Glossary

Jargon and lingo, translated.

Two lists. The marketing words a clinic or company owner hears from agencies and platforms, and the medical, science and device words a marketer needs to get right. Both in plain English, because that's the whole point of us.

Marketing lingo (35)Medical & science jargon (28)Guides →

Part one

Marketing lingo for people who run health businesses.

What the agency, the ad platform and the creator mean when they say it.

UGC (user-generated content): Video or photos made by a real person, on a phone, in the style of the platform, about your product. Usually filmed for you to run in your own ads and pages, not posted by the creator.
Creator: Someone who makes content. Not necessarily an influencer: many of the best UGC creators have small or no audiences. You're paying for the video, not the reach.
Influencer: A creator with an audience, paid to post to that audience. Different deal, different price, different result from UGC.
Whitelisting (creator licensing): Running your ads from the creator's own account, so the ad looks like their post. Performs better than brand-account ads; costs extra and needs a written agreement.
Usage rights: What you're allowed to do with a creator's video, for how long, and where. Standard UGC: your ads and channels, often 6 to 12 months. Spell it out in the brief.
Brief: The one-page instruction a creator films from: the product, the one sentence, the angles to try, what not to say, deadline, pay.
Hook: The first one to three seconds of a video. Decides whether anyone watches the rest. Tested more than any other element.
Angle: The approach a video takes: unboxing, before-and-after, 'why I switched', a day in the life, a myth busted. One product, many angles; test them.
Talking head: A person speaking to camera. The workhorse UGC format for health and wellness because it's the closest thing to a friend's recommendation.
Landing page: A single page built for one ad, one audience and one action. No menu, no navigation. Where the money is made.
Funnel: The sequence of steps from first click to customer, and the follow-up after. Each step has a conversion rate. The broken one is usually not the ad.
Conversion rate: The share of people who take the action: visitors who book, viewers who click, leads who show. The core measure of a page or a step.
CPL (cost per lead): Ad spend divided by leads. For a clinic, a lead is usually a consult booking.
CAC (customer acquisition cost): Everything you spent to get one paying customer: ads, creators, agency, tools. Compare it to what a customer is worth.
LTV (lifetime value): What a customer is worth over their whole relationship with you. Subscriptions, rebookings and reorders live here. LTV over CAC is the health of the business.
AOV (average order value): Average spend per order or visit. Bundles and add-ons raise it.
ROAS (return on ad spend): Revenue attributed to ads divided by ad spend. A 3x ROAS means $3 back per $1 spent. Useful, but only alongside margin and CAC.
CTR (click-through rate): Clicks divided by impressions. The first sign a hook and a creative are working.
CPM: Cost per thousand impressions. What the platform charges to show your ad. Rises with competition and falls with better creative.
Attribution: Deciding which ad, creator or channel gets credit for a sale. Imperfect everywhere; use codes, links and 'how did you hear about us' together.
Creator code / affiliate link: A unique discount code or link per creator so sales can be attributed to them and commissions paid.
Affiliate: A partner paid a percentage of the sales they drive, usually through a tracked link or code. Creators can be affiliates.
TikTok Shop: TikTok's built-in store. Creators tag your product in videos and earn a commission; customers buy without leaving the app.
GMV (gross merchandise value): Total sales value through a channel such as TikTok Shop, before fees and returns.
Retargeting: Showing ads to people who already visited your page or watched your video. Cheap, high-converting, and where explainer content earns its keep.
Lookalike audience: The platform finds people similar to your existing customers and shows them your ads.
Creative testing: Running several videos with small budgets to find the ones that convert, then putting real money behind the winners.
Scaling: Increasing budget and producing variations around the creative, creator and offer that already work.
Organic: Reach you didn't pay for: your own posts, search results, shares. Slower, compounding, and where a posting system matters.
Posting system: A repeatable schedule and workflow for what gets posted where, by whom, from what content. The difference between a social presence and a dead account.
SEO (search engine optimization): Making pages that show up when someone searches 'IV therapy Newport Beach' or 'medical device marketing Irvine'. A page per service per city, written in plain English.
Google Business Profile: Your listing on Google Maps and local search. For clinics and practices, often the single highest-converting channel.
Retention: Keeping customers: rebookings, reorders, subscriptions. The cheapest revenue there is.
Substantiation: The evidence behind a claim. The FTC requires competent and reliable scientific evidence for health claims. Have it before you say it.
Structure/function claim: A supplement claim about the body's normal function ('supports healthy sleep'). Allowed with the disclaimer. A disease claim ('treats insomnia') is not.

