After almost 20 years as a marketing agency for the talent and HR tech industries, we’ve seen just about every confusing marketing term out there. The marketing world is filled with jargon and specialized terms, and that doesn’t even dive into the acronyms or terms that vary from company to company or within our industry.

But good marketing relies on good communication. And good communication stems from knowing the right words to use so everyone involved understands what’s going on.

Let’s clear up the confusion around common marketing terms.

Why You Need to Use the Right Marketing Terms

It’s fair to ask, “If someone can figure out what I’m saying, isn’t that enough? Do I really need to use industry terms?”

While it can be great that people understand you regardless of whether you say marketing strategy or marketing plan, using the correct terminology is important for several reasons.

Clarity and Alignment

Using the right terms ensures that everyone is on the same page about what needs to be completed and is working towards the same goals, no matter what.

Credibility

Using the right terminology helps to demonstrate your knowledge and expertise, establishing your credibility as a leader.

Avoiding Costly Mistakes

Even a small misunderstanding due to incorrect terminology can lead to wasted resources and unachieved goals. After all, if you ask for a demand generation campaign and then wonder why it isn’t focused on driving leads…that’s wasted effort.

Commonly Confused Marketing Terms You Should Know

With all that said, there are 7 terms that we often see confused when working with clients and just in our day-to-day marketer lives. So let’s clear them up!

Marketing Strategy versus Marketing Plan

To put it simply, the marketing strategy outlines the long-term goals and approach to marketing, whereas a marketing plan details the specific actions that will be taken to make that marketing strategy happen.

Marketing Strategy: The overarching approach and long-term vision for achieving marketing goals. Often includes things like target audience personas, brand objectives, key performance indicators, and more.

Marketing Plan: The detailed, actionable document outlining specific tactics and timelines for implementing the marketing strategy. Often includes things like a summary of the marketing strategy, a timeline or calendar, distribution channels, budget, resources, etc.

Logo versus Brand

Your brand is so much bigger than your logo.

Logo: A visual symbol that represents a company or product. Its goal is to help a company stand out visually to its audience, think Nike’s swoosh or the Starbucks mermaid.

Brand: The overall perception and experience associated with a company or product, including elements like your logo, colors, voice and tone, mission, values, and customer or client experience.

Search Engine Optimization versus Search Engine Marketing

This is one of those confusions that can trap even the most experienced marketer.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO): The practice of optimizing a website or piece of web content to rank higher in organic (not paid) search results.

Search Engine Marketing (SEM): The practice of getting traffic visibility using both organic optimization and paid advertising to appear higher up in search results.

Demand Generation versus Lead Generation

Demand generation and lead generation go hand-in-hand, which makes it even easier to confuse them!

Demand generation: The process of increasing brand awareness and generating interest in and understanding of a product or service.

Lead generation: The process of capturing contact information and converting brand-aware prospects into qualified leads for further nurturing and sales follow-up.

Visual Strategy versus Brand Strategy

Similar to your brand being bigger than your logo, your brand strategy is bigger than your visual strategy. Though they often rely on each other to work effectively.

Visual strategy: The thoughtful application of key visual rules in elements like colors, imagery, fonts, etc., to strategically communicate your brand’s identity.

Brand strategy: The comprehensive plan for developing and managing a brand’s positioning and messaging, often includes things like brand values and vision, messaging and communication styles, and visual identity like logo, patterns, etc.

Copywriting versus Content Writing

Content is content, right? Well…not so much. Content writing and copywriting differ when it comes to their goals.

Copywriting: The art and skill of writing persuasive text for marketing and advertising that convinces a reader to take an action. Copywriting is often used alongside lead generation activities.

Content writing: The creation of informative, engaging, and educational content for websites, blogs, and more. Content writing is often used alongside demand generation activities.

Messaging Strategy versus Content Strategy

Much like visual strategy and brand strategy, your content strategy often uses the information from your messaging strategy.

Messaging strategy: The development of a framework built of key messages and themes that communicate a brand’s overall value proposition and unique messages.

Content strategy: The overall strategic framework for planning, creating, and distributing content that serves your marketing goals. It often includes things like business goals, target audiences, content types, distribution channels, and sometimes includes things like a content plan as well.

How to Improve Your Marketing Vocabulary

Don’t let your learning stop here! There are tons of ways to keep your marketing vocabulary in tip-top shape.

Read Industry Publications

Bookmark resources like Marketing Brew or HubSpot and glance through their resources and stories once or twice a week. Or sign up for our own newsletter! You’ll stay in the loop on what’s happening in the marketing world while also brushing up on any new terms or techniques that people are using.

Attend Workshops or Webinars

If you want to professionally develop with a community, you can’t beat webinars, workshops, or even local networking events. Organizations like the American Marketing Association host general marketing webinars. Or niche down to particular marketing activities like Hootsuite’s social media webinars. Don’t be afraid to ask questions and learn from fellow guests. Marketers love to share their knowledge!

Consult with Experts

Working with a marketing agency, like ClearEdge, is the easiest way to learn while you’re getting incredible results. Our team of experts is always willing to help clarify trends, techniques, or terms alongside delivering the work that you need to support your goals.