As someone who is working hard to grow your business, it’s important to understand basic marketing lingo. It not only helps you speak with your marketing team, it can help you think more strategically about connecting with customers both online and in-person.
It’s time to study your MoFu, BoFu, and ToFu. Welcome to Marketing Lingo 101.
The following is a list of acronyms you’re likely to hear in marketing conversations. We tell you not only what each one means, but why it matters. With this list, you can build your marketing vocabulary and be ready to speak and plan with confidence.
1. ABM - Account Based Marketing
Sales and marketing teams often work separately. But, what if those two groups put their full focus on a special list of potential clients? In an account based marketing, that is exactly what happens. Instead of appealing to a large audience and whittling it down after a ton of interaction, both teams agree on who would make the most loyal and profitable customers upfront, then make a plan to win their business together.
2. ToFu - Top of the Funnel
The “funnel” in marketing describes the journey a customer makes from never having heard of you or your product, all the way to buying it. When a marketer mentions a “top of funnel” strategy, they’re talking about getting someone who doesn’t know you exist to become aware of you. This phase is often called “awareness.” In the image of the funnel, the top is wide, which is to say you are open to connecting with a wide variety of people and giving them information about you.
3. MoFu - Middle of the Funnel
Middle of the funnel is where you have started to engage with a potential customer and are providing them information about how you may have what they need. In this phase, they may read your blog, watch some videos, download a paper from you on the industry you’re in, or even talk to a sales rep.
4. BoFu - Bottom of Funnel
Bottom of the funnel is considered the closing stage where the move towards a sale is made. In this phase, content provided to potential customers might include greater detail about your product’s features or pricing, compared with your competitors. The funnel is narrow here and the sales team is often taking a handoff from marketing.
5. CRM - Customer Relationship Management
Customer relationship management allows businesses to maintain ongoing and positive interactions with potential and current customers. CRM software programs keep track of the types of interactions, frequency, and results.
Wheels Up team member Brian Alyward spoke about the advantages of using CRM software by saying, “CRM data can be analyzed to assess what's actually working so that you not only strengthen existing customer relationships but can recreate that trust and loyalty with future customers, too."
6. CTA - Call to Action
It’s great to get a potential customer’s attention, but what would you like them to do? Probably, a lot of things. Some common calls to action are downloading a paper, clicking on an ad, clicking through an email to your website, or attending an event. Calls to action often take the form of a button, image, or a website link that motivates action.
Wheels Up co-founder Elise Oras says, “The call to action must be simple, easy, and give the person some sort of benefit. For example, they’ll learn something they need to know, receive free access to a video series, or get to attend an event with other people in their field.”
7. PR - Public Relations
How you’re seen in the public eye matters for your business, especially long term. You want to have a sterling reputation and, when people think of you, you want them to know all of the great stuff you have achieved, like building awesome products or providing great customer service. Your public relations efforts must strategically highlight your greatest strengths for the public to read or hear about in magazines, trade publications, on podcasts, or in the news.
8. SEM - Search Engine Marketing
You know how that first search result on Google is sometimes an ad? It looks like a search result but is a “paid promotion.” That is an example of search engine marketing. You can pay to be associated with certain keywords that people type into search boxes. It puts you at the top of the page which is one of the most potent ways to get new people to learn about your product.
9. SEO - Search Engine Optimization
Search engine optimization helps you get to the top of search results without directly paying for a placement. This sort of magic happens by regularly and consistently producing valuable content around a certain topic. It can be helped by already being well-known for a certain product, such as suntan lotion or chocolate. The more strongly your brand is associated with a topic, the further up it will place in search results. This sort of unpaid success is referred to as “organic,” as opposed to “paid.”
Oras keeps a close eye on the ever-changing ways to succeed in SEO. She says, “Over time, the ways to get to the top search results have changed as keywords, frequency of posting, and other factors have played a role. The main factors rewarded at this time are consistency and quality and frequency. That’s why the media you create must offer real value to prospects.”
10. UGC - User Generated Content
Wouldn’t it be great if someone else knew how great you are and couldn’t stop talking about it? In the world of social media, it’s possible to have advocates who love your product and write blog posts, share photos, do product review videos, or a host of other pieces helping to spread the word about your brand.
Wheels Up content producer Bridget Quigg says, “You can put a lot of effort into your own, slick product video. But, sometimes, a person with a huge social media following doing a quick video about how much they love your product will move the needle more rapidly than you ever could.”
Study Marketing. It’s Worth It.
In the words of Wheel Up Collective founder Amy Winner, “There’s always something to learn in marketing because marketing is always changing.” Winner says she stays on top of the latest trends by reading the OpenView and HubSpot blogs.
Want to learn more and figure out what’s best for your brand?
Let’s chat to discover how Wheels Up can lend a hand.
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