Where every click is a journey and every impression counts.
A free product or collection of items sent by a brand to an influencer, journalist, or media personality, hoping they will mention or review it positively.
Software that unifies customer data from all sources into a single profile—basically corporate stalking but it's legal.
A way to adjust bids for search ads based on whether someone has visited your site before—basically charging different prices based on how interested you think they are.
The gradual accumulation of something—whether it's anticipation, debt, plaque on your teeth, or pressure before a quarterly earnings call. In marketing, it's the strategic teasing that makes people wait with bated breath (or forget about your product entirely).
Using brain science and biometric data to understand consumer behavior at a subconscious level. Basically paying scientists to figure out why you make terrible purchasing decisions.
Short for 'video jockey,' a television personality who introduced and hosted music videos on MTV and similar networks, analogous to a radio DJ but for the visual medium.
A late-night MTV program that premiered in 1987 and showcased heavy metal and hard rock music videos, becoming the platform for metal bands to reach mainstream audiences.
A recorded or live audio of audience laughter added to a TV show or comedy program to cue viewers when to find something funny. Common in sitcoms, it serves as a social reinforcement mechanism that can make jokes feel more engaging or signal comedic timing.
The final episode of a television season, typically featuring climactic plot developments, major character moments, or cliffhangers that carry into the next season. It serves as a bookend to months of storytelling.
A hedge phrase used to attribute information to unnamed or unspecified sources; commonly used in journalism and media to report claims without confirming them or revealing informant identities. Suggests the information is from reliable channels but remains unverified.
Tracking user progression through stages of your conversion process—a visualization of where people ghost you.
Search algorithms that understand meaning and context instead of just matching keywords—Google got smarter and keyword stuffing became useless overnight.
A printed or digital book featuring photographs, descriptions, and prices of merchandise available for purchase, typically distributed by mail or online for ordering. A primary shopping method before e-commerce.
A product or item freely given to an influencer or content creator by a brand, with the expectation (though not always contractual obligation) that it will be featured or promoted in their content.
Content that Google's algorithm determines is exactly what a search user needs—the opposite of clickbait masquerading as search results.
Studying competitors' sales funnels to reverse-engineer their strategy, because apparently original ideas are overrated. Legal if you don't get caught.
An MTV show that premiered in 1988 and showcased hip-hop and rap music videos, becoming instrumental in bringing rap from underground culture to mainstream television and helping launch the careers of major hip-hop artists.
A formal business agreement between an influencer or content creator and a brand, typically involving compensation in exchange for promoting the brand's products or services.
Secret groups of social media accounts that artificially boost each other's engagement through coordinated likes and comments—the Instagram equivalent of a shell corporation.
The portion of a webpage visible without scrolling, borrowed from newspaper terminology to describe content that's guaranteed to be seen by 23% of visitors.
A marketing phantom—any person, influencer, or demographic segment that mirrors your ideal customer profile so closely that advertisers can target them as a proxy audience for lookalike campaigns, because apparently 'people like your existing customers' needed a fancy noun.
The art of parting with money in exchange for goods or services, or more cynically, the process of convincing yourself you need something you definitely don't. In business contexts, it's either a strategic investment or buyer's remorse waiting to happen.
The amount you pay per 1,000 ad impressions, or 'the rate at which you hemorrhage money showing ads to people ignoring you.' Mille is Latin for thousand—fancy but depressing.
Creating marketing that triggers emotional responses rather than logical ones—basically manipulating feelings to sell stuff, but making it sound noble.