Terms you'll meet in a media plan.
Short explanations of the terms you'll keep meeting when you read a media plan or talk to an agency. Where a term has a standard formula, we've included it.
A
- A/B test
- Showing two versions of an ad, page or message to similar audiences over the same period to see which performs better. For a reliable result, change only one thing per test.
- Attribution
- The method for deciding how much credit each channel and touchpoint gets for a sale or conversion. Common models are last click, first click and multi-touch.
B
- Brand awareness
- How far your target audience knows and remembers your brand. Surveys measure it as unaided awareness (naming the brand unprompted) and aided awareness (recognising it when prompted).
C
- Conversion
- The action a campaign is after, such as a purchase, a completed form, a sign-up or an app install. Conversion rate is conversions divided by clicks or visitors.
- CPA (cost per acquisition)
- The average amount spent to win one conversion, sale or new customer. CPA = total cost / number of conversions.
- CPC (cost per click)
- The average amount paid for each click on an ad. CPC = total cost / number of clicks.
- CPM (cost per mille)
- The cost of showing an ad a thousand times, used to compare prices across channels. CPM = cost / impressions × 1,000.
- Creative
- The part of an ad the audience actually sees or hears: the film, image, copy, audio or banner. The word also covers the team and process that make it.
- CTR (click-through rate)
- The percentage of people who saw an ad and clicked it. CTR = clicks / impressions × 100.
D
- DOOH (digital out-of-home)
- Ads on digital screens out of home, in malls, airports and metro stations and on streets. Content can change by time, day or location, and some screens can be bought programmatically.
E
- Earned media
- Visibility a brand gets without paying for it, such as news coverage, reviews, shares and word of mouth. Because the brand doesn't control it, people tend to trust it more, and it's harder to plan.
- Engagement
- The total of reactions to content on social media, such as likes, comments, shares, saves and clicks. Engagement rate is usually engagements divided by reach or impressions.
F
- Frequency
- How many times, on average, each person reached saw or heard the ad. Average frequency = total impressions / reach.
G
- GRP (gross rating point)
- The sum of the ratings of every spot in a campaign, showing its total weight. GRP = reach (%) × average frequency.
I
- Impression
- One showing of an ad on a screen, page or broadcast. If the same person sees an ad three times, that's three impressions but a reach of one.
- Influencer
- A content creator with a following around a topic or community who can sway that audience's choices. Türkiye's Advertising Board guidance calls them social media influencers.
M
- Media mix
- The combination of channels used in a campaign and how the budget is split between them. In a good mix, each channel covers another's gaps.
- Media plan
- The document that sets out where, when, on what budget and towards which goals a campaign will run. It usually includes reach, frequency, impression and cost estimates.
O
- Organic reach
- The number of people who see content without any ad spend behind it, mostly through followers and shares on social media. It shifts over time as platforms change their algorithms.
- Owned media
- Channels the brand controls, such as its website, social accounts, email newsletter, app and in-store space. There's no media cost to publish, but the content takes work to produce and run.
P
- Paid media
- Visibility the brand pays for, such as TV and radio airtime, out-of-home, digital and social ads, and sponsorships. The brand controls it, and reach and duration depend directly on budget.
- Programmatic buying
- Buying ad space automatically through software and data, often in real-time auctions. It's used for display, video, audio and some digital out-of-home screens.
R
- Rating
- The share of a defined population watching or listening to a programme at a given time. It's the basic unit of TV and radio planning, and GRP and TRP are built from it.
- Reach
- The number of different people who saw or heard an ad at least once during a campaign, given as a headcount or as a percentage of the target audience.
- Retargeting
- Showing ads again to people who've visited your site, used your app or interacted with your ads. It has to be set up in line with data protection law and cookie consent.
S
T
- Target audience
- The group of people a campaign wants to reach, defined by shared traits such as age, gender, location, interests or buying behaviour. Reach, TRP and CPM in a plan are calculated against this group.
- Targeting
- Choosing who sees an ad. Digital channels target by demographics, location, interests, behaviour and context, while traditional media do it by choosing programmes, titles, dayparts or regions.
- TRP (target rating point)
- GRP calculated for the campaign's target audience only. TRP = reach in the target audience (%) × average frequency in the target audience.
V
- Viewability
- A measure of whether a digital ad actually had a chance to be seen. Under the common industry standard, a display ad counts as viewable when at least half of it stays on screen for one second, and a video ad for two seconds.
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