Marketing Glossary

Click-Through Rate (CTR) Click-through rate (CTR) is the percentage of users who click an ad or link after seeing it, calculated by dividing total clicks by total impressions. Cost Per Lead (CPL) Cost per lead (CPL) is the total ad spend divided by the number of leads generated in a given period. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) Customer acquisition cost (CAC) is the total marketing and sales spend divided by the number of new customers acquired in a given period. Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) Customer lifetime value (CLV) is the total net revenue a business expects from a single customer across the entire relationship. Performance Max Campaigns Performance Max campaigns are Google Ads campaign types that use machine learning to serve ads across all Google inventory, including Search, Display, YouTube, Gmail, and Maps, from a single campaign. Patient Acquisition Cost (PAC) Patient Acquisition Cost (PAC) is the total cost to acquire a single new patient in your dental practice, including all marketing spend, lead generation, and conversion costs from first inquiry to treatment booking. Cost Per Booked Patient Cost Per Booked Patient is the total marketing spend divided by the number of confirmed new patient appointments that are actually scheduled in the practice management system. Dental ROAS Dental ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) is the total revenue generated from patients acquired through paid advertising divided by the total amount spent on those ads in the same period. Practice Yield Practice yield is a measure of how efficiently a dental practice converts its capacity and its patient base into revenue. Patient Lifetime Value Patient Lifetime Value (LTV) is the total revenue generated by a single patient over their entire relationship with a dental practice, including all treatments, procedures, follow-up care, and recurring visits. Same-Day Lead Response Same-day lead response is the practice of contacting a new enquiry the moment it arrives, ideally within minutes rather than hours or days. Voice Agent Qualification Voice agent qualification is the use of AI voice agents to answer inbound calls and gather qualification data (treatment needs, budget, timeline) from callers in real time. New Patient Conversion Rate New Patient Conversion Rate is the percentage of dental leads that convert to confirmed new patient appointments. Dental Funnel Optimization Dental funnel optimization is the systematic improvement of conversion rates at each stage of patient acquisition: awareness (ads to clicks), consideration (landing page to form fill), booking (form to appointment), and show-up (appointment to patient arrival) Patient No-Show Rate Patient No-Show Rate is the percentage of scheduled dental appointments that patients do not attend or cancel last-minute. Recall Marketing Recall marketing is the practice of systematically bringing existing patients back for their next appointment, typically routine checkups, hygiene visits, or follow-up treatment. Specialty Dental Marketing Specialty dental marketing is patient acquisition built specifically for dental specialists and high-value procedures, such as implants, orthodontics, endodontics, periodontics, and cosmetic dentistry. Dental Search Intent Dental search intent is the underlying goal behind a patient's search query. Local Pack Ranking Local pack ranking is where your business appears in Google's local pack, the block of three map results shown above the organic listings for location-based searches like dentist near me. Dental Marketing Mix Dental marketing mix is the strategic allocation of budget across multiple acquisition channels: paid search (Google Ads), local pack optimization, SEO, voice agents, and direct mail. Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) Cost per acquisition (CPA) is the total ad spend divided by the number of customers or patients acquired in a given period. Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) Return on ad spend (ROAS) measures the revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising, calculated by dividing total revenue by total ad spend. Conversion Rate Conversion rate is the percentage of visitors who complete a desired action, such as booking an appointment, filling out a form, or making a purchase. Cost Per Click (CPC) Cost per click (CPC) is the amount paid each time a user clicks on a paid advertisement. Quality Score Quality Score is Google Ads' rating of the relevance and quality of your keywords, ads, and landing pages, measured on a scale of 1 to 10. Impressions Impressions count how many times an ad is displayed to users, regardless of whether they click it. Lifetime Value (LTV) Lifetime value (LTV) is the total revenue a customer or patient is expected to generate over their entire relationship with a business. Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO) Conversion rate optimization (CRO) is the systematic process of improving landing pages, forms, and funnels to increase the percentage of visitors who complete a desired action. Marketing Attribution Marketing attribution assigns credit to the marketing touchpoints that drive conversions. Smart Bidding Smart Bidding is Google Ads' machine learning-powered bidding strategy that automatically adjusts bids to maximize conversions or conversion value. Asset Groups Asset Groups are collections of text, image, and video assets organized for use in Performance Max and Responsive Search Ads. Target CPA Target CPA is a Smart Bidding strategy where you set a maximum cost-per-acquisition goal, and Google Ads automatically adjusts bids to achieve conversions near that target. Churn Rate Churn rate is the percentage of customers who stop using a product or service during a given period. Average Order Value (AOV) Average order value (AOV) is the mean amount of revenue per transaction or customer interaction. Audience Signals Audience Signals are user intent indicators that Google uses in Smart Bidding and Demand Gen campaigns to find high-value audiences. Conversion Tracking Conversion tracking measures when users complete desired actions after clicking an ad, such as booking an appointment, submitting a form, or making a purchase.

ASO (App Store Optimization) App Store Optimization (ASO) is the process of optimizing an app's metadata within app stores (Apple App Store, Google Play Store, and others) to increase visibility in search results, improve conversion rates, and drive more organic downloads without paid use CPI (Cost Per Install) Cost Per Install (CPI) is the total advertising spend divided by the number of app installs acquired during the same period. App Install Attribution App install attribution is the process of connecting each app install back to the marketing source that drove it, so you know which campaign, channel, or creative actually produced the user. LTV:CAC for Apps LTV:CAC ratio is the lifetime value of a user divided by the customer acquisition cost. App Retention Rate App retention rate is the percentage of users who return and actively use an app after a specified period, typically Day 1, Day 7, or Day 30 after install. App Marketing Mix App marketing mix is the strategic allocation of budget and effort across multiple user acquisition and retention channels to maximize sustainable growth at profitable cost per install. SKAdNetwork SKAdNetwork is Apple's privacy-preserving attribution framework that enables app marketers to measure install and post-install conversion effectiveness without collecting individual user identities. App Store Featured Placement App Store featured placement is organic visibility on the Apple App Store or Google Play homepage, category pages, or curated collections. App User Acquisition Funnel The app user acquisition funnel is the path a user travels from first seeing an ad to becoming an active, paying user. App Marketing Channels App marketing channels are the platforms, strategies, and tactics app companies use to acquire, engage, and retain users.

AI Voice Agent An AI Voice Agent is an intelligent voice system powered by large language models that conducts natural conversations via phone or voice channels. Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the practice of structuring, publishing, and promoting content so that it gets cited as a source by AI-powered answer engines including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Bing Copilot. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of structuring and publishing content so that it is indexed, discovered, and used by large language models (LLMs) and generative AI systems including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and other foundation models. LLM Citation Optimization LLM citation optimization is the practice of structuring content so that large language models and AI assistants, such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Google AI Overviews, reference and cite your business in their answers. AI Marketing Stack An AI Marketing Stack is an integrated set of AI-powered tools and systems that automate customer acquisition, engagement, retention, and analytics.