The Glossary

Every Term a Rep Will Use, Translated.

Media is sold in vocabulary most business owners have never had a reason to learn, which is convenient for the person selling. Here are 69 terms in plain English, with what each one means when the money is yours.

Jump to:The Basics Buying and Rates Audience and Measurement Radio and Audio Television and Streaming Outdoor Print Digital

The Basics

8 Terms.

ReachHow many different people see your advertising.: Counted as people, not impressions. Ten thousand impressions might reach two thousand people five times each. Sellers quote whichever number sounds larger, so always ask which one you are being shown.
FrequencyHow many times the average person sees it.: The number that actually decides whether advertising works. Most planners want three or more exposures in a buying cycle, which is why a small schedule aimed at one town beats a large one spread across a state.
ImpressionsTotal exposures, counting repeats.: Reach multiplied by frequency. The biggest number on any proposal, and the least useful on its own, because a hundred thousand impressions to the wrong county is worth less than a thousand to your street.
FlightA defined run of advertising with a start and end.: Buying in flights, four weeks on and two off, concentrates frequency instead of spreading a budget so thin that nobody notices it. Most small budgets work better flighted than continuous.
CreativeThe advertisement itself.: The artwork, script or video. Some sellers include production free, iHeart and Spotify both do, and others charge for it. Always ask before assuming a rate covers making the thing.
Rate cardThe published list of prices.: The opening position, not the final one. Almost everything in local media is negotiable, particularly late in a month or quarter, and particularly if you can commit to a longer schedule. See the prices
Make-goodA free replacement for an ad that ran wrong.: If your spot did not air, aired in the wrong slot, or the board went dark, you are owed a make-good. Ask for it in writing when you sign, not after something goes wrong.
Share of voiceYour share of all advertising in a category.: If four plumbers advertise in a town and you run a quarter of the spots, your share of voice is 25%. It predicts market share over time better than raw spend does.

Buying and Rates

9 Terms.

CPMCost per thousand impressions.: The standard way to compare media. A $20 CPM means a thousand exposures cost $20. Connecticut streaming runs roughly $20 to $60, Meta around $7.47 to $11.62, and gas station screens $15 to $40. See the prices
CPCCost per click.: What you pay when someone clicks. Connecticut averages $5.42 on Google Search, but it ranges from $2.05 in restaurants to $9.87 in legal, which is why category averages matter more than national ones. See the prices
CPLCost per lead.: What one enquiry costs. The Connecticut average from search advertising is $66.69, and Local Services Ads price leads directly, from about $25 for lawn care to $71 and up for roofing. See the prices
CPACost per acquisition, meaning a customer.: The only figure that really matters. A $57 plumbing lead that converts 44.5% of the time is about $128 per booked job, which is the number to compare against what a job is worth.
CPPCost per rating point.: How broadcast is traded: the cost of reaching one percent of a market's audience once. Useful for comparing stations within a market, useless for comparing across different-sized markets.
ProgrammaticBuying ad space automatically through an exchange.: Software bids for individual placements in real time rather than a person negotiating a schedule. Now common in outdoor and streaming as well as online, and usually the fastest way to start small. See the prices
UpfrontBuying inventory in advance for the season ahead.: Committing early usually buys a better rate and better positions. In local media the equivalent is booking a quarter or a season ahead, particularly for sponsorships and outdoor, where the good positions go first.
RemnantUnsold inventory sold cheaply at the last minute.: Stations and publications would rather run something than nothing. Asking about remnant availability late in a month can cut rates substantially, at the cost of choosing when it runs.
Category exclusivityA promise not to run your competitor.: Common in neighbourhood magazines and sponsorships, where only one plumber or one dentist is accepted. Worth paying for, and worth getting in writing with a defined category. See the prices

