Digital Marketing Terms and Definitions

Keeping up with digital marketing terms can be difficult, especially as new products and services pop up every day – often bringing new words and phrases with them.

That’s why we wanted to share this digital marketing terms and glossary from the University of Southampton that explains a lot of the key terms, plus some extra ones that come from lectures as part of their digital marketing course.

If you want to find out why Bruce Willis is included in these digital marketing terms, don’t ask us but check out the FutureLearn Digital Marketing Course for yourself.

3D printing – The process by which a physical object is created from a three-dimensional model

Act of Parliament – Legislation passed by Parliament in London or Edinburgh and is part of statute law

Alexa.com – An Amazon company offering free analytic tools for websites. Founded in 1996.

Analytics – The collection and analysis of appropriate data to understand how a web presence is being used and how its performance might be improved

Android – A Google-developed mobile operating system

Applied health researchers – Individuals who carry out research programmes into public health and long term medical conditions

Attribution – Assigning a value to a marketing activity based on its intended outcome

Augmented reality – Technology that superimposes a computer generated image onto a user’s view of the real world

Authentic – Of undisputed origin and not a copy

Avatar – A computer generated representation of user, alter ego, or character, as used on social network profiles or within online games

Badge – A physical or digital symbol of achievement

Bambuser – A company providing a live video broadcasting service for streaming from mobile devices and webcams

Banners – A physical or digital strip of space used for advertising

Big Data – Collection of sets of data

Brand consistency – Keeping the brand image and values the same across a range of channels

Bruce Willis – A Hollywood film star famous for his role in the Die Hard film series

Buzz – Excited conversation or ‘hype’ about something that is quickly spread online

Campaign – A specific effort to achieve a marketing goal or target

Cancer Research UK – A British charitable organisation which focuses on raising funds for research into cancer treatment

CEO – Chief Executive Officer – the leader of an organisation who reports to a board of directors

Channel – A digital stream (TV, news, or online) where people may tune in to find out ongoing information about a particular topic

Click-throughs – Numbers of people who click on an advertisement that goes to the website of the advertising organisation

Consumer behaviour – Noticeable patterns and trends in how people access and use products and services

Consumption – The action of using up a resource

Content – Written material intended to inform/advertise/sell.

Content repository – A digital content store with access control system

Crowd-funding – Targeting a large volume of small donations from individuals to reach a funding target

Crowdsourcing marketing – Using collective intelligence gathered from the public and using that information to complete specific tasks

Customer journeys – A way to describe and portray all the experiences a customer has with an organisation, and the emotional responses they provoke

Demographics – Statistical data about a population (showing age, income, education etc)

Devices – Objects that we use for a range of computing tasks, such as mobile phones, laptops, tablets

Digital assets – Digitally stored content or an online account operated by an individual

Digital goods – Intangible goods that are stored, delivered and used in electronic format

Digital rights management – Method of controlling access to copyrighted material for a variety of content in digital formats

Digital rights management restrictions – A form of access policy that is applied to copyrighted content to prevent a user from doing something

eBooks – Digitalised copies of books that are available on mobile devices or personal computers

Emergent – Something which is in the process of coming into being or becoming prominent

Engagement – Interacting with someone at a personal level and on an ongoing basis

Ensnared – To be trapped in something or caught up

Game theory – The study of strategic decision making. It involves mathematical models of conflict and cooperation between rational decision-makers

Geomark – A way of saving and sharing geographical areas of interest

Google Analytics – A free analytics service provided by Google

Google Hangout – A means of chatting with groups of people real time via webcam provided by Google

HIPPO – In this context, not the animal, but Higher Paid People’s Opinions

Identification – A means of saying definitely that you are who you say you are!

Identify with – Sharing the same views or experiences as someone else

Instagram – Photo based social media platform owned by Facebook. Users can add effects to photos before posting

Institutional members – Individuals with membership of institutes in their field of research/study

Interstitial ads – Ads that are displayed on a device before the expected content

iPad – Mobile tablet device produced and sold by Apple, runs iOS

Kickstarter – A crowdfunding platform for investment in creative projects

Kit – A set of articles or equipment needed for a specific purpose

Leader boards – A system of ranking users according to either points earned or other scoring method

Legal grey area – An area of law subject to interpretation because it lacks clarity

Liquidity – The ability to convert an asset to cash quickly

Live Blog – A means of reporting on events online in real time

Mass communication – Getting a standard message out to as many people as needed/possible

Monetise – To establish a business venture that earns revenue

Mouse-over – An instance when the cursor hovers over an advertisement, indicating that the user may be looking at that advert

Multichannel – The ability of marketers to interact with the target market via more than one platform

Multichannel consumer behaviour – Differences/similarities in the behaviour of consumers using different platforms

Netflix – An online film database and streaming service

Non-transferable – A product or service which must remain in the name of one user

Oculus Rift – A company which produces a virtual reality headset for 3D gaming. Now owned by Facebook

OFCOM – Office of Communications. Independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communications industries

One size fits all – A standard product that is appropriate for all instances

Personalised communication – -Communication that may be targeted at a certain individual on basis of their needs/desires

Policy-makers – Individuals who define the priorities for and direction taken by government

Raspberry Pi – Credit card sized computer that plugs into TV and keyboard

Referrals – A customer recommending another customer to a service/product

Responsive design – Design approach to construct websites that provides optimal viewing experience regardless of the size of the screen

Segmentation – Dividing a broad target market into subgroups of consumers with similar needs and priorities

Segments – Groups of target customers that have similar needs and priorities

SMEs – Small and medium sized businesses with less than 250 employees

Snapchat – Instant messaging platform based on the sharing and editing of photos with captions

Sponsored features – Products/services whose existence is financially down to a 3rd party

Spotify – A music streaming service available for use on PC and mobile devices

Tablets – Portable devices with internet capability but less functionality than a PC

Technological determinism – The idea that new technology drives and dictates society’s social and cultural development

The cloud – An online drive service for users to access files from wherever in the world they are

Touch-points – Any situation where customers and business exchange information, services, or handle transactions

Traction – The extent to which an idea or product gains popularity or acceptance

Twitter – A micro-blogging social media platform where posts are limited to 140 characters

Upworthy – A ‘mission driven media company’ that is based on the idea that things that are popular will get shared and passed on

Vine (videos) – A video creation social media platform which gives users the ability to create and share videos of just 6 seconds in length

Web Observatory – A system which gathers and links to data on the Web in order to answer questions about the Web, the users of the Web and the way that each affects the other

WIG.HT – Isle of Wight URL shortener