Encountered a term or word in advertising or online marketing that's unfamiliar? Don't worry, our dictionary is here to help you understand basic terms, empowering you to navigate the complex world of online marketing practically and efficiently. Today, online marketing is a key element in advertising strategies for both physical and virtual businesses alike. Understanding its technical terms is critical for success.
A
Affiliate Link
An affiliate link is a link to a landing page of the advertiser that includes the unique identifier of each affiliate partner. The affiliate link is a vital tool in any affiliate campaign, as it allows the advertiser to attribute the conversion to the specific marketer/affiliate.
The affiliate link is provided to the affiliate through the advertiser or the affiliate network they are active in, and it is the link they promote across their various media channels.
Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing refers to a marketing method where a business allows individual marketers to promote their business in exchange for a predefined commission for customers they refer to them. The commission is usually contingent on a specific action taken by the customers, such as a click, action, or sale.
Affiliate Network
An affiliate network is a company that aggregates advertisers and affiliates across various domains under one roof. The network maintains a repository of advertisers on one hand and affiliates in different fields on the other, connecting them to achieve maximum efficiency.
Many advertisers and marketers operate through affiliate networks because they provide a simple and convenient solution for ongoing management, financial transfers, and related tasks.
Affiliate Program
An affiliate program is a promotional campaign created by a business for private marketers. In this method, the advertiser offers marketers/affiliates the opportunity to promote its products or services and earn commissions for specific actions performed by customers who arrive through them. Such an action is called a "conversion" and varies from campaign to campaign according to the advertiser's definition. Examples of common actions include clicks, sales, registrations, leads, contact creation, and more.
C
Cancellation of Conversion
Cancellation of conversion occurs when the advertiser rejects a conversion made in their business, because the conversion is deemed invalid for some reason.
There can be various reasons for cancelling a conversion, depending on the type of business, such as incorrect details, cancellation, customer remorse, duplicates, and similar issues.
Conversion
Conversion or conversion action completes a defined goal in an advertising campaign. For example, if an advertiser defines in their campaign a reward for each registration on a website, then every time a visitor registers, that action is considered a conversion. Conversion varies from campaign to campaign according to its defined goal.
Conversion Rate
Conversion Rate is the ratio between the number of clicks and the number of conversions. For example, if an ad received 100 clicks and only 3 resulted in conversions, then the conversion rate would be 3%. Conversion rate is a very important metric for advertisers as it helps them measure campaign effectiveness and optimize as needed.
Cookie
A "cookie" is a computer code that a website plants in your browser when you visit it. The cookie allows the website to identify you the next time you visit, thereby personalizing your user experience. Cookies serve several important purposes such as identity verification, enhancing user experience, storing information for various uses, and more. Each cookie has a limited "expiry" time after which it is deleted from the browser. Some view cookies with concern regarding online privacy since they track user behavior and document their activities. Therefore, it's important to read the privacy policy of the site you're using to understand how it utilizes cookies.
Cookie Expiration Date
Cookie expiration date refers to how long a cookie file remains in the visitor's browser from the moment they click on the ad. Cookies are automatically deleted once they reach their expiration date. The most common expiration date for cookies is 30 days. Cookie expiration time is a popular concept in affiliate marketing as it defines the time period during which the affiliate receives compensation for the conversion. As long as the cookie file remains in the visitor's browser when they convert in the campaign, the marketer will be rewarded for that conversion.
CPA
The term CPA stands for Cost per Action. It is widely used in the digital advertising world where advertisers pay a predefined commission only for a specific action performed by a user who arrives through the campaign. This action could be anything the advertiser chooses, which they believe adds value: signing up, installing an application, making a phone call, filling out a form, and more. The CPA model is highly popular among advertisers as it provides a clearer and more genuine picture of what their money buys, helping them significantly optimize their advertising expenses.
CPCV
Short for Cost Per Completed View, which means the cost per complete view of a video. This term is used in campaigns with video advertisements.
CPL
CPL stands for Cost per Lead, meaning the cost for each lead generated. In this payment model, the advertiser pays a commission for every lead they receive. A lead is a potential customer who reaches out to the advertiser for more information or to make a purchase but has not yet made an actual purchase. A lead can be leaving contact details on a website, making a phone call, requesting a price quote, and similar actions.
CPM
Short for Cost per Mile, which means the cost for every 1000 impressions. In other words, it's the price the advertiser pays for every 1000 views of their advertisement. This is a fundamental metric used in almost all digital media campaigns to calculate campaign costs and effectiveness.
CPS
CPS stands for Cost per Sale, which means payment for a sale. CPS is a common reward method in online advertising where the advertiser pays a predefined commission for each sale made through their business. This method is particularly favored by advertisers because they only pay a commission from a guaranteed future profit, ensuring maximum campaign efficiency.
CPV
CPV stands for Cost Per View, which means the cost per view of a video. This term is used in advertising through video ads.
CTR
CTR stands for Click Through Rate, which measures the ratio between the number of views of an ad and the number of clicks on it. For example, if 100 people viewed an ad and only 3 clicked on it, then its CTR would be 3%. This metric is widely used in digital advertising to help advertisers understand how effective their ads are at encouraging clicks.
L
Landing Page
A landing page is the page where a visitor is directed after clicking on an ad. The landing page can be any page of the advertiser where they direct the visitor to a specific goal, such as registration, sale, contact creation, and similar actions. Landing pages are typically sales-oriented, focused, and persuasive to maximize their effectiveness.
Lead
A lead is the potential customer's inquiry or a person who is one step away from making an actual purchase. For example, a person leaving contact details on a website, filling out an inquiry form about a specific product/service, or making a phone call to the business is considered a lead. For more information on the Cost per Lead reward method, see the article on CPL.
P
Pixel
A pixel is a tracking code provided to advertisers by affiliate networks or advertising companies on the internet, which is planted on the advertiser's website, usually on the thank you page of the relevant action they want to track. For example, if tracking sales, the advertiser will plant the pixel on the thank you page where the customer is directed immediately after making the payment. The pixel allows the affiliate network to determine if the customer who performed the action arrived through them, and if so, collect the commission due to them for that conversion.
PPC
PPC stands for Pay Per Click, which serves as a payment model for online advertising. In this method, the advertiser pays a fee for each click on their ad. PPC is perhaps the most common reward model in the world of internet advertising, used by many companies like Google and Facebook on their advertising platforms.
PPI
PPI stands for Pay Per Install, which means payment for each installation. This term refers to a payment method for an online advertising campaign where the advertiser pays a commission for each installation (usually of an application or software).
Publisher
A synonym for marketer or affiliate, meaning anyone who promotes and markets campaigns for various advertisers through available media channels in exchange for a predefined commission.
R
REVENUE SHARE
A revenue share model in the affiliate field involves profit sharing. In this method, the advertiser shares all future profits generated from each customer referred to them with the affiliate. For example, 30% of every future sale from the same customer. This method is common in businesses with monthly subscriptions or those relying on repeat customers.
ROI
ROI stands for Return On Investment, which measures the advertiser's profit from a campaign compared to its expenses. For example, if an advertiser invested $100 in advertising and made $300 as a result, their profit would be $200, giving them an ROI of 200%.
T
Traffic Source
Traffic source refers to any digital asset that has exposure power or user traffic, such as a website, blog, social media page, distribution list, and similar. Marketers use their traffic sources to promote and market campaigns of various advertisers.