M
"Make Hay"
Definition
Make Hay is a phrase derived from the saying “make hay while the sun shines,” meaning to take advantage of favorable conditions or opportunities while they last. In a business context, it refers to acting quickly and decisively when conditions are right to maximize success.
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That moment when you stop procrastinating and finally jump on an opportunity—because waiting around won’t get you the promotion, but a little hustle just might.
"Move Fast and Break Things"
Definition
A mantra popularized in the tech industry that encourages rapid innovation and action, even if it means making mistakes or causing disruption along the way.
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The reckless rallying cry of Silicon Valley—where speed trumps caution, and breaking stuff is just collateral damage in the race to be the next big thing. Who needs stability when you can have chaos, right?
[Marketing](https://stephenboudreau.com/marketing/)
Definition
To paraphrase the great Seth Godin... Marketing is the generous act of helping someone solve a problem. Their problem. It’s about understanding their needs and offering the solutions that help them become who they seek to become.
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The delicate art of making people believe you’re not selling them something—they’re just conveniently finding exactly what they need, with a little nudge from you.
[Multichannel Marketing / Omnichannel Marketing](https://stephenboudreau.com/omni-channel-strategy/)
Definition
A cohesive marketing strategy that integrates all communication channels to provide a seamless, unified experience for customers, regardless of where or how they engage with a brand.
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The magical coordination where every time a customer opens an email, visits your website, or strolls into your store, they feel like you’ve been waiting for them—without the creepy vibes.
Machine Learning
Definition
A type of artificial intelligence where computers learn from data and improve over time without needing to be manually programmed for every task, allowing them to make predictions or decisions based on patterns they recognize.
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When computers get smart enough to teach themselves—so they can handle the heavy lifting while you sit back, wondering how long until they realize they don’t need you anymore.
Mail Merge
Definition
A process that automatically personalizes mass communications, such as emails or letters, by inserting unique information (like names or addresses) into a template.
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The magic trick that makes generic emails feel like they were written just for you—until you realize everyone got the same “personal” message.
Main Navigation
Definition
The primary set of links or menu items on a website that helps users easily access key sections or pages, typically found at the top of a webpage.
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The map that keeps people from getting lost on your site—so they can find what they’re looking for without wandering around like they’re in a digital corn maze.
Make It Happen
Definition
Make It Happen is a phrase used to encourage someone to take action and ensure a task, project, or goal is successfully completed, often without excuses or delays.
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The corporate equivalent of “just do it,” where you're expected to magically pull off the impossible—no questions asked, and definitely no budget increases.
MAP (Marketing Automation Platform)
Definition
Software that automates marketing tasks and workflows, such as email campaigns, social media posting, and lead nurturing, to improve efficiency and track customer engagement across multiple channels.
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The digital assistant that handles your marketing busywork—sending emails, tracking leads, and making you look like you’re everywhere at once, without lifting a finger.
MAP (Mutual Action Plan)
Definition
MAP stands for Mutual Action Plan, a collaborative document or strategy between a seller and a buyer that outlines the steps, responsibilities, and timelines required to complete a sale or project. It ensures both parties are aligned on what needs to happen and when to reach a successful outcome.
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The detailed to-do list both you and your customer agree to—so everyone knows what to do, when to do it, and there’s no confusion when things get done (or don’t).
Marginal Benefit
Definition
Marginal Benefit refers to the additional benefit or value gained from consuming or producing one more unit of a good or service. It helps businesses and consumers evaluate whether the extra effort or cost is worth the added advantage. For example, in a SaaS company, the marginal benefit could be the additional revenue generated by signing up one more customer, weighed against the cost of acquiring that customer through marketing or sales efforts.
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The “Is this extra slice of cake really worth it?” calculation—basically weighing the small gains against the effort of doing just a little more.
Market Penetration
Definition
The extent to which a product or service is successfully gaining customers and market share in an industry or segment, often measured by sales volume or customer adoption compared to the total available market.
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How deep your brand has sunk its teeth into the market—and how much of the pie is still up for grabs before your competitors swoop in for a bite.
Market Research
Definition
The process of gathering and analyzing data about a target market, customers, and competitors to inform business decisions, product development, and marketing strategies.
