When I first started working in the internet industry, back in 1874, a colleague said to me that I shouldn’t be daunted by the ridiculous number of acronyms that are seemingly used on a daily basis. I’d learn them in good time, he said. There was no need for panic stations.
Sure enough, I was bombarded with seemingly random three- and four-letter acronyms, from all directions. I hunkered down and gradually learned the most important ones. I’m somewhat allergic to jargon, but sometimes there is no getting around the fact that we need to speak the right language in digital marketing circles. There is only one way to describe ‘real-time bidding’ (RTB), and no amount of Plain English is going to improve that kind of phrase.
We used to have a glossary on a much older version of Econsultancy.com, but that’s long since vanished, so I thought I’d compile a handy cut-out-and-keep guide to help newbies to get up to speed with the lingo.
So here is a list of the most common acronyms that every digital marketer should know about. I think they cover most bases, though no doubt I have missed out a few obvious ones (by all means add them in the comments area below). Some of these are very much filed under 'marketing', whereas others lean more towards 'tech' (but are included as you are likely to cross their paths at some point). For the purposes of brevity I shan’t define each one: that’s what Google / Wikipedia is for.
Ok, here goes...
AIDA - Attention, Interest, Desire, Action
AJAX - Asynchronous Javascript and XML
API - Application program interface
AOV - Average order value
AR - Augmented reality
ASP - Application service provider
ATD - Agency trading desk
B2B - Business to business
B2C - Business to consumer
CLV - Customer lifetime value
CMS - Content management system
CPA - Cost per acquisition / action
CPC - Cost per click
CPL - Cost per lead
CPM - Cost per thousand
CPV - Cost per view (see also PPV)
CR - Conversion rate
CRM - Customer relationship management
CRO - Conversion rate optimisation
CSS - Cascading style sheets
CTA - Call to action
CTR - Click-through rate
CX - Customer experience
DM - Direct mail (or 'Direct message', in Twitter circles)
DMP - Data management platform
DNS - Domain name system
DR - Direct response
DSP - Demand-side platform
ECPM - Effective CPM
EPC - Earnings per click
EPM - Earnings per thousand
ESP - Email service provider
FB - Facebook
FBML - Facebook Markup Language
FTP - File transfer protocol
GA - Google Analytics
HIPPO - Highest paid person's opinion
HTML - HyperText Markup Language
HTTP - Hyper Text Transfer Protocol
HTTPS - Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure
IM - Instant Messaging
IMAP - Internet Message Access Protocol
IP - Intellectual property (or 'Internet Protocol')
IPTV - Internet protocol television
ISP - Internet service provider
KPI - Key performance indicator
LTV - Lifetime value
MoM - Month on month
MLM - Multi-level marketing
MVT - Multivariate testing
OEM - Original equipment manufacturer
OS - Operating system (sometimes this is used for 'open source')
PHP - PHP Hypertext Preprocessor
POS - Point of sale
PPC - Pay per click
PPL - Pay per lead
PPV - Pay per view
PR - PageRank
PV - Pageviews
QA - Quality assurance
QR Code - Quick response code
QS - Quality score
RFI - Request for information
RFP - Request for proposal
ROI - Return on investment
RON - Run of network
ROR - Ruby on Rails
ROS - Run of site
RSS - Really Simple Syndication
RT - Retweet
RTB - Real time bidding
RTD - Real time data
S2S - Server to server
SaaS - Software as a service
SEM - Search engine marketing
SEO - Search engine optimisation
SERP - Search engine results page
SLA - Service level agreement
SM - Social media
SME - Small / medium enterprise. (aka SMB = ‘business’)
SMM - Social media marketing
SMO - Social media optimisation
SMP - Social media platform
SMS - Short message service
SOV - Share of voice
SOW - Statement of work
SSL - Secure Sockets Layer
SSP - Supply-side platform
SWOT - Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats
TLD - Top level domain
TOS - Terms of service
UCD - User-centric design
UI - User interface
UGC - User-generated content
URL - Uniform resource locator
USP - Unique selling proposition
UV - Unique visitor
UX - User experience
VOD - Video on demand
VM - Viral marketing
WOMM - Word of mouth marketing
WYSIWYG - What you see is what you get
YOY - Year on year
YTD - Year to date
XML - Extensible Markup Language
What others are there that are worth knowing / used often?
