B2B SaaS Glossary

Comparing two versions of a page/email to see which performs better. Used in email campaigns, landing pages, and other marketing materials.

Marketing strategy targeting high-value accounts with personalized campaigns. Used in B2B SaaS to target enterprise customers.

The moment a user experiences core product value for the first time. Critical milestone in user onboarding.

Money spent on advertising campaigns across various channels like Google Ads, Facebook, LinkedIn.

Using partners to promote your product for a commission. Partners earn revenue for each conversion they generate.

Iterative project management and product development approach. Emphasizes flexibility, collaboration, and rapid delivery.

Data collection and interpretation to optimize performance. Essential for making data-driven decisions.

Application Programming Interface. Rules that allow different software systems to communicate with each other.

Revenue per user in a given period. Calculated by dividing total revenue by number of users.

Yearly revenue expected from subscriptions. Example: 100 customers paying €100/month = €120,000 ARR. Key metric for SaaS companies.

External link pointing to your website. Important for SEO and domain authority.

Comparing your metrics with industry standards to identify areas for improvement.

Pre-release testing by a limited group of users to identify bugs and gather feedback before public launch.

Semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on market research and real data about existing customers.

Total cost to acquire a new customer. Example: Marketing €5,000 + Sales €3,000 for 50 customers = €160 CAC. Should be compared with LTV.

Percentage of customers lost over a period. Example: 200 customers, 20 cancel = 10% churn. Lower churn indicates healthy growth.

Percentage of people who click on links in emails or ads. Calculated as clicks divided by impressions.

Deal successfully closed and won. The final stage in a successful sales cycle.

Total revenue expected from a customer over entire relationship. Example: €50/month subscription, 24 months retention = €1,200 CLV.

Unsolicited email sent to potential customers without prior contact. First touch point in outbound sales.

Reaching out to prospects without prior contact through email, LinkedIn, or phone calls.

Techniques to increase the percentage of visitors who take desired actions. Includes A/B testing and UX improvements.

Percentage of users completing a desired action like signing up, purchasing, or downloading.

Software system for managing customer relationships and sales processes. Examples: HubSpot, Salesforce, Pipedrive.

Complete path a customer takes from awareness to purchase and beyond. Includes all touchpoints and interactions.

Decision-making approach based on data analysis rather than intuition or observation alone.

Product demonstration to a potential client. Critical step in B2B sales cycles.

Initial sales call to understand prospect's needs, challenges, and goals before presenting solutions.

Automated sequence of emails sent to prospects over time. Used for nurturing leads and onboarding.

Comprehensive investigation and analysis before making an investment or acquisition decision.

First users who adopt a product before the mass market. Valuable for feedback and testimonials.

Measure of user interaction with content, product, or campaigns. Includes likes, comments, shares, time spent.

Plan for founders or investors to sell their stake or exit the company through acquisition or IPO.

Business model offering basic features free and charging for premium features. Common in SaaS products.

Using game-like elements (points, badges, leaderboards) to increase user engagement and motivation.

Strategy for launching a product or service. Includes target market, positioning, sales channels, and marketing plan.

Creative, low-cost strategies to grow user base rapidly. Focuses on experimentation and viral loops.

Description of the perfect customer for your product. Includes industry, company size, budget, and pain points.

Attracting customers through valuable content rather than interrupting them with ads. Includes SEO, content marketing, social media.

Structured process for managing product ideas from conception to launch.

Measurable values that demonstrate how effectively a company achieves business objectives.

Visual display of key metrics in one place. Provides real-time insights into business performance.

Standalone page designed specifically to capture leads or drive conversions from marketing campaigns.

Potential customer who has shown interest in your product or service.

Process of attracting and converting prospects into leads through content downloads, form fills, demo requests.

Free resource offered to attract leads. Examples: ebooks, templates, webinars, free trials.

Building relationships with prospects over time through personalized content and communication.

Process of evaluating and prioritizing prospects based on their likelihood to buy.

Assigning values to leads based on behavior and demographics. Example: Opens 3 emails (+10), downloads whitepaper (+20) = Score 30.

Software automating repetitive marketing tasks like email campaigns, social media posting, and lead nurturing.

Lead deemed likely to become a customer based on behavior or demographic fit. Ready to be passed to sales.

Monthly revenue from subscriptions. Most important metric for SaaS companies. Shows predictable revenue stream.

Customer satisfaction metric measuring likelihood of customers recommending your product. Scale from -100 to +100.

