Social Media Glossary

Glossary

A/B Test: The method of comparing two versions of digital assets against each other to
determine which one performs better.
Algorithm: Social media algorithms are patterns or mathematical calculations that social
media platforms use to understand users’ habits. Social media channels use algorithms to
customize and improve the user experience. Users are rarely aware that an algorithm is at
work. Some social platforms that have and use algorithms are Instagram, Facebook,
TikTok, and YouTube.
API: Stands for Application Programming Interface, a software interface that allows two
applications to interact with each other.
Avatar: An image or username that represents a person online, on digital platforms and
social networks.
Bio/Bio Link: “Link in bio” is seen on Instagram and refers to the editable link users are able
to add in their profile information. We utilize the bio link as a way for followers to read an
article, go to a website, or view a user’s additional social media accounts.
Branded Hashtags: A special hashtag associated with a specific brand, used to inspire
people to include the brand in the conversations that they’re having on platforms such as
Twitter and Instagram.
Call to Action: Also known as CTA, a statement
contained on a button that encourages audiences BOOST
to click and take a certain action. The option to pay social
Challenge: A TikTok challenge is encouraging media platforms to increase
other users to record themselves doing a specific your existing post’s reach to
thing or action. your followers, a
Chatbot: An artificial intelligence program that recommended audience, or a
can automate customer interactions for a targeted audience.
company. Chatbots can be implemented on a
number of social messaging apps to provide
BRAND ADVOCATE
customer service, answer questions, and even
An individual or organization
set up appointments automatically.
who is loyal to a brand and
Comment: A form of engagement in which a user
replies to a social media post. takes part in promoting it.
Community Manager: A liaison between an This can range from
organization and its audience. The community influencers, customers,
manager builds an authentic community among a employees, and even
business’s customers, employees, and partners business partners.
through various types of online interaction.

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Glossary

(Meta) Conversion API: creates a connection between an advertiser's marketing data

and the Meta systems that optimize ad targeting, decrease cost per action, and measure
results. In the case of direct integrations, this entails establishing a connection between
an advertiser's server and Meta.
Direct Message (DM): A private message on social media.
Direct Message Marketing: Also known as DM marketing, a strategy using direct
messages (DMs) to privately develop relationships and business initiatives.
Double Tap: Refers to the action of double-tapping or clicking on a post on Instagram or
TikTok. Users can double-tap instead of physically pressing the like “or “❤️” button.
Evergreen Content: Content that stays fresh and relevant for long periods of time.
Feed: An updated list of all new content posted by the accounts a user follows.
Follower: A person who follows another user’s profile or page and gets updates. Often
gaining followers is the goal that many users have in mind when posting content.
Hashtag: A word or phrase preceded by a hash sign (#). It was started on Twitter, but is
now used on most social media platforms to identify digital content on a specific topic.
Highlights: When you don’t want your Instagram Story to disappear after 24 hours, you
can add your Story to a Highlight on your Instagram profile.

IGTV: Instagram launched IGTV as a feature

LIKE
A quick form of social media
engagement where a person
“likes” and shows approval
for the given content.
REEL
Instagram created Reels as a
way to compete with the
short-form video sharing
network, TikTok. There are
some definite differences
between Reels and TikTok
videos, but the basic features
are fairly similar.
on Instagram as a way for users to post long-
form video (up to 15 minutes). Instagram
even created an IGTV standalone app.
Listicle: Piece of content shown in list format.
Pixel: Code you place on your website to
collect data to track conversions from ads,
optimize ads, build targeted audiences for
future ads and remarket to people who have
taken some action.
Retargeting: The process of showing a
company’s advertisements to users who have
already visited that company’s site, page, or
app, but left without taking the desired action.
Repost – To use another user’s content on
social media by posting it again. This can
include re-gramming, repinning, or retweeting.

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Glossary

Shadow Banned: Being shadow banned means a social media platform, like Instagram,
is limiting or restricting content created by a user without the user knowing. This usually
happens when a user has violated community guidelines or their content is viewed as
inappropriate.
Stitch: When a TikTok creator uses a clip from another creator’s video in their own
video.
Stories: Users can add 15-second videos or pictures to their Story, which can only be
viewed for 24 hours before it disappears. This type of content is also known as
disappearing content. Stories are another copied feature by Instagram to compete with
Snapchat.
Swipe up/Sticker: For years, Instagram allowed users to add links to their Stories, which
could be accessed by followers swiping up on the Story. However, Instagram recently
introduced a new link sticker in Stories and removed the swipe up feature, potentially
rendering the term “swipe up” useless. Stickers are found in Instagram Stories and
include engaging features like Q&As, polls, quizzes, links, etc.

