How to WIN at ad sales

👋 Today, I’m sharing the ultimate ad sales glossary. The handbook of every term you need to know when slinging sponsorships.

Media sales bibles aside, let’s dive in! 🚀

THE Ad Sales Glossary

Every term and buzzword you need to know to be successful in ad sales.

If you’d like to download this in a super sexy PDF, go to my most recent LinkedIn post and comment ‘Terms’.

👋 General Advertising Terms

• CPM (Cost Per Thousand Impressions) – The cost an advertiser pays for 1,000 impressions of their ad.

• Impression – A single instance of an ad being loaded and displayed to a user, regardless of whether it is clicked.

• CPC (Cost Per Click) – The cost an advertiser pays each time someone clicks on their ad.

• CTR (Click-Through Rate) – The percentage of people who click on an ad after seeing it.

• CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) – The cost an advertiser pays for each conversion (e.g., lead, sale, sign-up).

• ROI (Return on Investment) – A measure of how much revenue an advertiser earns from their ad spend.

• ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) – The revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising.

• CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost) – The total cost a company spends to acquire a new customer, including marketing and sales expenses.

• LTV (Customer Lifetime Value) – The total revenue a business expects to generate from a customer over their entire relationship.

• ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) – A description of the best-fit customer for a product or service, based on demographics, behaviors, and buying patterns.

• Ad Copy – The text written specifically for an ad, designed to grab attention and encourage action (often just called 'copy').

• Call to Action (CTA) – A direct instruction in the copy that tells the audience what to do next (e.g., "Subscribe Now," "Shop Today")

• Geo-Targeting – Delivering ads based on a user’s physical location to improve relevance.

• Pixel – A small piece of code placed on a website to track user behavior and measure ad performance.

• UTM Parameters – Tags added to URLs to track campaign performance in analytics tools like Google Analytics.

• First-Party Data – Customer data collected directly by a company (e.g., email lists, site visits).

• DSP (Demand Side Platform) – A tool advertisers use to automate media buying across multiple ad exchanges.

• SSP (Supply Side Platform) – A platform that helps publishers manage and sell their ad inventory programmatically.

📧 Newsletter & Email Advertising

• Sponsored Newsletter – A dedicated email sent to a publisher’s audience, fully branded by the advertiser.

• Primary Placement - A format of newsletter ad that typically includes a 'Sponsored by (logo)' and an image & paragraph of copy.

• Secondary Placement - A format of newsletter ad that typically includes an image & paragraph of copy in the second half of the newsletter.

• Native Ad – An ad designed to blend in with the newsletter’s editorial content.

• Open Rate – The percentage of recipients who open a newsletter or marketing email.

• CTR (Click-Through Rate) – The percentage of recipients who click on a link within an email.

• Lead Generation – Collecting user information (e.g. emails, names, phone number) for marketing purposes.

• A/B Testing – Testing different versions of an ad or email to see which performs best.

• Click-To-Open Rate (CTOR) – The percentage of email openers who click on a link within the email.

Onsite (Web) Advertising

• Display Ads – Image-based or video ads that appear on a website.

• Programmatic Advertising – The automated buying and selling of ad space.

• Lead Magnet - Something of value offered to acquire potential customers information (e.g. e-books, free training)

• Ad Placement – Where an ad appears on a webpage (e.g., above the fold, sidebar, inline).

• Interstitial Ad – A full-screen ad that appears before the user reaches the content.

• Retargeting (Remarketing) – Showing ads to users who previously visited a site.

• Ad Inventory – The total available ad space a publisher can sell.

👂 Podcast Advertising

• Pre-roll, Mid-roll, Post-roll – Ad placements at the beginning, middle, or end of a podcast episode.

• Host-Read Ad – An ad read by the podcast host, usually perceived as more authentic.

• Dynamically Inserted Ad (DAI) – Ads that are inserted in podcast episodes in real-time based on the listener’s profile, they're not evergreen.

• Sponsorship – When a brand pays for a broader association with a podcast, often beyond ad placements.

