The essential glossary of copywriting terms
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Depending on how long you’ve been online, you’ve probably heard some copywriting terms that make you do a scooby-doo face… “Scraggy?” So, let’s get you up to speed with all the copywriting terms, definitions and acronyms so you don’t feel like the dummy in the room when it comes to understanding your CTA, OR or even your USP, Here is…
The essential glossary of copywriting terms
Let’s dive right in to give you a quick overview of many of the copywriting and marketing terms you may have heard of but were too shy to ask what they are! These are not in alphabetical order, but in order of how I feel they are relevant.
CTA: CALL TO ACTION
In any piece of copy, especially sales copy, you’ll want to include a call to action which is “telling your reader what to do”. This can be taking the next step in the customer journey or even place an order. Whatever you want them to do, it has to be clear and concise, and usually with a benefit attached so they know what’s in it for them as they take action on your request.
A call to action could be…
Click here to claim your discount.
Add your details below to receive your free gift.
Add to cart so you can enjoy... [include benefit eg. so you can experience luscious locks]
CONVERSION RATE
This is the calculation of how many people saw your offer compared with how many people took action on your CTA. So, if you have a sales page that 200 people saw, and 5 people took action to receive their “Free Delivery” code, then your conversion rate would be 5/200 x 100 = 2.5%.
Related article: Why your conversion rate matters
CRO: CONVERSION RATE OPTIMISATION
When you test your copy and all your tech set up, you will find ways to increase your conversions. A different colour button, or a slightly different call to action, could make the difference. Tweaking these variables to increase your conversions is know as optimising, hence Conversion Rate Optimisation.
ROI: RETURN ON INVESTMENT
This is a great metric to track to make sure that what you're spending to promote your “thing” is profitable. Your investment could be how much you're spending on advertising on Facebook, and your return would be how much you earn from those ads making a sale.
Let's say it costs $25 to show and add to 500 people and one of those people purchases your $50 product then you are essentially doubling your money. Your actual return is 1:1 because you need to consider your initial investment as part of the equation.
ICA: IDEAL CUSTOMER/ CLIENT AVATAR
Your products (or services) COULD be ideal for anyone to use, however, if you narrow down your target market to one type of person who ideally would love your product and get the best results from it, then this is your ideal customer. This then becomes the imaginary person or “avatar” that you use as a base for any of your marketing copy and campaign. By targeting one type of individual, you can speak to their specific pain points and desires to get a more effective result from your marketing efforts.
USP: UNIQUE SELLING POINT
What helps you stand out from the crowd? Every ecommerce business should identify their unique selling point so that they can differentiate themselves from their competitors. This doesn’t mean trying to bring your competitors down by using sleazy marketing tactics, but to truly identify something about your product that is unique to your brand. Using your USP in your marketing strategy can be highly effective when it comes to beating your competition. But remember, your USP may only be relevant to your ICA, so be sure to identify who that is so you can hone your message to that ideal customer.
VOC: VOICE OF CUSTOMER
This is the secret to writing great marketing messages and converting copy. Using the words that your customers use about their problems, desires and what they think about your products and competitors is the key to tapping into their psyche. Once you know the exact words your customers use to describe their situation you can harness this data and repurpose it in your copy so that it “speaks” to more of your ICA.
Related content: How to use market research and voice of customer data to your advantage
ESP: EMAIL SERVICE PROVIDER
This is a very obvious and simple acronym. I’ve added it here as this is something I often use but if you’re unfamiliar with ESP it may confuse you.
Your ESP is the platform you use to send emails. I’m not talking about your gmail or Outlook account but the platform you use as a “SaaS” (software as a service) to send your emails. This includes platforms like ConvertKit, Klaviyo, Ontraport, Marapost, ActiveCampaign, Mailerlite, Mailchimp, Drip, FloDesk… to name but a few!
Many of these platforms can double up as other things like Customer Records Management (CRM) systems, landing page builders, or even all-in-one platforms (like Kartra).
OPT-IN
An opt-in is the mechanism you use to capture people's email address either on your website or on a landing page. It’s usually the form or box you have embedded (or as a pop-up) to allow your customers to submit their details to receive something from you like a discount code, a free sample, a report, checklist or other PDF.
