The Complete Growth Glossary
Table of Contents
A
Abandon Cart Email
An email sent to a customer who has added items to their cart but has not yet completed their purchase.
This email typically encourages the customer to complete their purchase by offering a discount or other incentive. Emails could include things like Did you forget something? We noticed that you added some great items to your cart, but you haven’t completed your purchase yet. Don’t miss out on a great opportunity for savings! We are offering a special discount if you complete your purchase today. Not only that, but we also provide free shipping on all orders over a certain amount. Time is running out, so don’t forget to complete your purchase soon and save!
A/B Testing
An email sent to a customer who has added items to their cart but has not yet completed their purchase.
This email typically encourages the customer to complete their purchase by offering a discount or other incentive. Emails could include things like Did you forget something? We noticed that you added some great items to your cart, but you haven’t completed your purchase yet. Don’t miss out on a great opportunity for savings! We are offering a special discount if you complete your purchase today. Not only that, but we also provide free shipping on all orders over a certain amount. Time is running out, so don’t forget to complete your purchase soon and save!
Activation
Activation, in our case, refers to the action a user on your website\platform takes in order to complete some goal. For example, registering, signing for a newsletter, buying a product, leaving comments, etc. It’s when the user switches from being a passive visitor to becoming an engaged user. This action usually places them one step further in the business’s sales funnel.
Ad Network
A platform that allows advertisers to display their ads on a variety of websites. Ad networks typically charge advertisers based on the number of times their ads are displayed or clicked on.
Affiliate marketing
A type of marketing in which an online retailer pays a commission to an affiliate for each sale generated through the affiliate’s website or marketing efforts. There are many tools and affiliate websites to manage the affiliate program for you. If you an affiliate, a site like TravelPayouts will help you find and manage many publishers in one place. If you’re a publisher, such websites will help you manage and find affiliates. If you wish to generate a more concentrated affiliate program, mainly with your own customers, you can manage it on your own to save costs using different tools and plugins.
Agile
Agile in software development is a mix of methodologies developed over the years. It’s a way to manage a project by breaking it up into smaller iterations. There is constant collaboration with stakeholders, and improvements are made at every stage. Team members cycle through a process of planning, executing, and evaluating after the work begins.
In Digital Marketing, agile refers to deciding on the next steps of a marketing campaign based on results rather than following a pre-defined plan. Like in software development, cross-functional teams and frequent iterations are critical to an effective agile digital marketing strategy.
Focusing on data, and making multiple small tests instead of a few larger ones, bring effective and more promising results.
Agency
A company that provides marketing services to businesses. Agencies typically have a team of experts in a variety of marketing disciplines, such as advertising, public relations, and social media marketing.
Aha Moment
The Aha Moment is when your customer suddenly realizes why he must have your product or service. It’s when it hits you, as a user, how great is the value proposition you’ll get.
Analytics tool
A software application that collects and analyzes data related to a website or app is often referred to as an analytics tool. These tools are extremely useful for businesses, since they allow them to track website traffic, measure conversion rates, and even identify certain trends in the usage of their products. With the help of these analytical tools, businesses can have a better understanding of how their websites and apps are performing in the market.
App store
A digital marketplace where users can download apps for their mobile devices. App stores typically charge a commission to developers for each app that is downloaded.
App store optimization (ASO)
The process of improving the visibility and ranking of an app in an app store. ASO can be achieved through a variety of methods, such as optimizing the app’s title and description and using keywords that are relevant to the app’s target audience.
Attrition Rate
Attribution Rate is another, less popular, phrase for Churn Rate. Click here to see the Churn Rate definition.
Audience
The group of people who are interested in or likely to be interested in a product or service. Audiences can be defined by demographics, interests, or behavior. (Also see Target Audience)
Automation
Automation is becoming increasingly important in the workplace as technology advances, allowing businesses to automate tasks that would otherwise be done manually. This automation can be incredibly beneficial for companies, saving them both time and money, while also greatly improving accuracy and efficiency.
