Marketing glossary

A/B Test

Running two versions of an ad simultaneously to measure which performs better. The version with higher CTR, conversion rate, or ROAS wins and gets scaled.

In mani: Mani generates multiple variations per brief specifically for A/B testing. Approve 2-3 variants and let the ad platform pick the winner.

Abandoned Cart

When a shopper adds items to their cart but leaves the site without completing the purchase. Abandoned cart email flows typically recover 5-15% of abandoned carts.

In mani: Mani generates abandoned cart email creative showing the exact products left behind.

Ad Creative

The visual and textual content of an advertisement. Includes the image or video, headline, body copy, and call-to-action. The creative is what the viewer actually sees in their feed.

In mani: Mani generates ad creative grounded in your Brand DNA so every output matches your brand identity.

Ad Set

A group of ads within a campaign that share the same targeting, budget, and schedule. You might have one campaign with three ad sets targeting different audiences, each containing 3-5 creative variants.

AOV

Average Order Value. The average dollar amount spent per transaction. Calculated by dividing total revenue by number of orders. Higher AOV means more revenue per customer.

Before/After

An ad format showing the transformation a product delivers. Left panel shows the problem state, right panel shows the result. One of the highest-converting ad formats for results-based products.

In mani: Mani generates before/after split-screen ads from your product photos.

BFCM

Black Friday / Cyber Monday. The highest-revenue shopping weekend of the year for ecommerce brands. Typically runs from the Friday after Thanksgiving through the following Monday, though many brands extend deals through the full week.

In mani: Mani's campaign planner generates BFCM-specific creative sequences with countdown timers and urgency copy.

Body Copy

The main text of an ad below the headline. Expands on the hook, provides details, and builds the case for clicking. Optimal length varies by platform: 125 characters on Meta feed before truncation, up to 2200 on Instagram.

Brand Archetype

A universal character pattern that brands embody (Hero, Creator, Outlaw, Sage, etc.). Archetypes guide tone, visual style, and messaging consistency. Most brands are a blend of 1-2 primary archetypes.

Brand DNA

The complete identity profile of a brand: visual style, tone of voice, color palette, target audience, product catalog, and keywords. In mani, Brand DNA is automatically extracted from your website URL and used to ground every generation.

In mani: Mani's 6 parallel extractors build your Brand DNA in 90 seconds from a URL scan.

Brand Identity

The collection of visual and verbal elements that make a brand recognizable: logo, colors, typography, tone of voice, and messaging. Consistent brand identity builds trust and recognition over time.

Brand Radar

In mani, a competitive intelligence feature that monitors competitor ads, surfaces winning creative patterns, and generates remixed versions grounded in your brand identity.

In mani: Brand Radar turns competitor watching into actionable creative output.

Brand Voice

The consistent personality and tone a brand uses in all communication. Whether formal, casual, playful, or technical, brand voice should be recognizable across every touchpoint.

In mani: Mani's tone extractor learns your brand voice from your website copy and applies it to every generated ad.

CAC

Customer Acquisition Cost. The total cost of acquiring a new customer, including ad spend, creative production, and tool costs. Calculated by dividing total marketing spend by new customers acquired.

Campaign

A coordinated set of ads with a shared objective, budget, and timeframe. A BFCM campaign might contain multiple ad sets targeting different audiences with different creative.

In mani: Mani's campaign planner generates 90-day content calendars with per-platform creative.

Campaign Studio

In mani, the editing interface for refining, remixing, and sequencing generated ads. Edit copy, create format variations, build campaign sequences, and batch-apply seasonal overlays.

In mani: Campaign Studio is where AI output becomes publish-ready creative.

Carousel

An ad format with 2-10 swipeable cards, each with its own image, headline, and link. Carousels have the highest engagement rate per impression on Meta because the swipe mechanic creates commitment.

In mani: Mani generates carousel ads with narrative arcs: hook, context, proof, CTA across 5 slides.

Churn

The rate at which customers stop buying from you or cancel their subscription. Monthly churn rate is the percentage of customers lost per month. Reducing churn by 1% can increase LTV by 5-10%.

Color Palette

The set of colors that define a brand's visual identity: primary, secondary, accent, text, and background colors. Consistent palette use across ads builds brand recognition.

In mani: Mani's palette extractor pulls 5 brand colors from your website CSS and applies them to every generation.

Conversion Rate

The percentage of visitors who complete a desired action (purchase, signup, download). Average Shopify conversion rate is 1.4-3.2%. Above 3% is top-quartile.

CPA

Cost Per Acquisition. The cost to achieve a specific conversion action (purchase, signup, download). Lower CPA means more efficient advertising.

CPC

Cost Per Click. The amount you pay each time someone clicks your ad. Varies by platform, audience, and competition. Typical Meta CPC ranges from $0.50 to $3.00 for DTC brands.

CPM

Cost Per Mille (per thousand impressions). The cost to show your ad 1,000 times. CPMs spike during competitive periods (BFCM, Q4) and vary by platform and targeting.

Cross-Sell

Recommending complementary products to existing customers. 'You bought the serum; try the moisturizer.' Cross-sell ads targeting existing customers have 3-5x higher conversion rates than cold acquisition.

CTA

Call To Action. The button or text that tells the viewer what to do next: 'Shop Now', 'Try Free', 'Learn More'. Specific CTAs ('Get 30% Off Today') outperform generic ones ('Learn More') by 2-3x.

In mani: Mani generates platform-specific CTAs matched to your ad objective.

CTR

Click-Through Rate. The percentage of people who see your ad and click it. Calculated by dividing clicks by impressions. Average CTR on Meta is 0.9-1.5% for DTC brands; above 2% is excellent.