UGC: User-generated content is any form of content i.e. social media posts, images,
videos, reviews, etc. created by individual users (not brands) and published to an online
or social network. Utilizing UGC content is quickly becoming a highly effective online
marketing method.

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Metrics Glossary
Analytics
Data from social media networks that marketers use to improve strategic
business decisions.
Click Through Rate
Also known as CTR, is a metric used to
represent the percentage of people that
clicked your ad. It is used to gauge how
your ads, free listings, and keywords are
performing. The number of times your ad
is clicked on is divided by the number of
times your ad is shown to get your CTR.
Cost Per Click
Also known as CPC, the amount you pay
for every person who clicks on your ad.
Key Performance
Indicator
Also known as KPI is a measurable value
that demonstrates how effectively a
company is achieving key business
objectives.
Cost Per Acquisition
Also known as CPA or Cost Per Lead
(CPL), it is how much it costs an
advertiser to acquire a new customer or
compel a user to take an action.
Engagement Rate
A metric used to determine the amount of
interaction social media content or a page
receives. Interactions include likes,
shares, comments, and saves. This tracks
how active and involved your audience is
with your content. It compares the
percentage of users who follow or view
your content to those who interact with it.
Conversion Rate
The number of visitors to a website that
completes a desired goal (a conversion)
out of the total number of visitors.
Impressions
A measure of the number of times your
ads were shown in front of people, even if
they didn’t click, comment, or otherwise
engage with it.
Vanity Metric
Metrics that appear impressive to others
but do not necessarily help you
understand your own performance in a
way that informs future strategies.
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Metrics Glossary
Analytics
Data from social media networks that marketers use to improve strategic
business decisions.
Reach vs. Impression
Reach shows the total number of people
who see your content. Impressions are
the number of times your content is
displayed.
Conversions
Conversion is turning a social media user
into a paying customer or lead.
Conversions can be measured through
various conversion events, such as:
button clicks, phone calls, form
submissions, adds to cart, transactions,
etc.
Google Analytics
Session
A "session" is made up of a group of user
interactions (known as 'hits') with your
website recorded in a given time period.
Google Analytics
Time on Site
Also known as session duration, is the
total amount of time someone spends
navigating your website.
Leads
Any information someone shares that you
can use to follow up with them (i.e., email
address, occupation, employer, etc.)
Frequency
The number of times an ad or impression
has been served, per unique user.
Frequency is a key metric for brand
campaigns when calculating to see how
many times someone in your target
audience has been exposed to an ad.
(Benchmark: 3-5)
Google Analytics
Bounce Rate
The percentage of sessions that result in
a bounce—that is, sessions that begin
and end on the same page without user
interaction. (Benchmark: 40-60%)
Google Analytics
Referral
When one website refers traffic to you—
resulting in a new user clicking through to
your website.
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All the Clicks

Clicks (All): The number of clicks on your ads.

Link Click: The number of clicks on links within the ad that led
to destinations or experiences, on or off Facebook.
Outbound Clicks: The number of clicks on links that take people
off Meta technologies.

Clicks: Clicks anywhere on the post (not just links).

Clicks to Landing Page: Clicks to your website landing page.
Clicks to LinkedIn Page: Clicks to your LinkedIn Page.
Link Clicks: Clicks on any links in the post.

Clicks and Click-through rate (CTR): Clicks, which occur when

the viewer clicks an interactive element of your ad, and CTR
(Clicks / Impressions) for Video campaigns shouldn’t typically
be considered a priority compared to impressions or views (if
your goal is awareness) or conversions (if your goal is sales).
Low clicks and CTR are fairly normal in Video campaigns,
compared to Search campaigns.

Clicks: The number of clicks on your ads.

In App Ad Click: The number of unique in-app ad click events
that occurred in your mobile app and are attributed to your ads.
Download Button: The number of button clicks (app
downloads).
Button Clicks: The number of button click events.

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