Give example to automation used in marketing. In marketing, automation is used for content creation, email campaigns, video creation and more. Automated emails can be triggered based on customer behavior, such as when a customer abandons their shopping cart or visits a specific page on the website. Marketers can also use automation to collect data on customer interactions and use it to create highly personalized emails.
B
Backlinks
Backlinks are links on other websites that refer users to your website. Backlinks provide more traffic; the more relevant they are, the more they improve your SEO score. The quality of the linking website and the number of your backlinks can help you rank higher in search engines such as Google and Bing.
Backlog
In growth hacking, backlog ideas are stored, waiting to be executed. It’s a place and process of collecting, ranking, sorting, and selecting potential growth ideas for future usage. The process can be done in a simple spreadsheet or with more advanced, dedicated tools.
Remember that not all ideas can be executed at the same time and maybe not be relevant for a specific time in the lifetime of the company or the product. Therefore, saving and managing all ideas is crucial, as they could become the best ideas for future growth.
Bandwidth
For the general public, bandwidth means internet speed. Growth hackers often use this term the same way project managers do. They refer to the availability of the workforce and working hours.
Bounce Rate
Bounce rate is related to internet marketing, website optimization, and web traffic analysis. It represents the percentage of visitors who enter a site and then leave after viewing only that specific page without continuing to view other pages within that site.
Bounce rate issues usually happen due to poor quality of the content or low page speed. You can improve the bounce rate by improving these issues. In addition, creating internal links between pages on the site or setting a call to action can improve the bounce rate.
B2B (Business-to-Business)
Refers to transactions or commercial relationship between two businesses, as opposed to those between businesses and consumers (B2C)
B2C (Business-to-Consumer)
B2C refers to transactions or another type of commercial relationships between businesses and individual consumers, as opposed to those between businesses (B2B).
C
Call To Action (CTA)
A call to action (CTA) leads users to take a certain action on your page or app, which will take them to the next phase of their funnel. CTA often appears in a button. A few of the most common calls to action are: “Sign Up”, “Subscribe”, “Try For Free”, “Sign Up”, “Get Started”, “Watch Now”, “Learn More”, and “Join Us!”.
A good CTA ensures that the user understands what will happen after taking action.
Growth hackers use psychology to understand and affect the users’ decisions. They sometimes take advantage of users’ FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) and use specific terminology to optimize their calls to action. For example, instead of a button with “Download” text, you can write “Yes, I Want This!”, which is most probably increase the number of clicks.
Customer Experience
Customer experience (CX) is the impression and feeling your customers have, resulting from interacting with your brand products and services throughout all aspects of the user’s journey. Customer experience starts before a customer purchase your product or service, continues to active use, and advances to renewal or repeating purchase.
Customer Success
Customer Success (CS) ensures customers reach the best possible results from a product or service. Good customer success ensures the customer’s growth and the growth of the company providing the product or service.
Churn Rate
Churn rate, also known as attrition rate, is the percentage of customers that stop interacting with your company or product during a specific period (month, quarter, year, etc.). It’s the percentage of people who have canceled their subscription to your product. The higher your churn rate, the more customers stop buying or using your product. It’s a widespread KPI in SaaS products and is the opposite of customer retention.
Use this formula to calculate your Churn Rate: (Lost Customers ÷ Acquired Customers) x 100%
Click Through Rate (CTR)
A Click-through rate is the ratio between the number of users who clicked on a specific CTA / link to the number of total users who view a page, advertisement, link, or email. Teams use CTR to measure the success of an advertising campaign (paid ads or email marketing) or the specific goal of a call to action on a website or product.
Content Marketing
Content marketing is a marketing strategy involving content production to engage, attract, and retain an audience. The content could be videos, blog posts, podcasts, white papers, case studies, e-books, and other media.
The goal is to create quality content that will build brand awareness, drive traffic to your website, and keep your business at the top of potential users’ minds when it’s time to buy what you offer.
Conversion Rate
Conversion rate is the percentage of visitors to your website that complete a desired action (register, download, buy, click) out of the total number of visitors.
A high conversion rate indicates a more successful design, better marketing, and a better user experience.
Conversion rate optimization (CRO)
In short, CRO is the process of optimizing Conversion Rate.
