Knowledge base
Marketing glossary
Marketing and sales terms without the jargon. What each term means, when it matters, and how it played out in AURA's own case work.
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Strategy
Go-to-Market (GTM)
Go-to-Market is the complete strategy for bringing a product to market and reaching your first customers: who you sell to, with what offer, through which channel.
Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)
ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) is the precise portrait of the customer who benefits most from you and needs you most: industry, size, problem, and decision-maker.
Positioning
Positioning is the specific place your product occupies in the customer's mind: the one-line answer to why they should choose you and not a competitor.
Value Proposition
A value proposition states in one line why a customer should choose you: which problem you solve, for whom, and with what result.
Unique Selling Proposition (USP)
A USP is the one specific reason you stand apart from competitors: a promise they can't make but you actually deliver.
Offer
An offer is the concrete sales proposition presented to the customer right now: product, price, terms, and call to action together. A strong offer is hard to say no to.
Naming
Naming is the process of choosing a name for a product or company. A good name is memorable, easy to say, has a free domain, and doesn't clash with the product's essence.
Differentiation
Differentiation is the set of factors that set your product apart from competitors. Without it, the customer's only choice criterion left is price.
Product-Market Fit (PMF)
Product-Market Fit is the state where the product fully matches a real market need: people genuinely want it, buy it, and recommend it to others.
Segmentation
Segmentation is dividing the audience into groups by similar needs or traits. A separate message per segment beats "one message for everyone."
Branding
Branding is building a recognizable, trust-inspiring image around a product: name, visuals, voice, and promise. It reduces price pressure and builds loyalty.
Funnel & Leads
Lead
A lead is a potential customer who showed interest and left their contact (phone, email, form). But a lead isn't a sale — it's only the chance to start a conversation.
Marketing Qualified Lead (MQL)
An MQL is a lead that meets pre-agreed criteria — one worth the sales team's time. The difference from a plain lead: it has been qualified.
Lead Generation (Leadgen)
Leadgen is the process of finding potential customers and collecting their contacts. The goal isn't volume — it's a steady flow of sales-ready, quality leads.
Sales Funnel
A sales funnel is a model of the customer's path from first contact to purchase, split into stages. At each stage some people drop off.
Filter Form (Qualification Form)
A filter form is a multi-step form that qualifies leads. Each question is a filter: the goal isn't more leads, but a higher share of sales-ready ones.
Customer Journey Map (CJM)
A CJM maps all the stages and touchpoints a customer goes through from realizing the problem to purchase (and beyond).
Sales Qualified Lead (SQL)
An SQL is a lead that sales has reviewed and confirmed as a real deal opportunity. The stage after MQL: qualified by sales, not marketing.
Call to Action (CTA)
A CTA (Call to Action) prompts the user to a specific next step: "Get a free consultation," "Leave a request." A clear CTA raises conversion.
Landing Page
A landing page is a single page focused on one specific goal (a request, a purchase). No extra links or distractions — all attention on one action.
Lead Magnet
A lead magnet is a free, useful thing given in exchange for a contact (guide, checklist, consultation). The goal is to bring a potential customer into the funnel.
Lead Nurturing
Nurturing is gradually guiding a not-yet-ready lead to a decision through content and communication. A decisive stage in a long sales cycle.
Lead Scoring
Lead scoring is a system of assigning points to leads by their likelihood to buy. Sales focuses on the "hottest" leads first.
Metrics
Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)
CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) is the average cost of acquiring one new customer: money spent on marketing and sales, divided by the number of customers.
Cost Per Lead (CPL)
CPL (Cost Per Lead) is the average ad spend to get one lead. A low CPL isn't always good: it often hides a high, invisible CAC.
Lifetime Value (LTV)
LTV (Lifetime Value) is the total revenue one customer brings over their entire relationship with you. It sets the ceiling for your marketing budget.
Conversion
Conversion is the share of people who took the target action (form, purchase, call) out of those who visited a page or saw an ad, expressed as a percentage.
Return on Marketing Investment (ROMI)
ROMI (Return on Marketing Investment) shows how much revenue each unit spent on marketing brought back. It turns marketing from a cost into an investment.
Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)
ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) shows how much revenue each unit of ad spend returned. For example, ROAS 5x means $1 of ads brought $5 of revenue.
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
CTR (Click-Through Rate) is the percentage of people who saw an ad or link and clicked it. The first signal of how appealing the creative and offer are.