Revenue growth rate from existing customers. Shows impact of upsells, cross-sells, and churn. Over 100% indicates healthy growth.

Process of helping new users understand and get value from your product. Critical for activation and retention.

Percentage of email recipients who open an email. Industry average varies by sector.

Proactive approach where company reaches out to prospects. Includes cold email, cold calling, LinkedIn outreach.

Specific problem that prospective customers are experiencing. Understanding pain points is crucial for positioning.

Visual representation of all potential deals and their stages in the sales process. Essential for forecasting.

Strategy where the product itself drives growth. Users try the product and experience value before paying.

Degree to which product satisfies market demand. Indicated by high retention, increasing MRR, and positive feedback.

Potential customer identified for sales outreach. First step in the sales process.

Process of identifying and researching potential customers. First stage of outbound sales.

Likelihood of a customer buying your product. Measured through behavior signals and engagement.

Lead that has been vetted and is ready for sales contact. Meets specific criteria for ideal customer.

Marketing activities aimed at keeping existing customers engaged and preventing churn.

Percentage of customers retained over a specific period. Opposite of churn rate.

Plan to keep customers engaged and subscribed. Includes onboarding, support, product updates, and communication.

Revenue lost from existing customers due to cancellations or downgrades. More important than customer churn for understanding financial impact.

Projected annual revenue based on current monthly or quarterly performance.

Document requesting vendors to submit proposals for products or services. Common in enterprise B2B sales.

Software delivery model where applications are hosted in the cloud and accessed via internet subscription.

Key performance indicators specific to SaaS businesses. Includes MRR, ARR, CAC, LTV, churn, NRR.

Providing sales teams with tools, content, training, and knowledge needed to sell effectively.

Stages from awareness to purchase. Example: 1,000 leads → 300 demos → 50 closed deals.

Ability of a business or product to grow efficiently without proportional increases in costs.

Sales role focused on prospecting and qualifying leads. Passes qualified leads to Account Executives.

Dividing audience into meaningful groups based on characteristics, behavior, or needs for targeted marketing.

Optimizing website and content to rank higher in search engine results. Drives organic traffic.

Words and phrases targeted for search engine optimization. Based on search volume and relevance.

Automated, multi-step communication series sent to prospects. Usually includes emails and LinkedIn messages.

Alignment of sales and marketing teams to improve efficiency and revenue. Combines 'sales' and 'marketing'.

Testimonials, reviews, case studies, and customer logos that influence buying decisions.

Lead evaluated by sales team and deemed ready for direct sales engagement. Higher intent than MQL.

Specific group of users your product or service is designed for.

Any interaction between a brand and customer throughout the customer journey.

Percentage of trial users who become paying customers. Key metric for freemium and free trial models.

Process of introducing trial users to product features to drive activation and conversion.

Selling higher-tier product or additional features to existing customers. Example: Basic plan customer upgrades to Pro for €50/month extra.

Moment or situation where existing customer is ready to purchase more or upgrade their plan.

Process of gaining new users or customers. Example: Facebook ads + webinars generate 500 new users/month.

Overall experience of a user with your product. Includes usability, design, and satisfaction.

Visual and interactive design elements of a product that users interact with.

Promise of value your product delivers. Clear statement of benefits and why customers should choose you.

Metric showing how many new users each existing user brings. Above 1.0 means exponential growth.

Self-perpetuating cycle where users bring new users organically, driving growth without paid acquisition.

Prospect who has shown engagement with your brand through content downloads, event attendance, or website visits.

Reaching out to prospects who have previously engaged with your brand in some way.

Measurement, collection, and analysis of website traffic data to understand user behavior.

Online seminar used for marketing, education, or product demonstrations. Effective lead generation tool.

In-depth authoritative report on a specific topic. Used as lead magnet in B2B marketing.

Percentage of deals successfully closed out of total opportunities. Key sales performance metric.

Blueprint or skeletal outline of a website or app design. Used in early product development.

Organic recommendations from satisfied customers. Most trusted form of marketing.

Sequence of connected processes or tasks to complete a specific outcome.

Automating repetitive tasks and processes to improve efficiency and reduce manual work.

Business model where any product or service is delivered via cloud/subscription. Includes SaaS, PaaS, IaaS.

Comparison of performance metrics between current year and previous year to measure growth.

Ideal scenario where all website visitors engage with content rather than leaving immediately.