Standardized spellings

These words and terms can be slippery. Here’s how we write them. (If it’s not on this list, defer to the AP Style Guide and the Microsoft Style Guide.)

A

• add-on (noun, adjective), add on (verb)
• autoplay

B

• back end (noun), back-end (adjective) for Mailchimp and MS. backend (noun), back-end (adjective) for the WordPress Codex.
• best seller (noun), best-selling (adjective)
• beta
• brick-and-mortar

C

• call to action (no hyphens, can abbreviate to CTA)
• checkbox
• coronavirus (not corona virus)
• COVID-19 (not covid-19, COVID19, or COVID 19)
• coworker
• click-through rate (CTR)
• cost per click

D

• database (DB)
• double-click
• drop-down (noun, adjective), drop down (verb), dropdown (noun)
• Dropbox

E

• eBay
• e-book, e-cigarette
• e-commerce (the industry, can capitalize if it begins a sentence), eCommerce (for MonsterInsights and Uncanny Owl)
• e-learning (from the MS Style Guide, use E-learning at the beginning of a sentence or heading)
• ePub
• email (never hyphenate, never capitalize unless it begins a sentence)
  • To name
  • From name
  • Reply-to name
  • Subject line
  • Cc, Bcc
• emoji (singular and plural)

F

• Facebook
• front end (noun), front-end (adjective) for Mailchimp and MS. frontend (noun), front-end (adjective) for the WordPress Codex.

G

• geolocation
• Gmail
• G Suite (deprecated)
• Gutenberg, WordPress block editor, block editor, WordPress editor, Gutenberg editor (from wordpress.org)

H

• hashtag
• Help Scout (2 words—for my favourite tech support team)
• homepage
• how-to (adjective and noun; plural how-tos)
• Hubspot

I

• integrate
• internet (never capitalize unless it begins a sentence)
• iOS
• iPhone

L

• login (noun, adjective), log in (verb)
• Like (the social media activity)

M

• macOS
• Mailchimp
• multichannel

N

• nonprofit

O

• OK, okay (for Uncanny Owl)
• omnichannel (use sparingly)
• one of a kind (noun phrase), one-of-a-kind (adjective)
• online (never capitalize unless it begins a sentence)
• opt-in (noun, adjective), opt in (verb)

P

• pay-per-click (PPC)
• plain text (no hyphen)
• pop-up (noun, adjective), pop up (verb), popup (noun)
• pre-sale
• product-market fit

R

• RDBMS (relational database management system)
• reproduce (means to try to produce again; use instead of replicate which means to copy)
• right-click (when referring to the mouse click)

S

• setup (noun), set up (verb)
• sidebar (e.g., post/page sidebar settings)
• signup (noun, adjective), sign up (verb)
• SQL (Structured Query Language; use an SQL file)
• Squarespace
• state of the art (noun), state-of-the-art (adjective)
• step-by-step (adjective)
• sync

T

• third party (noun), third-party (adjective)
• toolbar (e.g., the administration screen toolbar )
• tweet, retweet

U

• username
• Uncanny Owl
• URL (uniform resource locator aka link or webpage address)

W

• webpage
• website
• whitespace or white space
• WiFi
• WordPress (not Wordpress or wordpress)

Words to use carefully

We use plain language, which means avoiding industry jargon. But some jargon-adjacent words can be appropriate in educational contexts. Only use these if you’re writing about marketing education and have have room to briefly define them.

• buyer journey
• conversion
• customer journey
• customer lifecycle
• integrated marketing
• lead generation
• marketing funnel
• multichannel marketing
• omnichannel marketing
• product-market fit
• value proposition

Words to avoid

• automagical (we used to say this a lot, and we’re embarrassed about it)
• funnel, incentivize, leverage, disruption, thought leader, learnings, or other fluffy corporate terms
• internets, interwebs, or any other variation of the word “internet”
• ninja, rockstar, wizard, unicorn (unless referring to a literal ninja, rockstar, wizard, or unicorn)
• young, old, elderly, or any other word describing a person’s age
• crushing it, killing it
• crazy, insane, or similar words to describe people
• best-in-breed
• Silicon Valley cliches like rise and grind, or disruptor/disruption.
• activation (when referring to our presence at an event)
• replicate (use copy instead unless you’re trying to reproduce a problem)