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Media Glossary

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Paradox - Shape Image
Paradox - Shape Image

Media Marketing Glossary

Affinity Audience
Affinity Audience refers to a group of users targeted based on their demonstrated interests, behaviors, or preferences, as identified through their online activities, such as websites visited, content consumed, or searches conducted. These audiences are typically segmented by their affinity for specific categories, like travel, fashion, or technology, allowing advertisers to reach consumers who are likely to engage with their brand or product. In programmatic advertising, affinity audiences are leveraged to deliver highly relevant ads, improving campaign performance by aligning with users’ established interests.

Is an off-air recording of an endorsement for a client, a radio spot, or any check that we request as a proof of performance (POP) for a client.

A messaging style that is meant to educate prospective customers in your industry and help them better understand or resolve common problems. Types of content could include blog articles, white papers, videos, social posts, eBooks, webinars, etc

Contextual Targeting refers to the practice of placing ads on websites or digital platforms based on the content of the page rather than user-specific data. It involves analyzing the text, keywords, topics, or overall theme of a webpage to match ads with relevant content, ensuring the advertisement aligns with the context of what the user is viewing. For example, an ad for running shoes might appear on a sports-related article. In programmatic advertising, contextual targeting uses automated systems to scan and categorize content in real-time, enabling advertisers to reach audiences in relevant environments without relying on personal data, thus enhancing ad relevance while respecting user privacy.

This is a digital marketing tactic that allows advertisers to reach members of their target audience by tracking their physical location.  Marketers can specify a geographic area and program their messages to reach audience members when they have entered that location. 

A cookie is a small text file stored on a user’s device by a web browser, used to track and store information about their online behavior, preferences, or interactions. In programmatic advertising, cookies enable advertisers to collect data for targeting, retargeting, and personalizing ads, such as identifying users who visited a website or viewed a product. They facilitate audience segmentation, ad frequency capping, and performance tracking across sites. However, with growing privacy concerns and regulations like GDPR, the use of third-party cookies is declining, prompting shifts toward alternative tracking methods like contextual targeting or first-party data.
Click here to read more about the current state of cookies in media marketing

A marketing metric that measures the total cost of a customer completing a specific action. In other words, CPA indicates how much it costs to get a single customer down your sales funnel, from the first touch point to conversion.  Also referred to as Cost Per Conversion, but not to be confused with cost per click

The expense incurred each time a potential customer views an ad you’ve taken out on a webpage or other online platform.

The cost of delivering 1,000 gross impressions. A very common metric and a pricing model used in digital marketing to measure and charge for online ads.

A button or phrase included in an advertisement to invoke an immediate response. “Call Now!” or “Click to Learn More!”

A digital term that measures the percentage of how many clicks took place compared to the impressions shown on an ad or campaign. (clicks / impressions) x 100 = CTR%

Direct Mail is physical advertising sent through the mail system, in the form of postcards, flyers, brochures, letters, etc. 

The average response rate for direct mail is around 4.9% for prospect lists and 9% for house lists (i.e., existing customers or previous contacts). This is significantly higher than many digital channels, such as email marketing, which has an average response rate of about 1%.

  •       Generational Impact: Direct mail is particularly effective with older demographics, with 70-80% of Baby Boomers and Gen Xers reporting they prefer direct mail over digital ads. However, even among Millennials, who are typically digital-first, direct mail has a surprisingly strong impact, with 36% of them finding it influential in their purchasing decisions.
  •       ROI (Return on Investment) – Return on Investment (ROI): Direct mail can deliver a strong ROI, with many studies indicating an average ROI of 29%, which is comparable to some digital channels like paid search.
Read more about Direct Mail here!

A DSP is an online ad exchange on which advertisers purchase programmatic advertising. 

Read more about the benefits of a direct seat on a DSP here!

The audience’s level of response to content, measured in metrics like time-on-page, scroll depth, likes, follows, shares or anything else that indicates a member of your target audience truly responded to the message.

An estimate of how many times an individual member of an audience was exposed to an advertisement.

Generally calculated as
impressions / reach = frequency

Rapidly growing in popularity, influencer marketing is when a social media influencer works with a brand to promote its products, making brand mentions and endorsements to improve brand recognition. In return, the influencer is compensated with cash or with free products or rewards. Choosing the right influencer will add significant authenticity or ‘social proof’ to your message and establish a direct connection to your audience.

Click to learn more about Influencer Marketing!

This is a document that shows what media is being purchased for a client with a vendor. It may also show why type of media, the length of a spot, how many spots per week are being bought, etc.

Key Performance Indicator. It’s a metric that directly tracks progress towards a business goal. You use KPIs to measure campaign progress.