Related content:
How to set up an exit intent pop-up in ConverKit
What you need to know about GDPR for emails
LEAD MAGNET
A lead magnet is your free thing that people receive after they opt-in. It’s called a lead magnet because it attracts people to sign up for your email list. A subscriber who is yet to purchase from you is called a lead. A lead magnet and “Opt-in” is often used interchangeably.
OR: OPEN RATE
Your open rate is the metric used to determine how many people opened your email compared to how many people received your email. Obviously the higher the open rate the better since the more opens the bigger the opportunity you have to take the next step, which is read your email!. There are industry standards that you may want to check out to see how your open rates compare.
To calculate your open rate use this equation: (Number of opens / number of sends) x100 = % open rate.
However, email success should never be calculated on open rates or even click through rates (see below), but on revenue generated from your emails.
Related content: My worst email subject lines ever
CTR: CLICK THROUGH RATE
This is usually calculated as the number of people who clicked on your link in the email compared to how many people received your email. It’s a good metric to see how persuasive your email copy is in terms of your call-to-action and persuasion techniques used to “get the click”. Again, a high click through rate is preferable but does not always indicate how successful an email will be. There are many things to consider in the customer journey between first receiving an email to the decision to purchase.
To calculate your click through rate ues this equation: (number of people who clicked/ number of sends) x 100 = % CTR
Related content: What is the importance of copywriting?
CTOR: CLICK TO OPEN RATE
This is a similar metric to the Click Through Rate above but it concerns how many of the people who opened your email go on to click your link. This may seem like a redundant metric, but it’s useful to gauge the effectiveness of the copy and the “through thread” of an idea from the subject line to body copy. It’s also a good way to compare the success of several emails. By using the CTOR metric you can see which email is more effective (or persuasive) in getting the reader to the next step in their journey. It also allows you to identify which emails may need to be resent with a different subject line. For example you may have a low open rate, but of those opens a high percentage of people may be clicking through, which means the email is very effective and could perform even better if it was sent again with a different subject line (to those who didn’t open).
To calculate your Click to Open Rate use this calculation: (number of clicks/ number of opens) x 100 = % CTOR
BROADCAST EMAIL
This is the term given to your emails that are sent according to a calendar schedule.
AUTOMATION EMAIL
An automated email is one that is triggered by a certain behaviour of a subscriber or reader.
Related content: What’s the difference between broadcast emails and automations emails?
EMAIL SEQUENCE
An email sequence is a set of emails that are part of a similar narrative. Meaning they are a journey that your subscriber or customer takes through a sequence of emails. They will usually have one goal for the sequence which may be referred to in some or all of the emails. These sequences are automated emails triggered by a behaviour, for example… signing up for your lead magnet, expressing an interest in a certain product (by clicking a link or visiting a page on your website), or even purchasing a product.
Related content: 5 smart email sequences to automate your ecommerce business
SEGMENT
A segment is exactly that, a portion of your email list that has been identified as a group of people depending on the parameters you set. It can be anything that is appropriate for your business. For example if you’re a global brand that sells products which are driven by the seasons, then you might want to segment your northern and southern hemisphere subscribers or you may segment on their interest after identifying this from the type of links they click.
Related content: How to segment your email list
A/B TESTING
This form of testing is when you trial different versions of copy or creative within a page or even an email – this is also sometimes referred to as split testing. You segment your readers through a testing funnel which allows half to see one variation and the other half to see the other variation. In these cases you will need to identify the one factor that you are testing. That means you test one thing at a time… a subject line, a call to action, the colour of a button. The tests can be endless, but your goal is to tweak and test to optimise your campaigns, funnels and copy.
FUNNEL
A funnel is merely a journey that your subscriber or reader takes. The purpose of course is to lead them to one end goal, but there may be many steps within your funnel that potentially segments your readers into several funnels. As your people go through the funnel, your conversion metrics will help determine how successful each step is.
Related content: WTF is a funnel?