Daily Queue

In mani, the daily queue automatically generates 3-5 fresh ad variations every morning based on your Brand DNA. Review, approve, and publish in 15 minutes.

In mani: The daily queue is what makes mani a habit, not a tool. Fresh ads every morning without manual briefs.

Drip Campaign

An automated email sequence sent over days or weeks. Welcome drips, abandoned cart drips, and post-purchase drips are the three highest-ROI email automations for ecommerce.

DTC

Direct To Consumer. Brands that sell directly to end customers without retail intermediaries. DTC brands control their customer relationship, data, and pricing. Most Shopify stores are DTC.

Generation

In mani, a single production run that creates one or more ad variations from a brief + Brand DNA. Each generation produces headline, body copy, CTA, and visual grounded in your brand.

Hook

The first element that grabs attention. In video ads, the hook is the first 3 seconds. In static ads, the hook is the headline or visual pattern interrupt. If the hook fails, nothing else matters.

In mani: Mani tests multiple hook styles per generation: question, social proof, problem statement, founder voice.

ICP

Ideal Customer Profile. The specific description of who your product is built for: demographics, psychographics, pain points, and buying behavior. Ads targeted to a well-defined ICP convert 3-5x better than broad targeting.

In mani: Mani's audience extractor identifies your ICP from your website content and uses it to ground ad copy.

Lookalike Audience

An ad platform audience built from your existing customers. Meta, TikTok, and Google find people who share characteristics with your best customers but have not discovered you yet.

LTV

Lifetime Value. The total revenue a customer generates over their entire relationship with your brand. For subscription businesses, LTV = average monthly revenue per customer multiplied by average customer lifespan in months.

Meta Ads

Advertising across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Audience Network via Meta's ad platform. Meta Ads Manager is the primary paid acquisition channel for most DTC brands in 2026.

In mani: Mani generates Meta-native creative in all supported formats: 1:1, 4:5, 9:16, carousel.

Multivariate Test

Testing multiple variables simultaneously (headline + image + CTA). More complex than A/B testing but reveals interaction effects. Meta's Advantage+ does this automatically.

Organic Social

Social media content posted without paid promotion. Organic reach is declining across all platforms but remains important for brand building, community, and content that paid ads can repurpose.

Persona

A semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on real data. 'Sarah, 32, DTC beauty founder, $2M revenue, spends 3 hours/week on ad creative.' Personas make targeting and copy decisions concrete.

Product Shot

A photograph of your actual product, typically on a clean background. Product shots are the foundation of DTC advertising because customers expect to see what they are buying.

In mani: Mani composites your real product photos into AI-generated lifestyle scenes.

Prospecting

Targeting people who have never heard of your brand. Prospecting campaigns have higher CPA than retargeting but are essential for growth. They fill the top of the funnel.

Retargeting

Showing ads to people who have already visited your site, added to cart, or engaged with your content. Retargeting audiences convert 3-10x better than cold prospecting audiences.

Retention

Keeping existing customers buying from you over time. Retention marketing (email flows, loyalty programs, re-engagement ads) is 5-7x cheaper than acquisition marketing.

ROAS

Return On Ad Spend. Revenue generated divided by ad spend. A 3x ROAS means every $1 spent on ads generates $3 in revenue. Blended ROAS across all channels is more meaningful than platform-specific ROAS.

Social Proof

Evidence that other people trust your brand: reviews, testimonials, star ratings, customer counts, press logos. Social proof ads outperform standard ads by up to 4x on CTR.

In mani: Mani generates social proof ad formats from your review data and customer testimonials.

Subscription

A recurring purchase model where customers pay periodically for ongoing product delivery. Subscribe-and-save models increase LTV and reduce churn for consumable products.

Swipe Queue

In mani, the interface for reviewing generated ads. Swipe right to approve, left to reject. The queue learns from your decisions and biases future generations toward your preferences.

In mani: The swipe queue is designed for speed: 3-5 seconds per decision, 15 minutes for a full morning review.

TikTok Ads

Advertising on TikTok's platform. UGC-style content outperforms polished production by 46% on TikTok. The platform rewards authenticity and penalizes creative that looks like traditional advertising.

In mani: Mani generates TikTok-native 9:16 creative with UGC-style aesthetic.

Typography

The fonts and text styling that define a brand's written visual identity. Consistent typography across ads, website, and packaging builds brand recognition. Sans-serif dominates DTC; serif signals luxury.

UGC

User-Generated Content. Content created by customers or creators rather than the brand. UGC-style ads (phone-shot, natural lighting, selfie angle) drive 6.7x higher conversions than brand-produced content.

In mani: Mani generates UGC-style ad scripts and visual direction that look authentic, not AI-generated.

Upsell

Encouraging a customer to buy a more expensive version or add-on. 'Upgrade to the Pro set for $10 more.' Upsell revenue has zero acquisition cost because the customer is already buying.

Variant

A different version of the same ad concept. Variants share the same product and offer but differ in headline, visual composition, or creative angle. Testing 3-5 variants per concept is the minimum for meaningful data.

In mani: Mani generates genuinely different creative angles per variation, not just rewording.

Vibe Picker

In mani, an interactive tool for exploring 12+ visual ad styles: minimalist, bold, editorial, UGC, retro, brutalist, luxury, playful, tech-forward, organic, social proof, cinematic.

In mani: Pick a vibe, and mani generates ads in that style grounded in your Brand DNA.

Welcome Flow

An automated email sequence sent to new subscribers. Typically 5-7 emails over 14 days: deliver lead magnet, share brand story, introduce products, provide social proof, soft pitch. Converts 20-30% of subscribers.

In mani: Mani generates welcome flow email creative matching your brand.