Basic Terms and Definitions / BUYGOODS

We know that industry words can get confusing so we've complied some of the most common words and phrase and listed their definitions here.

Assets/Creatives/Swipes Email: ad copy that includes subject line and body of email. Also a term used for banner ads / display ads.

Label: The Supplement Facts label includes most of the basic information about a supplement, including the serving size, number of servings per container, ingredients in the product, and amount of each nutrient that it contains.

Certificate of Analysis (COA): a document that manufacturers produce that verifies the product they manufactured conforms to their customer's requirements.

Fulfillment Agreement: A legal contract between a manufacturer and a product distribution company that defines that nature of the relationship, the fees, and other details.

Script/Transcript: A document of the text on a landing page, typically to be reviewed by the compliance team.

Video sales letter (VSL): A video on the sales page promoting your offer. Typically words on a PowerPoint presentation format or over video clips. This will be reviewed by the Compliance Team and must provide the script that accompanies the video.

Text sales letter (TSL): Same as a script, a document of the text on a landing page, typically to be reviewed by the compliance team.

Continuity: Persuading a customer to agree to automatic (monthly/yearly) shipments or subscriptions. This can be related to anything: books, supplements, cosmetics, pantyhose, CDs, coffee, etc.

Cart Abandonment: When a user adds a product to the online shopping cart but doesn't proceed to checkout and complete the purchase.

Unique Link/Affiliate Link: The link the product owner’s company gives the affiliate to use when promoting for them. This link tracks the clicks, leads and sales from the affiliate’s promotional efforts.

Average Order Value (AOV): Also known as Average Cart Value. The average dollar amount customers spend when they make a purchase from your website.

Backend: Typically any sales that happen AFTER the initial sale. Typically done via an email list and typical price point is over $100 (some as high as $2,000 - $10,000). This could also refer to offers in the upsell/downsell part of the main sales funnel.

Frontend: Typically includes the opt-in (if there is one) and the initial sale (price point typically at or below $100). Some people may use this term to include only the opt-in offer. Always ask for clarity if this comes up.

Email Service Provider (ESP): Examples: Maropost, iContact, InfusionSoft, Sendlane, Get Response, Active Campaign, MailChimp. The software that sends emails to the end users.

Earnings Per Click (EPC): This is not total sales per click, it’s affiliate’s commissions per click.
Ex) An affiliate sends 5,000 clicks, total sales $10,000 dollars. 1st tier commission structure is 50% (half of the $10,000 dollars). $5,000 dollars divided by 5,000 clicks equals $1 EPC.

Click-Through Rate (CTR): the number of clicks that your ad receives divided by the number of times your ad is shown: clicks ÷ impressions = CTR.
Ex) if you had 5 clicks and 100 impressions, then your CTR would be 5%. CTR can indicate the effectiveness of ad copy. 5 ÷ 100 = 0.05 (multiply x 100) = 5%

Call to Action (CTA): aims to persuade a visitor to perform a certain act immediately. Typically in the form of a buy button
Ex) “Buy Now!” or “Register Today!”

Impression: when the ad is displayed (seen) on a web page

Cost-Per-Thousand (CPM): The “M” represents the Roman numeral for 1,000. CPM measures the cost of an online ad per 1000 impressions. An impression is when the ad is displayed (seen) on a web page.

Cost-Per-Click (CPC): is a digital marketing metric that measures the amount of money paid for each click in a pay-per-click (PPC) marketing campaign.

Cost Per Action/Acquisition (CPA): how much the affiliate will earn for every lead (subscriber) OR buyer the affiliate sends. Typically a set dollar amount and no refunds taken out.

List: Typically meaning an email list
Ex) "His list size is 100k."

Lifetime Value (LTV): the average revenue that a customer (email address) will generate throughout their lifespan as a customer. This 'worth' of a customer (email address) can help determine many economic decisions for a company including marketing budget, resources, profitability and forecasting.

Clawback/Return/Refund: when customers ask for a refund or even disputes the charges. When this happens, it’s critical for someone in the company to update the affiliate’s commissions so that they aren’t paid for sales that were refunded.

Split test or A/B Test: a test that is done to determine which option will convert better than the other. Marketers do this to optimize their conversions. You can split test all types of variables like a subject line, email copy, link location, headlines, text or image colors, price, etc. The possibilities are endless.

Upsells: Products that are offered to those who purchased the “front-end” offer. Sale 2 and so on are the upsell offers.

Warm Traffic: traffic, or eyes, of potential customers that has been warmed up to the sender (list owner). This is typically email traffic.

Cold Traffic: traffic, or eyes, of potential customers that have not been warmed up to the sender. These people have no idea who you are as a product owner.

Opt-Out Link or Unsubscribe Link: the link that email affiliates can use when promoting your offer. Having an opt-out link in an email is required by law.

Suppression List: a list of names/email addresses that allows affiliates to automatically stop sending your offer to recipients who no longer want your email advertisements. There are many suppression list management tools. BuyGoods uses Optizmo.

If you have any more questions, please reach out to your Business Development Manager or Account Manager.