How each entry is structured
Plain-English definition (≤80 words) — formula where applicable — example with concrete inputs/outputs — India benchmark band — common mistakes — related terms.
Glossary · 87 terms
Marketing glossary — plain English
87 marketing terms with definition + formula + example + India benchmark + common mistakes. Cross-linked to 2697 industry-adapted cells. Built for operators making real budget decisions.
87 plain-English definitions of marketing terms.
Each entry: definition + formula + example + India benchmarks + common mistakes.
Cross-linked to 2697 industry-adapted cells (Tier 15) + question hubs.
Built for operators making real budget decisions, not for SEO definitions-of-the-day.
Purpose
Why this glossary exists
Most marketing teams share a 60-term operational vocabulary but disagree on definitions for half of it. CAC means different things to Finance vs Performance vs Founder. ROAS varies by attribution window. LTV calculated on revenue vs gross margin is off by 2-3×. This glossary is the shared reference — when your CFO, your Performance lead, and your CEO use the same definitions, decisions get faster.
Featured
Most-referenced terms
- LTVLifetime Value
LTV, or Lifetime Value, is the total revenue a business expects from one customer over the entire relationship. It is calculated as average
- LTV/CACLifetime Value to Customer Acquisition Cost ratio
LTV/CAC is the ratio of customer lifetime value to customer acquisition cost. It tells a business whether the cost of acquiring a customer i
- MRRMonthly Recurring Revenue
MRR is the predictable revenue a subscription business expects each month from active subscribers. It is calculated as the sum of all monthl
- ARRAnnual Recurring Revenue
ARR is the annualized value of recurring subscription revenue, typically calculated as MRR multiplied by 12. ARR is the primary headline met
- CAC PaybackCustomer Acquisition Cost Payback Period
CAC Payback is the number of months it takes to earn back the cost of acquiring a customer through their gross-margin contribution. It is ca
- Churn RateCustomer or Revenue Churn Rate
Churn Rate is the percentage of customers (or revenue) lost in a period. Customer churn = customers lost ÷ customers at period start. Revenu
- AOVAverage Order Value
AOV is the average revenue per order in a defined period. It is calculated by dividing total revenue by total orders. AOV is the primary lev
- Gross MarginGross Margin
Gross Margin is the percentage of revenue retained after subtracting Cost of Goods Sold (COGS). It is calculated as revenue minus COGS divid
- Contribution MarginContribution Margin
Contribution Margin is the revenue per unit minus all variable costs per unit, including COGS, marketing CAC, fulfillment, and payment fees.
- RTO RateReturn To Origin Rate
RTO Rate is the percentage of orders that fail delivery and return to the seller. It is most relevant in Indian D2C where COD orders have RT
By category
Terms by category
Grouped by functional area. Each term links to its full page with formula, example, benchmarks, and mistakes.
Acquisition metrics(9)
Retention + lifecycle(9)
- LTVLifetime Value
- LTV/CACLifetime Value to Customer Acquisition Cost ratio
- ARPUAverage Revenue Per User
- NRRNet Revenue Retention
- GRRGross Revenue Retention
- Churn RateCustomer or Revenue Churn Rate
- Purchase FrequencyPurchase Frequency
- Repeat Purchase RateRepeat Purchase Rate
- Retention RateCustomer Retention Rate
Unit economics(6)
SaaS-specific(2)
Attribution + tracking(2)
Other(59)
- Conversion RateConversion Rate (CR)
- Quality ScoreGoogle Ads Quality Score
- Ad RankGoogle Ads Ad Rank
- Impression ShareImpression Share (IS)
- Lookalike AudienceLookalike Audience
- RetargetingRetargeting (Remarketing)
- ASC+Advantage+ Shopping Campaigns (Meta)
- Performance MaxPerformance Max (Google PMax)
- View-Through ConversionView-Through Conversion (VTC)
- Attribution WindowAttribution Window
- DRDomain Rating (Ahrefs)
- DADomain Authority (Moz)
- BacklinksBacklinks (Inbound Links)
- Referring DomainsReferring Domains
- Anchor TextAnchor Text