Audience and Measurement

11 Terms.

DMADesignated Market Area, a television market.: Nielsen's map of who watches which stations. Connecticut is split: Hartford and New Haven form market 33 with 1,060,910 television households, while Fairfield County belongs to the New York market. See the prices
Metro survey areaA radio market's official boundary.: Connecticut has three: Hartford at number 57, New Haven at 123, and Metro Fairfield County at 73, created in 2020 when Nielsen merged the old Bridgeport and Stamford-Norwalk markets. See the prices
PPMPortable People Meter, how radio listening is measured.: A device carried by panellists that detects inaudible codes in broadcasts. Used in larger markets like Hartford, while smaller ones still use written diaries, which measure differently.
AQHAverage quarter hour audience.: The average number of people listening during any fifteen minute stretch. Small compared to cume, and the number stations quote when they want to sound modest, or hide when they want to sound big.
CumeThe total different people who tune in at all.: Cumulative audience across a period. Always much larger than AQH, and the figure most likely to appear at the top of a proposal.
RatingThe share of a whole market tuned in.: One rating point equals one percent of the market's population. In Hartford's 1,084,600-person radio market, a station with an 11.0 share of listening is genuinely dominant. See the prices
TSLTime spent listening.: How long the average listener stays. High TSL means fewer spots are needed to build frequency, which is why a smaller station with loyal listeners can outperform a bigger one with casual ones.
CirculationHow many copies a publication distributes.: Ask whether it is audited, and whether copies are paid or free. A paid circulation of five thousand usually beats a free distribution of twenty thousand for advertiser response. See the prices
Pass-along readershipPeople who read a copy someone else bought.: The multiplier publications use to turn circulation into readership. Sometimes real, in waiting rooms and households, and sometimes generous. Ask how it was measured.
AADTAnnual average daily traffic.: The state's own count of vehicles on a road, published by the Connecticut Department of Transportation. It is the honest basis for pricing a billboard: I-84 through Hartford carries about 175,000 vehicles a day. See the prices
AttributionWorking out which advertising caused a sale.: Harder than any dashboard suggests, because the billboard someone saw for a month does not appear in the click that closed the deal. Ask new customers how they heard of you and write it down.

Radio and Audio

8 Terms.

DaypartA block of the broadcast day.: Morning drive, midday, afternoon drive, evening, overnight. Drive times cost most because listening peaks during the commute, and off-peak spots in Connecticut start around $25. See the prices
Drive timeThe commuting hours, roughly 6 to 10am and 3 to 7pm.: The most expensive and most listened-to hours. In a state where the average commute runs about 26 minutes, it is also where local radio still genuinely holds attention. See the prices
ROSRun of schedule, spots placed whenever there is room.: Cheaper than choosing your slots, because the station keeps the flexibility. Good value if your customers are not concentrated in one daypart, poor value if they are.
Live readThe presenter reads your ad themselves.: Costs more than a produced spot and usually works better, because it borrows the presenter's credibility. The most effective radio buy available to most small local advertisers.
EndorsementThe presenter says they personally use you.: The strongest form of radio advertising and the most expensive. It only works if it is true, and stations increasingly insist that it is.
Sponsorship tagYour name attached to a recurring feature.: The traffic report, the weather, the high school scores. Cheap frequency attached to something people already listen for, which makes it one of the better small-budget radio buys.
Political fileThe public record of what political advertisers paid.: Every broadcast station must publish it at publicfiles.fcc.gov. It is the only place real, recent rates are published, and it is the reason the broadcast prices on this site can be checked by anyone. See the prices
Lowest unit chargeThe best rate a station gave anyone, owed to candidates.: A federal rule that entitles political candidates to the station's lowest rate near an election. It also reveals how much lower rates can go than a rate card suggests.

Television and Streaming

8 Terms.

CTVConnected television, streaming on an actual TV set.: Ads inside Hulu, Roku, Paramount and the rest, watched on the living room screen. Roughly 95% of these ads are watched through, because most cannot be skipped. See the prices
OTTOver the top, video delivered without cable.: Often used interchangeably with CTV, though strictly it includes phones and laptops. If a seller uses both words in one sentence, ask which screens you are actually buying.
ZoneA slice of a cable system you can buy on its own.: The reason cable is affordable locally: you buy only the towns you serve instead of a whole market. Spots start around $10, and the operator depends on the town. See the prices
InterconnectSeveral cable zones sold together as one buy.: Convenient, and usually more than a small advertiser needs. If your customers come from four towns, buy four towns rather than the whole interconnect.
AvailAn advertising slot available in a programme.: The inventory a station or system has to sell in a given break. Limited avails in popular programming are why good positions need booking well ahead.
Completion rateThe share of viewers who watch the whole ad.: The headline advantage of streaming, where ads generally cannot be skipped and completion runs near 95%. Compare it against skippable formats before assuming the CPMs are comparable. See the prices
Frequency capA limit on how often one person sees your ad.: Essential in streaming, where without one a small audience can see the same spot a dozen times in an evening and start resenting it. Ask what the cap is set to.
UnderwritingSponsorship credits on public broadcasting.: Public stations cannot run conventional advertising, so they run restrained credits instead. No calls to action, no price claims, and a listener profile that skews older and wealthier. See the prices

