Directory

A working dictionary for modern marketing and business

Short explanations of the ideas, frameworks and terms shaping marketing, growth, technology, business development and events, with deeper reading when you need it.

01

Marketing strategy

How the pieces of a marketing plan connect to a business result.

360 marketing

360 marketing is an approach that connects the channels around one customer, one business objective and one overall strategy.

It does not mean a brand needs to be everywhere.

A strong 360 plan gives each channel a specific role in the customer journey, keeps the message connected and measures whether the full system is moving the business goal. Adding more platforms without deciding what each one is supposed to achieve usually creates more activity, not better marketing.

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Channel strategy

Channel strategy is the plan for deciding where a brand should show up, what job each channel should perform and how those channels work together.

One channel may be strongest for discovery, another for trust, another for conversion and another for retention. The goal is not to use as many platforms as possible. It is to build a mix where every channel has a reason to exist, a clear handoff to the next step and a way to measure whether it is doing its job.

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Customer journey

The customer journey is the path people take from first recognizing a need to researching, comparing, buying and continuing their relationship with a brand.

That path is rarely a straight funnel. A customer may discover a product through a creator, compare it through search or AI, check reviews, return to social media and only then visit the website. A useful customer journey map shows the questions, evidence, friction and touchpoints influencing the decision at each stage.

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Marketing ROI

Return on marketing investmentMarketing ROI looks at whether marketing is creating enough business value relative to what the company is investing.

The important part is defining the right value. Depending on the business, that may involve revenue, qualified pipeline, contribution margin, customer acquisition, retention or another commercial outcome. Metrics such as impressions, clicks and engagement can help explain performance, but they are not ROI by themselves. Good measurement connects marketing activity to the business result it is expected to influence.

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Attribution

Marketing attribution is the process of assigning credit to the touchpoints that influenced a customer action or business result.

The difficulty is that customers rarely interact with only one channel. Someone may see an ad, search later, read reviews, receive an email and then buy directly. Attribution models help organize that journey, but no model perfectly explains causality. Attribution is most useful when combined with broader measurement methods and used to support decisions rather than treated as an exact record of what caused every sale.

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02

AI & search

How people and machines find, compare and choose.

SEO

Search Engine OptimizationSEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is the practice of making a website easier for search engines to discover, understand, index and rank.

It includes technical foundations such as crawlability and site structure, as well as useful content, internal links, authority and clear information about the business. AI-powered search has expanded what search visibility looks like, but it has not removed the need for SEO. Strong SEO remains the foundation that AEO and GEO build on.

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Related terms
AEOGEOAI search

AEO

Answer Engine OptimizationAEO is the practice of making information easy for search engines and AI-powered answer systems to understand and surface directly in answers.

That usually means answering questions clearly, structuring information well, using reliable evidence and making the relationship between topics easy to understand. AEO does not replace SEO. It extends the work from simply helping a page rank toward helping the information itself become useful inside answer-based search experiences.

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Related terms
SEOGEOAI search

GEO

Generative Engine OptimizationGEO is the practice of improving how a brand, business or piece of content appears inside generative AI and AI-powered search experiences.

The goal is not only to rank a webpage. It is to make information easier for AI systems to retrieve, understand, verify, cite and use when forming an answer. GEO therefore depends on many of the same foundations as SEO, while placing additional importance on clear entities, evidence, authority, structured information and consistent brand signals across the web.

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Related terms
SEOAEOAI search

AI search

AI search describes search experiences where artificial intelligence helps interpret a question, research information, compare sources and generate an answer instead of only presenting a list of links.

This changes how brands can become visible. A customer may learn about a company through an AI-generated comparison or recommendation before visiting the website itself. Brands therefore need information that is accurate, understandable, trustworthy and easy for both traditional search engines and AI systems to retrieve.

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Agentic commerce

Agentic commerce is a form of digital commerce where AI does more than recommend products.

It can help research options, compare products, build a shortlist, prepare a basket and, when the user allows it, complete parts of the purchasing process.

