50+ Social Media Terms You Should Know

50+ Social Media Terms You Should Know

Like any other field of work, working in social media comes with a whole set of jargon you need to understand. In alphabetical order here’s our list of social media-related lingo you should know.

 

A

• A/B Testing

A/B testing is used to test the differences between two variants, A and B. Using A/B testing means you can work out what factors get you the best results. For example the time for posting for a food restaurant, A: 12.00 PM B: 11.00 AM which performs the best. From there you can keep testing times against each other until you find the best result. 

•  Algorithm

A process or set of rules to calculate and dispute curated content for users. For example, a social media platform will push content you interact with more often to the top of your newsfeed to keep you engaged for longer.

• Analytics

Your analytics is your stats and data. Analytics are an important part of managing a social media page as it gives you an indication of where your business is going. Unfortunately, your analytics will be displayed in different ways across social platforms, so take your time to understand your analytics and what each stat means.

B

• B2B

B2B stands for Business to Business. If you are a business that sells services or products to other businesses you are a B2B marketer. For example, we sell our service of design and social media management to other c, making us a B2B company.

• B2C

B2C stands form Business to Customer. If your business sells to people in general, for example, you sell day dresses you are a B2C business.

• Bio

A bio stands for a Biography which details describe facts about a person or business. While biographies in a traditional sense go in-depth about peoples experiences etc. a bio on social media tends to be short facts like education, work, or life events.

• Blog

A blog is a discussion, journal or information based content on a website. Blogs can be used to improve SEO scores, give audiences information and discuss ideas. For example, this right here is an information-based blog.

• Boost

A boosted post will optimize your post to increase engagement. When targeting with a boosted Facebook post you have three options; people who like your page, people who like your page and their Facebook friends, or targeted audience of your choice. While you can ‘target’ an audience, the ability to narrow target audiences down is very limited, check out our blog post on why we think you should Stop BoostingYour Facebook Posts.

C

• Canva

Canva is an online design platform which has loads of great templates form social media and more.

• Chatbot

A chatbot uses software to have an automated online conversation. Chatbots can help replace some human interactions, but we recommend thoroughly testing the user experience before launching. 

• Clickbait

Clickbait is the act of using misleading/exaggerated headlines or imagery to lurer people to click onto your content [not cool]. 

• Content

When people talk about content in a social media context they don’t mean a sense of happiness or fulfilment. Content refers to the different style of posts you can use from status, images, videos, articles, stories and so forth. If you want to learn more about how to curate content for your social media pages make sure to check out our blog – Guide to Curating Content for Your Social Media

• CPL

Cost Per Lead [CPL] is the measurement used to show how cost-effective your marketing campaigns are and compare your costs to the number of new leads. Let’s say you are a beauty salon and you spent $100 on advertising, from your advertisement you gained 10 new booking requests then your CPL or cost per lead is $10. From there you can use this information to determine if your advertising was successful.

• CTR

CTR stands for Click Through Rate which is the ratio of clicks received on your ads per number of impressions.

• CTA

A Call To Action [CTA] is used to help prompt your audience immediately to do something i.e sign up for a newsletter, call you, get a quote. CTAs can be found in many different forms from copy, on imagery, buttons and more!

D

• Digital Marketing

Digital Marketing or online marketing refers to marketing components that use the internet and online digital technology to promote products. For example, social media is a digital marketing strategy, computers, mobile phones, emails are also digital marketing. 

• Dark post

Dark posts are targeted ads on social media, they target audiences specifically for lead generation and conversion. The [ad] post is not on on the advertiser’s timeline and does not target their current followers, instead, they appear on the feeds of the targeted audiences, normally labelled as sponsored content.

• DM/PM

DM stands for Direct Message and PM personal/private message. To DM or PM means that the conversation or content shared can only be seen and accessed by the accounts in the chat.

E

• E-Commerce

E-Commerce stands for electronic or internet commerce, a good or service is sold/bought using the internet it is classified as E-Commerce. E-commerce stands for electronic or internet commerce and it is not just limited to B2C it includes C2C, C2B and so forth. 

• Emoji

An Emoji is a small digital image or icon often use in text, which helps to express ideas and/or emotions.

• Engagement

Engagement is used to describe interactions on digital platforms such as social media and emails. The main types of engagement measured are clicks, reactions/likes, comments, shares, opens and private messages. These are often used as indicators of success, but we suggest not to get sucked into vanity metrics such as seeking lots of likes on content.

• Evergreen content

Evergreen content is content that does not become outdated, just like evergreen plants it retains its ‘greenness’/value year-round. Evergreen content can include helpful information about your product/services, quotes, testimonials, Q&A, facts and so forth.

F

• Feed

A feed or news feed is the data format used on social media platforms to provide people with frequently updated content. 

• Filter

A Filter on social media, just like a filter on a camera changes the colourisation of images or videos. Some filters even change the way people physically look.

A filter is used to refine and personalise content seen by users through algorithms.

• Follower

A follower is a person or an account that want to like and want to see your content on their newsfeed.

