I’ve been in marketing for decades - an industry famous for its buzzwords, acronyms, and ever-changing jargon.

While I’m always mindful of the fluff and try not to baffle clients with “marketing babble,” I know some of the language can feel confusing if you’re not living and breathing it every day.



So, I’ve pulled together this simple glossary of the most commonly used B2B marketing terms - designed to help you feel confident and informed when we talk strategy, performance, and growth.

A

ABM (Account-Based Marketing) — Targeting specific high-value companies with personalised campaigns.
Acquisition — Gaining new customers or clients.
Ad Copy — The written message in an advert.
Analytics — Measuring how marketing performs using data.
Attribution — Identifying which marketing channel led to a sale or lead.
Awareness Campaign — Marketing aimed at making people know your brand exists.

B

B2B (Business to Business) — Selling products or services between companies.
B2C (Business to Consumer) — Selling directly to individuals.
Backlink — A link from another website to yours, useful for SEO.
Brand Positioning — How your brand is perceived compared to competitors.
Buyer Persona — A profile describing your ideal customer.
Bottom of Funnel (BOFU) — The final stage where leads are ready to buy.

C

CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) — What it costs to gain one new customer.
Call to Action (CTA) — The instruction to act, like “Book a demo.”
Churn Rate — The percentage of customers who stop using your service.
Content Marketing — Sharing useful content to attract and educate buyers.
Conversion — When someone completes a desired action, like submitting a form.
CRO (Conversion Rate Optimisation) — Improving conversion results.
CRM (Customer Relationship Management) — Software for tracking customers and leads.
Customer Journey — The path from awareness to purchase.

D

Demand Generation — Creating interest and awareness that leads to sales opportunities.
Digital Marketing — Online marketing using websites, search, and social.
Direct Marketing — Contacting customers directly via email or post.
Drip Campaign — A sequence of timed, automated emails.

E

Email Marketing — Communicating with prospects and clients via email.
Engagement — How people interact with your brand (clicks, likes, comments).
Evergreen Content — Content that remains relevant long-term.

F

Funnel — The stages of a buyer’s journey from awareness to purchase.
Fractional CMO / vCMO — A part-time senior marketing leader who drives strategy and growth.

G

Gated Content — Resources people must fill in a form to access.
Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy — The plan for how you launch and sell your offering.
Growth Marketing — Using data and testing to find smarter ways to grow.

H
Hybrid Marketing Team — A blend of in-house marketers and agency partners.

I

ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) — The perfect company fit for your offering.
Inbound Marketing — Attracting leads through helpful content, not cold calls.
Influencer Marketing — Working with experts to promote your brand.
Intent Data — Signals showing a company may be ready to buy.

K

KPI (Key Performance Indicator) — A measurable goal for tracking success.
Keyword — A search term used to find your content in Google.

L

Landing Page — A page designed to capture leads from a campaign.
Lead Generation (Lead Gen) — Finding and converting new prospects.
Lead Nurturing — Building relationships with potential customers.
Lifecycle Marketing — Tailoring marketing based on where customers are in their journey.
Long-Tail Keyword — A specific search phrase like “cybersecurity services for SMEs.”

M

MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead) — A lead showing intent and fitting your target profile.
MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) — Predictable monthly income.
Marketing Automation — Software that automates marketing tasks.
Market Segmentation — Dividing audiences into smaller, targeted groups.
Message House — A structured summary of your key marketing messages.

N

Nurture Sequence — A series of communications that warms up leads.
NPS (Net Promoter Score) — A simple way to measure customer satisfaction.

O

Organic Traffic — Website visitors arriving naturally via search.
Outbound Marketing — Reaching out directly to potential clients.
Owned Media — Channels your business controls, like your website or blog.

P

PPC (Pay Per Click) — Online ads where you pay per click.
Pipeline — The list of active opportunities being worked by sales.
Positioning Statement — A sentence summarising who you help and why you’re different.
PR (Public Relations) — Managing how your brand is seen in media and public.

R

Remarketing — Showing ads to people who’ve visited your site.
ROI (Return on Investment) — How much value your marketing creates compared to cost.
Retargeting — Following previous visitors with display ads.

S

Sales Enablement — Equipping sales teams with content and tools to win business.
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) — Improving website ranking in search engines.
SERP (Search Engine Results Page) — The page of results after a Google search.
SLA (Service Level Agreement) — A formal agreement on marketing/sales expectations.
SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) — A business with fewer than 250 staff.
Social Proof — Evidence others trust your brand (reviews, testimonials).

T

TAM (Total Addressable Market) — The total potential customers for your product.
Top of Funnel (TOFU) — The first awareness stage in marketing.
Thought Leadership — Sharing expert insights to build credibility.
Touchpoint — Any interaction a prospect has with your brand.

U

USP (Unique Selling Proposition) — What makes your offer stand out.
User Journey — How someone experiences your brand across touch points.

V

Value Proposition — A short statement explaining the value you deliver.
vCMO (Virtual Chief Marketing Officer) — A flexible, part-time senior marketing strategist leading overall direction.

W

Webinar — An online presentation or workshop for education and lead generation.
Workflow — An automated sequence of marketing or sales steps.

Z

Zero-Click Search — When Google shows an answer directly in the search results.