Do You Know Your Digital Marketing Terms?
Digital Marketing

Do You Know Your Digital Marketing Terms?

In this day and age, digital marketing and digital marketing terms are as common as sliced bread. In fact, comScore did a study that showed, for the first time in 2014, mobile web usage surpassed desktop usage. Today, the margin between the two continues to grow. That fact alone should be reason enough, but there are many other reasons you should invest in digital marketing. With more and more people using their smartphones to access the web, you’re going to encounter more and more proposals to get your company in front of those users.

Digital Marketing Terms Everyone Should Be Familiar With

Whether you are just beginning your digital marketing journey or have already started, there are several digital marketing terms you will want to be familiar with to make things easier.  This knowledge will allow you to ask better questions and be more informed about the terms you’ll encounter and what they mean.

1) Impressions

An impression is simply a view of your ad. It could be a banner ad, video ad, or text-ad. One view = one impression. If the same person sees your ad multiple times, they’ll count as multiple impressions. Unique impressions are the number of unique people who saw your ad, regardless of how many times they viewed it. If the same person sees your ad on multiple devices (desktop, phone, tablet) they’ll count as a unique impression for each device.

2) Clicks

A click is just that. A click. Once a user sees your ad (logs an impression), they can click on it to take them to your landing page.

3) Conversions

A conversion can be any sort of action you want the user to take:

  • Filling out a form
  • Downloading an eBook or case study
  • Signing up for your eNewsletter
  • Making an online purchase

A conversion must happen after a click and is always more valuable than a click.

4) Cost Per Thousand CPM

Not only is this a pricing model for digital advertising, but it is also a reporting metric. Cost per Thousand refers to impressions. Many digital advertising company’s rates are based on a CPM. For example, you could buy 10,000 impressions at a $5.00 CPM and it would cost $50.00. I’ve seen some companies ask for outrageous CPM amounts. If you’re entertaining a proposal that includes CPM rate, here are some guidelines for what is fair for each ad type:

  • Video Pre-Roll: $25 – $45/CPM – Based on the length of the ad and whether it can be skipped.
  • Display Ads: $5 – $25/CPM – Based on the size of the ad and position on the website. Small ads at the bottom of a site are not worth as much as a large ad at the top of the site.
  • Mobile Specific Ads: $10 – $30/CPM – Based on ad size and position on the site. Also based on targeting options (discussed below).

There are many more ad types out there, but those are the most common and should give you a good basis to work with.

5) Cost Per Click CPC

This is more of a pricing model, but can also be used as a metric. Google AdWords is the best-known company when it comes to charging per click. It’s a pretty cool model. It forces the advertiser to craft excellent ads that are worthy to be clicked on. It benefits both the advertiser and the platform.

You could get a million impressions, and not pay a dime. But, you won’t receive any clicks.

On the other hand, if you create an amazing ad, you could blow through your budget in just a few days after only a few hundred impressions. That’s why you need to find the right balance between impressions and clicks.

I wish I could simply give you the secret sauce to make all of your digital marketing dreams come true. But, I can’t. So, my hope is that after reading this list, you’ll be better equipped to ask informed questions when presented with a plan to advertise your business on the web.

As always, we’re here to help. Reach out to us with any digital marketing questions you may have.

Looking for more ways to market beyond the digital frontier?  Check out our post, Direct Mail Marketing Works, or contact us today to speak to one of our experts.