Bounce rate? Pre-roll? Reach? When it comes to buying media to advertise your local, independent agency, it’s easy to get lost in translation — especially if you’ve never advertised before.
What do the words really mean? Here are 16 terms to know:
1. Added value refers to the extra advertising opportunities you may be offered when you place an ad. This may come in the form of an extended flight for your outdoor board, brand mentions on the radio or even additional ad space on a website. Added value is negotiated by media buyers when they are planning the media buy.
2. Bounce rate measures the percentage of people who leave your website. The higher the bounce rate, the faster they’re leaving — that means they aren’t looking around on your site. It means they’re coming to one page and then closing the tab. The goal is to maintain a consistent low bounce rate, with 45 percent being an average benchmark.
3. Clickthrough rate (CTR) is the percentage of people who clicked on the web advertisements that lead to your site.
5. Conversion rate refers to the percentage of people who have completed a trackable action on your website, like filling out a form, subscribing to something, or downloading an asset.
6. Cost per thousand (CPM) is the cost you pay for 1,000 impressions on your advertisement.
7. Engagement rate refers to any interaction a user takes within an ad unit. This can include clicks, comments, likes and shares. Engagement has become a standard measurement for social media success.
8. Google analytics is a free tool created by Google that measures and tracks your website’s performance. Google Analytics will track the average time a user spends on your site, the bounce rate, page views and percentage of new visits. You can also track where your site visitors are coming from. Last but not least, Google Analytics will track your landing pages and show you how often they’re shared.
9. Gross rating point (GRP) is a measurement of audience size. This measures the exposure to one or more commercials or programs. One GRP = 1 percent of TV households.
10. Impressions account for the amount of times an advertisement was viewed. This may include multiple views per person.
12. Make goods are offered when the air time you agreed upon and paid for is not met.
13. Mobile is an ad that’s served on your smartphone or tablet, but nowhere else.
14. Native advertising is advertising that looks like content. Native ads live on some of the most popular websites and are integrated with the content they post — making them look one and the same.
13. Opt-in occurs when a user agrees to receive your brand’s marketing campaigns. This could be via email or text campaigns.
14. Organic refers to a marketing vehicle with no money behind it. For example, a Facebook status update for your brand is organic, so long as you do not promote it.
14. Pay per click (PPC) refers to paid advertising in which you pay only when a user clicks on your online ad.
15. Pre-roll is an ad that will play before a video on sites like YouTube and Hulu.
16. Reach refers to the amount of people who were exposed to your advertisement.
17. Targeting is who you plan for your ads to reach. You can target by age, gender, geographical region and more.
Ready to start promoting your business? Take part in our co-op advertising opportunities. To get started, send an email to marketing@fmins.com, or call (800) 234-1133, extension 2330.
