Marketing Alphabet — Core Abbreviations
Marketing Abbreviations — From Zero to Fluent
Every paid campaign lives and dies on four numbers: CPM (Cost Per Mille), CTR (Click-Through Rate), CR (Conversion Rate), and ROAS (Return on Ad Spend).
- CPM — cost to reach 1,000 people
- CTR — percentage who clicked
- CR — percentage who converted
- ROAS — revenue returned per dollar spent
A 2% CTR sounds good until you see a 0.5% conversion rate. A low ROAS could be a CPM, creative, landing page, or offer problem — only tracing the full funnel tells you which.
CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) and LTV (Lifetime Value)
CAC = Total Marketing Spend ÷ New Customers Acquired
LTV = Average Purchase Value × Purchase Frequency × Customer Lifespan
If your LTV is $300 and CAC is $100, you have a 3:1 LTV (Lifetime Value) / CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) ratio — generally healthy. Below 2:1 and growth is burning capital. Above 5:1 and you may be under-investing in acquisition.
The Lead Funnel
MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead — engaged with marketing) → SQL (Sales Qualified Lead — vetted by sales) → Opportunity → Closed/Won
If your MQL-to-SQL rate is under 20%, your targeting is attracting the wrong people.
ROI (Return on Investment) vs. ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)
ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) = Revenue ÷ Ad Spend — ignores COGS and overhead.
ROI (Return on Investment) = Net Profit ÷ Investment × 100% — accounts for all costs.
A 4x ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) on a product with 25% margins may be 0x profit ROI (Return on Investment) after product cost. Executives want ROI. Media buyers report ROAS. Know which conversation you are in.
NPS (Net Promoter Score) Benchmarks
- World-class: 70+
- Good: 50-70
- Okay: 30-50
- Warning sign: below 20
AOV (Average Order Value) Levers
Every $1 increase in AOV (Average Order Value) on 1,000 monthly orders = $1,000 more revenue with zero new acquisition cost.
- Upselling — higher tier of the same product
- Cross-selling — complementary products
- Order minimums — free shipping threshold lifts average basket