The CRO process goal is to increase the percentage of users or website visitors taking a desired action (clicking, registering, buying, etc.) by optimizing the website/app/platform. It is often done by improving the design, copy, text, title, clarifying the value proposition, and generally improving the user experience.
Growth hackers usually perform A/B testing on different parts of the page (button, image, colors, title, message, etc.) to check different versions of the page and see which one brings better results.
Copywriting
Copywriting is the act of writing the text for sales, advertising, or other terms of marketing. A copywriter’s job is to write concise and clear text (copy) for marketing materials, including website content. The goal of this text is to engage users and improve brand awareness.
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
CAC is the cost of acquiring a new customer. It helps measure the return on investment (ROI) of efforts to grow and acquire new customers.
Calculating CAC:
CAC = (Costs of sales + Costs of marketing) / (Number of new customers acquired)
For example, if a company spent $1,000 on sales and marketing in a month and acquired 100 new customers during that month, their CAC is $10.00.
CAC is usually used in conjunction with Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) to determine how much you should be spending on sales and marketing.
Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)
Also known as Lifetime Value (LTV), CLV is an estimation of net profit contributed by a customer over the entire duration of your relationship.
The result is used to set a cap on your Customer Acquisition Costs (CAC). As long as your LTV is higher than your CAC, your acquisition costs are worthwhile.
However, in real life, estimating the customer costs are more complicated than just the monthly fee he pays, as there are other expenses to keep him as a customer (support, infrastructure, training, and more). On the other hand, you might also earn more from that customer than the monthly fee. For example, he’ll pay for training, add more users, pay for projects, etc.
Calculating CLV:
The simplest way to calculate CLV is:
CLV = (average purchase value) X (number of times the customer will buy each year) X (average length of the customer relationship (in years))
So the CLV of a company with ten employees, which pays $100 per month (for all ten employees) X 12 months X 5 years is: 100X12X5 = $6,000
Customer Desire Map
A customer desire map is a method for understanding your target audience’s desires. The map will provide insight into the potential customer hopes, dreams, fears, pains, barriers, and uncertainties.
Growth hackers use that information to optimize their sales copy, and in addition, they use it to design better products that appeal to their customers.
D
Digital Marketing
Digital marketing (also called online marketing) is the promotion of brands using the internet and other forms of digital communication. This includes marketing on websites, email, social media, and other digital channels.
Drip Campaigns
A series of automated, pre-written emails sent to subscribers or customers over a specified period, often used for lead nurturing, onboarding, or customer retention.
E
Exit Intent
A technology that detects when a user is about to leave a webpage and triggers a pop-up or other call-to-action to retain the user or capture their information.
G
Guest Posting
Guest posting is a strategy used to increase your website’s SEO score. Guest posting is when you write a blog post or an article to be featured on another website, blog, or publication. The post will include at least one link back to your website.
This is beneficial for both you and the other website. The other websites get valuable content for their audience, while you receive exposure to a new audience and inbound traffic.
Don’t forget to host guest bloggers on your website for the same reasons. If you’re able to get a well-known figure, it will increase your rating, legitimacy, and traffic.
H
Hack
In Growth Hacking, “Hack” refers to using innovative strategies and tricks to grow your business quickly. It’s not like the meaning of hacking into s system, website, or place. It’s more like the meaning of ‘Life Hacks, ‘ which are minor, clever adjustments to your everyday life resulting in massive impact and results.
Heatmap
Heatmaps are a visual representation of customers’ interaction with your platform or website. The map shows where users look (Eye Tracking Maps), what elements they interact with and where they click (mouse tracking maps), and how far down the page they scroll.
Using heatmaps can help you understand how users interact with a platform/app/website, helping you understand the customer journey from when entering the website to performing the actions you want them to do. It also enables you to improve usability and remove obstacles.
I
ICE Score
The ICE Score model ranks and prioritizes features and ideas in the backlog.
ICE stands for:
- Impact – the impact you expect an idea to have on your goal or business results.
- Confidence – how sure are you that the idea will lead to this impact.
- Ease – how easy is it to execute the idea.