G

• GIF

A  GIF stands for Graphical Interchange Format, which is an image format that shows a series of images or soundless video that loops continuously without anyone having to press play. Like memes and emojis, GIFs are often used to express emotions and ideas.

H

• Handle or Username

A social media handle is your public username used to represent your account on social media. A handle follows an @ symbol. A handle allows another account to tag, reach out and communicate with you. 

• Hashtag

A hashtag or # is a tag that allows users to connect content to a specific topic, event, theme or conversation. Hashtags can help improve your posts/accounts discovery/impressions, as when you click or follow a hashtag all social media content with that same hashtag will be shown. Well, not ALL but you get the gist.

I

• IGTV

Instagram TV [IGTV] allows people to share longer videos on Instagram.

• Impression

An impression is the number of times your content is displayed in front of a viewer. A viewer doesn’t have to engage with content to be counted as an impression. If your content is displayed on their feed this is counted as an impression.

• Inbound marketing

Inbound marketing is a way of reaching customers through content marketing, for example, social media, blogs, websites and branding. Inbound marketing aims to draw its audience, rather than push it on them [outbound],  by providing valuable content and experiences in hope of creating a lead/customer.

• Influencer

An influencer is someone with the potential to affect the purchasing decisions of others—they have influence [Hence the name]. In marketing, we call this an opinion leader.

K

• KPI

A Key Performance Indicator [KPI] is used to measure business performance, it is used to evaluate how effectively an objective has been met by a business.

L

• Lead

A person who shows an interest in your product/service can be called a lead. A lead is someone/business that could become a potential customer. Leads are then guided down the marketing funnel to try to convert them to be a potential customer.  

M

• Marketing Funnel

A marketing funnel is used as a visualisation queue for understanding the process of turning leads into customers. A Marketing Funnel aims to capture as many leads as possible and take them from the top of the funnel to the bottom where they would become a customer. 

• Meme

A meme is a piece of content; image, video, piece of text, etc, that takes becomes viral—usually humorous in nature. This piece of content becomes a fad and is copied and shared rapidly by Internet users.

O

• Organic

Organic social media reach/growth that is happening naturally or without paid help. 

P

• PPC

PPC stands for Pay Per Click, it is a term used when advertising online. This means you [the advertiser] will pay the publisher [Facebook, Google etc.] when the ad your displaying is clicked. 

R

• Relevance Score

A relevance score is a calculation based on perceived positive and negative feedback an advertiser expects to receive from the ads targeted audience.

• Retargeting

Retargeting are advertisements used to remind audiences who have already interacted with your business about your offerings. You know the ones we mean, when you visit a website and all of a sudden you see their ads everywhere! That’s remarketing.

• ROI

A Return On Investment [ROI] is used to evaluate the results/returns a business receives from their one or more investments. The return on investment is evaluated against its cost, for example, if you spent $100 on advertising and got four sales valued at $75, your ROI on this ad spend would be $200. This doesn’t just have to be a monetary return.

S

• Share

A share or sharing is when another account shares your content to their own profile, to another page or person via messenger, email or twitter, embed to a page etc. 

• Social Listening

Social Listening is the act of monitoring social media channels for mentions of your business, competitors, product etc.

• Social Proof

Social proof is where what you are saying is validated by others. Testimonials/reviews are an example of social proof. 

• Stories

Stories are a collection of images and short videos posted to a social media platform, for example; Facebook, Snapchat or Instagram. Stories disappear after 24 hours unless saved/pinned. Filters, text, gifs and other effects can be added to stories.

T

• Tag

To tag or tagging is to engage with another profile; individual or business. You can tag people in videos comments, photos, posts etc.

• Target marketing

Target marketing is when marketing and resources are made more specific and aim to reach a specific group of customers. For example, this blog is targeted toward those new to social media.

• Traffic

Traffic refers to the movement of accounts coming to your platform; Facebook, Instagram, website etc.

• Trending Topic

A trending topic refers to subjects that experience a surge in popularity on a social media platform.

• Troll

To troll or trolling is the act of deliberately provoking others online [also not cool].

U

• UGC

User-Generated Content [UGC] is any content i.e videos, images, reviews etc., created by people, not the brand/business themselves.

V

• Vanity Metric

Vanity Metrics are stats that might look good on paper but don’t actually help you to achieve your business goals or guide future marketing endeavours. Don’t get caught up in vanity metrics! 

• Viral 

Just like a viral infection, going viral on social media means a piece of content or idea spreads or is shared by social media users.

• Vlogging

Vlogging stands for video blogging or video log. Normally vlogs are centred around the vloggers daily life or other topics they wish to discuss. 

 

So there you go fifty-plus social media terms you need to know and understand when working with social media! If you are keen to learn more about what you should know when it comes to social media or marketing make sure to check out our blog   – 5 things I learnt about marketing that every business owner needs to know.

When it comes to making decisions about your businesses marketing there can be a lot to think about or even options you haven’t thought about. Launch your business into the digital world with a FREE 15-minute no-obligation consultation with Rocket Fuel Design’s founder – Lainey.