Part two

Medical, science and device jargon for marketers.

What the clinician, the scientist and the regulatory team mean, and how to say it to a customer.

Mechanism of action (MoA): How a drug, supplement or device produces its effect in the body. Your scientists love it. Your customers want the outcome first, the mechanism second.
Indication: The specific condition a drug or device is approved or cleared to treat. Marketing must stay inside it.
Off-label: Using or promoting a product for something it isn't approved for. Doctors may prescribe off-label; companies may not promote off-label.
510(k): The FDA clearance pathway for medical devices that are substantially equivalent to an existing device. 'FDA-cleared', not 'FDA-approved'.
PMA (premarket approval): The stricter FDA approval pathway for higher-risk devices. These can say 'FDA-approved'.
IFU (instructions for use): The official manual for a device. Necessary, and the opposite of marketing copy.
Clinical trial phases: Phase 1 tests safety in a few people, Phase 2 tests whether it works, Phase 3 confirms it in many people, Phase 4 watches it after approval.
IRB (institutional review board): The committee that approves trial protocols and the language used to recruit participants. Trial recruitment marketing goes through them.
Efficacy vs. effectiveness: Efficacy is how well something works in a controlled trial; effectiveness is how well it works in the real world. Marketing often blurs them; don't.
Biomarker: A measurable signal in the body (blood sugar, inflammation markers, hormone levels) used to track health or a treatment's effect. Longevity clinics sell panels of them.
Peptide: A short chain of amino acids that signals the body to do something. Some are FDA-approved drugs; many sold online are not approved for human use. Marketing them carefully is a legal question, not a copy question.
GLP-1: A hormone, and the class of drugs (semaglutide, tirzepatide) that mimic it, used for diabetes and weight loss. The most searched wellness term of the decade.
NAD+: A molecule every cell uses to make energy; levels fall with age. Sold as IV infusions and supplements. Evidence is real but early; write claims accordingly.
Hormone optimization / HRT / TRT: Replacing or adjusting hormones (testosterone, estrogen, thyroid). A prescription service with real rules on how it can be advertised.
IV therapy: Vitamins, fluids or medications delivered through a drip. A wellness product, a hydration product and sometimes a medical one; be precise about which.
Med spa (medical spa): An aesthetics practice under a medical director offering injectables, lasers, skin treatments. Marketing rules come from state medical boards.
Neurotoxin / injectables / fillers: Botox-type products that relax muscles, and gel fillers that add volume. Brand names are trademarks; generic descriptions are safer in ads.
Telehealth: Care delivered by video or app. Onboarding and consent flows are where most telehealth marketing loses people.
HIPAA: The US privacy law for health information. Marketing can't use patient data without authorization; testimonials need signed consent.
PHI (protected health information): Any health information tied to a person. Keep it out of ad platforms, pixels and email tools unless you're set up for it.
Evidence-based: Supported by published research. Say it only when you can link the research.
Placebo-controlled / double-blind / RCT: The gold-standard trial design: neither patients nor researchers know who got the real treatment. If your product has one, lead with it.
Contraindication: A reason a person shouldn't use a treatment. Part of honest marketing: 'not for you if…' builds trust.
Adverse event: A harm or side effect during treatment. Reportable, and never to be minimized in marketing.
Bioavailability: How much of a substance actually reaches the bloodstream. A common supplement talking point; translate it as 'how much your body can use'.
In vitro / in vivo: In a dish versus in a living body. 'Kills cancer cells in vitro' is not a claim about people.
Longevity / healthspan: Living longer, and living well for longer. Healthspan is the more honest and more marketable of the two.
Functional medicine: An approach that looks for root causes across systems. Popular with wellness clinics; keep claims to what's practiced, not promised.

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