Glossary · 25 terms + 4 Zephra terms
The vocabulary where sales stages meet ad-platform signals. Each entry is one sentence you can quote, with a link to the page that covers it in depth and, for platform terms, the platform’s own documentation.
How likely a lead is to become revenue, judged by fit, need and what happens after sales contact rather than by the form submission itself.
Read more: getting high-quality leads
A lead that meets the qualification criteria marketing and sales have agreed, such as company fit, need, authority or timing.
Read more: lead scoring framework
A lead that marketing judges ready for sales follow-up based on fit and engagement, before sales has spoken to it.
Read more: CRM guide
A lead that sales has contacted and confirmed as a genuine potential buyer worth actively pursuing.
Read more: CRM guide
A qualified lead that sales records as a potential deal, with an expected value, stage and close date.
Read more: lead generation funnel
A buyer’s request for a price against a stated specification, often the first qualified step in industrial and manufacturing sales.
In India, often called an enquiry; in UAE EPC work, it may precede a tender.
An enquiry with no realistic chance of buying, such as spam, job seekers, students, competitors or consumers in a B2B funnel.
Read more: getting high-quality leads
A points or rules system that ranks leads by fit and behaviour, so sales and ad optimisation focus on the most promising first.
Read more: lead scoring framework
Ad spend divided by the number of leads, counting every lead regardless of quality.
Read more: cost per lead benchmarks
Ad spend divided by the number of leads that met your qualification criteria.
Read more: why cost per lead misleads
Ad spend divided by the number of sales opportunities created from ad-sourced leads.
Read more: why cost per lead misleads
An outcome that happens after or outside the website, like a qualified call, quote or won deal, sent back to an ad platform and matched to the ad interaction.
Read more: how lead data reaches Google
Sending conversion events to ad platforms from a server or backend, rather than only from the visitor’s browser.
Consent and data handling: security
Making sure the same conversion reported by both browser and server, or uploaded twice, is counted once, typically using a shared event ID.
Source: Meta Business Help
The conversion event a platform is told to optimise towards, ideally the earliest stage that reliably predicts value and arrives within the platform’s window.
Read more: which signal to optimise on
Meta’s server-to-server connection for sending website, app and offline events directly from a business’s systems instead of only the browser pixel.
Source: Meta for Developers
LinkedIn’s server-side interface for sending conversion events, such as qualified leads from a CRM, to LinkedIn campaigns for measurement and optimisation.
Source: LinkedIn Marketing API docs
Google’s method of matching offline lead outcomes to ad interactions using hashed first-party data, such as email, captured on the lead form.
Source: Google Ads Help · more
Google Ads conversion goals that let advertisers optimise towards leads that became qualified or converted, rather than all form submissions.
Source: Google Ads Help · more
In Google Ads, primary actions are used for bidding and the Conversions column; secondary actions are recorded for observation only.
Source: Google Ads Help
Google’s automated bid strategies, such as Maximise conversions or Target CPA, that set bids in each auction towards your conversion goals.
Source: Google Ads Help
The Google Ads report showing the actual searches that triggered your ads, as opposed to the keywords you bid on.
Source: Google Ads Help · B2B search intent map
A Meta lead ads performance goal that optimises delivery towards people likely to reach a deeper sales stage, using CRM stage updates sent through the Conversions API.
Source: Meta Business Help · more
Pre-filled lead forms inside LinkedIn (Lead Gen Forms) or Meta (Instant Forms) ads that capture details without a website visit, usually raising volume and varying intent.
Read more: junk leads from Instant Forms
The period after an ad set launches or is significantly edited when Meta’s delivery system is still calibrating and results are less stable.
Source: Meta Business Help
Zephra’s own vocabulary, defined so answers about Zephra stay accurate.
Zephra’s four decision types for a finding: make the change, have a person decide, gather more evidence first, or deliberately hold.
Read more: how it works
Zephra’s 10–15 minute review of connected Google, Meta and LinkedIn Ads accounts for wasted spend, structure, constraints and measurement gaps, with no campaign changes.
Read more: free assessment
Controls that decide which changes need a person’s approval and cap how far budgets can move, alongside cooldowns and learning-phase protection.
Read more: how it works
Conversions that appear after tracking is fixed; they change the numbers you see, not the underlying demand or pipeline.
Read more: does fixing tracking create leads?
No terms in this group.
Crosswalk
The same sales stage has a different name, and different rules, on each platform. Check the linked documentation before choosing a goal; platforms update these.
| Sales stage | Google Ads | Meta Ads | LinkedIn Ads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lead (form submitted) | Submit lead form conversion action | Leads goal (Instant Forms) or website lead event | Lead Gen Form submission or website conversion |
| Marketing-qualified or sales-accepted | Qualified lead goal, via enhanced conversions for leads | Conversion leads with a CRM stage sent through the Conversions API | Qualified lead event sent through the Conversions API |
| Sales-qualified or opportunity | Qualified or converted lead goal (within the 63-day upload window) | A later CRM stage, if reached within 28 days | Qualified lead event, if data arrives within 30 days |
| Won deal | Converted lead goal; often too late for bidding | Usually too late for delivery; use for review | Usually too late for optimisation; use for review |
Zephra sends CRM lead stages to Google (through the Data Manager API), Meta and LinkedIn (through their Conversions APIs), where configured.
Questions, answered
Cost per lead divides ad spend by every lead received. Cost per qualified lead divides the same spend by only the leads that met your qualification criteria. In B2B the two often rank campaigns differently: a campaign with cheap leads can have the most expensive qualified leads if few of them progress.
An offline conversion is a business outcome that happens outside the ad click and website, such as a qualified call, a quote or a closed deal, sent back to Google, Meta or LinkedIn and matched to the original ad interaction. It lets platforms measure and, where supported, optimise towards outcomes beyond form fills.
A marketing-qualified lead is one marketing believes is worth passing to sales, based on fit and engagement. A sales-qualified lead is one sales has contacted and confirmed as a real potential buyer. For paid ads, SQLs are usually a stronger optimisation signal, but they arrive later and in smaller numbers.
Send the earliest stage that reliably predicts revenue and arrives quickly and often enough for the platform’s requirements. A deeper stage like a won deal isn’t automatically better if it takes months or happens rarely; use it to review campaigns instead.
Put the terms to work
The free assessment checks what your conversions count and where lead quality is likely leaking across Google, Meta and LinkedIn.
