Acronyms are an essential part of business culture, and marketing is no stranger to this. With so many long phrases used, it makes sense… unless you have no idea what they mean! The last thing anyone wants to do is admit they need a list of marketing acronyms for a conversation that just occurred.

As a consultant, this has been a fairly regular occurrence with my clients. I used to make glossaries of customer-specific acronyms because every business had its own. Over the years, I’ve found there are a few (okay, way more than a few) that are standard across organizations - and this is my list so you're not stuck wondering what they are!

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Channels & Campaigns | Compliance | Concepts & Models | Lead Management | Metrics | Time | Technology | Web | General Business

Channels & Campaigns

Acronym Meaning Definition
CMGR Community Manager Person dedicated to engaging the social community for a brand using their own voice
DM Direct Mail Marketing channel where tangible items are sent via postal service
DM Direct Message Private message sent on a social media platform, such as Instagram
FB Facebook Social networking giant where users can share and engage with others
IG Instagram Mobile-first social platform that focuses on photos and video
LI LinkedIn Business-focused social platform focused on networking and career
NPL New Product Launch The launch of a new product
PR Public Relations A company's engagement with media and the public as a whole
RT Retweet Share someone else's tweet
SM Social Media Website or app that encourages user content and networking
SMM Social Media Marketing Engage customers and promote a product /service on social networks
TW Twitter Social platform where users post with a limit of 280 characters
WOM Word-of-Mouth Process of actively influencing organic discussion of your brand or product
YT YouTube Video platform that's the world's third most-popular search engine

Compliance & Deliverability

Acronym Meaning Definition
CAN-SPAM Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act Privacy compliance legislation for the US signed in 2003
CASL Canada Anti-Spam Legislation Privacy compliance legislation for Canada that has high standards.
CCPA California Consumer Privacy Act Privacy compliance legislation for California only.
COI Confirmed Opt-In A status for a user in your database where they have confirmed they'd like to receive your emails
GDPR General Data Protection Regulation Privacy compliance legislation for the European Union
SPF Sender Policy Framework A record that specifies which IPs can send emails from a domain, i.e. allows your MAP to send your emails
DKIM DomainKeys Identified Mail Similar to SPF, but adds proof the message has not been tampered with, adding more credibility
DMARC Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance Authentication method that verifies if an email was actually sent by the owner of the domain the user sees

Concepts & Models

Acronym Meaning Definition
ABM Account-Based Marketing Marketing and sales model targeting full accounts, not single contacts
ABS Account-Based Selling Sales concept of going after target accounts in a holistic way, instead of targeting individual people
ABX Account-Based Experience / Everything References the combination of ABM and ABS into a more holistic, unified experience for target accounts. Why call it ABX?
AIDA Attention or Awareness, Interest, Desire, and Action Early model created to demonstrate the buyer's journey
BANT Budget, Authority, Need, Timing Typical sales criteria used to determine if a prospect actually has a need that can lead to a sale
CJM Customer Journey Management Means by which a marketer maps out lifetime engagement of a customer
CX Customer Experience How companies go to market across channels to engage with customers
DG Demand Generation Marketing focus to create demand for a product or service
DL Deep Learning A subset of machine learning where networks learn unsupervised
DTX Digital Transformation Process of changing processes, tech, and team structure / skills to adapt to evolving customer demand
IoT Internet of Things A network of connected objects able to collect and share data
LG Lead Generation Process of identifying, engaging and qualifying new leads
LOOP The Loop Okay, it's not an acronym ... we're just seeing if you're paying attention :)
MOPs Marketing Operations Function of marketing dedicated to data, process, and tech.
RevOps Revenue Operations Tightly-collaborative efforts between sales, marketing, and customer success.
RM Revenue Marketing The idea that marketing is a contributing, strategic business driver
RM6 Revenue Marketing 6 A model that outlines the six components a company needs to realize revenue marketing
RTP Real-Time Personalization Means to deliver tailored experiences on your website in real time.
UI User Interface Design The design of any front-end digital property or software
UX User Experience How a person experiences and reacts to a brand, produce or service

