---
title: "Marketing Analytics Glossary"
description: "A-Z glossary of marketing analytics terms. Understand MMM, attribution, econometrics, and more."
url: https://www.analyticalalley.com/glossary/
publisher: "Analytical Alley"
---

# Marketing Analytics Glossary

## A

### A/B Testing

A method of comparing two versions of a marketing asset to determine which performs better based on statistical analysis.

### Adstock

The prolonged or lagged effect of advertising on consumer behavior, representing how advertising impact decays over time after exposure.

### Affiliate Marketing

A performance-based marketing system where partners (affiliates) are rewarded for each visitor or customer brought through their marketing efforts.

### Attribution Model

A framework that assigns credit for sales and conversions to different touchpoints in a customer's purchase journey, providing insights into channel effectiveness.

### Average Order Value (AOV)

The average amount spent each time a customer places an order, calculated by dividing total revenue by the number of orders.


## B

### Baseline Sales

The level of sales that would occur without any marketing activity, representing organic demand driven by brand equity and market factors.

### Bayesian Inference

A statistical method used in MMM that combines prior knowledge with observed data to make probabilistic predictions about marketing effectiveness.

### Brand Lift

The increase in brand awareness, perception, or purchase intent resulting from advertising exposure, often measured through surveys.

### Budget Allocation

The process of distributing marketing spend across different channels, campaigns, or time periods to maximize overall return on investment.


## C

### Carryover Effect

The continued impact of advertising after the campaign ends, where previous marketing investments continue to influence current sales.

### Channel Attribution

The process of determining which marketing channels contributed to conversions and to what degree each channel influenced the customer journey.

### Click-Through Rate (CTR)

The percentage of people who click on a link or advertisement after seeing it, calculated by dividing clicks by impressions.

### Conversion Funnel

A visual representation of a customer's journey through stages from initial awareness to final purchase, used to identify drop-off points.

### Conversion Rate

The percentage of visitors who complete a desired action, such as making a purchase or signing up for a newsletter.

### Cost Per Acquisition (CPA)

The total cost of acquiring a new customer, calculated by dividing total marketing spend by the number of new customers acquired.

### Customer Lifetime Value (CLV)

The predicted total revenue a business can expect from a single customer account throughout their entire relationship.


## D

### Data-Driven Attribution

An attribution model that uses machine learning to analyze conversion paths and assign credit based on actual data patterns rather than predefined rules.

### Decay Rate

The rate at which the effect of advertising diminishes over time, used in adstock calculations to model how quickly marketing impact fades.

### Diminishing Returns

The principle that additional marketing investment produces progressively smaller increases in response, leading to saturation effects.


## E

### Econometrics

The application of statistical and mathematical methods to economic data, used in marketing to measure relationships between variables and predict outcomes.

### Elasticity

A measure of how sensitive sales are to changes in marketing spend or price, indicating the percentage change in demand for a percentage change in investment.


## F

### First-Touch Attribution

An attribution model that assigns 100% credit for a conversion to the first marketing touchpoint a customer encountered.

### Frequency

The average number of times an individual is exposed to an advertisement within a specific time period.


## G

### Geo-Lift Testing

A quasi-experimental method that compares marketing performance across different geographic regions to measure incremental impact.

### Gross Rating Points (GRP)

A measure of advertising exposure, calculated by multiplying reach by frequency, representing total impressions as a percentage of target audience.


## H

### Halo Effect

The positive spillover impact that advertising for one product or channel has on sales of related products or through other channels.

### Holdout Testing

An experimental approach where a portion of the audience is deliberately excluded from marketing exposure to measure incremental impact.


## I

### Impression

A single instance of an advertisement being displayed to a user, counted each time an ad is shown regardless of interaction.

### Incrementality

The additional conversions or revenue directly attributable to marketing efforts that would not have occurred organically without the marketing activity.


## L

### Last-Touch Attribution

An attribution model that assigns 100% credit for a conversion to the final marketing touchpoint before purchase.

### Linear Attribution

An attribution model that distributes credit equally across all touchpoints in the customer journey leading to conversion.


## M

### Marketing Mix Modeling (MMM)

A statistical analysis technique that quantifies the impact of various marketing activities on sales to optimize future budget allocation.

### Media Mix

The combination of marketing channels and platforms used in an advertising campaign, including TV, digital, print, and social media.

### Multi-Touch Attribution (MTA)

An attribution approach that assigns fractional credit to multiple touchpoints along the customer journey based on their relative influence.


## O

### Omnichannel Marketing

A customer-centric approach that provides a seamless experience across all marketing channels and touchpoints.


## P

### Price Elasticity

A measure of how sensitive customer demand is to changes in price, indicating the percentage change in quantity demanded for a percentage change in price.

### Programmatic Advertising

Automated buying and selling of digital advertising using algorithms and real-time bidding to target specific audiences.


## R

### Reach

The total number or percentage of unique individuals exposed to an advertisement within a specific time period.

### Response Curve

A graphical representation showing the relationship between marketing investment and response, typically illustrating diminishing returns at higher spend levels.

### Return on Ad Spend (ROAS)

A marketing metric that measures revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising, calculated by dividing revenue by ad spend.

### Return on Investment (ROI)

A performance measure that calculates the profitability of an investment, expressed as the ratio of net profit to cost.


## S

### Saturation Point

The level of marketing investment beyond which additional spending produces negligible incremental returns due to market saturation.

### Seasonality

Predictable patterns in sales or marketing performance that recur regularly based on time of year, holidays, or other cyclical factors.

### Share of Voice (SOV)

A brand's portion of total advertising within a market or category, often used as a predictor of market share.

### Synergy Effect

The combined impact of using multiple marketing channels together that exceeds the sum of their individual effects.


## T

### Time-Decay Attribution

An attribution model that assigns more credit to touchpoints closer in time to the conversion, with earlier touchpoints receiving less weight.

### Touchpoint

Any interaction between a customer and a brand throughout the customer journey, including ads, emails, website visits, and purchases.


## U

### Uplift Modeling

A predictive modeling technique that estimates the incremental impact of a marketing action on individual customer behavior.


## W

### Wearout

The decline in advertising effectiveness over time as audiences become overexposed to the same creative content.

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Source: https://www.analyticalalley.com/glossary/