Your 2026 Company's A to Z Martech Glossary

Marketing teams use these technologies to make their organization more efficient by automating certain tasks. Also, they clearly spell out a company’s return on investment (ROI) on efforts, which is a limitation of offline marketing.

If you’re new to the world of digital marketing and search engine optimization (SEO), then we’ve got the help you need. This 2026 martech glossary will help you cut through the noise of confusing buzzwords and give you a basic understanding of martech terminology.

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How to use this martech glossary

The martech terminology below is sorted in alphabetical order. If you’re looking for a particular term, you can quickly and easily find it!

Martech glossary:

A

Now, here’s our list of martech terms and martech acronyms:

A/B testing:

A/B testing is a technique to find the best performing email, landing page, advert, etc. of two choices. A/B testing works by experimenting with two versions of the same variable (page, element, etc.) to see which version drives the best results.

Account-based marketing (ABM):

ABM is a business-to-business (B2B) strategy focusing marketing resources on high-value accounts or prospects with a market. The strategy centers on the bottom line and which efforts will have the biggest impact on the bottom line.

Advertising cost of sales (ACoS):

Advertising cost of sales is how much money you spend on advertising for each dollar of revenue you earn.

Audience intelligence:

Audience intelligence is about finding valuable insights about your audience through data and using those insights to market to them more effectively.

Audience profiling:

Similar to audience intelligence, audience profiling defines who your target customer is through customer buying behavior analysis.

Audience segmentation:

From profiling, marketers segment audiences to better target them in campaigns and market more effectively. This process identifies subgroups within a target audience based on demographics, customer type, or buying behavior.

Automated journey logic:

Automated journey logic is the process of automating the decision-making process for the customer journey. This technique uses an “if-then” logic to automate the customer’s journey, so businesses can anticipate changes in customer behavior and proactively adapt for them.

B

B2B Martech:

B2B Martech, or marketing technology, refers to any software, platform, or tool you use to enhance your business-to-business marketing efforts. Its purpose is to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of your B2B digital marketing campaigns.

B2C Martech:

B2C Martech, or marketing technology, refers to any software, platform, or tool you use to enhance your business-to-consumer marketing efforts. Its purpose is to maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of your B2C digital marketing campaigns.

Big query:

BigQuery is Google’s serverless data warehouse. This scalable, enterprise data tool is a cloud data warehouse that helps companies store and query their data.

Brand awareness:

Our sixth term is brand awareness. Brand awareness is basically how familiar people are with your company. When you market to users at the top of the funnel, you’re usually trying to increase brand awareness.

Bottom of funnel (BOFU):

And at the very bottom of that funnel, BOF (abbreviated) or BOFU. These are the people who are ready to buy — all you have to do is convince them to take action. You want to retarget these users with marketing that directly encourages them to buy, such as a promotion.

Business Intelligence (BI):

Business intelligence (BI) is the use of technology to analyze data and derive insights that help inform business decisions. The process involves collecting, preparing, analyzing, interpreting, presenting, and using data. Business intelligence for marketing is using BI to assist with marketing decisions and improve marketing processes and outcomes.

C

Call tracking:

Call tracking is a method of recording information about phone calls a business receives. Call tracking can monitor who calls a business when they call, who they represent, what the caller is interested in, where they are located, and even a phone call transcript.

Click-through rate (CT):

Click-through rate, or CTR, it is the percentage of people who, after seeing your marketing content, actually click on it.

Conversational marketing:

Conversational marketing is based on targeting audiences through conversations they’re having and engaging them one-on-one. The goal is to convert users with personalized conversations and is usually seen through social media sites like Twitter.

Cookies:

Cookies are text files saved by browsers and stored on a user’s device to track your information. This info helps the site identify its visitors and help improve the user experience by saving passwords or keeping track of items in a user’s cart.

Conversion:

A conversion is basically whenever someone completes an action that you wanted them to complete. Often, that means buying something. But signing up for your email list or trying a product demo could also count as a conversion.

CRM:

A CRM, or customer relationship management platform, is a platform that enables businesses to effectively collect and organize customer data in one centralized location, often implemented with the help of a specialized CRM integration agency.