Finance / Purchasing

Acronym Meaning Definition
AFS Annual Financial Statement  
ARR Annual Recurring Revenue Revenue realized on a yearly basis
CCG Corporate Controllers Group Group within Finance that typically provides key records, such as financial statements for investors
CFO Chief Financial Officer C-Suite executive responsible for all accounting / financial initiatives within the company.
CRR Capped Retention Rate Is based on a capped renewal bookings number for each order number
CV Contract Value Typically used as a moment-in-time measurement of active contracts a company has with customers
EBITDA Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, and Amortization Metric typically used to evaluate a company's performance. 10% or more is considered good. More info here.
EPS Earnings Per Share How much $ a company made / how many shares it has outstanding. Used to determine corporate value and how profitable a company may be by investors.
P&L Profit & Loss Expressed in a statement (P&L statement), a summary document showing a company's financial health
PO Purchase Order Document that binds a sales between buyer / seller. Used by purchasing departments to control costs.

Lead Management (Sales & Marketing Alignment)

Related: Read about key stages of effective lead management

Acronym Meaning Definition
ABC Always Be Closing Mindset used to motivate a sales person to meet their revenue quota
AE Account Executive Main sales contact for a particular account or business
AQL Automated Qualified Lead Lead qualified via lead scoring by a marketing automation platform
ASP Average Sales Price Average contract price of a deal marked closed-won in the CRM
BANT Budget Authority Need Timeline Shorthand methodology to describe a qualified lead for sales.
BDR Business Development Representative An individual who qualifies leads before passing them to sales
BOFU Bottom Of Funnel Stage in a funnel where content / ads focus on conversions
CRO Chief Revenue Officer A C-level position that typically heads both marketing and sales. Has been growing in popularity.
KYC Know Your Customer Often used to start conversation for updates on a given customer / prospect
KYD Know Your Deals Mantra for sales (and marketing!) to always know latest updates on current opportunities in pipeline
MA Major Account Designation for high-value account that is crucial to company's success
MAL Marketing Accepted Lead A lead that is accepted by marketing
MOFU Middle Of Funnel Stage in a funnel where content / ads focus on building greater engagement
MQL Marketing Qualified Lead A lead qualified via lead scoring by a marketing automation platform
NAM Named Account Manager The main sales contact for a particular account
RFP Request for Proposal Formal request from a business for vendors to submit a project proposal
SAL Sales Accepted Lead A lead that sales has accepted from marketing as valid
SDR Sales Development Representative An individual who qualifies leads before passing them to sales
SLA Service Level Agreement In a lead management context, rules of engagement between sales and marketing for lead processing
SQL Sales Qualified Lead Lead identified by sales team as having potential to buy
TAL Target Account List Ideal set of companies / targets your sellers could pursue in tandem with targeted marketing efforts
TAM Total Addressable Market List of companies (or users) to whom you could market your products and services.
TOFU Top of Funnel Stage where content / ads focus on initial engagement with target audience
TQL Tele-Qualified Lead A lead qualified over the phone by an inside sales person

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Metrics

Acronym Meaning Definition
ARR Annual Recurring Revenue Revenue realized on a yearly basis
CPA Cost Per Acquisition Average advertising spend per new customer gained
CPC Cost Per Click Total Cost / Total Clicks
CPL Cost Per Lead Average ad spend per lead gained
CR Conversion Rate % of people who clicked on an ad and took an action you wanted them to (i.e. filled out contact form)
CTR Click-Through Rate Total Clicks / Total Impressions
KPI Key Performance Indicator Standards by which you measure success. Can vary.
LTV Lifetime Value Monetary value of a customer over the span of all their purchases
MRR Monthly Recurring Revenue Revenue realized on a monthly basis, mainly for subscription-based billing
PPC Pay Per Click Term referencing paid digital advertising industry, including Google / Bing Ads and social advertising
ROAS Return on Ad Spend Revenue impact of advertising budget specifically
ROI Return On Investment Ratio between the net profit and the original cost of investment
ROMI Return On Marketing Investment Ratio between net bookings and original cost of marketing

