Performance Marketing Glossary.

Metrics

ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)

Revenue generated for every pound spent on advertising. A ROAS of 4x means £4 returned for every £1 invested. The primary efficiency metric for paid media campaigns.

CPL (Cost Per Lead)

The average cost to acquire a single lead through paid channels. Calculated by dividing total ad spend by the number of leads generated.

CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost)

The total cost to acquire a paying customer, including ad spend, creative production, tools, and agency fees. A more complete measure than CPL because it accounts for the full cost of acquisition, not just media spend.

CPC (Cost Per Click)

The average amount paid each time someone clicks on an ad. Varies significantly by platform, industry, and audience targeting.

CPM (Cost Per Mille)

The cost per 1,000 impressions. A measure of how expensive it is to reach an audience on a given platform. Useful for comparing relative costs across channels and campaigns.

CTR (Click-Through Rate)

The percentage of people who click an ad after seeing it. Calculated by dividing clicks by impressions. An indicator of how relevant and compelling your ad is to the audience being targeted.

AOV (Average Order Value)

The average amount a customer spends per transaction. Increasing AOV is one of the most efficient ways to improve ROAS without increasing ad spend.

LTV (Lifetime Value)

The total revenue a customer generates over their entire relationship with a business. A critical metric for determining how much you can afford to spend on acquisition while remaining profitable.

MER (Marketing Efficiency Ratio)

Total revenue divided by total marketing spend across all channels. A blended metric that accounts for the interaction effects between channels, unlike platform-specific ROAS which only measures attributed revenue.

Conversion Rate

The percentage of visitors who complete a desired action - a purchase, a form submission, a booking. Measured at every stage of the funnel to identify where prospects are dropping off. Learn more

Advertising

Meta Ads

The advertising platform that serves ads across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and the Meta Audience Network. The dominant paid social channel for most direct-to-consumer and lead generation businesses. Learn more

Google Ads

Google's advertising platform, encompassing Search, Display, YouTube, Shopping, and Performance Max campaigns. Captures demand at the point of intent, making it essential for bottom-of-funnel acquisition. Learn more

Performance Max

A Google Ads campaign type that uses machine learning to serve ads across all Google surfaces - Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, Maps, and Discover - from a single campaign. Requires strong creative assets and conversion tracking to perform well. Learn more

Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns

Meta's automated shopping campaign type that uses machine learning to find buyers across all placements. Reduces manual audience targeting in favour of algorithmic optimisation based on conversion data. Learn more

Lookalike Audiences

Audiences built by platforms (primarily Meta) that mirror the characteristics of an existing customer list or high-value audience segment. Effectiveness depends on the quality and size of the source audience. Learn more

Retargeting

Serving ads to people who have previously interacted with your website, app, or content. A high-intent audience segment that typically converts at a higher rate and lower cost than prospecting audiences.

Prospecting

Targeting people who have not previously interacted with your brand. The primary driver of new customer acquisition. Requires strong creative and precise audience targeting to be cost-effective.

TikTok Ads

Advertising on TikTok's platform, including In-Feed ads, Spark Ads, and TopView placements. Requires native-feeling creative that matches the platform's content style to perform well. Learn more

Google Shopping

Product listing ads that appear in Google Search results and the Shopping tab. Display product images, prices, and merchant information directly in search results, capturing high-intent purchase traffic. Learn more

Creative

Performance Creative

Creative assets - video, static images, carousels - designed specifically to drive measurable outcomes in paid media. Distinguished from brand creative by its focus on conversion metrics rather than awareness or sentiment. Learn more

UGC (User-Generated Content)

Content created by real people rather than brands. In a paid media context, this typically refers to creator-produced video content that mimics organic social content. Often outperforms polished brand creative in direct-response campaigns. Learn more

Hook Rate

The percentage of viewers who watch past the first three seconds of a video ad. A measure of how effectively the opening frames capture attention. The single most important metric for video creative performance.

Ad Fatigue

The decline in performance that occurs when an audience has seen the same ad too many times. Manifests as rising CPMs, declining CTRs, and increasing CPAs. Managed by maintaining a pipeline of fresh creative.

Creative Testing

A structured process of testing different creative variables - hooks, formats, messaging, visuals - to identify what drives the best performance. Effective testing isolates one variable at a time and measures against a clear primary metric. Learn more

Thumb-Stop Ratio

Similar to hook rate - the percentage of viewers who stop scrolling to watch a video ad. Used as a proxy for how attention-grabbing a piece of creative is in a feed environment.