Reader comments (37)
12:42PM on 20th February 2013
Nice one, good mix of tech and business terminology! Going to keep that handy for training handouts.
By the way, URL normally stands for uniform resource locator , in which context have you seen it used as "Universal resource language" ?
Thanks!
Director of Product Development at Econsultancy
12:52PM on 20th February 2013
Thanks Paulo - you're quite right, I must have disengaged my brain when writing that one. Now fixed, cheers.
Head of Optimisation at Blue Latitude
1:42PM on 20th February 2013
You missed out my favourite:
PEBKAC - problem exists between keyboard and chair
5:57PM on 20th February 2013
You should add in one of the most common acronyms, SEO. Although some may argue that it is interchangeable with SEM, there are valuable and noticeable differences between the two, as SEO is a subset of SEM. There are many paid marketing strategies that are SEM but not SEO, like Paid Inclusion and PPC ads.
Director of Product Development at Econsultancy
5:58PM on 20th February 2013
@Zoe - Wow, I can't believe I left that one out...!
8:08PM on 20th February 2013
You could also throw in DR (direct response) - just sayin! .. I'm sure there's a bunch more that we're all missing!
Head of Usability & Conversion at PRWD
11:21PM on 20th February 2013
What's this no CRO Chris!? It's the future I tell you, did you not see the compelling evidence and quotes on show in my 'will 2013 be the year of CRO' post... tish
A general comment on this list is the dominence of acquisition based acronyms. Quite simply no room at the inn for the likes of LPO and my trust CRO.
This time next year maybe..!
4:44AM on 21st February 2013
Nice list, I read through them all (and this really is nitpicking but..) and the only things that stuck out to me were
AJAX = Asynchronous Javascript AND XML
PHP = PHP Hypertext Preprocessor (Recursive Acronym)
A few I didn't see maybe b/c not commonly used as much any more:
URI - Uniform Resource Indicator (Same as URL but common enough to mention)
CGI = Common Gateway Interface
GNU = GNU's Not Unix
PERL = Practical Extraction and Report Language (or Pathologically Eclectic Rubbish Lister if you ask inventor Larry Wall)
LAMP = Linux Apache MySQL Perl/Php/Python
WIMP = Windows Icons and Mouse Pointing (Pejorative form of GUI)
Oh yeah, GUI! = Graphical User Interface
SFTP = Secure FTP (Hey you included HTTPS)
SSH = Secure Shell
I know these are all technical but you included a lot that is outside pure digital marketing.
I also give a hearty second to PEBKAC, that is a VERY important one!
4:56AM on 21st February 2013
SOAP = Small Objects Access Protocol
REST = Representational State Transfer
JSON = Javascript Object Notation
VOIP = Voice Over IP
TLD can be extended:
gTLD - Generic TLD
sTLD - Sponsored TLD
ccTLD - Country Code TLD
vTLD - Vanity TLD (AKA .brand, coming soon to a registrar near you)
7:11AM on 21st February 2013
FUBAR
7:56AM on 21st February 2013
In 1874? :)
Principal Lecturer in Digital Marketing & Course Leader MSc Digital Marketing Communications at MMU Business School
8:33AM on 21st February 2013
1874 - yes that's probably the time AIDA was originated. Should we still be referring to AIDA? Is it too simplistic for the much more sophisticated marketing environment that Digital has provided?
Digital Content Manager at StepChange Debt Charity
8:36AM on 21st February 2013
CTA is a pretty big marketing one (call to action, of course).
Oh, and SNAFU. But that's pretty common across all companies, marketing or not.
8:58AM on 21st February 2013
A few mobile acronyms missed off:
CPD - Cost Per Download
CPI - Cost Per Install (download and an open)
CPCV - Cost Per Completed View
CPE - Cost Per Engagement
CPR - Cost Per Registration
CPS - Cost Per Subscription
Also:
DR - Direct Response
MD at WORTH EVENTS
8:59AM on 21st February 2013
Freak Out!
OOTGAOAT (One of the greatest albums of al time)!
9:08AM on 21st February 2013
QS = Quality Score
LP = Landing Page
9:19AM on 21st February 2013
CTA!! Call to action
Group Marketing Services Manager at Megger
9:20AM on 21st February 2013
PIM = product information management
DAM = digital asset management
CMS = content management system
and most importantly:
TLA = three letter acronym (ETLA = extended three letter acronym)
Director at Velocity
9:26AM on 21st February 2013
BAL - Bodacious Acronym List
Senior Digital Content Manager at HSBC
9:34AM on 21st February 2013
When I'm having a bad day in digital content I like to remind myself that I know what jpeg and gif stand for:
jpeg - joint photographic experts' group
gif - graphics interchange format
...and how a gif image actually works, which is quite interesting.
