// glossary

Marketing Glossary for Developers

Plain-English definitions of the marketing terms you'll meet building and selling a product — each one explained the way a developer would want it.

A

A/B Testing

Comparing two versions of something with live traffic to see which performs better, decided by data.

B

Backlink

A link from another website to yours — treated by search engines as a vote of confidence.

Bounce Rate

The percentage of visitors who leave after viewing only one page without interacting further.

C

Call to Action (CTA)

The specific instruction that tells the reader exactly what to do next — "Start free trial", "Get the cheatsheet".

Churn Rate

The percentage of customers who cancel or stop paying over a given period — the rate at which you lose customers.

Click-Through Rate (CTR)

The percentage of people who click a link, ad, or email out of everyone who saw it.

Cohort Analysis

Grouping users by a shared start point (e.g. signup month) to track how their behavior evolves over time.

Conversion Rate

The percentage of people who take a desired action (signup, purchase) out of everyone who had the opportunity.

Copywriting

Writing words whose job is to drive a specific action — the persuasion layer of marketing.

Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

The total cost of marketing and sales divided by the number of new customers it acquired — what it costs to win one customer.

D

Direct Response Marketing (DRM)

Marketing designed to trigger an immediate, measurable action — a click, signup, or purchase — rather than build long-term brand awareness.

E

Email Deliverability

Whether your emails actually reach the inbox instead of the spam folder or being blocked.

Email Open Rate

The percentage of recipients who open an email out of everyone it was delivered to.

F

Free Trial

Full or near-full access to a paid product for a limited time, after which the user must pay to continue.

Freemium

A model offering a free tier forever, with paid upgrades for advanced features or higher limits.

G

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)

Optimizing content to be cited by AI engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews.

L

Landing Page

A standalone page built for a single goal — usually getting the visitor to take one specific action.

Lead Magnet

A free, valuable resource offered in exchange for an email address — the trade that grows your list.

Lifetime Value (LTV)

The total revenue you expect from an average customer over the entire time they stay with you.

M

Marketing Funnel

The staged path a person takes from first hearing about you to becoming a paying customer.

Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR)

The predictable subscription revenue your product generates each month, normalized to a monthly figure.

N

North Star Metric

The single number that best captures the core value your product delivers — the metric that guides decisions.

P

Positioning

The mental category and context you choose for your product so customers instantly understand what it is and why it wins.

Product-Market Fit

The point where a product satisfies strong market demand — people actively want and keep using it.

S

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Optimizing your content and site so it ranks in search engines and earns organic traffic.

Social Proof

Evidence that other people trust and use your product — testimonials, reviews, user counts, logos.

V

Value Proposition

A clear statement of the benefit you deliver, for whom, and why you are different — in one sentence.

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