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The homework you have to do before launching anything—so you don’t end up selling ice to people in the Arctic or winter coats in the desert.
Market Research
Definition
The process of gathering and analyzing data about a target market, customers, and competitors to inform business decisions, product development, and marketing strategies.
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The detective work where you figure out what people want, so you don’t waste time selling umbrellas to folks living in the desert—or trying to be cool when you’re clearly not.
Market Share
Definition
The percentage of total sales or customers that a company or product captures within its industry or market, indicating its dominance relative to competitors.
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The business equivalent of playing Monopoly, where your goal is to own the biggest chunk of the board and leave your competitors stuck on Baltic Avenue.
Marketing Analytics
Definition
The practice of measuring, managing, and analyzing marketing performance to optimize strategies, make data-driven decisions, and improve ROI.
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The spreadsheets and charts your team uses to pretend they understand why your last campaign tanked—or to claim genius status when it unexpectedly worked.
Marketing Automation
Definition
The use of software and technology to automate repetitive marketing tasks, such as email campaigns, social media posting, and lead nurturing, to increase efficiency and effectiveness.
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The set-it-and-forget-it approach to marketing—where your campaigns run on autopilot, so you can pretend you’re working hard while your computer does all the heavy lifting behind the scenes.
Marketing Channels
Definition
The various platforms, methods, or mediums used by businesses to communicate with and reach their target audience, including digital, print, social media, email, and more.
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All the different ways you can shout, “Look at us!”—whether it’s through an Instagram post, an email, or a skywriting stunt that seemed like a good idea at the time.
Marketing Collateral
Definition
Any branded materials, such as brochures, presentations, or digital content, that support a company’s marketing and sales efforts by conveying key messages to prospects and customers.
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The glossy flyers, PDFs, and PowerPoints your sales team hands out, hoping they’ll impress clients enough to overlook the fact that everyone’s too busy to read them.
Marketing Mix
Definition
The combination of factors a company uses to influence consumers' decisions, typically broken down into the 4 Ps: Product, Price, Place, and Promotion.
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The business recipe where you mix just the right amount of product hype, pricing strategy, and flashy ads—and pray it doesn’t come out tasting like disappointment.
MarOps / MOPS (Marketing Operations)
Definition
A role or function responsible for managing the processes, technology, and data that support a company’s marketing efforts, ensuring campaigns are efficient, measurable, and aligned with business goals.
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The behind-the-scenes wizards who make sure your marketing campaigns don’t turn into chaos, juggling analytics, tools, and spreadsheets so the creative folks can keep dreaming up catchy slogans.
Martech (Marketing Technology)
Definition
A buzzword used to describe the software tools and platforms marketers rely on to plan, execute, and track campaigns. It combines "marketing" and "technology" into one convenient, jargon-y term, covering everything from CRMs to email automation.
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The endless sea of apps and tools marketers claim they can’t live without, even though half of them are barely touched after the free trial ends.
Mascots
Definition
A character or figure, often animated or stylized, used by a brand to create a friendly and relatable image, helping to build emotional connections with the audience.
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The fun, often goofy character brands use to make you smile—and hopefully get you to remember them long after the commercial’s over.
Mass Marketing
Definition
A strategy that aims to appeal to a large, broad audience using generalized messaging and wide-reaching channels, with the goal of maximizing exposure and brand awareness.
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The marketing equivalent of yelling into a megaphone in a crowded room, hoping at least a few people hear you and think, “Hey, that’s for me!”
MAU (Monthly Active Users)
Definition
The number of unique users who interact with a product or service within a month.
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The number of people who remember to log in each month.
MECE (Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive)
Definition
An approach for structuring information by ensuring categories are distinct (mutually exclusive) and all-encompassing (collectively exhaustive), used to thoroughly and systematically address problems without overlap or gaps.
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Picture dividing your audience into groups like organizing a spice rack—no cumin sneaks into the paprika jar, and every flavor is accounted for, making your marketing recipe foolproof and free of any unintended surprises.
Memes
Definition
Images, videos, or phrases that spread rapidly online, often humorous or satirical, and are commonly used by brands to engage with audiences, boost social media presence, or convey messages in a culturally relevant way.
