How to WIN at ad sales

The sponsorships glossary, plus, is affiliate dead?

๐Ÿ‘‹ Today, Iโ€™m sharing the ultimate ad sales glossary. The handbook of every term you need to know when slinging sponsorships.

Media sales bibles aside, letโ€™s dive in! ๐Ÿš€

๐Ÿ“ฐ Newsletter News

๐Ÿค How Olly Richards made $1.2m and 18k subs with 1 doc

๐Ÿค– As AI kills search, hereโ€™s what leading media brands are doing

๐Ÿ‘‚ FT has been having some drama around overlapping teams

๐Ÿ’ฐ 5 hacks to make more product sales with your newsletter

๐Ÿ‘€ ICYMI

๐Ÿ•ต๐Ÿปโ€โ™‚๏ธ The lowest hanging fruit in ad sales

THE Ad Sales Glossary

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

If youโ€™d like to download this in a super sexy PDF, go to my most recent LinkedIn post and comment โ€˜Termsโ€™.

๐Ÿ‘‹ General Advertising Terms

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

  • Geo-Targeting โ€“ Delivering ads based on a userโ€™s physical location to improve relevance.

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

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

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

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

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

๐Ÿ“ง Newsletter & Email Advertising

  • Sponsored Newsletter โ€“ A dedicated email sent to a publisherโ€™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 โ€“ An ad designed to blend in with the newsletterโ€™s editorial content.

  • Open Rate โ€“ The percentage of recipients who open a newsletter or marketing email.

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

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

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

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

Onsite (Web) Advertising

  • Display Ads โ€“ Image-based or video ads that appear on a website.

  • Programmatic Advertising โ€“ 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 โ€“ Where an ad appears on a webpage (e.g., above the fold, sidebar, inline).

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

  • Retargeting (Remarketing) โ€“ Showing ads to users who previously visited a site.

  • Ad Inventory โ€“ The total available ad space a publisher can sell.

๐Ÿ‘‚ Podcast Advertising

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

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

  • Dynamically Inserted Ad (DAI) โ€“ Ads that are inserted in podcast episodes in real-time based on the listenerโ€™s profile, they're not evergreen.

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

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

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

๐Ÿ‘ฏโ€โ™€๏ธ Social Media & Influencers

  • Branded Content โ€“ Content created by a publisher or influencer that features a brand.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

๐Ÿงฎ Metrics & Performance Tracking

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

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

  • Attribution โ€“ The process of determining which ad interactions contributed to a conversion.

  • Bounce Rate โ€“ The percentage of users who leave a webpage without interacting.

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

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

  • Scroll Depth โ€“ The percentage of a webpage that users scroll through โ€” used to gauge content engagement.

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

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

  • Customer Journey โ€“ The sequence of interactions a user has with a brand before converting.

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

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

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

  • Finsta โ€“ A โ€œfake Instagramโ€ account used by influencers or users to post more authentic, personal content, sometimes used strategically for microtargeting.

  • Comment Laddering โ€“ 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) โ€“ A brand's ad presence compared to competitors across a defined media space or time period.

  • Earned Impressions โ€“ Views generated from organic shares or reposts of paid content.

๐Ÿงพ Advertising Sales & Negotiation

  • Insertion Order (IO) โ€“ 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 โ€“ A bundle of different ad placements sold together (often just called package, e.g. newsletter + podcast + display).

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

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

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

  • Upsell โ€“ Persuading an advertiser to purchase additional placements or larger packages.

  • Renew - when a brand rebooks after their first campaign

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

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

If youโ€™d like to download this in a super sexy PDF, go to my most recent LinkedIn post and comment โ€˜Termsโ€™.

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