Advertising Jargon, Acronyms and Abbreviations

A rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but advertising has a language all its own. From TARP to DPS to Bounce Rate, deciphering ad jargon can be daunting for those outside the industry. To help you stay ahead of the curve, we've compiled a list of essential advertising acronyms and abbreviations, along with their meanings.

General

AIDA: Attention, Interest, Desire, Action. This acronym is used to describe the process that an advertisement should take a consumer through in order to trigger a purchase. 

CPA: Cost Per Action. A pricing model in which advertisers pay a commission to publishers only when their ads result in a desired action, such as a sale or sign-up. 

CTA: Call To Action. An instruction included in an advertisement that tells consumers what they should do next, such as "Call now!" or "Click here to learn more." 

DAGMAR: Defining Advertising Goals for Measured Advertising Results. A methodology developed in the 1950s for setting objectives and measuring the results of advertising campaigns. 

Demo: Demographic audience profile. Short for demographic audience profile, this term is used to describe the characteristics of a target consumer group, such as age, gender, income level, etc. 

TLD:  Top-of-mind awareness. The first brand that comes to mind when thinking about a product or service.

Copy: Copy is the language used in an advertisement, which can be anything from text to graphic designs. The size and style of this creative work will likely have impact on how many people notice them.

ROI: Return on investment is a measure of how effective an ad campaign is in terms of its cost vs. the revenue it generates. A high ROI means that the campaign is very efficient in generating leads or sales, while a low ROI indicates that it's not performing as well as it could be. 

ROAS: Similar to ROI Return On Ad Spend is a metric used to measure the effectiveness of an advertising campaign by dividing the total revenue generated by the amount spent on ads. 

Native Advertising: Native advertising is a type of advertising that matches the form and function of the platform on which it appears.

Flighting:  Flighting is a common advertising strategy in which ads are run for a period of time, then taken down for a while, and then run again.

Lifetime Value: Lifetime value is  the total value of a customer over the course of their relationship with a business.

Dwell Time:  Dwell time is the amount of time that a person spends on a particular page or site before moving on to another.

POP: Proof of Posting is  a way of providing evidence that an item has been posted. This can be done by taking a photo of the item with a timestamp, providing a physical copy of the advertisement or sending a digital file.

Rate card:  A rate card is a document that lists the rates charged for advertising on a particular platform. This can be used as a negotiating tool when working with advertisers.

RFP: Request for Proposal is  a document that is issued when a company or organisation is seeking bids from potential vendors. This usually contains information about the project or product, as well as the budget and timeline.

Media Brief:  A media brief is a document that contains information about a particular advertising campaign. This can include the target audience, objectives, message, channels, and budget.

Reach & Frequency:  Reach is the total number of different people who see an ad during a given time period. Frequency is the average number of times that each person sees an ad during a given time period.

SLA: Service Level Agreement is  a contract between two parties that outlines the terms of a particular service. This can include things like availability, uptime, and support.

CAC: Customer Acquisition Cost is the amount of money that a company spends in order to acquire new customers. This can include marketing, sales, and advertising expenses.

Makegood:  A makegood is an advertisement that is provided to an advertiser at no charge to make up for an ad that was not printed or aired as scheduled.

Wastage:   Wastage is the term used to describe the percentage of people who see an ad but are not in the target audience.

Digital

Impression: Impressions are the number of times an ad is seen by a potential customer.

CPM: Cost Per Thousand (Mille) Impressions. A pricing model in which advertisers pays a set fee for every 1,000 times their ad is viewed, regardless of whether it's clicked on or not. 

CPC: Cost Per Click. A pricing model in which advertisers pay a commission to publishers only when their ads are clicked on by consumers. 

CPL: Cost per lead is a metric that measures the cost of acquiring a new lead. CPL is typically used by businesses that sell products or services online.

CPA: Cost Per Acquisition is  the amount of money that a company spends in order to acquire a new customer. CPA is often used as a metric to measure the effectiveness of marketing campaigns.

PV: Page Views is the total number of times a page on a website has been viewed.

UA: Unique Audiences is a metric that measures the total number of people who have seen an ad or piece of content during a given time period. This is different from reach, which only measures the number of people who have seen an ad or piece of content at least once. 

CTR: Click Through Rate is a metric that measures the percentage of people who click on an ad or link. CTR is used to gauge the effectiveness of an ad or email campaign. A high CTR means that people are interested in the ad or email, while a low CTR means that people are not interested.

PPV: Pay per view is  a type of online advertising where advertisers pay a fee each time their ad is viewed. PPV is typically used to measure the effectiveness of an ad campaign.