The level of automation can vary. Some experiences stop at recommendations, while others move closer to delegated purchasing. For brands, this makes accurate product information, pricing, inventory, policies and other commerce data increasingly important because AI systems may use that information before the customer reaches the website.

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AI visibility

AI visibility is whether an AI assistant mentions a brand, cites its pages and describes it correctly when someone asks a question in its category.

It is measured in layers: presence, citation and accuracy are three different things. A brand can be mentioned often and still be described wrongly, or cited only when someone already types its name.

Related terms
AEOAI search
03

Content & social

Making things people look for, keep and share.

Content strategy

Content strategy is the plan for deciding what information a brand should create, who it is for, where it should live and what it needs to help the audience do next.

A useful content strategy starts with real customer needs rather than a calendar full of topics. Questions from sales, support, search, social media and customer feedback can reveal what people are trying to understand, compare or solve. Those questions can then become articles, videos, FAQs, product content, sales material or other useful formats.

Social search

Social search is the use of social platforms to actively look for information, products, places, recommendations, reviews or answers rather than simply scrolling a feed.

People may search TikTok, Instagram, YouTube or other platforms to see a product in use, compare opinions, find a restaurant, understand a topic or decide what to buy. For brands, this means social content should make its subject clear, answer useful questions and use the language people naturally search for instead of relying only on trends or hashtags.

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Short-form video

Short-form video is compact video content designed to communicate an idea quickly on platforms such as TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts.

The format can do much more than generate views. A short video can introduce a brand, explain a product, answer a question, show proof, remove an objection or move someone closer to purchase. The useful question is not simply how short the video should be, but what job it needs to perform in the customer journey.

Creator marketing

Creator marketing is the use of independent creators and their content, audience or influence as part of a brand's marketing strategy.

Creators can help with discovery, education, trust, cultural relevance, content production and sales. The right role depends on the objective. A creator used to introduce a new product should not automatically be measured in the same way as one being used to generate direct sales. Strong creator marketing starts by deciding what the creator is expected to change in the customer journey.

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Influencer marketing

Influencer marketing is a strategy where a brand works with people who have influence over a particular audience to shape awareness, consideration, trust or action.

Follower count alone does not determine whether a partnership is valuable. Audience fit, credibility, content quality, relevance and the creator's role in the customer decision are usually more useful. Measurement should also go beyond likes and views to include outcomes such as traffic, brand lift, leads, sales, content value or changes in customer behavior.

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Creator commerce

Creator commerce is the use of creators as a measurable route from product discovery to purchase.

It connects creator content with commerce tools such as affiliate links, product tags, creator storefronts, discount codes, commissions, shoppable video and live shopping. The difference from general influencer marketing is the transaction layer. When a creator can introduce a product and the resulting purchase can be measured back to that creator or program, the creator is becoming part of the sales channel.

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04

Branding

What a company stands for and how it is recognised.

Brand positioning

Brand positioning defines the place a brand wants to occupy in the customer's mind compared with the other choices available.

It brings together the audience, the problem or need the brand serves, its distinctive value and the reasons people should believe that value. Good positioning makes it easier to understand who the brand is for, why it is different and why someone should choose it. It should guide messaging, product decisions, creative work and the wider customer experience.

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Brand trust

Brand trust is the confidence customers have that a brand is credible, responsible and likely to deliver what it promises.

Trust comes from more than communication. Product quality, customer experience, reviews, evidence, transparency, consistency and how the company behaves after the sale all contribute. As AI makes polished content easier to produce, signals that are harder to fake, such as original evidence, real expertise, visible people and independent validation, become increasingly important.

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Rebranding

Rebranding is the strategic process of changing how a business is positioned, presented or understood by the market.

That can involve positioning, messaging, naming, visual identity, brand architecture or several of those areas together. A new logo alone is not necessarily a rebrand. Before changing the brand, the business should understand what problem the change is supposed to solve and which existing brand assets still carry useful recognition, trust or meaning.

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Brand identity

Brand identity is the system of recognizable elements a business uses to express and identify itself.