Static Ad

A single-image ad, as opposed to video or carousel formats. Often underestimated but can outperform video in certain contexts, particularly for retargeting and simple product promotion.

Carousel Ad

An ad format that displays multiple images or videos in a swipeable sequence. Effective for showcasing product ranges, telling a sequential story, or presenting multiple value propositions.

Conversion

CRO (Conversion Rate Optimisation)

The systematic process of increasing the percentage of visitors who take a desired action on a website or landing page. Uses data analysis, user research, and A/B testing to remove friction and improve the user journey. Learn more

Landing Page

A standalone page designed for a specific campaign or audience, with a single conversion objective. Distinguished from a general website page by its focused messaging, reduced navigation, and clear call to action. Learn more

A/B Testing

A method of comparing two versions of a page, ad, or element to determine which performs better. Traffic is split between variants and performance is measured against a primary metric until statistical significance is reached.

Above the Fold

The portion of a webpage visible without scrolling. Critical for landing pages because it determines whether a visitor stays or leaves. Should communicate the core value proposition and include a clear call to action.

Call to Action (CTA)

The specific action you want a visitor to take - book a call, add to cart, submit a form. Effective CTAs are clear, specific, and reduce perceived risk.

Lead Magnet

A piece of content or offer provided in exchange for contact information. Used to convert traffic that is not ready to purchase into leads that can be nurtured through email or retargeting.

Form Abandonment

When a user begins filling out a form but leaves before submitting. Often caused by forms that are too long, ask for unnecessary information, or lack clear progress indicators.

Tracking & Attribution

Server-Side Tracking

A method of sending conversion data directly from your server to advertising platforms, bypassing the browser. More reliable than browser-based tracking because it is not affected by ad blockers, cookie restrictions, or iOS privacy changes. Learn more

Meta CAPI (Conversions API)

Meta's server-side tracking solution that sends conversion events directly from your server to Meta. Improves data accuracy, match rates, and campaign optimisation by supplementing the Meta Pixel with server-side data. Learn more

GA4 (Google Analytics 4)

Google's current analytics platform, replacing Universal Analytics. Event-based rather than session-based, with built-in cross-platform tracking and machine learning-powered insights. Learn more

Attribution

The process of assigning credit for conversions to the marketing touchpoints that influenced them. Different attribution models (first-click, last-click, linear, data-driven) distribute credit differently, affecting how you evaluate channel performance. Learn more

UTM Parameters

Tags appended to URLs that identify the source, medium, campaign, term, and content of traffic. Essential for tracking the performance of individual campaigns, ads, and links in analytics platforms.

Meta Pixel

A piece of JavaScript code installed on your website that tracks visitor behaviour and sends data back to Meta. Used for conversion tracking, audience building, and campaign optimisation. Effectiveness has declined due to browser privacy changes, making server-side tracking increasingly important. Learn more

Google Tag Manager

A tag management system that allows you to deploy and manage tracking scripts on your website without modifying code directly. Reduces reliance on developers for tracking implementation and updates.

Conversion Window

The period of time after a user interacts with an ad during which a conversion can be attributed to that interaction. Meta defaults to a 7-day click, 1-day view window. The window you choose significantly affects reported performance.

Strategy

Performance Marketing

A discipline of marketing where every activity is measured by its contribution to business outcomes - revenue, leads, or acquisitions. Distinguished from brand marketing by its focus on measurable, attributable results.

Growth Strategy

A structured plan for scaling customer acquisition and revenue. Encompasses channel selection, budget allocation, audience strategy, creative direction, and measurement frameworks. Learn more

Full-Funnel Marketing

An approach that addresses every stage of the customer journey - awareness, consideration, and conversion - with coordinated messaging and measurement. Recognises that demand must be created before it can be captured.

Media Mix

The combination of advertising channels used in a marketing strategy. An effective media mix diversifies across platforms to reduce dependency on any single channel and reach audiences at different stages of intent.

Budget Allocation

The process of distributing ad spend across channels, campaigns, and audiences. Should be informed by performance data and business objectives, not arbitrary percentages or historical precedent.

Incrementality

The true causal impact of a marketing activity - the conversions that would not have occurred without the ad exposure. Distinguished from attribution, which measures correlation. Measured through holdout tests, geo-lift studies, or controlled experiments.

Blended CPA

The average cost per acquisition across all marketing channels combined. A more honest measure of efficiency than channel-specific CPA because it accounts for cross-channel interaction effects and avoids double-counting attributed conversions.