Marketing Glossary for Canadian Small Businesses: 100+ Terms Defined

Your A-to-Z reference for marketing terms used by Canadian businesses. Bookmark this page — it's updated regularly.

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A/B Testing: Sending two versions of a mailer, email, or ad to see which performs better. Example: Testing a 10% off coupon vs a $20 off coupon in a direct mail campaign.
AODA (Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act): Ontario law requiring businesses to make services accessible. Signage must meet AODA standards for font size and contrast.
Average Order Value (AOV): Total revenue divided by number of orders. Increasing AOV (through upsells, bundles) is cheaper than acquiring new customers.

Bounce Rate: Percentage of website visitors who leave without taking action. Local businesses should aim for under 50%.
Brand Awareness: How well potential customers recognize your business. Vehicle graphics and signage build passive brand awareness daily.
Business Reply Mail (BRM): Prepaid return envelopes included in direct mail. You only pay postage when recipients reply.

CAC (Customer Acquisition Cost): Total cost to acquire one new customer. For Ontario small businesses, typical CAC is $120-340. Direct mail CAC: $28-79.
CASL (Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation): Federal law governing commercial electronic messages. Does NOT apply to direct mail — one of direct mail's advantages over email.
Conversion Rate: Percentage of prospects who take the desired action (call, visit, buy). Direct mail: 2-5%. NFC review cards: 40-60%.
CVOR (Commercial Vehicle Operator Registration): Ontario MTO registration required for commercial vehicles. CVOR numbers must be displayed on vehicle exteriors.
CTA (Call to Action): The specific action you want customers to take. "Call now," "Visit today," "Scan to book." Every marketing piece needs a clear CTA.

Direct Mail: Physical marketing materials delivered to homes/businesses via postal service. Response rate: 4.4% (36x higher than email).
Door Hanger: Marketing piece hung on doorknobs. Near-100% notice rate. Popular for lawn care, restaurants, and home services.
Drip Campaign: Automated sequence of marketing touches (email, mail, or both) sent over time. 3-touch campaigns get 3-4x response of single-touch.

EDDM (Every Door Direct Mail): USPS program for unaddressed mail. Canadian equivalent: Canada Post Neighbourhood Mail™.
Fleet Graphics: Branded vehicle wraps, lettering, or decals applied to company vehicles. Generates 30,000-70,000 impressions daily.
Fulfilment: Process of printing, assembling, and mailing marketing materials. Automated fulfilment (like PostGrid) reduces turnaround to 24-48 hours.

GBP (Google Business Profile): Free Google listing showing your business in Maps and local search. Most important free tool for local businesses.
Geotargeting: Delivering marketing to specific geographic areas. Direct mail geotargets by postal code; digital ads by GPS/IP.
HVAC: Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning. One of the highest-value trades for direct mail marketing (avg job: $3,000-15,000).

Impression: One person seeing your marketing material once. Vehicle wraps generate 8-18M impressions annually at $0.04-0.08 CPM.
Lead Generation: Process of attracting potential customers. Our lead gen packages use direct mail to generate inbound calls for local businesses.
Local Pack (Google): Top 3 business listings shown in Google Maps results. Getting into the local pack requires 47+ reviews and strong local SEO.
LTV (Lifetime Value): Total revenue a customer generates over their lifetime. A $697 direct mail campaign that brings in a $15,000 LTV customer = massive ROI.

MTO (Ministry of Transportation Ontario): Ontario government body regulating commercial vehicles. Sets CVOR display requirements.
NAP Consistency: Name, Address, Phone number must be identical across all online directories. Inconsistency hurts local SEO rankings.
NFC (Near-Field Communication): Wireless technology that allows phones to communicate with NFC chips by tapping. Used in review cards to instantly open Google Reviews.
Neighbourhood Mail™: Canada Post's unaddressed mail service. Delivers to every address in selected postal walks. Cost: $0.16-0.22 per piece.

PostGrid: Automated direct mail fulfilment platform. Print and mail postcards, letters, and checks via API. Used for automated campaign delivery.
QR Code: Matrix barcode scanned by smartphones. Used on marketing materials to link to websites, reviews, or offers. NFC is faster and more reliable.
Response Rate: Percentage of recipients who respond to marketing. Direct mail: 4.4%. Email: 0.12%. Door hangers: 1-5%.
ROI (Return on Investment): Revenue generated divided by marketing cost. Direct mail ROI in Canada: 29:1. Email: 36:1. Vehicle wraps: 50:1+.

Saturation Mail: Mailing to every address in a postal code. Best for restaurants, dental clinics, and businesses serving entire neighbourhoods.
SEO (Search Engine Optimization): Optimizing your website to rank higher in Google. Local SEO focuses on Google Maps and "near me" searches.
SFOA (Smoke-Free Ontario Act): Ontario legislation with signage requirements for businesses. Custom compliant signage available.
Touchpoint: Any interaction between customer and business. 80% of sales require 5+ touchpoints. Multi-channel campaigns increase touchpoints efficiently.
USDOT Number: US Department of Transportation registration number. Required for commercial vehicles crossing the US-Canada border.
Vehicle Wrap: Vinyl graphic covering part or all of a vehicle. Full wraps cost $2,500-5,000 and last 5-7 years. Best CPM of any advertising medium.