Arctic Media logoArcticMedia
Start a project →

Home / Glossary

Marketing terms,
translated.

The jargon we use on this site, defined in plain English. Every definition leads with the answer.

Cost per lead (CPL)

Cost per lead is what you pay, on average, for each enquiry a campaign generates: total ad spend divided by the number of leads. A £500 spend that produces 100 leads is a £5 CPL.

Blended CPL

Blended CPL is cost per lead measured across everything you spent, not just the best-performing campaign. It is the honest version of the number: one strong campaign can look cheap while the account overall is not.

Qualified lead

A qualified lead is an enquiry that matches criteria agreed in advance, such as location, budget or genuine intent, rather than any form-fill. Arctic Media agrees the definition in writing before a campaign launches, so reported numbers only count leads that could actually become customers.

Return on ad spend (ROAS)

ROAS is revenue generated per pound of advertising: tracked revenue divided by ad spend. A 4× ROAS means every £1 of ads produced £4 of revenue. It is the primary success measure for e-commerce campaigns.

Blended ROAS

Blended ROAS is return on ad spend across the whole account for a period, all campaigns and all spend included. Like blended CPL, it prevents cherry-picking a single winning campaign as if it were the whole story.

Break-even ROAS

Break-even ROAS is the return at which ads stop losing money, calculated as 100 divided by your gross margin percentage. At a 50% margin, ads break even at 2× ROAS; anything above that is profit.

Cost per acquisition (CPA)

CPA is what you pay, on average, for each sale or customer a campaign produces: ad spend divided by orders. It is the e-commerce sibling of cost per lead.

Organic social

Organic social is the content a business publishes on its own social profiles without paying for distribution. Its reach depends on the algorithm and the quality of the content; its job is credibility and community rather than instant scale.

Conversion-rate optimisation (CRO)

CRO is the practice of improving the percentage of website visitors who take the action you want, such as sending an enquiry. It treats the website as part of the campaign: the same traffic converting at twice the rate halves your cost per lead.

Want to see these numbers for your own business? Try the free break-even calculator, or read our guides for Jersey businesses.

Jargon-free by default

Numbers, explained.
Growth, delivered.

We reply within one working day.

Start a project →