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The internet’s inside jokes—short, snappy, and perfect for marketers trying to look cool while sneaking their brand into a viral moment.
Merge Tags
Definition
Dynamic placeholders used in email marketing or document templates that automatically insert personalized information—such as a recipient’s name or company—when the message is sent.
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The clever little fill-in-the-blank trick that helps you pretend you wrote a personal message to each recipient—without the extra effort.
Meritocracy
Definition
Meritocracy refers to a system or organization where individuals advance and are rewarded based solely on their talents, efforts, and achievements, rather than on privilege or social status.
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The ideal everyone claims to strive for, where your success supposedly depends on how good you are—unless, of course, someone’s cousin is already in line for the promotion.
Messaging Framework
Definition
A structured guide that outlines the key messages a brand or company wants to communicate, ensuring consistency across all marketing channels and helping teams convey a clear and unified message to their audience.
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The cheat sheet that keeps everyone on the same page—so your team doesn’t accidentally send mixed signals and end up sounding like a bunch of marketing interns with too many ideas.
Meta Description
Definition
A brief summary, typically around 155 characters, that appears below a webpage’s title in search engine results, designed to give users a quick preview of the page’s content and encourage clicks.
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That tiny blurb under your website link that has the impossible task of being both witty and informative in about two sentences—while trying to convince people it’s worth their click.
Meta Keywords
Definition
A list of relevant keywords included in the HTML code of a webpage to help search engines understand its content, though they’re no longer a significant factor in modern SEO rankings.
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Once the secret sauce of SEO, now the digital equivalent of throwing confetti in the air and hoping Google still cares—but spoiler: it doesn’t.
Meta Tags
Definition
HTML elements that provide information about a webpage to search engines and website visitors, including meta descriptions, keywords, and titles, helping with SEO and page indexing.
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The behind-the-scenes code that whispers to search engines, “Here’s what this page is all about,” while quietly hoping your site doesn’t end up lost in the internet void.
Microinteractions
Definition
Small, subtle design elements or animations that enhance user experience by providing feedback, guiding tasks, or adding a bit of delight during interactions with a website or app—like a button changing color when clicked.
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Those tiny, satisfying moments where your website or app shows a bit of personality—whether it’s a playful animation or a gentle nudge that says, “Yep, you clicked it!”
Microsite
Definition
A Microsite is a small, standalone website or a collection of pages designed to focus on a specific marketing campaign, product, or event. Microsites are typically separate from the main company website, allowing for a more targeted and focused user experience, often with a unique domain or subdomain.
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A mini website created for a single purpose—whether it’s promoting a new product, running a special campaign, or telling a unique brand story without the clutter of your main site.
Mid-Market
Definition
A business segment that sits between small businesses and large enterprises, typically defined by revenue or number of employees, offering opportunities for scalable growth without the complexities of enterprise-level operations.
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Not too big, not too small—the Goldilocks zone of businesses where there’s plenty of growth potential, but you don’t need an army of lawyers or a massive IT department yet.
Mindmap
Definition
A brainstorming tool that visually organizes ideas and concepts around a central theme, helping to map out connections and relationships between various thoughts.
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The chaotic spiderweb you create when you want to look productive but secretly hope it makes sense to someone other than yourself.
Mirroring
Definition
A communication technique where one person subtly mimics the behavior, speech patterns, or body language of another to build rapport and create a sense of connection.
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The sneaky trick of copying someone’s moves or tone—like playing a game of “monkey see, monkey do”—to make them feel like you're totally in sync.
Mission Critical
Definition
Mission Critical refers to a task, system, or process that is essential to the operation and success of a business. If it fails, it can cause significant disruption or even bring operations to a halt.
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The stuff that absolutely can’t go wrong—because if it does, everyone’s scrambling to fix it, and the whole operation might come crashing down.
Mobile-First Design
Definition
A design approach that prioritizes creating websites and applications for mobile devices first, ensuring they provide an optimal user experience on smaller screens before scaling up to desktop layouts.
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Designing for tiny screens before worrying about the big ones—because let’s be honest, if your site doesn’t work on a phone, most people aren’t sticking around long enough to check it out on their computer.