BR: Bounce rate is a metric that measures the percentage of visitors to a website who leave after viewing only one page. A high bounce rate indicates that people are not finding what they are looking for on the website, while a low bounce rate indicates that people are engaged and finding the content they are looking for. 

CR: Conversion rate is a metric that measures the percentage of people who take a desired action on a website. A high conversion rate indicates that people are interested in what the website has to offer, while a low conversion rate indicates that people are not interested. 

CRO: Conversion Rate Optimisation  is the process of improving the conversion rate of a website. This can be done through A/B testing, usability testing, and other methods.

A/B Testing - Testing two different versions of an ad (Version A and Version B) to see which performs better in terms of CTR or conversion rate. The winning version is then used going forward. 

ROS: Run of Site is an advertising term that refers to the placement of an ad on a website where it can appear on every page of that site. This is in contrast to placement on specific pages or in specific sections of the site. 

RON: Run of Network is  a form of online advertising that allows Advertiser to show their ads across the internet on various websites without specifically targeting particular websites. Advertisers can target their ads to specific countries, regions or even down to city level.

SOV: Share of Voice is a percentage your ad's visibility versus other advertisers.

SEM: Search engine marketing is a form of internet marketing that seeks to promote websites by increasing their visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs). SEM includes both paid and organic methods, such as pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, search engine optimisation (SEO), and social media marketing.

Programmatic Advertising:  Programmatic advertising is a type of automated online advertising that uses software to buy and place ads on behalf of advertisers. Programmatic advertising includes real-time bidding (RTB), which is a type of auction where advertisers compete for ad space in real time. Programmatic advertising is used by publishers to sell ad space and by advertisers to buy ad space. It is also used by ad networks, ad exchanges, and demand-side platforms (DSPs).

Clicks Tags: Click tags are  HTML code that is used to track the number of times a banner ad is clicked. Click tags are placed in the code of the ad, and they are typically invisible to the user. When the ad is clicked, the click tag tracks the number of clicks and sends that information back to the advertiser. Click tags are used to measure the effectiveness of banner ads and to optimize ad campaigns.

Pixel Tags: Pixel tags are  tiny images that are placed on a web page or in an email. They are used to track the number of times a web page or email is viewed. Pixel tags are also used to create targeted advertising profiles.

GDN: Google Display Network is a network of websites that Google uses to display ads. The GDN includes over two million websites, apps, and videos. Advertisers can

Cookie: A cookie is a small digital file that is stored on a computer or other web-enabled device. When someone visits a website, their web browser accesses the cookies stored on their device and sends them to the website's server. This allows the website to recognise the user's device and tailor the content that is displayed accordingly.

Above the Fold: The portion of a web page that is visible without scrolling. Requesting to be above the fold will ensure that your advert has the  best chance of being seen.

Viewability:   Viewability is a metric that measures whether or not an ad is actually seen by a user. An ad is only considered viewable if it is visible on the screen for a certain amount of time (usually at least 50% of the ad's surface area). Viewability is important because it ensures that advertisers are only paying for ads that are actually seen by users.

Rich Media: Rich media is a type of online advertising that uses multimedia to increase engagement. Rich media ads can include video, audio, animation, and interactive elements. They are designed to be more engaging than traditional banner ads, and they are often used to promote products or services.

TV

TVC:  TV Commercial. A commercial that is aired on television.

CPP: Cost Per Point is an important measure in TV campaign planning because it tells advertisers how much each point of viewers costs. 

CPP takes into account both the fixed and marginal cost for reaching one person, which means that this number will change based on your target demographic's composition (ease vs difficulty).

TARPs: "Target audience rating point” is the percentage of a specific target audience of people who are watching a program.

GRP: Gross Rating Point. The sum total of all ratings achieved by an advertising campaign during a given time period across all channels/stations and platforms/devices watched/used by a specific target audience Members reachable by each medium within an advertising campaign during given time-frame 100% / reach % = GRP %; GRP % x population % = TRP %). 

DRTV: Direct Response TV Commercials. TV commercials that include a call to action that allows viewers to respond directly to the advertiser, usually by calling a toll-free number or visiting a website. 

AVOD: Ad-Supported (or Ad-Based) Video On Demand is a streaming video service that offers consumers access to a free catalog of on-demand content and contains advertisements. Examples: YouTube, Crackle.

SVOD: Subscription Video On Demand is a streaming service that consumers subscribe to for a fee in order access an extensive catalog of on-demand content. examples include Netflix, Hulu Amazon Prime video Disney+ Some services offer "hybrid" pricing models where they have both free tier supported by ads and paying ones which can be either partially adless or totally without any distractions at all!