It can include the name, logo, typography, colors, imagery, tone of voice and other distinctive assets. Identity helps people recognize a brand, but it is not the same as positioning. Positioning defines what the brand should mean and why it matters. Identity gives that strategy a consistent verbal and visual expression.

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05

Ecommerce & growth

The numbers that tell you whether growth is real.

Customer acquisition cost

CACCustomer Acquisition Cost, usually shortened to CAC, is the amount a business spends to acquire a new customer.

A basic calculation divides acquisition-related costs by the number of new customers acquired during the same period. But the useful question is not simply whether CAC is low. A higher CAC can still make sense when customers produce strong margins, repeat purchases and long-term value. CAC should therefore be looked at alongside contribution margin, customer lifetime value and payback period.

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Customer lifetime value

CLV / LTVCustomer Lifetime Value estimates how much economic value a customer is expected to create over the relationship with a business.

The calculation can vary, so CLV should never be treated as one universal number. Purchase frequency, average order value, margin, retention, returns, service costs and the time period used can all change the result. CLV becomes especially useful when compared with CAC because it helps a business understand how much it can reasonably invest to acquire and retain different types of customers.

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Conversion rate

Conversion rate is the percentage of people who complete a desired action out of the people who had the opportunity to complete it.

The action could be a purchase, lead, signup, booking or another defined outcome. A low conversion rate is not always an advertising problem. Confusing product information, weak trust signals, hidden delivery costs, poor mobile usability or technical friction can prevent interested customers from completing the action. That is why conversion should be examined across the whole decision experience.

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Retention rate

Retention rate measures how successfully a business keeps customers, users or accounts over a defined period.

The exact calculation depends on the business model. For ecommerce, repeat purchase and cohort behavior may be more useful than a simple retained-customer percentage. For subscriptions, active customers or churn may matter more. Retention becomes commercially important because stronger repeat behavior can increase customer lifetime value and allow the business to support a higher acquisition cost.

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Product page optimization

Product page optimization is the process of improving a product page so customers can understand the offer, trust the information and complete a purchase with less friction.

It can involve product titles, descriptions, photography, pricing, variants, availability, reviews, shipping, returns, mobile usability, page performance and structured product data. The objective is not automatically to add more content. It is to give customers the information they need to make the decision and remove anything that unnecessarily blocks them.

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Customer acquisition

Customer acquisition is the process of turning new prospects into customers.

It can involve paid media, organic search, social media, creators, partnerships, sales, referrals and other channels. Acquisition should not be judged only by how cheaply the first purchase was generated. A useful acquisition strategy looks at the quality of the customers being acquired, their contribution margin, how quickly acquisition cost is recovered and whether those customers continue buying over time.

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Retention

Retention is the work of keeping customers engaged with a business after the first purchase or conversion and creating reasons for the relationship to continue.

Depending on the business model, retention can involve repeat purchases, renewals, product usage, loyalty, service, CRM, customer experience and expansion. Retention is not automatically cheaper or more profitable than acquisition because discounts, rewards, technology and service all have costs. It should be measured by the additional customer value it creates.

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Incrementality

Incrementality measures what happened because a marketing activity took place compared with what would probably have happened without it.

This is different from attribution. Attribution distributes credit across observed touchpoints, while incrementality tries to identify the additional effect created by the activity. It can help answer questions such as whether an ad generated new demand or simply received credit for a purchase the customer was already likely to make.

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06

Business development

Markets, partners and the commercial path.

Go-to-market strategy

GTM strategyA go-to-market strategy is the plan for how a business will bring an offer to the right customer and turn that opportunity into revenue.

It connects the customer, problem, offer, positioning, pricing, sales motion, marketing, channels, partnerships, operations and measurement. A useful GTM plan should be executable, not just strategic. That means clear owners, handoffs, assumptions, metrics and a process for changing the plan when real market evidence shows that something is not working.

Market entry

Market entry is the process of taking a business, product or service into a new geographic or commercial market.

