It is ironic that an industry in which we are constantly reminded to keep it simple and not to over jargonize, we do it all the time. For the newbie, it can be frustrating seeking help and advice as a whole bunch of buzzwords and acronyms drown any point out in incomprehensibility.
That said, you’re going to need to know these terms if you want the best advice, so let’s set you straight with some. You can thank me later 😊.
Agile: this one gets a lot of people confused. It’s not about movement, it’s about management. This is a pretty generic term that wants everything to be fluid instead of rigid. Think individualism, software, collaboration and the opposite of stuffy management, and you’ve got it.
Chatbots this one is still pretty new, yet one of the defining trends of the year. You’ve likely seen an AI chatbot on a website by now. They’re not for chatting; they’re for simple customer support, and they are incredibly useful.
CRM: Customer Relationship Management covers a lot of sins, but the key thing to remember here is that you’re going to want to know where your customers stand with you in the sales cycle, and how you can maximize profits. There’s a lot of software out there to help.
Martech: Marketing Technology. This is a huge, booming area that’s full of products designed to make your life easier – except when it comes to terminology.
Multichannel marketing: in an era when brands use multiple channels – social media, websites, telephones – to interact with consumers, you need a consistent brand and marketing presence across all. Sometimes, you’ll hear about its bigger brother, omnichannel marketing… which is the same, but an even tighter consistent vision across all your media/channels.
That’s enough learning for today: as you can see, a lot of these words are simply quick ways for expressing big concepts, making it easier to communicate ideas. If you want to become successful using cutting-edge strategies, the jargon is something that you’re going to have to learn to love…