Marketing & Acronyms

SEO vs SEM

Quick Definition

SEO is unpaid (organic) search optimization; SEM technically includes both paid and organic but in common usage often refers to paid search specifically.

In context

Don't get hung up on terminology. The practical distinction is paid (PPC) versus organic (SEO). Both are part of comprehensive search marketing.

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Related terms

PPC (Pay-Per-Click)

PPC is an advertising model where advertisers pay each time their ad is clicked — Google Ads, Bing Ads, social ads.

Growth Marketing

Growth marketing emphasizes data-driven experimentation across the full customer lifecycle — acquisition, activation, retention, referral, revenue.

API (Application Programming Interface)

An API is a defined interface that lets software applications communicate with each other.

B2B (Business-to-Business)

B2B refers to businesses selling to other businesses rather than direct consumers.

SMM (Social Media Marketing)

SMM uses social platforms (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, TikTok) for brand building, customer engagement, and lead generation.

NPS (Net Promoter Score)

NPS is a customer satisfaction metric (0–10 scale) measuring how likely customers are to recommend your business.

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