To calculate ICE Score, evaluate each item and rank it from 1 to 10 for each of these three attributes. Then sum the points, and divide by 3. The result is your ICE Score. The higher the score, the higher the priority of this idea.
Ideation
Ideation is the creative process of generating new ideas in order to solve problems. The process takes users from a problem definition to quickly finding ideas to solve that problem. The following steps are simple prototyping and testing the possible solutions.
Inbound Marketing
Inbound marketing is a strategy used to attract your target customers and accompany them from when they first see a post, link, ad, or anything else that attracts them to your website, convincing and motivating them to become customers. It’s done by creating valuable content that aligns with the needs of your target audience.
The opposite or complementary marketing strategy is called Outbound Marketing.
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing is a form of social media marketing. The idea is to find and involve an individual who greatly impacts your target audience and is considered an expert within their niche.
That influencer can either buy your product or service or market your offering to your target audience over his social network channels. This can both expand your customer base and increase brand loyalty.
Iterating / Test Iteration / Iterative Testing
Iterative testing means making small and gradual changes to a product or business process based on data and insights from testing results and overall user usage and feedback. It simply means trying again and again until you discover what works best.
Each test is done against predefined goals and metrics. The iteration process saves a lot of time and resources by letting you find problems early and find what works best before investing too much effort and resources. The results are better products or process that continuously improves over time.
Iterating is used by many teams, including product managers, UX designers, innovation teams, and marketing.
J
K
Key Performance Indicator (KPI)
KPIs are measures of performance over time for specific objectives. KPIs provide goals a company or team aims for. KPIs are used on dashboards to monitor performance and progress and provide insights that help make the right decisions.
L
Landing Page
A landing page is a single page on your website that users “land” on from a promotional source such as an email or ad. Often, landing pages are logical extensions of the email or ad from which visitors arrived and can be highly effective in boosting sales.
Growth Hackers usually redirect visitors to a “landing page” with a particular CTA (Call To Action). For example, it could be signing up for an event, subscribing to a newsletter, downloading a report, etc.
For example, it might be a page for signing up for an event, subscribing to a newsletter, or downloading a document. As a result, they are frequently the subject of A/B testing.
Lead Magnet
A lead magnet is a marketing technique in which you give your visitors something in exchange for their contact details. We do that since most visitors are not ready to purchase something immediately. That’s why the first step would be to plug them into your sales funnel by getting their contact details so you can pursue them later.
A lead magnet could be a trial, a webinar, free subscriptions, industry reports, newsletters, free consultations, free downloads (music, images, etc.), e-books, e-courses, automated evaluation (e.g., website speed test), training videos, and other promises of valuable goodies.
Lean
As it sounds, lean means creating more value while using fewer resources (money, people, time, etc.) and short cycles.
The Lean Startup methodology preaches that you should approach the market with a minimal version of your product, called MVP (Minimum Viable Product).
Lean Startup
Lean startup is a methodology for developing businesses and products in short development cycles, saving a lot of wasted time and resources. Each cycle is based on Build-Measure-Learn steps.
To learn more, read the book that started it all – The Lean Startup by Eric Ries.
Lifetime Value (LTV)
See Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) definition.
M
Marketing Channels
Marketing channels are the various platforms and methods through which businesses promote their products or services to customers. These can include digital channels, such as social media, email, search engines, and websites, as well as traditional channels like print, radio, and television advertising. Effective marketing strategies often involve using multiple channels to reach a wider audience and increase brand visibility.
Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs)
Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) are leads that marketing has identified as more likely to become a customer than other leads. Identification is based on actions and behaviors that indicate interest in purchasing your products or services—for example, trying a demo of your software or downloading an ebook.
Micro Goals
Micro Goals is about chunking each primary goal into small, bite-sized micro goals that are attainable and easy to tackle. That lets you stay focused on achieving little progress consistently, providing teams with that everyday fuel that motivates everyone to keep going toward the primary goal.
Learn how to set successful micro goals.
Minimum Viable Product (MVP)
MVP is a stage of a product that has just enough features and functionality to be usable for early customers. These early-stage users provide feedback, and the product team uses this data to make continual adjustments and improvements until the product perfectly aligns with what customers want. Developing an MVP reduces the risks of developing a finished product without testing it with actual users during different steps of the development process.