It involves much more than translating existing marketing. Customer expectations, competition, pricing, channels, partnerships, regulation, trust and operating requirements can all change from one market to another. A strong market-entry strategy protects what should remain consistent in the brand while adapting the parts of the commercial model that need to work differently locally.

Market validation

Market validation is the process of testing whether a business can create demand, compete, make acceptable economics and operate successfully in a target market before committing a larger investment.

Validation should move from cheaper evidence to more realistic tests. Research may come first, followed by conversations, demand tests, local partnerships or a contained pilot. The goal is not to prove that expansion will definitely succeed. It is to reduce the most important uncertainties before the business spends the full launch budget.

Strategic partnership

A strategic partnership is a relationship between two or more organizations designed to create value that would be harder, slower or more expensive to achieve independently.

That value might come from distribution, market access, technology, credibility, customer experience, product capability or shared commercial opportunities. A strong partnership needs more than a recognizable partner name. The customer benefit, economics, responsibilities, decision rights, risks and reason for both sides to continue investing should be clear before the partnership begins.

Route to market

Route to market is the path a product or service takes from the business to the customer.

That route can be direct, through ecommerce or a sales team, or indirect through distributors, retailers, marketplaces, resellers, partners or a combination of channels. The right route depends on where customers buy, how much control the business needs, the economics of each channel, local market conditions and the support required to complete the sale. In a new market, choosing the wrong route can weaken an otherwise strong offer.

Business development

Business development is the process of creating new commercial opportunities through markets, relationships, partnerships and routes to growth.

The work can include identifying new markets, developing strategic partnerships, opening commercial conversations, evaluating opportunities and connecting the business with the people or channels needed to move forward. It works best when it stays close to marketing because both functions are learning from the same market and ultimately working toward the same growth objective.

07

Events

Getting the right people into a room, and what happens after.

Event ROI

Event return on investmentEvent ROI looks at the value created by an event relative to the resources invested in making it happen.

Revenue can be part of that value, but it is not the only possible outcome. Depending on the objective, an event may also create qualified opportunities, strengthen customer relationships, generate insight, build trust or develop partnerships. Good event measurement begins before production by deciding what the event is supposed to change and how that change will be measured afterwards.

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Event strategy

Event strategy is the plan that defines why an event should exist, who needs to be there, what experience should be created and what should happen because of it.

It starts before choosing the venue, format or production concept. The business objective, audience, role of the event in the wider customer journey, follow-up and measurement should shape the format. A conference, executive dinner, workshop and customer event can all be successful, but they solve different problems.

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Experiential marketing

Experiential marketing uses an experience or live interaction to create a stronger connection between people and a brand.

The experience might be an event, activation, product interaction, pop-up, launch or another designed moment where the audience participates rather than only receives a message. The format should still serve a business purpose. The strongest experiences connect what people see and feel with something the brand wants them to understand, remember, discuss or do afterwards.

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Events

Executive roundtable

An executive roundtable is a small, curated event that brings a selected group of senior participants together around a specific business issue, market question or shared challenge.

Unlike a presentation-led conference, the value usually comes from discussion between participants. The smaller format allows the content to be more relevant to the people in the room and can create stronger peer exchange, customer insight and follow-up opportunities. The quality and relevance of the attendees matter more than filling as many seats as possible.

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Small-format events

Small-format events are intentionally limited events designed for a focused audience and a specific objective.

Examples can include executive dinners, workshops, roundtables, customer sessions and invite-only briefings. Their value is not simply that they are smaller or cheaper. A more focused room can allow deeper conversation, stronger participation, better customer insight and more personal follow-up. Large events still serve important goals such as reach and visibility, so the format should follow the job the event needs to do.

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Event activation

An event activation is a planned brand experience designed to make people interact with a product, message or idea rather than only observe it.

Activations can appear inside a larger event or operate as standalone experiences. The execution might involve product trial, entertainment, participation, content creation, demonstrations or another form of interaction. A useful activation should connect the experience to a clear audience response, such as discovery, consideration, data capture, conversation, purchase or stronger brand memory.

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