Time

Acronym Meaning
COB Close of Business
EOD End of Day
EOM End of Month
EOT End of Term (often used in regards to contracts)
EOW End of Week
FQ Fiscal Quarter
LOE Level of Effort
MoM Month Over Month
QoQ Quarter Over Quarter
QTD Quarter to Date
YoY Year Over Year
YTD Year to Date

Technology

Acronym Meaning Definition
AEM Adobe Experience Manager Software by Adobe that facilitates website, app and form management and offers a cloud service
AI Artificial intelligence Theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence
AR Augmented Reality Tech that uses some elements of virtual reality but integrates them to seamlessly work with the "real world"
ASP Application Service Provider Company who provides access to an application (Example: Google is the ASP for Gmail)
AWS Amazon Web Services An on-demand cloud services provider from Amazon often used for websites and apps
CDP Continuous Data Protection Real-time backup, a method of ensuring data is not lost
CMS Content Management System Software application used to create and modify content. WordPress is one well-known example.
CRM Customer Relationship Management Software that tracks interactions with and interests of with current and potential customers. Salesforce and Hubspot are two major CRMs.
DAM Digital Asset Management System that houses digital assets, such as images, in a central location
DMP Data Management Platform Software used for collecting and managing data
DSP Demand Side Platform Typically, a software used to purchase ad space through an SSP (see below) on a variety of networks
ESP Email Service Provider A vendor that provides mass electronic mail services, i.e. Mailchimp or Constant Contact
GA Google Analytics Commonly-used program to track how users interact with your website
GA4 Google Analytics 4 The iteration that succeeded Universal Analytics; forced adoption by Summer 2023.
GMB Google My Business System for local businesses to claim and manage their Google Maps listing
GSC Google Search Console Free service that helps you monitor, maintain, and troubleshoot your site's presence in Google Search results
ISP Internet Service Provider A vendor that provides their customers with internet access, i.e. AT&T, Comcast, etc.
LMS Learning Management System A software application that manages educational courses
MAP Marketing Automation Platform A software platform that programs tasks for marketing campaigns and lead management. Examples are Marketo, Pardot, SFMC, and Eloqua.
ML Machine Learning Algorithms and models computers use to complete tasks without explicit instructions
QR Code Quick-Response Barcode Barcode that can be scanned by a mobile device for instant information
SaaS Software as a Service Software purchased on a subscription model and hosted centrally
SFDC Salesforce.com A customer relationship management vendor
SFMC Salesforce Marketing Cloud Campaign management tool native to Salesforce. Not to be confused with Pardot.
SMS Short Message Service Format of text messages that are less than 160 characters. Used in mobile marketing campaigns
SRP Social Relationship Platform Software that helps brands manage their presence and engagement on social media platforms
SSP Supply-Side Platform Software that allows websites/apps to offer ad space on networks for purchase through a DSP
UA Universal Analytics Known as the "standard" Google Analytics from 2005 - 2023 until deprecated in favor of GA4
UID Unique Identifier Data point to differentiate your set - for example, email address is a UID for email and social marketing
VR Virtual Reality Computer-generated simulation of a 3D image or environment.
WP WordPress Popular website platform builder.

Have enough trouble keeping up? We can help! 

