Glossary

The top part of a web page, visible once the page has loaded.  It is very important that it grabs attention as it is the first thing that is seen.

The cost of acquiring a new customer. 

An advertisement on a web page that links to the advertisers website or landing page.  Banners are often paid on the number of views or clicks that it receives.

The publisher or salesperson (website owner) in a partner or affiliate marketing relationship. The affiliate advertises the affiliate merchant's (retailers) products via their website or email campaigns, in return for compensation based on performance.

A comission-based arrangement where referring sites (publishers) recieve a commission from merchants (retailers) on sales or leads generated.

A company that manages the relationships between affiliates and advertisers including tracking clicks and making payments to affiliates.

The creative (e.g. copy, illustrations) in it's final layout as the customer will see it.

Business-to-business; products and services sold by a business to another business.

The proportion of target customers that recall a brand.  Realisation by a consumer of the existence and availability of a particular product. Brand awareness is a common measure of marketing communications effectiveness. Unaided brand awareness is spontaneous; aided or prompted awareness is when the name is recognised among others that are listed or identified.

Business Search PRO is the online sales and marketing tool that gives access to over two million business contacts updated regularly within Thomson Local market leading database.  The ideal way to select up to date mailing lists, telemarketing lists and UK business information.

Similar to a banner but smaller and often static.  Because they are smaller than banners they usually cost less and can sometimes offer a better return on investment.

A call to action makes it clear what you want the customer to do.  Examples include calling a telephone number, buying a product or subscribing to a newsletter.

Usually found online (e.g. website, email) allowing customers to request that they are called back by a member of staff.

A time specific piece of advertising designed to achieve a specified goal.

The route by which products and services are promted and distributed.

The process of a user clicking on a web link.

A plan outlining the number, frequency and type of online and offline communications and offers for customer acquisition and retention.

A term for when your prospects become actual customers.  This is usually expressed as a percentage.

How much it cost to acquire a customer.  You should have a cost per acquisition in mind of how much you can afford to spend.  Also know as CPA for short.

Cost of online advertising (e.g. banners, buttons) based on the number of clicks the advertising receives.

The cost of advertising based on the number of leads received.

A term used to describe a specific marketing execution, focussing on the way it looks.

Acronym for Customer Relationship Management.  CRM entails all aspects of interaction a company has with its customer, whether it is sales or service related.

The process of managing existing customer relationships to enhance the customer experience and profitably retain customers.

A record of a customer's details (e.g. age, gender, address) which when compared with those of other customers can enable a company to monitor the qualities of the people buying its products.  It can aid the development of other products for the same sector or to develop different strategies for selling the same products to other target markets.

The process of managing existing customer relationships to enhance the customer experience and profitably retain customers.

The Data Protection Act regulates how personal information is used and protects against misuse of personal details.

The Act requires that personal information must be;

• fairly and lawfully processed
• processed for legitimate purposes
• adequate, relevant and not excessive
  accurate
• not kept longer than necessary
• processed in accordance with your rights
• kept secure
• not transferrable without adequate protection
  

License a database to encorporate the data into other products and services.

Descriptive classifications of consumers, such as age, sex, income, education, size of household, ownership of home, etc.  Does not include classification by subjective attitudes or opinions of consumers.

Another term for online marketing.

Marketing communications (e.g. letter, brochures) delivered directly to named individuals within a targeted audience, using the postal service.

Marketing communications (e.g. letter, brochures) delivered directly to named individuals within a targeted audience, using the postal service.

The Direct Marketing Association UK (DMA) is Europe's largest trade association in the marketing and communications sector. The DMA was formed in 1992, following the merger of various like-minded trade bodies, forming a single voice to protect the direct marketing industry from legislative threats and promote its development.

Promotions that permit or request consumers to respond directly to the advertiser.

E-mail marketing is a form of direct marketing which uses electronic mail as a means of communicating messages to a targeted audience to encourage sales, customer loyalty and repeat business.

