Growth Hacking: Techniques, Disruptive Technology - How 40 Companies Made It BIG – Online Growth Hacker Marketing Strategy (2014)

Marketing Terminology Used in Growth Hacking

The more you read about growth hacking, there are many marketing terms you will encounter. While this is not a definitive glossary, these are some of the terms you may encounter in the text of this book:

A/B Testing

A/B Testing refers to the comparison of two variables or versions to identify the best performer to use in support of a growth or optimization goal. This might include, but is not limited to: versions of emails, variations in calls to action like buttons or links, and the arrangement of elements on a landing page.

Analytics

Analytics are mechanisms for looking at patterns of data in how websites are accessed and utilized. This might include number of visitors, time on the site, links clicked, and so forth.

API

API stands for “application programming interface” and is the means by which software components are allowed to interact with one another.

Brand

When used as a noun, a brand refers to anything (product, service, or corporate identity) that distinguishes one product from another, which can be the design or name of the thing, or a symbol, design, or logo associated with it. When used as a verb, “branding” the term refers to the creation of such a distinct identification.

Call-to-Action

Anything on a site that elicits a response from a user that initiates an action, preferably contact, subscriptions, or membership, is called a “call to action.” This might be an image, button, or text link.

Content

Any piece of information that has been produced to be digested by visitors that is informative, engaging, and hopefully elicits sharing as a result is referred to as content. This can be anything from an article or blog post to a video, slideshow, or podcast.

Landing Page

A website’s landing page is the first page (also called the home page) that is visible when someone reaches the site either by clicking an inbound link or typing the site’s address into a browser.

Metric

As it relates to marketing and growth hacking, a metric is any system or standard of measurement particularly that used to quantify an aspect of performance for a business or product.

Pay-Per-Click

The pay-per-click business model is one in which an advertising or member business on a site is charged only when a user actually clicks on their link to initiate an action or purchase.

Product/Market Fit

Product/Market fit is the delivery of a product or serve that perfectly satisfies the need of a given user segment and thus creates a loyal and passionate user base.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

Search engine optimizations are augmentations or enhancement to websites that ensure that the page is as visible as possible to search engines and thus will appear at the top of a results page.

SEM (Search Engine Marketing)

Any marketing practice that is geared toward improving a site’s search engine visibility included search engine optimization or paying or placement on a search engine results page.

Social Commerce

The term social commerce describes online retail and marketing strategies that incorporate established social networks and peer-to-peer communications as a driver of sales.

Virality

Any piece of information online, whether it is an article, image, or video, that is widely shared and circulates rapidly is said to have “gone viral” and thus possesses “virality.”