A target audience that is built using an existing, defined audience you already have, like a list of website visitors, page followers, or a database of current customers.

Machine Learning refers to the use of algorithms and statistical models to analyze vast amounts of data and optimize advertising campaigns programmatically. Machine Learning systems learn from historical and real-time data—such as user behavior, ad performance, and market trends—to predict outcomes, refine audience targeting, adjust bidding strategies, and allocate budgets efficiently. In media buying, Machine Learning powers tasks like audience segmentation, ad placement optimization, and performance forecasting, enabling advertisers to maximize ROI by delivering personalized ads to the right users at the optimal time and cost.
Click to read more about Machine Learning and AI in media buying
Margin refers to the profit percentage or difference between the cost of purchasing ad inventory and the revenue earned from selling or utilizing that inventory. It is typically expressed as a percentage and represents the financial gain an agency, platform, or advertiser makes after covering the cost of media placements. For example, if an agency buys ad space for $1,000 and sells it to a client for $1,200, the margin is $200 or 20%. In programmatic media buying, margins can be influenced by factors like bidding strategies, platform fees, and campaign efficiency, with agencies often aiming to optimize margins while delivering effective ad performance.
Click to use our Margin Calculator
markup refers to the additional amount or percentage added to the cost of purchasing ad inventory to determine the final price charged to a client or advertiser. It represents the profit or fee an agency or media buyer adds to the base cost of the media placement. For example, if an agency buys ad inventory for $1,000 and applies a 20% markup, the client is charged $1,200. In programmatic advertising, markup is often used to cover operational costs, expertise, or platform fees, and it differs from margin as it focuses on the added cost rather than the overall profit percentage relative to the total price.
Click to read more about Margin v. Markup in media buying

A document that is filled out by the client, or us, to determine the specifications of a media campaign: the geo, the demo, length of campaign, KPIs, etc.

See our submittable Media Brief form here

In the context of digital marketing, this is the term for a snippet of code placed directly on a website or in Google Tag Manager to measure a specific action taken by visitors to a website. 

A Private Marketplace (PMP) in media buying is a curated, invitation-only digital advertising environment where premium publishers offer their ad inventory to a select group of advertisers through a programmatic platform. Unlike open exchanges, PMPs provide more control, transparency, and access to high-quality inventory, often with negotiated pricing and prioritized access. It combines the efficiency of real-time bidding (RTB) with the exclusivity of direct deals, ensuring advertisers target specific audiences on premium sites while publishers maintain control over their ad space.

PPC is internet-based advertising specifically used to direct traffic to an individual website via search engines. The advertiser pays the publisher when the ad is clicked by a user. Dominated by Google and Microsoft, PPC marketing accounts for about 65% of clicks and PPC visitors are reportedly 50% more likely to make a purchase than organic visitors.

Read more about how programmatic media buying works here!

The simplest and clearest definition of programmatic ad buying is: using software to buy online advertising.  If you’ve ever placed an ad on Facebook, you’ve already used a form of programmatic buying. You upload your creative, set your budget and target audience, fine tune a few details on how you want your ad to appear, and let the system do the rest, including providing highly-detailed and real-time reporting on your campaign performance.

But programmatic media buying can be so much more, allowing you to let AI-powered software automatically place your ads across multiple websites, networks, and digital platforms, all the while adhering to your budget and modifying your placements in response to how they’re performing. No more sending out requests for proposals, getting quotes, negotiating rates, preparing insertion orders, etc., for every individual ad placement. 

Read more about how programmatic media buying works here!

The process of reconnecting with previous visitors of your website by positioning targeted ads to a defined audience (one that has previously visited your site) as they browse other pages on the Internet. Done by placing tracking pixels

Read more about how Retargeting works here!

Simply the return on investment (ROI) specifically on your advertising spend. 

Traditional media, which includes television, radio, print (newspapers and magazines), direct mail and out-of-home advertising, still holds a significant portion of media consumption in the U.S., although the exact percentage varies by the type of media and the demographic in question. In most instances, traditional, especially broadcast media, offers a higher reach of the market.

Read more about Traditional Media here!

The Viewability rate of your ad is the percentage of time when your ad appeared on sites or apps with Active View enabled and was viewable. This percentage estimates how many of your measurable impressions were actually viewable to potential customers.

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We understand the power of reaching the right audience with tailored messages at the perfect moment. Through meticulous data analysis, market research, and leveraging advanced tools, we identify and engage with the most receptive target segments. Our team’s dedication to precision targeting ensures that our clients’ campaigns are optimized for maximum impact, delivering measurable results and driving business growth in today’s competitive landscape. We pull together to develop comprehensive strategies and execute campaigns that surpass expectations.