5 Must-Know Marketing Terms

Have you ever read a marketing job or internship description and thought, is this in a different language? Marketing, like many industries, has a language of its own. We asked marketing professionals to share the key marketing terms they think you should know, along with how to stay up to date on the rapidly changing industry.

What is Engagement Rate?

“For social media specifically, the amount of times your post was seen in feeds divided by the amount of times people actually engaged with it (like, comment, share, etc.).” — Anthony Perasso ‘17, Social Media Lead at Peloton

What is a Hook? 

“A marketing ‘hook’ is a catchy, attention grabbing phrase in a piece of content that grabs the reader’s attention. An example from a 20-year-old, Aflac commercial that I have never forgotten: ‘If you get hurt and miss work, it won’t hurt to miss work.’” — Scott Carroll, Assistant Director of Marketing and Digital Engagement at the BC Career Center

What is a Value Add Proposition?

“Statement as to why someone should buy or take part in services.” — Lisa Berasi, Senior Associate Director at BC University Communications

What is SEO?

“SEO stands for “search engine optimization and refers to techniques that help your website rank higher in search engine results pages (SERPs). This makes your website more visible to people who are looking for solutions that your brand, product, or service can provide via search engines like Google, Yahoo!, and Bing.” — Hubspot 

What is Demand Generation?

“Also known as demand gen, it’s a data driven strategy used to create sales leads. It involves a range of marketing initiatives including digital advertising, email campaigns, and search engine marketing (SEM) campaigns.” — Geraldine Duncombe ‘85, Marketing Director at CareQuest Institute

How can I Stay up to Date on Marketing Terms and Trends? 

“I like to follow other social media managers and brand marketers on Twitter to stay in touch with others in the field and get exposure to what they’re reading and what they’re thinking about.” — Anthony Perasso ‘17, Social Media Lead at Peloton

“Students should sign up for HubSpot emails. That will give them access to the HubSpot Learning Center, which defines all marketing terms nicely.” — Geraldine Duncombe ‘85, Marketing Director at CareQuest Institute

Eager to read more about the language of marketing? Check out HubSpot’s The Ultimate Dictionary of Marketing Terms You Should Know. You can also learn more about marketing on our communication, arts and media cluster page or by meeting with a career coach.

– By Salome Miclette, Assistant Director, Career Education