There are few things more intimidating than an acronym that you don’t understand. Certain terms can feel impossible to decipher and those just starting out may not want to ask at the risk of seeming like a newbie. While you should never feel uncomfortable asking for clarification, here are some terms that are likely to come up at some point in your business career that are worth familiarizing yourself with.
1. CRM: Customer Relationship Management
It is important to understand how your business oversees its interactions with potential or existing clients. This often means making sure you regularly interact by sending out newsletters or other communication. Maintaining relationships is vital for maintaining your business.
2. EDM: Electronic Direct Mail
This type of business-client interaction involves utilizing multiple methods of communication, including such as email campaigns, social media, or pay-per-click advertising campaigns. The variety of methods helps ensure that your message is received by all potential customers.
3. Conversions
A conversion is a numeric value indicating when a visitor to your website completes a certain goal; generally this goal is a sign-up or a sale. A higher conversion rate means more people are achieving a certain goal. Understanding your conversion rate can help you determine where to spend time making improvements to maximize sales.
4. SaaS: Software as a Service
This type of company provides a cloud-based application that you can use to improve your business. Usually these programs are provided through a subscription service and are accessible through the internet. Examples include Kaizntree and Shopify.
5. KPI: Key Performance Indications
There are many numbers that you can track in your business. Determine a few to follow closely, such as site visitors per day or sales per week, and make targeted goals based on these KPIs. By creating numeric goals based off of precise numbers, you can use your resources wisely and quickly identify when changes are working.
6. ROI: Return on Investment
It is important to make sure that the money you are putting into your business is actually reaping rewards, or eventually the money is going to run out. For example, by comparing the sales you receiving from a particular ad campaign to the upfront cost of the campaign, you can make informed decisions for the next opportunity.
7. SWOT Analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats
When it's time to update your business, you need to start out with a plan. A great way to do this is through SWOT analysis. Each element of a SWOT analysis is either beneficial (S, O) or harmful (W, T) to your goal, and internal (S, W) or external (O, T). Having an understanding of these for attributes can help you make informed changes that lead to achieving your goals.
8. B2B/B2C: Business to Business or Consumer
When starting out, it's important to know who you're trying to sell to. Your strategy will change whether your intended customer is another business or an everyday consumer. Once you determine who your customer is, you can tailor your website, social media, and communication to their goals.