Technical English: 9 key words to talk about marketing and advertising

Marketing and advertising is the way to let people know that your company exists.

Many organisations have internal departments to do this, or they employ outside agencies with expert knowledge to help.

Whatever your role, you may need to talk about marketing and advertising.

Here are 9 key words you should know:

Advertising agency

"We're going to use an advertising agency to help us promote our brand."

This is a company that develops strategies to find your target market (the people who want to buy your product) and promote your brand, which will help you to increase sales. The advertising agency will have a lot of experience and resources to help them do this.

A brand is more than just a logo

Brand

"Our competitors have a very strong brand image."

A brand is the image that a company wants to put out.

It is more than just the logo, which is easily recognisable, it is about what the company stands for. Think of car brands such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volkswagon and you immediately have an image of the company. You want your 'brand image' to be positive and an advertising agency can help with that.

Promote

"We really need to promote the launch of our new product."

To promote something we raise awareness that something is happening. All kinds of things can be promoted...a music concert, charity run or bake sale. It is important to promote products so that people know they are there to be bought.

Billboard

"We need to get our advertising onto one of the big billboards in the city."

These are the huge digital boards that are around in every big city. They are rented out by companies and used for advertising campaigns.

Let's get our product onto the billboards in the cities

Consumer

"Consumers are responding to our new campaign. Sales have increased significantly."

Another word for customer.

These are the people who are buying your product. This is used more for off the shelf products in supermarkets and other shops, rather than business to business sales.

Sales pitch

"Our main supplier is visiting this afternoon to deliver a sales pitch for one of their new products."

This is often a pre-prepared, short (think less than 2 minutes) speech where a company representative will try to convince you, the consumer, of the benefits of their product. They will tell you why you need to buy it and why it serves your needs better than the product that you buy at the moment. This is often used in face-to-face situations rather than in online or billboard advertising.

Market research

"Let's do some market research on these new ideas to see which ones will work the best."

The market is the place where you are going to sell your product, think of yourself as a traditional market stall! You want people to stop and buy your product, but how do you know that people want to buy pesto flavoured cheese?

Research the needs and interests of the market you are heading for, this is market research. Companies will often use an external company with lots of experience to do this.

A leaflet through the door to promote a local business

Leaflet / flyer

"I received a flyer through my door for the new hairdressers that has opened in town."

This is great way to let the local population know about a new business. Social media is great for big, national, campaigns. Advertisements for small companies can often get lost in the mix. A leaflet or flyer is a great way to reach people at their door. We often see this used for local businesses such as hairdressers, or during local election campaigns when the message is more personal.

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