N
Net Promoter Score (NPS)
Net Promoter Score calculates customer satisfaction by asking them one question: on a scale of 0-10 how likely is it they’d recommend our company/product/service to a friend or colleague?
To get your NPS score:
- Label each respond on the following scale: 0–6 = Detractor, 7–8 = Neutral, 9–10 = Promoter
- Subtract the percentage of Detractors from the percentage of Promoters
Formula:
Percentage of Promoters — Percentage of Detractors = NPS
Network Effects
The network effect is a business principle that illustrates the idea that a product or service becomes more valuable when more people use it. This usually leads to a self-reinforcing cycle of growth.
A very clear example of where a network effect is crucial is social network platforms. The value of the platform increases as more users join and connect, but there are many other products and services that rely on the network effect to grow.
O
Outbound Marketing
Outbound marketing (also known as Interruption marketing) is a marketing strategy for promoting a product or service by proactively approaching customers using different techniques. For example, it could be advertising, promotions, public relations (PR), cold emailing, called calling, trade shows, and sales.
OMTM (One Metric That Matters)
OMTM is the one metric set by the business to focus on. It defines the company’s growth goal, and any growth hackers’ activities should focus on that specific KPI and contribute to the growth of this number.
It isn’t easy to decide on OGTM, but whatever you choose should be ambitious, measurable, achievable, and specific. For example, it might be the number of users by a particular date, revenue goal, bounce rate, click-through rate, conversion rate, etc.
Organic Traffic & Leads
The organic traffic to your website refers to visitors who arrive via organic search results. Organic leads are the number of leads that came from your organic traffic. Analyzing this data will help you understand your SEO performance.
Other People's Audiences (OPA)
Other People’s Audience, or OPA, is a method of connecting to audiences of other organizations to grow your customer base quickly. It’s an excellent idea when you’re a new company with no customers. Companies often try to rich and share their content with someone else’s audience, usually involving influencers or interacting with others within your niche on social media.
Other People’s Platforms (OPP)
OPP is a method that leverages an existing platform of other companies to grow your company. For example, Spotify rapidly grew by allowing users to post their tracks on Facebook. Paypal initially grew by exclusively attaching itself to eBay.
P
Pain Point
Every company must accurately identify a specific pain, fear, or obstacle of their target audience, that their product or service can solve.
Pivot
Pivot is when a company changes some or all aspects of its core product or service. This business decision usually comes due to market demand, customer demand, a changed target audience, boosting sales, or a combination of these reasons.
The company pivots after carefully analyzing data such as market trends, sales and marketing, A/B testing results, and other data.
PLG - Product Led Growth
Product-led growth (PLG) is a business strategy that relies on the end-user for the growth model. The product itself is the primary driver of customer acquisition, conversion, and expansion, by letting them easily promote the product by sharing or inviting new users.
Product Market Fit (PMF)
PMF means the company’s product or service perfectly aligns with the target audience’s expectations. For product and marketing teams, it means that existing and potential customers would be disappointed if they could no longer use your product or service.
It’s a perfect situation where your customers are your best salespersons; they’ll freely and happily share your offering with their friends.
PMF is what usually leads to the exponential organic growth of startups.
Public Relations (PR)
Public relationship (PR) is managing how information about an individual or company is disseminated to the public, especially the media. The primary goal of PR is to influence public perception, communicate important company news, maintain a brand image, and minimize negative consequences of negative events. PR is done using news conferences, press releases, interviews (with bloggers, journalists, podcasts, etc.), participating in TV shows, social media posting, or other platforms.
R
Return on Investment (ROI)
SQLs are leads that were screened by the sales team after being identified as positively interested in buying your products or services. They determine these leads based on their actions, such as requesting quotes, purchasing information, or requesting a live demo, and by their profile data (industry, company size, job title).
Roadmap
A roadmap is a plan of action s for implementing ideas, features, or implementing a project. It includes goals, deliverables, significant steps or milestones, and R&R (Roles and Responsibilities) of specific team members over a defined time frame.
