As a business owner who has worked hard to build a successful business, you begin to feel that there isn’t much left for you to learn. Surprisingly, however, many business owners aren’t familiar with some of the most common business and marketing terms that are used by both small and large businesses. These general business terms are also useful for customers who tend to be confused when running across them online.
CTA
Call to action. This is a prompt or instruction to your customer such as “click here” or “call now” and usually signifies a sale or percentage off the regular price. It’s a heads up to your customer that there is a certain action they need to take to get the best deal and is used for an immediate response.
SWOT
Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. This is a list or overview of the aforementioned. It should be part of your business plan and outline what you’re great at, where your weaknesses are, what opportunities you have to help your businesses succeed and which obstacles you have yet to overcome.
Niche
In business, a niche is a tiny target market or area that your business focuses on. For example, women’s clothing is a general market, but clothing for petite women would be considered a niche market.
Brand
Many consumers think of a logo as being a brand, however, branding, in business terms, is representative of something you promise your customers.
Conversion
A conversion is the action of your marketing efforts resulting in a sale. For example, in email marketing, when a customer decides to purchase because of information they have received from you, the business owner.
SaaS
Software as a Service or alternatively called Cloud Computing. Software as a service allows your business to provide or to use a web based service as an alternative to installed software. Typically, SaaS is a more affordable solution for businesses than licensed applications.
E-Commerce
E-commerce is selling goods or services over the internet. Though most small business owners are very familiar with this term, their customers may not understand it if used in email marketing.
ROI
Return on investment. This is your net profit divided by your total equity. For example, if you hire a virtual assistant to call your customers regarding a one day special and the assistant costs you $100 for4 hours, you realize $1000 in sales because of it, your ROI is 90%.
There are many other business terms, both familiar and those which are rarely used, but these are the most common terms that business owners may not be familiar with or if they are, their customers don’t understand them. The more familiar your customers are with business terms, the more likely it is that you will realize a sale from your efforts.
© Chris Draper, DemGen Inc. 2015
image courtesy of shutterstock
