Key HubSpot Inbound Marketing terms in plain English. The exam follows HubSpot’s own definitions of inbound, the flywheel and the buyer’s journey, so it helps to know the exact vocabulary the course uses.
| term | definition |
|---|---|
| HubSpot Academy | HubSpot’s free online learning platform that offers the inbound marketing course and exam. |
| Inbound Marketing Certification | The free, online HubSpot Academy credential covering the inbound methodology and content marketing. |
| Inbound marketing | Attracting customers by creating helpful content and experiences tailored to them, rather than interrupting them with ads. |
| Outbound marketing | Pushing a message to a broad audience through interruptive channels such as cold ads; the opposite of inbound. |
| Inbound methodology | HubSpot’s three-stage model of attract, engage and delight. |
| Attract | The methodology stage of drawing the right people in with valuable content and conversations. |
| Engage | The methodology stage of presenting insights and solutions that fit a prospect’s goals. |
| Delight | The methodology stage of supporting customers so they succeed and recommend you. |
| Flywheel | HubSpot’s growth model where delighted customers fuel new growth; it replaces the linear funnel. |
| Funnel | A linear model of marketing and sales stages that treats customers as the end point, which the flywheel updates. |
| Buyer’s journey | The process a buyer goes through across three stages: awareness, consideration and decision. |
| Awareness stage | The buyer realises they have a problem and is researching and naming it. |
| Consideration stage | The buyer has defined the problem and is comparing possible approaches or solutions. |
| Decision stage | The buyer is choosing a specific solution, product or provider. |
| Buyer persona | A semi-fictional profile of an ideal customer used to guide content and targeting. |
| Content marketing | Creating and sharing valuable content to attract and retain a clearly defined audience. |
| Content distribution | Getting content seen by the right people across owned, earned and paid channels. |
| Owned media | Channels a business controls, such as its website, blog and email list. |
| Earned media | Exposure a business earns rather than pays for, such as coverage, shares and word of mouth. |
| Paid media | Channels a business pays to use, such as advertising. |
| SEO (search engine optimisation) | Improving content and a site so it ranks higher in search results and gets found. |
| Customer segmentation | Dividing an audience into groups with shared traits or behaviour to target them better. |
| Behavioural marketing | Targeting and personalising based on what people actually do, such as pages viewed or actions taken. |
| Marketing attribution | Assigning credit to the touchpoints that contributed to a conversion. |
| Experimentation | Testing changes (such as A/B tests) to learn what improves marketing performance. |
| Marketing automation | Using software to run repetitive marketing tasks, such as email sequences, at scale. |
| Lead nurturing | Building relationships with prospects over time with relevant content until they are ready to buy. |
| Conversion | A desired action a visitor takes, such as filling in a form, subscribing or buying. |
| Recertification | Keeping the credential active by retaking and passing the free exam before it expires. |