It is usually presented in a graphic or timeline view and provides a high-level overview. In addition, a roadmap is a communication tool that allows teams to plan goals and how to reach them.
S
Sales Qualified Leads (SQLs)
SQLs are leads that were screened by the sales team after being identified as positively interested in buying your products or services. They determine these leads based on their actions, such as requesting quotes, purchasing information, or requesting a live demo, and by their profile data (industry, company size, job title).
SEO - Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization refers to optimizing your website for search engine crawlers to rank higher in search results. Growth hackers and digital marketers use SEO practices to enhance organic traffic to a site or page. The process involves keyword analyses and targeting, building backlinks, and optimizing the structure and content of your website.
There are many great tools to help you optimize your SEO score. Click to see my favorite SEO tools.
Marketing psychology in marketing refers to a process of evaluating the users’ decision-making process that specific consumers undergo when they are making a purchase. Then, marketers use that information to develop the best strategy to reach customers.
T
Target Audience
A target audience is a specific group of people that a business aims to reach with its marketing and advertising efforts. This group is typically defined by shared characteristics such as demographics, interests, and behaviors. Identifying and understanding the target audience is crucial for creating effective marketing strategies and messaging that resonates with potential customers.
Traffic Sources
Traffic sources refer to the various channels through which users arrive at a website or app. These include organic search, paid search, social media, referrals from other websites, email marketing, and direct traffic. Analyzing traffic sources can help businesses understand which marketing channels are most effective and optimize their strategies accordingly.
U
User Acquisition
User acquisition is the process of attracting and converting new users or customers to a product or service, typically through marketing and promotional efforts. Successful user acquisition strategies often involve a combination of paid and organic tactics, such as advertising, content marketing, social media, and search engine optimization (SEO). By continuously tracking and analyzing user acquisition metrics, businesses can optimize their strategies and maximize return on investment (ROI).
User Generated Content (UGC)
In contrast to brand-created content, UGC refers to content created by users or customers. USG can include social media posts, reviews, blog comments, photos, videos, or forum discussions. It’s a powerful marketing tool, providing authentic peer-to-peer endorsements, and can help build trust, engagement, and brand loyalty.
User Onboarding
User onboarding is the process of guiding new users through the initial stages of using a product or service. The goal is to help users understand its value and how to get the most out of your product or service. Onboarding can involve in-app tutorials, tooltips, welcome emails, or other educational content. Proper user onboarding can enhance user retention, satisfaction, and overall success in the long run.
UX - User Experience
The User Experience (in a product) is how a user interacts with and experiences a product, system, or service – the ease of use, functionality, and efficiency.
User Experience also refers to a company function that encompasses all aspects of the end-users interaction with the company, its products, employees, messaging, and so on, to ensure the best possible experience.
USP - Unique Selling Proposition
A unique selling proposition (USP), also called a unique selling point, is a short sentence or two that defines what differentiates a product or brand from its competitors. What makes your business or product better than your competitors, and why should customers buy from you?
For example, Domino’s Pizza: guarantees fresh hot pizza delivered in 30 minutes or less, or you’ll get the pizza for free.
V
Value Proposition
A value proposition is a simple statement that tells potential customers why they would choose your product or service. It clearly explains the benefits you offer them, how it solves a problem they might have, and why they should buy something from you and not from your competitors.
Video Marketing
Video marketing is the use of video content to promote a product or service, engage with customers, and build brand awareness. Video marketing can take many forms, such as explainer videos, product demonstrations, customer testimonials, short videos, celebs’ or influencers‘ endorsements, or live streaming events. By leveraging the power of visual storytelling, video marketing can help businesses capture attention, convey information more effectively, and create an emotional connection with their audience.
V
Webinar
A webinar is a digital event, presentation, or workshop conducted over the Internet, usually on a web-conferencing platform. It could be conducted live or pre-recorded and delivered through a web-based platform. Webinars are often used for educational purposes, product demonstrations, or to share industry expertise. They can be an effective marketing tool for generating leads, building brand authority, and engaging with customers or prospects in a more interactive format.
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The glossary was last updated on
- July 21, 2023
Social Psychology (in marketing)