BVOD: Broadcast Video On Demand is the same as Catch-up TV and it can be watched on any device that has internet access.

Print

FSI: Free Standing Insert. A newspaper insert that contains coupons or advertisements that are not part of the main body of the publication. 

DPS: Double-Page Spread. An advertisement that spans two pages of a publication.

FPC: Full Page Colour . A full-page advertisement that appears in a publication in colour.

RHP:  Right-Hand Page . The right-hand page of a publication.

LHP: Left-Hand Page. The left-hand page of a publication.

IFC: Inside  Front Cover. The page that appears on the left-hand side of the inside front cover of a publication.

OBC: Outside Back Cover. The page that appears on the left-hand side of the outside back cover of a publication.

IBC: Inside Back Cover. The page that appears on the right-hand side of the inside back cover of a publication.

Gatefold:  A gatefold is an advertisement that is printed on two facing pages and folded in half so that it can be opened like a gate.

Barn door gatefold:  A barn door gatefold is an advertisement that is printed on four facing pages and folded in half so that it can be opened like a gate.

ROP: Run of Paper . An advertisement that appears anywhere in a publication.

PCI Rate: PCI is Column Inches x Rate = Advertising Cost. 

Trim, bleed and type:   Trim is the finished size of a publication after it has been cut (trimmed) to its final size. Bleed is when an image or element extends beyond the trim edge of a page. Type is the text on a page.

Radio

AM Drive (Morning Drive):   The time period between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m. during which people listen to the radio on their way to work.

FM Drive (Evening Drive):  The time period between 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. during which people listen to the radio on their way home from work.

Daytime:  The time period between 10:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

Prime time:  The time period between 8:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m.

Spot:  A spot is a radio advertisement that is aired on a specific station at a specific time.

Cluster: A cluster  is a group of radio stations that are owned by the same company.

Format:  A format is the type of programming that is aired on a radio station. Examples of formats include: news, talk, sports, music (e.g. Top 40, country, etc.).

Cume: Cume is the total number of different people who tuned in to a radio station during a given time period.

P1:  P1 is a term used to describe the listeners of a radio station who tune in the most often.

P2:  P2 is a term used to describe the listeners of a radio station who tune in less often than P1 listeners.

AQH:  Average Quarter-Hour Persons  is the average number of people listening to a radio station during any given 15-minute period.

TSL: Time Spent Listening is the average amount of time that a person listens to a radio station in a day.

TAR:  Total Audience Reach is the total number of people who tuned in to a radio station during a given time period.

OES: Optimum Effective Scheduling  is the process of determining the best time and day to air a radio advertisement.

BTA: Best Time Available is the best time that a radio station can offer to air an advertisement.

Live Read: An advertisement that is read "live" by an on-air personality.

Piggy-back:  Two back-to-back ads purchased by the same advertising company, often thematically related to or "piggybacked" off one another.

Podcasts

Pre-roll:  A pre-roll is a podcast advertisement that is played before the main content of the episode.

Mid-roll:  A mid-roll is a podcast advertisement that is played in the middle of the episode.

Post-roll:  A post-roll is a podcast advertisement that is played after the main content of the episode.

Out-of-Home

OOH: Out-Of-Home media is any type of advertising that reaches consumers when they are outside of their homes, such as billboards, transit advertising, street furniture, and digital signage.

DOOH: Digital Out-Of-Home is a type of Out-Of-Home media that uses digital technology, such as LCD screens and LED displays, to deliver dynamic content that can be updated in real-time.

OOH Ratings:  Out-Of-Home media is measured by two main ratings systems: Gross Rating Points (GRPs) and Reach & Frequency.

GRPs:  Gross Rating Points is a measure of the size of an audience that is exposed to a particular Out-Of-Home campaign.

Transit Advertising: Transit advertising is a type of Out-Of-Home advertising that uses buses, trains, subways, and other forms of public transportation to reach consumers.

Billboards: Billboards are a type of Out-Of-Home advertising that uses large, static signs to reach consumers.

DP: Dynamic Poster is a type of digital signage that uses LCD screens and LED displays to show dynamic, interactive content.

Static Poster:  Static Poster is a type of Out-Of-Home advertising that uses traditional, static posters to reach consumers.

OTS: Opportunity To See  is a measure of the number of times that a person is exposed to an Out-Of-Home ad.

Staying up-to-date on the latest industry jargon can be a challenge but hopefully this handy guide will have you speaking like a seasoned pro in no time at all.

If all else fails connect with one of the many advertising and marketing experts on the theADmarket.com platform who can help you navigate the world of media.