The marketing world is full of buzzwords.
It seems like we can’t go five minutes without some flavor-of-the-week term popping up in the blogosphere or on our Twitter feeds.
That being said, keeping up with modern marketing lingo is an expectation for today’s businesses; likewise, many concepts perceived as being little more than jargon can actually have a huge impact on your bottom line.
Think about it: what do you think happened to businesses that treated SEO as little more than a trend or buzzword a decade ago? The fact that today’s businesses are living and dying by their organic search presence is obvious now; however, those who slept on SEO until recently are probably wishing they would have taken the concept seriously when it first came to prominence.
So, how do you separate truly important concepts from marketing noise?
Easy: do your homework.
Whether you feel like you’ve been living under a rock in terms of marketing lingo or simply want to make sure no trends are passing you buy, take the time to understand what the following three terms really mean to your company.
Big Data
If there’s one phrase that’s really got marketers buzzing this year, it’s big data.
And why not? The word “big” is a definite head-turner; likewise, marketers are obsessed with data and analytics as means of making crucial business decisions.
Breaking down big data is easier said than done; however, the simplified concept is that businesses should strive find trends and patterns based on huge sets of information. In other words, customer behavior and future marketing decisions can be refined from hard numbers and not just gut reactions.
Understanding such data requires some serious legwork. For example, some businesses have designated team members acquire their hadoop certification as means of crunching numbers and uncovering trends in enormous data sets. While getting knee deep in data requires a certain area of expertise, it is an expectation of modern businesses.
Conversion Optimization
Converting customers is the ultimate goal of just about any business. In layman’s terms, conversion optimization represents the task of auditing and revamping your website to maximize conversions: in other words, your site is primed for visitors to take the actions you want them to take versus bouncing.
Yes, it’s really that simple.
Not unlike big data, conversion optimization focuses at metrics and hard numbers (such as click-through rate, time spent on page and bounce rate). The purpose of conversion optimization is to uncover which aspects of your on-page efforts, from CTAs to imagery, are working and which aren’t. Far more than just a buzzword, every online marketer should ensure that their site drives customers to click: optimizing your site for conversions may very well be key to doing just that.
Growth Hacking
Marketers are typically skeptical of any phrase containing the term “hacking.” That being said, growth hacking has become quite the topic of conversation over the course of the past year. Growth hacking expands upon the mantra of “always be testing” through rapid experimentation of unconventional means of marketing (think: viral videos, in-your-face copywriting techniques, pop-ups) to get a response from leads.
The purpose of growth hacking is to serve as a viable means of growth for those with little or no marketing budget or background. Although such guerrilla marketing may not be for everyone, the popularity of growth hacking perhaps shows that sometimes it pays to think outside of the box.
Buzzwords come and go: however, the aforementioned concepts in the marketing world are most certainly here to stay in some shape or form. Take the time to do your homework in regards to big data, conversion optimization and growth hacking to understand how they can help you expand your business’ potential.