Web

Acronym Meaning Definition
API Application Program Interface Allows a developer to have their system / program easily leverage another to streamline functionality
CLS Cumulative Layout Shift Metric measuring how much time is used on a page load to move elements from initial load into their proper place. Lower is better.
CRO Conversion Rate Optimization Process of examining lead funnels and making changes to increase rate of people converting
CSS Cascading Style Sheets Standard markup language that describes how the HTML is presented
FCP First Contentful Paint Time to when first image or text is "painted" on screen and seen by the user - useful in SEO
GIF Graphics Interchange Format A bitmap image format...debate exists on how to pronounce
HTML Hyper-Test Markup Language Standard markup language for documents to appear on the web. The "skeleton" of a website.
JS JavaScript Common programming language used on the web to control HTML and CSS in dynamic ways
LCP Largest Contentful Paint Metric denoting how long the largest item on a page (whether code, an image, etc.) takes to load. Lower is better.
NSFW Not Safe for Work Designation for content that is inappropriate for the workplace
pURL Personal Uniform Resource Locator Typically used in a direct mail marketing campaign; a unique landing page link for every person
PV Page View Counted when a page is loaded in a browser
RSS Really Simple Syndication A web feed that accesses updates to websites in a readable format
RTB Real-Time Bidding Refers to the process of ad auctions taking place while a page loads to determine which ads show
SEM Search Engine Marketing Process of encouraging people to visit your website through paid digital advertising
SEO Search Engine Optimization Process of making a website more relevant a user's wants, which in turn helps your rank in Google, Bing, etc.
SSL Secure Sockets Layer Original method of providing secure connection for a browser to a website. Replaced by TLS
TLS Transport Layer Security TLS provides a secure connection for websites, communications, etc.
UGC User-Generated Content Content generated by users on a program / app, for example an uploaded image on Instagram
URL Uniform Resource Locator Reference address to a specific asset found on the web, generally known as a link
XML Extensionable Markup Language Markup that's both human- and machine-friendly, most commonly seen for sitemaps

General Business

Acronym Meaning Definition
AM Account Manager Person who handles client relationships and is the go-to for all questions relating to the client
AOB Any Other Business Used for open times in meetings to address anything not on the agenda
B2B Business to Business Shorthand for a business that sells directly to other businesses
B2B2C Business to Business to Consumer Often, method of a company leveraging a network of dealers / sellers to sell products to customers
B2C Business to Consumer Shorthand for a business that sells directly to consumers
B2G Business to Government Shorthand for a business that sells to the government
BPU Business Process Improvement  
BU Business Unit In an enterprise, each company that operates as its own entity is referred to internally as a BU.
CDO Chief Digital Officer Executive responsible for digital transformation at a company
CDO Chief Data Officer Executive responsible for all data management
CMO Chief Marketing Officer Executive responsible for all marketing at a company
CSO Chief Sales Officer Executive responsible for revenue at a company, may roll up to CRO
CTO Chief Technology Officer The executive in charge of all technology and sometimes R&D within a company
DRI Directly Responsible Individual Person primarily responsible for a given task
EM Engagement Manager An individual that is responsible for growing a relationship with a client and ensuring healthy relationships
LOE Level of Effort Estimate of how much time, money and resources a task will take
M&A Mergers and Acquisitions Refers to process of companies combining or one buying another. Read our blog for more on M&As
MSA Master Services Agreement Legal document that spells out the terms and conditions that govern agreements between parties.
NDA Non-Disclosure Agreement Written agreement about sharing confidential information from one party to another
OOO Out of Office Typically seen in an automated email to refer to vacation time
PM Project Manager An individual who manages a project
PTO Paid Time Off Vacation time an employee takes off with pay
R&D Research and Design What a company does to create and produce new products
SAM Strategic Account Manager Account Manager who handles high-value accounts termed "strategic" to business health and growth
SMB Small and Mid-size Businesses Categorization of businesses by total revenue earned. Often referenced as SME
SME Small and Mid-Size Enterprises In the US, there is no set definition for the revenue figures for each.
T&C Terms and Conditions That thing you said you read ... but didn't. #CheckboxLife
TLA Three Letter Acronym An irritating concept to confuse those new to the corporate world
TOS Terms of Service A written agreement between two parties on how a product or service will be used

WHEW! What a list!

We'll try to keep this list updated as we come across more acronyms!

What are we missing? Let me know on LinkedIn or send us a note!