Request a callDemand generation glossary
27 plain-language definitions of the terms enterprise B2B marketing teams use every day.
Last updated
- 6sense
- An account engagement platform providing account identification, intent data, predictive buying stages and advertising. PlanConversion has implemented 6sense for 5+ large enterprises. 6sense implementation
- Account tiering
- Grouping target accounts by value and priority so spend, personalization and sales effort match each tier, typically Tier 1 (1:1), Tier 2 (1:few) and Tier 3 (1:many).
- Account-based marketing (ABM)
- A B2B strategy that targets a defined list of accounts with campaigns tailored to each account or segment, coordinated with sales and measured by account engagement, meetings, opportunities and revenue. ABM services
- AI adoption
- Moving a team from scattered individual AI use to shared, governed workflows where AI owns defined steps inside real processes, measured against a baseline. AI adoption services
- Answer engine optimization (AEO)
- Structuring content so search features and AI assistants can extract direct answers, using clear questions, concise answers and structured data. Closely related to GEO.
- ARR (annual recurring revenue)
- The annualized value of recurring subscription revenue. PlanConversion uses ARR and pipeline, not MQLs, as the measure of demand generation success.
- Attribution
- The method of assigning credit for pipeline and revenue to the marketing touches that preceded it, such as first-touch, campaign influence or multi-touch models. Attribution that holds up
- Buying committee
- The group of people who influence an enterprise purchase, typically including an economic buyer, a champion, technical evaluators, security, legal, procurement and end users. Reaching buying committees
- Conversion rate optimization (CRO)
- Testing changes to pages, forms, offers and paths to increase the share of visitors who take a qualified next step, measured on qualified demos rather than raw form fills. CRO services
- Demand generation
- Marketing that creates and captures interest from potential buyers and turns it into qualified pipeline, measured on opportunities and revenue rather than leads alone.
- Demandbase
- An account-based marketing platform for account identification, intent data, advertising and sales signals. PlanConversion is a Demandbase partner that operates the platform for enterprise teams. Demandbase programs
- Generative engine optimization (GEO)
- The practice of making a company accurately understood, cited and recommended by AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude and Google AI Overviews. What is GEO
- Headless CMS
- A content management system that stores content separately from the website frontend, delivering it through APIs so pages can be fast, structured and flexible. Headless architecture
- Ideal customer profile (ICP)
- The firmographic and situational traits of the companies most likely to buy, succeed and expand, ideally derived from closed-won analysis.
- Influenced pipeline
- Pipeline from opportunities where at least one contact engaged with a marketing program before or during the deal, regardless of the original source.
- Intent data
- Signals that an account is researching a topic, gathered from content consumption across the web or from first-party engagement. Used to time outreach, not to replace fit. Intent signals to sales action
- llms.txt
- A plain-text file at the root of a website that summarizes the site and lists its key pages for language models. Our llms.txt
- MQL (marketing-qualified lead)
- A lead that meets marketing criteria for follow-up, often based on activity. MQL volume alone is a weak predictor of revenue in enterprise B2B. From MQLs to pipeline
- Offline conversion import
- Sending CRM outcomes such as qualified opportunities back to ad platforms so their bidding optimizes for revenue events instead of form fills.
- Pipeline
- The total value of open qualified opportunities in the CRM for a period. Marketing-sourced pipeline comes from opportunities whose first touch was a marketing program. Pipeline gap calculator
- Pipeline coverage
- The ratio of open qualified pipeline to the revenue target for a period. Required coverage is roughly the inverse of the win rate.
- Process optimization
- Mapping how work flows today, removing waste and handoffs, and automating rules-based steps so cycle time and cost fall without lowering quality.
- RevOps (revenue operations)
- The function that aligns marketing, sales and customer success systems, data and processes so revenue reporting is consistent and trusted. RevOps services
- Speed to lead
- The time between a buyer requesting contact and the first meaningful response from sales. Slow follow-up wastes the budget that created the lead. Lead routing
- SQL (sales-qualified lead)
- A lead that sales has reviewed and accepted as worth pursuing, usually the step before an opportunity is created.
- Structured data (schema)
- Machine-readable markup, usually JSON-LD using schema.org, that tells search engines and AI systems what a page describes: an organization, service, person, FAQ or article.
FAQ
About the glossary
What is the difference between an MQL and an SQL?
An MQL is a lead marketing judges ready for sales based on fit and engagement. An SQL is a lead sales has accepted and qualified as a real buying conversation. We measure programs on SQLs and pipeline, not MQLs.
What is pipeline-to-spend?
Influenced pipeline divided by paid media spend. We target 6x or above for enterprise paid programs.
What is generative engine optimization?
GEO is the practice of making a company accurately understood, cited and recommended by AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude and Google AI Overviews.
