Growth glossary
Most reporting arguments
start with a definition.
Alchemy IBS Private Limited publishes this glossary of plain-language definitions for the terms used in growth, marketing and measurement conversations: lead, qualified lead, attribution, CAC and more. Each entry explains the term, shows how it works in practice and names the misunderstanding that most often distorts a report or a decision.
The growth is often hiding in a word everyone assumed they agreed on.
A business can spend a year lowering its cost per lead before anyone asks what counts as a lead.
For Mr. Rooter Plumbing, the platform's conversion, the phone's call and the business's job turned out to be three different records. Joining them changed what the ads were judged on.
Agree the meaning before comparing the numbers.
Words such as lead, conversion and attribution can mean different things across teams. These entries are working definitions. Your own agreed reporting rules still decide.
When a term appears in a proposal or report, ask which definition is being used and whether the underlying records support it. Agreeing the language is part of the measurement work.
Browse the terms.
Explore acquisition, measurement, customer journeys and technology. Each entry connects to related guidance so a definition can lead to a practical next step.
Account-based marketing (ABM)
Account-based marketing focuses coordinated marketing and sales activity on selected business accounts and the people involved in their buying decisions.
Attribution
Attribution assigns credit for an outcome to marketing interactions using a defined rule or model. It is a way of interpreting observed journeys.
Conversion rate
Conversion rate is the proportion of a defined starting population that completes a specified action. Both the action and the population need to be explicit.
Conversion rate optimisation (CRO)
Conversion rate optimisation improves an experience to help relevant visitors complete a defined action. It combines diagnosis, design and measurement.
Conversion tracking
Conversion tracking records actions defined as important to a business, such as an enquiry submission, purchase or booking. The event must represent what its name claims.
Cost per lead (CPL)
Cost per lead is included acquisition spend divided by the number of leads counted. Its usefulness depends on a clear, consistent definition of a lead.
Cost per qualified lead
Cost per qualified lead divides included spend by leads that meet agreed qualification criteria. It connects acquisition cost with a more specific definition of relevance.
Customer acquisition cost (CAC)
Customer acquisition cost is the cost included in acquiring customers divided by the number of customers acquired under an agreed method.
Customer relationship management (CRM)
CRM describes the processes and systems used to maintain customer and prospect information, interactions and commercial progress. Software is one part of that operating process.
First-party data
First-party data is information a business collects through its own interactions with people, such as enquiries, purchases or service activity.
Generative engine optimisation (GEO)
Generative engine optimisation describes work intended to make information easier for AI-assisted discovery systems to access, interpret and reference.
Go-to-market (GTM)
A go-to-market plan defines how a business brings an offer to a chosen audience: positioning, routes to demand, sales motion and the steps needed to deliver.
Ideal customer profile (ICP)
An ideal customer profile describes the characteristics of an organisation or customer for whom an offer is a strong fit. It helps prioritise where to focus.
Incrementality
Incrementality is the additional outcome caused by an activity compared with what would have happened without it. The comparison is counterfactual, so it needs an appropriate method.
Lead nurture
Lead nurture is a planned sequence of useful communication that helps an interested person evaluate an offer and take an appropriate next step over time.
Lead routing
Lead routing assigns an enquiry to the person, team or workflow responsible for its next step. It combines rules with operational ownership.
Marketing automation
Marketing automation uses defined triggers and rules to perform repeated marketing or customer-journey tasks. It can connect events, records and communications.
Qualified lead
A qualified lead is an enquiry or prospect that meets agreed criteria for the next commercial step. The definition belongs to the offer and sales process.
Revenue operations (RevOps)
Revenue operations connects the processes, data and responsibilities across marketing, sales and customer-facing operations. Its purpose is a more coherent commercial system.
UTM parameters
UTM parameters are labels added to a URL to describe campaign context, such as source, medium and campaign. Analytics tools can use them to categorise incoming traffic.
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