9:57AM on 21st February 2013
Hi there, great list! This is a tiny one but I noticed you missed out the first 'Y' in WYSIWYG, this stuck out for me because we offer it as part of our CMS for schools! Thought I would mention it for the purpose of clarity.
Director of Product Development at Econsultancy
10:12AM on 21st February 2013
Some great suggestions above. I told you I would miss some obvious ones.
@Paul - Forgive me, I have sinned. CRO FTW!
@Jeremy - Thanks for those suggestions and corrections - I have updated the post.
@Mark - Yes, the year began on a Thursday, if I recall correctly... ; )
@David - I agree with you, it's just that I've heard this used in innumerable meetings over the years. I don't come from a marketing background and assumed people were in pain when they said it, hence the inclusion / clarification. It still gets used...
@Peer / @Lauren - Holy smokes... CTA... another massive omission, along with SEO and CRO. It should definitely be on the list, which I may have to expand in due course.
@James - DR. Certainly merits inclusion.
@Paul Swift - Who are the brain police?
@Nick - Yet more obvious misses from me... thanks.
@Doug - I should have made a slideshow!
@Jez - I nearly included these. I may have to change the headline to '100+' and undertake a bit of editing.
Thanks for all of your input, do keep the suggestions coming.
Online Communications at Genencor/DuPont
10:37AM on 21st February 2013
FRS = Functional Requirement Specifications (I just came across this one last week, had always called it a "func spec"!)
10:53AM on 21st February 2013
Hiring for a copywriter at the moment and have been asked to elaborate on what EDM is. Was very suprised as thought this was a common Digital term.
12:30PM on 21st February 2013
pURL personalised URL
rURL response URL
CTOR Click to Open Rate
GOAT - Gone off at a Tangent!
3:40PM on 21st February 2013
Fab idea for a list. Hadn't heard, but love HIPPO.
Wondering region acronyms feel very absent as they're used all the time? ala APAC, EMEA, MENA
Manager at Accenture
5:29PM on 21st February 2013
Always too many but whatever happened to KISS - Keep It Simple Stupid
6:01PM on 21st February 2013
I like this one: BO
(business owner, of course)
10:08PM on 21st February 2013
What about eDM for electronic direct marketing?
8:13AM on 22nd February 2013
RfQ - Request for Quotation
Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University Business School
2:21PM on 22nd February 2013
Excellent list Chris. Did you look at pURL (personalised)?
1:39AM on 23rd February 2013
I am currently in my last semester as a marketing grad and one acronym that we have used and came up a lot was IMC. Integrated Marketing Communications!
Great list!
Director & Senior Digital Marketing Consultant at InfoJuice Ltd
12:03PM on 23rd February 2013
Excellent list, glad to see HIPPO making an appearance. This should be balanced out by BIPPO (Best Informed Person's Opinion).
Others that come to mind are I/O Error (Idiot Operator)
WWW (World Wide Web) - was surprised that wasn't there :)
ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange)
FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt)
If you have AIDA, you have to have REAN, REACH and SOSTAC®
And something I believe will be become very important to marketers in the near future: NFC (Near Field Communication)
I'm sure this list could go on and on!
12:08PM on 26th February 2013
Thanks for this list. Have printed it for reference for our company HIPPO.
By the way, I've always used a variation of PEBKAC:
PICNIC - Problem in Chair, Not in Computer
5:26PM on 5th March 2013
I am about to start my final school test in marketing next week and this article will surely contribute to help me a lot. Thank you
10:33PM on 8th March 2013
IMHO, this a list of exclusionary language. Why use it?
Group Marketing Services Manager at Megger
4:13PM on 11th March 2013
@Donald Schwartz - using jargon and acronyms can be exlusionary as you rightly say.
But when they're used as shortcuts in conversations with others, we need to know what they mean - certainly some of the explanations helpful. Meanwhile, the mnemonics are useful tools to speed learning and ensure that you execute a task with right content in the right order.
As long as all parties have established a mutual understanding, then using this list could save a lot of time.
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