• CPM (Cost Per Thousand Downloads) – The standard pricing model for podcast ads, based on the number of downloads an episode receives.

• Evergreen Content – Podcast content that remains relevant long-term, making ad placements potentially long-lasting.

👯‍♀️ Social Media & Influencers

• Branded Content – Content created by a publisher or influencer that features a brand.

• Boosted Post – A paid promotion to increase the reach of a social media post.

• Engagement Rate – The percentage of an audience that interacts with a post (likes, comments, shares).

• UGC (User-Generated Content) – Content created by consumers about a brand, often used in marketing.

• Paid Partnership – A collaboration between a brand and influencer, often disclosed with #ad or #sponsored.

• Influencer Tier – Classification of influencers based on follower count (e.g., nano, micro, macro, mega).

• Social Proof – The credibility built when others engage positively with a brand or product online.

• Whitelisting – When a creator gives a brand permission to run paid ads through the creator's handle.

• Creator Fund – A platform-supported program that pays creators based on performance or engagement (e.g., TikTok Creator Fund).

• Swipe-Up Link – A call-to-action feature in stories that allows users to visit a link directly (often used by verified or business accounts).

• Story Frame – A single image or video within a multi-part story post on platforms like Instagram or Snapchat.

• Thumbstop Ratio – A video ad metric measuring how effectively content grabs attention within the first few seconds (usually on scroll-heavy platforms).

🧮 Metrics & Performance Tracking

• Impressions – The number of times an ad is displayed (not necessarily clicked).

• Conversion Rate – The percentage of users who complete a desired action after clicking an ad.

• Attribution – The process of determining which ad interactions contributed to a conversion.

• Bounce Rate – The percentage of users who leave a webpage without interacting.

• Engagement Rate – The percentage of interactions (clicks, shares, likes) compared to total views.

• Time on Page – A measure of how long a user stays on a web page after clicking through.

• Scroll Depth – The percentage of a webpage that users scroll through — used to gauge content engagement.

• Page Views – The total number of times a page is loaded, including repeated views by the same visitor.

• Session Duration – The average amount of time a user spends on a website in a single visit.

• Customer Journey – The sequence of interactions a user has with a brand before converting.

• KPI (Key Performance Indicator) – A measurable value that indicates how well a campaign meets its objectives.

• Lift Test – (brand lift) A method of measuring the true effect of an ad campaign by comparing exposed and control groups.

• Spark Ads – A TikTok-specific format allowing brands to boost existing organic creator posts as paid ads.

• Finsta – A “fake Instagram” account used by influencers or users to post more authentic, personal content, sometimes used strategically for microtargeting.

• Comment Laddering – A technique where creators or brands comment on their own post (or coordinate others to do so) to boost early engagement and algorithmic reach.

• Share of Voice (SOV) – A brand's ad presence compared to competitors across a defined media space or time period.

• Earned Impressions – Views generated from organic shares or reposts of paid content.

🧾 Advertising Sales & Negotiation

• Insertion Order (IO) – A formal agreement between an advertiser and publisher outlining the ad placement, dates, and pricing. This is the type of contract we use when closing deals.

• Ad Package – A bundle of different ad placements sold together (often just called package, e.g. newsletter + podcast + display).

• Rate Card – A list of standard itemised ad prices and options offered by a publisher.

• Make-Good – A replacement ad or additional inventory given when an ad does not deliver as promised.

• Exclusivity – When an advertiser is the only brand featured in a certain ad space or period.

• Upsell – Persuading an advertiser to purchase additional placements or larger packages.

• Renew - when a brand rebooks after their first campaign

• Direct-Sold Ads – Ad space sold directly to a brand or advertiser without automation or intermediaries.

• Remnant Inventory – Unsold ad space that is offered at a discount, typically filled programmatically or via ad networks.

If you’d like to download this in a super sexy PDF, go to my most recent LinkedIn post and comment ‘Terms’.

P.S. Need help selling more sponsorships? My agency Ad Sales as a Service helps media companies do just that.