A key metric for understanding whether your emails are being viewed and/or read.  Open rates can be calculated as the number of emails opened divided by the number of messages successfully delivered, as opposed to sent.

A company which can provide email services.

eMarketing Advantage is the email marketing and data profiling service from Business Strata.  The business profiling service enables you to better understand who your best customers are.  Our email marketing system eMarketing Advantage then follows allowing you to contact them effectively and profitably.

HTML, short for Hypertext Markup Language, is the predominant markup language for web pages.  It provides a means to describe the structure of text-based information in a document — by denoting certain text as headings, paragraphs, lists, and so on — and to supplement that text with interactive forms, embedded images, and other objects.  HTML is written in the form of labels (known as tags), surrounded by less-than (<) and greater-than signs (>).

Unwanted mail which has been addressed unsolicited to a large number of recipients.

The Fax Preference Service is a central opt out register whereby businesses (and individuals if they wish) can register their choice not to receive unsolicited sales and marketing faxes.  It is a legal requirement that companies do not send such faxes to numbers registered on the FPS.

The original legislation was introduced in May 1999.  It has subsequently been updated and the relevant legislation is now the Privacy and Electronic (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.

Fastest Growing Companies data enables you to contact successful growing businesses in the UK.  Fastest Growing Companies are identified by matching records received via Companies House and matching them with the Thomson Local database of over 2 million UK business contacts.  Those with an increase in turnover of 10-500% are included in our national Fastest Growing Companies file, resulting in high quality data for targeted direct marketing campaigns.

Flash is a type of software used to generate animated graphics.

The Chartered Institute of Marketing defines marketing as “the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying customer requirements profitably."

An item of mail sent to many people via the postal service.

The percentage of emails opened out of emails delivered, not sent.

New Connections is the market leading data list of new businesses that meet the very strict inclusion criteria specified by the Thomson Local Verification Centre.  Only companies identified as new start ups, relocated, changed ownership or new branches within the last 3 months, during the monthly verification process for the Thomson database, are available through the New Connections data service.

Lead generation is a marketing term that refers to the creation of prospective customer interest into a business' products or services.

A landing page is the first web page you land on when you click through an email or an online advert.

Mail Merge is a feature in word processing which allows you to send one letter to many people and for each letter to be personalised, for example, Dear Mr Smith.

A list of prospective or current customers (e.g. names, address).

The email subject line is the first part of your communication the recipient will see when the email arrives in their inbox.

Simple online mailshot service that enables you to send direct mail simply and easily.

Software that uses filters to redirect unwanted email away from a users inbox. 

A target audience is a section of the population that is identified as likely to be most interested in buying or being associated with a particular product or service.  They are often identified by region, age, and demographic information. 

The Telephone Preference Service (TPS) is a central opt out register whereby individuals can register their wish not to receive unsolicited sales and marketing telephone calls.  It is a legal requirement that companies do not make such calls to numbers registered on the TPS.

The original legislation was introduced in May 1999.  It has subsequently been updated and now the relevant legislation is the Privacy and Electronic (EC Directive) Regulations 2003.

A text email includes text and links but does not include formatting, graphics or images. 

Use of the telephone to market goods or services directly to prospective customers.

An analysis tool which examines your email to see if it might be classed as spam.

A measure of a corporation's profitability.  ROI measures how effectively a business uses its capital to generate profit.

A measure of how well a company keeps its customers.

The number of people, expressed as a percentage of the total contacted, who respond to marketing communications.

Text on web pages must be scannable - easy to understand without having to read every word.  Techniques for making text scannable include highlighting key words, using meaningful sub-headings, using bulleted lists and using as few words as you can.

The practice of indiscriminately sending large numbers of unsolicited emails.

Dividing customers into groups, each with common attributes (e.g. age, gender).

Scrolling is the effect of moving the focus of your