- Schema MarkupSchema.org Structured Data
- FAQ SchemaFAQPage Schema
- Core Web VitalsCore Web Vitals (CWV)
- LCPLargest Contentful Paint
- Topic ClusterTopic Cluster (Pillar-Cluster Model)
- Keyword DifficultyKeyword Difficulty (KD)
- Search VolumeSearch Volume
- CanonicalCanonical URL (rel='canonical')
- robots.txtrobots.txt
- SitemapXML Sitemap
- noindexnoindex meta tag
- Internal LinksInternal Links
- AIOAI Overviews (Google)
- GEOGenerative Engine Optimization
- llms.txtllms.txt (LLM ingestion convention)
- Direct AnswerDirect Answer Block
- Speakable SchemaSpeakable Specification
- Entity GroundingEntity Grounding (sameAs Graph)
- RAGRetrieval-Augmented Generation
- Knowledge GraphKnowledge Graph (KG)
- GPTBotGPTBot (OpenAI Crawler)
- ClaudeBotClaudeBot (Anthropic Crawler)
- PerplexityBotPerplexityBot (Perplexity Crawler)
- Google-ExtendedGoogle-Extended (AI Training Crawler)
- DPDP ActDigital Personal Data Protection Act 2023
- RERAReal Estate Regulatory Authority Act
- WABAWhatsApp Business Account
- UPIUnified Payments Interface
- RazorpayRazorpay (Payment Gateway)
- ICPIdeal Customer Profile
- JTBDJobs to Be Done
- MQLMarketing Qualified Lead
- SQLSales Qualified Lead
- PQLProduct Qualified Lead
- ABMAccount-Based Marketing
- PLGProduct-Led Growth
- Welcome FlowWelcome Flow (Email + WhatsApp)
- Cart Abandonment FlowAbandoned Cart Flow
- Post-Purchase FlowPost-Purchase Flow
- Win-Back FlowWin-Back Flow
- Server-Side TaggingServer-Side Tagging (sGTM)
- Search IntentSearch Intent
- Buyer JourneyBuyer Journey (Awareness → Consideration → Decision)
- Topical AuthorityTopical Authority
Methodology
How entries are structured
Why bands not single numbers
Benchmark bands account for category variance. A single benchmark misleads more often than it informs. The band is honest; the right number for you sits inside it.
When entries don't apply
Edge cases are listed in each entry — categories where the standard formula breaks down (subscription LTV, marketplace dual-side CAC, B2B long-cycle attribution).
Full list
All 87 terms (A-Z)
- ABM
- Ad Rank
- AIO
- Anchor Text
- AOV
- ARPU
- ARR
- ASC+
- Attribution Window
- Backlinks
- Blended CAC
- Buyer Journey
- CAC Payback
- Canonical
- CAPI
- Cart Abandonment Flow
- Churn Rate
- ClaudeBot
- COD
- COGS
- Contribution Margin
- Conversion Rate
- Core Web Vitals
- CPA
- CPC
- CPL
- CPM
- CTR
- DA
- Direct Answer
- DPDP Act
- DR
- Entity Grounding
- FAQ Schema
- Frequency
- GA4
- GEO
- Google-Extended
- GPTBot
- Gross Margin
- GRR
- ICP
- Impression Share
- Internal Links
- JTBD
- Keyword Difficulty
- Knowledge Graph
- LCP
- llms.txt
- Lookalike Audience
- LTV
- LTV/CAC
- MQL
- MRR
- noindex
- NRR
- Performance Max
- PerplexityBot
- PLG
- Post-Purchase Flow
- PQL
- Purchase Frequency
- Quality Score
- RAG
- Razorpay
- Reach
- Referring Domains
- Repeat Purchase Rate
- RERA
- Retargeting
- Retention Rate
- robots.txt
- RTO Rate
- Schema Markup
- Search Intent
- Search Volume
- Server-Side Tagging
- Sitemap
- Speakable Schema
- SQL
- Topic Cluster
- Topical Authority
- UPI
- View-Through Conversion
- WABA
- Welcome Flow
- Win-Back Flow
Other hubs
Continue exploring
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Sources & references
Cited primary and analyst sources. Independent of Frameleads' own data.
- IBEF — India Brand Equity Foundation: Indian Industry Reports — IBEF (Ministry of Commerce & Industry)
Sector-level market size, growth, and policy context for Indian industries.
- IAMAI — Internet & Mobile Association of India — IAMAI
Digital advertising industry body; reports on India internet user base, ad spend, and platform shares.
- MoSPI — Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation — Government of India
Primary source for India macro-economic indicators (CPI, GDP, household consumption).
- ASCI Code for Self-Regulation of Advertising in India — Advertising Standards Council of India
Mandatory baseline for all advertising claims in India — including digital, influencer, and comparative ads.
Last reviewed: by Ajsal AbbasRefreshed quarterly from live client data