Customer data management (CDM):

Customer data management (CDM) is the process of acquiring, organizing, and using customer data to better understand your audience and ultimately inform your marketing strategies.

Customer data platform:

A customer data platform is a tool that stores and unifies real-time customer data. These platforms make storing, managing, and analyzing customer data for valuable insights a breeze.

Customer lifetime value (CLV):

Customer lifetime value (CLV) is how much monetary value you can expect a customer to bring to your business over their lifetime.

D

Data activation:

Data activation is the process of using captured data to make business decisions. Activated data is anything that your company uses to guide processes, while a data activation platform primarily transfers information from one platform to another.

Data-driven marketing:

Data-driven marketing uses customer data to create targeted messaging for a better marketing campaign. Considerable ROIs develop from this type of marketing since marketers now target the right customers.

Data enrichment:

Data enrichment is the process of combining first-party customer data with third-party data to flesh it out and make it more useful to your marketing and sales teams.

Data lake:

A data lake is a system that allows you to store all of your data at any scale. Data lakes can help you collect unorganized, raw data in any size that you can analyze later.

Data management platform:

Data management platforms (DMPs) are platforms that handle customer data. These platforms can collect and manage the information, helping businesses pinpoint audience segments and improve the overall ad targeting.

Data mining:

Data mining is the process of analyzing large amounts of data to discover insights that help you improve your business operations and performance.

Data pipeline:

A data pipeline is a sequence of data processing actions that automatically moves data from one or more sources to a target destination.

Data silos:

Data silos are large bulks of information within your company that are limited solely to one team or department.

Data stack:

A data stack is a set of tools and technologies used to gather, process, store, and analyze data in a cloud-based data platform.

Data scraping:

Data scraping or web scraping is the process of automatically retrieving and exporting information from the web into a spreadsheet or a local file saved on your computer.

Data strategy:

A data strategy is a business plan for managing the data that your company acquires — how to gather, store, categorize, and use it. Overall, it’s simply a plan for managing your business data.

Data transformation:

Data transformation is the process of converting and structuring data into a new format that a business can analyze, process, and use for growth.

Data unification:

Data unification is the process of bringing data from several different sources together in one centralized location.

Data warehouse:

A data warehouse is a digital platform designed to store and organize information from across your business. More specifically, data warehouses are intended to help with business intelligence (BI) functions, primarily analytics. They exist to hold data you can analyze and use to improve your business processes.

Digital Asset Management (DAM):

Digital Asset Management or DAM is a system that manages and organizes digital assets like images or videos.

Deep learning:

Deep learning is a powerful technology that allows computers to learn and make decisions like humans, using complex algorithms and neural networks.

View Marketing Analytics Glossary

E

Ecommerce Martech:

Ecommerce martech, also known as ecommerce marketing technology, includes any digital tool created to assist businesses with marketing their ecommerce websites online. These tools increase efficiency and help automate the marketing process.

Email marketing:

Email marketing is a strategy where you send out mass emails to promote your business and your content. You don’t just send emails to anyone — you let people sign up for your e-newsletter on your site, and then you send the emails to those people.

Enterprise Martech:

Enteprise martech, also known as marketing technology, refers to any tools and software that assist in optimizing, tracking, and managing a business’s marketing campaign.

ESP:

Email service providers manage and send marketing emails to a list of subscribers.

ETL:

Extracting, transforming, and loading (ETL) is a procedure that copies and combines data from multiple sources into a single system data warehouse.

ERP:

Enterprise resource planning (ERP), also known as ERP software, is business management software that helps organizations centralize and automate core processes such as finance, human resources, sales, inventory, logistics, and operations. ERP systems provide a shared database that improves efficiency, streamlines workflows, and supports better decision-making across departments.

F

First-party data:

First-party data is data you collect directly from your audience as they interact with your website and marketing campaigns. This data comes directly from your audience — they provide it to you.

Frequency capping:

Frequency capping is an advertising feature that limits the number of times an ad is shown to a single person. This setting helps campaigns become more effective by not wasting budget on a person who isn’t likely to convert.

