Glossary: Marketing Foundations

Every key term from the course, in plain English. When a lesson says a word you don't know, it lives here.

The Systems Lens

Seeing marketing as connected parts — awareness feeds trust, trust feeds sales, sales feed referrals — instead of isolated campaigns. Every marketing action should feed a system that keeps working after you stop.

The Customer Compass

The discipline of checking every marketing decision against what real customers have actually said and done — before spending money or time on it.

The Channel Map

Your one-page map placing every channel under awareness, trust, or sales. Choose channels by the job they do in your system — and make sure no column sits empty.

Value proposition

The one-sentence answer to why a customer should buy from you: who it's for, what outcome they get, and what makes you different.

Conversion rate

The percentage of visitors who take the action you want — buy, book, or sign up. Actions divided by visitors, times one hundred.

Customer acquisition cost (CAC)

What it costs to win one customer: total marketing spend divided by new customers won in the same period.

Lifetime value (LTV)

The average total revenue one customer brings over the entire relationship. Healthy marketing needs LTV comfortably above CAC.

Lead magnet

A free, valuable offer — a guide, checklist, or template — given in exchange for an email address. The start of the trust stage.

Call to action

The single thing you ask the visitor to do on a page: buy now, book a call, join the list. One page, one action.

Sales funnel

The path a stranger travels from first touch to purchase: awareness, interest, decision, action. Your framework drawn as a journey.

Brand story

The five-part story customers remember and retell: character (the customer), problem, guide (you), plan, and success.

Search intent

What the searcher actually wants when they type a query — to learn, to compare, or to buy. Content that matches intent ranks and converts.

Email list

The addresses of people who asked to hear from you. The only audience you truly own — no algorithm between you and the inbox.

Churn

The rate at which customers stop buying or subscribers leave. The silent killer of lifetime value — retention is the cheapest growth.

Retargeting

Showing ads specifically to people who already visited your site. Warm traffic converts far better than cold — the cheapest paid traffic there is.