (Remarketing))

Retargeting shows ads to people who already interacted with your brand — site visitors, product viewers, cart abandoners — to bring them back.

Lookalike Audience

A lookalike audience is a targeting option that finds new users who resemble your existing customers, based on platform data signals.

Creative Testing

Creative testing is the systematic process of launching multiple ad variations to identify which creative elements drive the best performance.

Attribution Window

An attribution window is the period after an ad interaction during which a conversion is credited to that ad — e.g. 7-day click.