Full-funnel marketing:

Full-funnel marketing involves marketing to prospects based on where they are in the marketing funnel.

G

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR):

The General Data Protection Regulation is a privacy and security law that establishes guidelines on how the collection of personal data by companies is handled.

Google Data Studio:

Google Data Studio, also called Data Studio, is a free reporting and data visualization tool. It pulls data from up to 12 different sources, including Google Analytics, and combines them into an easy-to-modify, easy-to-share, and easy-to-read report. The platform also features widgets, graphs, charts, and maps to visualize your data.

Google Optimize:

Google Optimize, formerly called Google Website Optimizer, is a free conversion rate optimization (CRO) tool for testing different versions of pages on your website and measuring their performance against specific metrics, like email sign-ups, bounce rate, and more.

Google Tag Manager:

Google Tag Manager is a free tag management tool that helps you create, manage, and launch HTML or JavaScript tags. These tags track analytics data on websites or mobile apps, as well as share that data with web analytics platforms like Google Analytics.

H

Header bidding (HB):

Header bidding is an alternative process to Google’s Waterfall method. Publishers use header bidding to offer ad space to multiple demand sources and ad networks via SSPs.

HubSpot:

HubSpot is an all-in-one marketing and sales software designed for inbound marketing. HubSpot comprises five hubs that offer unique services: CRM, Marketing, Sales, Service, and CMS Hub.

I

iBeacons:

Included with the iOS7 update in 2013, iBeacons are the Apple trademarked name for Bluetooth-enabled devices that communicate with nearby Bluetooth-enabled smartphones by sending messages and notifications.

Internet of things (IoT):

The Internet of things or IoT is a term used to describe a system of physical devices and objects that can all be digitally connected without the aid of human contact. So-called “smart homes” are great examples of this, with everything from the fridge to the locks being run by Alexa or Google Home.

J

Journey orchestration:

Journey orchestration is a means of tailoring customer buyer journeys based on past behavior. Teams and tech come together to anticipate individual needs.

K

Key performance indicator (KPI):

Key performance indicator (KPI) is a metric that helps you see how effective your marketing is.

KPI Dashboard:

With a KPI dashboard, your business can centralize all of your most important KPIs so they’re all in one place and easy to access. KPI dashboards allow businesses to make smarter, data-driven business decisions and more accurate sales forecasts.

L

Lead:

A lead is someone you have a name and contact of in your databases, but hasn’t actually decided to buy from you yet. Someone might become a lead by signing up for your email, downloading a guide, or trying out a free product demo.

Marketing-qualified lead

A marketing-qualified lead or MQL is someone who you have contact info for but they are not ready to dive into a demo or even consider purchasing your product or service.

Sales-qualified lead

A SQL is a sales-qualified lead, this is a higher qualified lead who is primed to purchase and is ready for a demo or phone call or to talk business.

Lead attribution:

Lead attribution is a specific type of marketing attribution that enables you to identify which marketing channels and strategies get the credit for generating a lead.

Lead tracking:

Lead tracking is the process of monitoring and analyzing the journey of potential customers, from their initial interaction with a website or advertisement to their conversion into actual leads, in order to optimize marketing strategies and increase sales.

M

Marketing analytics:

Marketing analytics is the practice of gathering, managing, and analyzing data from your marketing campaigns. It involves processes and technologies that allow your business to see how your campaigns are performing and determine how you can reoptimize them in the future.

Marketing automation:

Marketing automation uses software to run your marketing efforts by automating certain marketing tasks efficiently.

Marketing funnel:

Basically, it’s a visualization of the way people become customers. Picture a funnel, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom. At the top of the funnel, you have a lot of prospects who are just getting to know you. Eventually, some of those prospects move to the bottom of the funnel and become customers.

Marketing technology:

Marketing technology, or martech, is pretty much just what it sounds like. It’s technology that helps you streamline and enhance your marketing. That could include things like email automation software, personalization software, or tools that store and organize customer information, like a CRM.

Martech:

Martech is software that powers and improves marketing processes. It is also referred to as marketing technology.