Outdoor

8 Terms.

BulletinA large highway billboard, usually 14 by 48 feet.: The classic interstate board. In Connecticut these start around $1,200 a month, plus production, and the best positions are held on long contracts. See the prices
PosterA smaller billboard on secondary roads.: Roughly 12 by 24 feet, aimed at local traffic rather than highway speed. Connecticut posters start around $329 for four weeks, which makes them the cheapest static outdoor entry. See the prices
Digital boardAn electronic billboard rotating several advertisers.: Your message appears in a loop, typically for seven or eight seconds every minute or so. Sold by the day or even by the play, from about $20 a day or five cents a play. See the prices
ShowingA package of boards sized to cover a market.: A 25 showing aims to reach a quarter of the market daily. Useful shorthand for buying coverage, and a fast way to spend more than a single town needs.
RotaryA package where your ad moves between boards.: Your creative rotates around several locations every few weeks, spreading exposure across a market rather than concentrating it on one road.
King and queenThe two standard sizes of bus advertising.: A king is the long panel on the street side, a queen the shorter one on the kerb side. Connecticut transit sides start around $75 a month, one of the cheapest presence buys anywhere. See the prices
WildpostingPaper posters placed in bulk on urban walls.: Cheap, dense and deliberately scruffy, used mostly for events and launches. Placement legality varies by town, so ask the operator to confirm permitted locations.
ProductionPrinting and installing the physical advertisement.: Separate from the media cost, and frequently forgotten. A vinyl for a bulletin costs several hundred dollars before the space itself, which is why digital boards suit short campaigns.

7 Terms.

Full page, half pageStandard advertisement sizes in a publication.: Connecticut regional magazines run roughly $600 an issue for a half page and up from there. Size matters less than position and consistency across issues. See the prices
SpreadAn advertisement across two facing pages.: The most expensive placement in any magazine and the most commanding. Rarely necessary for a local advertiser unless the imagery genuinely needs the room.
GatefoldA page that folds out, usually near the cover.: Premium placement sold to premium advertisers. Worth asking about only when the rest of your marketing is already working.
BleedArtwork that runs to the edge of the page.: Requires files prepared slightly oversized so trimming does not leave a white border. Publications supply exact specifications, and ignoring them delays your insertion.
Insertion orderThe contract confirming what runs where and when.: Get the issue dates, position, size and rate on one document before paying. Verbal agreements about position are the most common source of print disputes.
Saturation mailDelivery to every address on a postal route.: How neighbourhood magazines and coupon packs reach households. No list required, which is why they can be mailed free to affluent streets and sold on that basis. See the prices
Shelf lifeHow long a publication stays in the house.: The quiet advantage of regional glossies. Seasons reports that 74% of readers keep an issue three months or more, which is a very different exposure profile from a newspaper. See the prices

Digital

10 Terms.

Quality ScoreGoogle's rating of how relevant your ad is.: Higher scores lower what you pay for the same position. Relevance between keyword, ad and landing page is the cheapest performance improvement available in search advertising. See the prices
Local Services AdsGoogle's pay-per-lead product for verified trades.: You pay per call rather than per click and sit above the regular ads with a Google Guaranteed badge. Connecticut lead prices run from about $25 for lawn care to $71 for roofing. See the prices
RemarketingAdvertising to people who already visited you.: The cheapest audience you will ever buy, because they already know who you are. Usually the highest-converting line in any digital budget, and the most commonly skipped. See the prices
Lookalike audienceNew people who resemble your existing customers.: Meta builds an audience statistically similar to a list you provide. Effective at local scale only if the source list is large enough, generally a few hundred customers at minimum.
GeofencingTargeting a drawn boundary on a map.: Useful for a trade area, a competitor's location or an event. Precision varies, and very tight fences can starve a campaign of the volume it needs to work.
Conversion rateThe share of clicks that become enquiries.: Connecticut search advertising converts at about 8.18% on average. If yours is far below that, the problem is usually the page people land on rather than the advertising. See the prices
Click-through rateThe share of people shown an ad who click it.: Connecticut search ads average 6.64%. Low rates usually mean the ad does not match what was searched for, not that the audience is wrong. See the prices
Impression shareHow often you appeared out of the times you could have.: Tells you how much room is left to grow within a budget. Losing impression share to budget rather than rank means the campaign is working and is simply capped.
Google Business ProfileThe free listing that powers the map results.: The single highest-return thing a local business can maintain, and it costs nothing. Reviews, categories, hours and photographs all feed how prominently you appear.
Landing pageThe page an advertisement sends people to.: Sending everyone to a homepage is the most common and most expensive mistake in local search advertising. One page per service converts substantially better.

Now You Can Read the Rate Card. Here Are the Rates.

Every price on this site is published in plain numbers, sourced and dated, with no vocabulary required.

See the Price Index