Marketing Acronyms: The Working Reference

Every marketing acronym used in growth reviews, paid-media meetings and pipeline conversations — defined by operators.

Marketing meetings move fast, and they move in acronyms. CTR, CPC, CPM, ROAS, CAC, MQL, SQL, ABM, CRO — the people in the room assume the rest of the team already knows them.

This page is the marketing acronyms reference we use ourselves: the shorthand that actually shows up in growth reviews, paid-media meetings and pipeline discussions. Click any term for the full definition, a real-world example, and how it shows up in meetings.

The list — 48 acronyms

• ABM — Account Based Marketing
• AE — Account Executive
• Attribution — Marketing Attribution
• BANT — Budget, Authority, Need, Timeline
• BATNA — Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement
• BR — Bounce Rate
• CES — Customer Effort Score
• CPA — Cost Per Acquisition
• CPC — Cost Per Click
• CPE — Cost Per Engagement
• CPL — Cost Per Lead
• CPM — Cost Per Mille (Thousand Impressions)
• CRM — Customer Relationship Management
• CRO — Conversion Rate Optimization
• CSAT — Customer Satisfaction Score
• CTR — Click-Through Rate
• CVR — Conversion Rate
• DAU — Daily Active Users
• DMP — Data Management Platform
• DSP — Demand-Side Platform
• FOMO — Fear Of Missing Out
• GTM — Go-To-Market
• K-Factor — Viral Coefficient
• KOL — Key Opinion Leader
• LAL — Lookalike Audience
• MAU — Monthly Active Users
• MEDDIC — Metrics, Economic Buyer, Decision Criteria, Decision Process, Identify Pain, Champion
• MER — Marketing Efficiency Ratio
• MQL — Marketing Qualified Lead
• MSA — Master Services Agreement
• NPS — Net Promoter Score
• NSM — North Star Metric
• ORM — Online Reputation Management
• Pixel — Tracking Pixel
• PPC — Pay Per Click
• RFI — Request for Information
• RFP — Request for Proposal
• ROAS — Return on Ad Spend
• ROMI — Return On Marketing Investment
• RTB — Real Time Bidding
• SDR — Sales Development Representative
• SMM — Social Media Marketing
• SMO — Social Media Optimization
• SOV — Share Of Voice
• SOW — Statement of Work
• SQL — Structured Query Language
• UGC — User Generated Content
• USP — Unique Selling Proposition