MoFu (Middle of Funnel)
Definition
The stage in the sales or marketing funnel where potential customers, already aware of your brand, are evaluating your product or service to see if it meets their needs before making a decision.
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This is where you find out who’s just browsing (top of the funnel) and who’s getting serious. It’s all about warming them up before they hit the bottom of the funnel and (hopefully) whip out their wallet.
Monetize
Definition
Monetize refers to the process of generating revenue from a product, service, or platform, typically through methods like subscriptions, ads, or sales.
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Figuring out how to turn your hobby, app, or followers into actual cash—without making everyone feel like you’ve completely sold out. Spoiler: it’s harder than it looks.
Moonshot
Definition
In the SaaS world, Moonshot refers to an extremely ambitious project or idea aimed at disrupting the market or solving a big, complex problem. These projects are high-risk but could lead to huge success if they work. For example, Salesforce’s vision of creating a cloud-based CRM platform when most companies relied on local servers was once considered a moonshot.
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The "let’s build the next unicorn" kind of idea—hugely risky, probably going to fail, but if it works, you’ll change the world (or at least get a killer valuation).
Move the Goalposts
Definition
Move the Goalposts refers to changing the criteria or expectations for success after the process has already started, often in a way that makes it harder to achieve the original goal. It’s typically used to describe shifting standards or requirements mid-way through a project or deal.
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When you thought you were done, but suddenly the rules change, and now you’ve got more hoops to jump through—because apparently, the finish line wasn’t really the finish line.
Move the Needle
Definition
Move the Needle means to make a noticeable or significant impact on progress or results, usually in a business context where a change in metrics or outcomes is desired.
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The phrase everyone throws around in meetings to sound like they're pushing for big results, even though most of the time the needle barely twitches.
MQL (Marketing Qualified Lead)
Definition
A lead that has shown interest in a product or service through marketing efforts and meets certain criteria, making them more likely to become a customer and worth passing to the sales team.
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The prospects who’ve nibbled at the bait and seem promising enough to hand over to sales—because they’ve shown just enough interest to make you think they might actually bite.
MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue)
Definition
MRR stands for Monthly Recurring Revenue, a key metric used by subscription-based businesses to measure the predictable revenue generated from customers on a monthly basis. It helps companies track their financial health and growth over time.
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The magical money that rolls in every month like clockwork—because who doesn’t love getting paid on repeat without having to sell the same thing twice?
Multi-Faceted
Definition
Multi-Faceted describes something that has many different aspects, components, or layers. In business or SaaS, it often refers to a strategy, product, or problem that requires multiple approaches or solutions because it has various interconnected parts.
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A fancy way of saying, “This is way more complicated than we thought,” and now we need to juggle a bunch of different things at once.
Multi-thread
Definition
Multi-thread refers to a sales strategy where multiple contacts within a target account are engaged, rather than relying on a single point of contact. This approach helps build relationships with several decision-makers, increasing the chances of closing a deal and reducing risk if one contact leaves or loses interest.
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The sales approach where you hedge your bets by talking to as many people in the company as possible—because if one door closes, you’ve got a few more to knock on.
Multimedia
Definition
The use of various types of content—such as text, images, audio, video, and interactive elements—combined to create a richer, more engaging user experience on websites, apps, or presentations.
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Throwing every kind of content at your audience—pictures, videos, sound bites, you name it—because sometimes words alone just aren’t enough to keep people’s attention.
Multivariate Testing
Definition
A testing method that compares different combinations of multiple elements on a webpage—like headlines, images, buttons, or colors—at the same time to see which version performs best. For example, testing two headlines, three images, and two button colors all at once to find the combination that gets the most clicks or conversions.
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The ultimate “what if?” game—where you mix and match a bunch of different elements on your site and hope to land on the magic combo that makes visitors click, buy, or stick around.
MVP (Minimum Viable Product)
Definition
The most basic version of a product that still provides enough functionality to be tested by early users, allowing for feedback and iteration before full-scale development.
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The bare-bones product you launch to see if anyone cares, before you spend time (and money) making it something people actually want.