TRIPWIRE
A tripwire (which I believe is a terrible name since it doesn’t inspire positive imagery) is a paid product you offer to someone after they give you their email address in exchange for a free “thing” also known as a lead magnet. This takes advantage of the initial trust that has been gained in your subscriber handing over their details. It’s usually a very small investment of a few dollars up to something like $27 and is the first step in disassembling objections to purchasing in future. The idea is that once someone has committed $£’s to a brand, they’re more likely to purchase again. The tripwire is one of the steps in a funnel as described above.
UPSELL
This is another version of a tripwire (see above) but is the next step after an initial purchase. This takes advantage of the trust built in purchasing an initial product and offers something else of value that is connected in some way with the original purchase. It doesn’t have to be more expensive than the first purchase, just another offer that often is the next step for the customer in their journey to achieving success with their first purchase.
DOWNSELL
A downsell is what is offered to a customer if they have rejected an upsell, its often less of an investment than the upsell, but still offers enough value to be worthwhile as an addition to the original purchase.
OTO: ONE TIME OFFER
This offer can be an upsell within its own right, however as its name indicates it’s a one-time-offer and often can’t be obtained through any other method. The persuasion tactic used here is “FOMO” which is fear of missing out. If the customer sees that this is an offer that isn’t available elsewhere (either because it’s not offered, or that the price is at a point that’s at a lower rate than normally offered) they are more likely to add it to their purchase.
AFFILIATE
An affiliate is someone who promotes your products using their own methods and receives a commission for any sales made from their efforts. This usually entails affiliate platforms to allow for tracking of sales through affiliate links.
For example, I’m an affiliate for The Contract Shop, which is a platform that sells legal templates and contracts for online businesses. If you click that link and purchase from their shop, I will receive a % of the sale because I referred you to them.
ATF: ABOVE THE FOLD
This is the area that you can see when you first visit a website or landing page without needing to scroll. This term comes from the newspaper industry and Above The Fold refers to the section of the newspaper that you see before you unfold the paper to open it up.
It’s an area that is prime real-estate for your site as whatever is in this area needs to encourage the visitor to scroll and continue their journey (one which hopefully ends in a sale).
LANDING PAGE
A landing page is the term given to any online page that someone visits after clicking a link or entering a URL into their browser. It can be on a website or hosted on a pages platform (eg. LeadPages). The purpose of a landing page is to give enough information to allow the reader to take the next step, which might be to purchase or to opt-in.
Related content:
How to create a Landing Page using Google Docs
BROWSER ABANDON
This is the term given when a reader moves away from a landing page. You can take advantage of this action with either an exit intent pop-up, or even an abandoned browser email sequence if your ESP allows this feature.
Related content: How to set up an exit intent pop-up in ConverKit
ABANDON CART
Much the same as an abandoned browser, the abandon cart is usually referred to for an email sequence that gets sent to a customer if they have taken the time to add products to cadet and yet leaves the sales process before they enter their payment details.
It’s often thought that a customer can be re-captured at this moment because something might have distracted them from continuing their purchase. By harnessing abandoned cart emails, you can remind your customer that you have their intended purchase ready for them, they just need to complete the final step. It’s also an opportunity to address any objections they may have about their purchase.
URL: UNIFORM RESOURCE LOCATOR (who knew?)
This is the website or page address you use to get to a landing page or website. It’s preceded by http:// or https://. Simples.
DOMAIN NAME
This is the root address for any website or landing page funnel.
SLUG
A slug is the term given to the final part of a URL that differs from the original domain name.
For example...
My domain name is htts://sarahhenson.co.uk
But the slug of my work with me page is /work-with-sarah.
Together this makes the URL: https://www.sarahhenson.co.uk/work-with-sarah
Know any other copywriting terms not listed here?
And that concludes the current version of this essential guide. I’ll be adding more as time goes on so that this becomes a comprehensive resource for anyone wanting to master their copywriting skills and understand more about this secret world of online marketing. You gotta be in the know to join the troops :)
If you have any questions about this, know other copy terms that should be part of this resource or anything else regarding copywriting or email marketing, be sure to send me a message via my contact form on my contact page.