Martech stack:

A martech stack is a group of marketing tools which, when brought together, cover all the major areas of marketing to help improve your campaigns. A good marketing technology stack will include tools that manage everything from paid ads to analytics. In short, a martech stack helps you automate multiple aspects of your marketing without paying for overlapping tools.

Microsoft Dynamics 365:

Microsoft Dynamics 365 is a suite of apps that can improve company-wide efficiency and customers’ experience with a business. It includes a cloud-based customer relationship management (CRM) software and an enterprise resource planning (ERP) platform that you can integrate into different departments’ functions

Middle of funnel (MOFU):

A middle-of-funnel user (often abbreviated to MOF and MOFU)  is someone in the middle of your marketing funnel. They’ve gotten to know your business a little bit, and they’re kind of starting to think about buying, but they’re still not ready to become a customer yet. This is a great trust building phase where you can establish thought leadership with these users and expand your relationship with them so that when they are ready to buy they will choose you.

O

Objectives and key results (OKRs):

Objectives and key results (OKRs) are specific goals you set for your marketing campaigns, along with the metrics you plan on using to measure them.

Omnichannel platform:

An omnichannel platform is a tool that helps you unify your marketing channels to simplify the omnichannel marketing approach. Some platforms feature automation, making the process even easier.

Out of the box (OOTB):

Out of the box is a term used to describe the situation when a product works immediately upon removal from a box and doesn’t need a manual setup.

P

Predictive analytics:

Predictive analytics uses statistics, data, machine learning, and algorithm techniques to make predictions of outcomes or performance based on historical data.

Programmatic advertising:

Programmatic advertising is a form of advertising where you use automated tools to help you buy or sell advertising space.

R

Request for information (RFI):

Request for information or an RFI is a standard business practice of collecting written information about the capabilities of various suppliers that help support buying decisions.

Request for proposal (RFP):

Request for proposal or an RFP is a formal document request for a quote or proposal from a vendor or supplier.

Return on ad spend (ROAS):

Return on ad spend is how much money you earn for your investment in paid advertising.

Return on investment (ROI):

ROI is a metric for evaluating how much value you get for what you spend on your marketing. Marketing costs money, and ROI helps you see if you’re earning back the money you spent with a decent-sized profit.

Revenue intelligence:

Revenue intelligence is the process of gathering and analyzing data about your sales and product usage to drive more revenue.

S

Sales accepted lead (SAL):

Sales accepted leads, or SALs, are prospects who have been accepted by the sales team and moved through the sales pipeline.

Sales Automation:

Sales automation is the process of streamlining manual, time-consuming tasks in the sales process.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO):

SEO is a strategy where you try to get your website ranking in Google search results. The goal is for people to find your site when they search for stuff related to your industry. Then they visit your website to learn more, and they end up getting interested in what you sell.

ServiceTitan:

ServiceTitan is a field service management (FSM) software application designed for service contractors. That means it helps contractors manage business data, complete tasks, and do many other things involved in running a business. Basically, it’s a one-stop shop for all your business management needs.

Social media marketing:

Social media marketing is where you promote your business and engage with your audience on social media. You can create an account for your business and post content there. You can also run social media ads to get in front of your target audience, even if they don’t follow you.

T

Top of funnel (TOFU):

A top-of-funnel user, or TOF or TOFU, is a cold audience that doesn’t know you yet and the goal of the campaign is to introduce these people to your brand, product or service. They’re most likely not ready to buy yet.

TTV:

TTV is the time it takes for your business to see returns after purchasing a service or product. This idea is essential to making sure that the technologies and services you use produce quantifiable outcomes.

Twilio Segment:

Twilio Segment is a customer data platform, which means it helps you gather and organize data about your customers (mostly first-party data, which means it comes from your company’s own interactions with those customers). Twilio Segment can also help you draw insights from that data.

W

Web design and development:

Web design and development is building and maintaining your website. Web design focuses more on the way your site looks and feels. Development is more focused on how your website functions, although it can overlap with design in several areas.

Learn more about martech with these glossaries

Check out these glossaries to build your martech dictionary:

• Marketing Terms
• PPC Terms
• SEO Glossary
• Marketing Buzzwords
• Digital Marketing Terms

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