Retention
Retention is how long you can keep existing customers. It's cheaper than acquiring new ones and the strongest lever for raising LTV.
Churn
Churn is the share of customers who left you in a given period. High churn eats LTV and stalls growth — new customers just replace the lost ones.
Return on Investment (ROI)
ROI (Return on Investment) is the overall return of any investment. In marketing, ROMI and ROAS are its narrower, domain-specific forms.
Cost Per Mille (CPM)
CPM (Cost Per Mille) is the cost of showing an ad 1,000 times. A key metric in reach and brand campaigns, but it measures impressions, not sales.
Cost Per Click (CPC)
CPC (Cost Per Click) is the price of one click on an ad. A key metric in Google Ads and paid targeting; the click then has to convert.
Average Order Value (AOV)
AOV (Average Order Value) is the average amount per order. Raising it (via upsell, cross-sell) grows revenue without increasing traffic.
Average Revenue Per User (ARPU)
ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) is the average revenue from one user or customer in a period. A key metric in subscription and SaaS models.
Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)
MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue) is the stable revenue that recurs every month in a subscription model. The "heartbeat" of a SaaS or subscription business.
Bounce Rate
Bounce rate is the share of visitors who enter a site and leave immediately without any action. A high bounce often signals wrong traffic or a weak page.
Attribution
Attribution is identifying which channel/ad actually brought a sale or lead. Without it you can't know which channel to direct budget to.
Channels
Performance Marketing
Performance marketing ties every dollar spent to a measurable result (lead, sale, ROMI). Results are counted, not "reach."
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is the process of ranking a site higher in Google and Yandex. The goal: when someone types their problem, your site appears.
Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
SEM (Search Engine Marketing) is paid advertising in search engines (like Google Ads). Where SEO is organic, SEM delivers fast, paid results.
Content Marketing
Content marketing builds trust through useful content (video, articles, guides) and leads the customer to a sale. Unlike ads, it doesn't buy trust — it builds it.
Social Media Marketing (SMM)
SMM (Social Media Marketing) is building an audience on social networks (Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Telegram) and directing it toward sales.
PPC (Pay Per Click)
PPC (Pay Per Click) is a model where you pay only when a user clicks the ad. The core principle of Google Ads and paid targeting.
Google Ads
Google Ads is the paid advertising platform on Google search and its network. Its strength is intent: the ad shows when someone is already searching.
Meta Ads (Instagram/Facebook Ads)
Meta Ads is the targeted advertising platform on Instagram and Facebook. Its strength is precise audience targeting and creating demand through visual content.
Retargeting
Retargeting shows ads again to people who visited your site or saw an ad but didn't act. One of the cheapest sources of conversion.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is engaging an audience by email: nurturing, sales, and retention. One of the highest-ROI channels, especially for nurturing.
Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing uses a trusted person's (blogger, expert) audience to recommend a product. Its strength rests on trust, not on a stranger's ad.
Sales
CRM (Customer Relationship Management)
A CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system stores all leads and customers, the history of contact with them, and deal stages. The guarantee that no lead is lost.
Sales Pipeline
A pipeline is a view of all deals currently in progress and which stage each is at. It lets you forecast future sales in advance.
Sales Script
A sales script is a conversation structure for salespeople: how to open, what to ask, how to answer objections. It ties results to a system, not one person.
KPI (Key Performance Indicator)
A KPI (Key Performance Indicator) is a core metric that measures progress toward a goal. The right KPI points the team at results; the wrong one, at "activity."
SOP (Standard Operating Procedure)
An SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) is the written, precise order of a repeatable process. It ties results to a system, not a person, and keeps quality consistent.
B2B Sales (Business-to-Business)
B2B sales is a business selling to a business. The decision is slow (2-6 months), involves many people, and logic beats emotion — so trust and system win.
Sales Cycle
The sales cycle is the average time from first touch to closing a deal. In B2B, 2-6 months is normal; knowing it is essential for planning and forecasting.
Upsell
An upsell offers the customer a more expensive or broader option than they chose. It raises revenue from an existing customer and lifts LTV.
Cross-sell
A cross-sell offers the customer an additional, complementary product alongside their main purchase. The "this also goes well with that" principle.
Objection Handling
Objection handling is the skill of giving ready, convincing answers to a customer's doubts like "expensive" or "I'll think about it." A decisive sales stage.