Social Media Marketing Glossary & Definitions

An API is a set of commands, functions, or protocols, that sits in the backend of an application and permits two different applications to interact with each other.

AI refers to machine intelligence, as opposed to human. AI enables machines or computers to simulate human intelligence and problem-solving capabilities. For social media, AI is usually used to power or enhance chatbots, recommendations, sentiment analysis, content optimisation, or anything else that has a user experience focus.

BeReal is relatively new to the social media scene. It is a mobile app which sends a notification to all users at random times of the day, inviting them to ‘be real’. The app takes a picture using both the front and back camera of a user’s phone, showing what they’re doing at that moment in the day.

A blog, either standalone or part of a larger website, is a place to regularly publish written articles on specific topics or themes. Blogs share insights, updates, and stories with the reader, and can be either formal or informal in nature.

The percentage of visitors to your website who leave  who navigate away after viewing only one page, not clicking onto any others. Bounce rate helps you to quickly identify pages where users are not being spurred onto further action. Of course, some of your web pages might be designed for the visitor to leave after going onto that page, so bear this in mind when reviewing your bounce rate.

A set of rules and standards that define your brand, including what the brand stands for, its story, tone of voice, messaging, visual representation, logo usage, amongst others. Brand guidelines help you, and other agencies when applicable, maintain consistency when working with elements of your brand.

The perception that the public has of a company or brand, based on its actions, products or services,  communication, or other contributing factors. Positive brand reputation on social media involves creating genuine connections through engagement, responsiveness to feedback, and transparency.

A type of marketing effort to reach potential or current customers across multiple channels. When discussing social media specifically, common goals for campaigns include things like gathering user feedback, increasing web traffic, improving the amount of opt-in users in the database, driving sales, or brand engagement.

This refers to the text that accompanies a piece of content on socials or a website that provides additional context, a story, CTA, or encourages user engagement somehow.

A single post that contains multiple photos, videos, or graphics – usually on Instagram. LinkedIn used to support this feature but has since removed it.

Content that grabs users’ attention through sensationalised or misleading headlines and captions. Clickbait covers articles, headlines, images, and videos.

This involves actively interacting with your followers or audience by liking or responding to comments, inciting discussions, or even reposting their content. By fostering engagement, and creating a community feel on your social channels, you can also enhance your brand reputation.

The process of engaging audiences across your social media channels. Community management is a way for an organisation to build an authentic community with customers, employees, and partners, through interaction. This involves taking advantage of opportunities to connect with and grow the audience through positive engagement.

Controlling content on platforms and networking sites, such as removing content that is neither suitable nor appropriate for the platform or audience. Large organisations will usually have a team in situ to do this, including reviewing and removing offensive or explicit content (both images or text).

The rate at which users respond to your call to action (CTA). This is calculated by the total number of conversions divided by the total number of clicks. The higher your conversion rate, the better!

The amount of money you pay when someone clicks on one of your sponsored campaigns. CPC is calculated by dividing the total cost of the ad by the total number of clicks. In CPC campaigns, you can set a max bid which is the maximum amount you’re willing to pay for a click on your ad.

The total cost incurred by an organisation to acquire a new lead or customer. This is calculated by dividing the total spend by the number of leads generated.

Bringing together a large group of people to gather information such as ideas, opinions, or even services.

A private message sent directly from the sender to the recipient in a separate part of the website or application, so that it can only be read by the sender and the intended recipient.

The Government Digital Service (GDS), part of the cabinet office, oversees and drives digital transformation and innovation across public sector services. GDS plays a critical role in improving citizen engagement and service delivery through effective use of social media and digital channels.

A word or phrase that begins with the ‘#’ symbol to categorise content around a specific topic. Using hashtags improves discoverability of content so that users you aren’t directly connected with can join the conversation.

A Hootsuite alternative refers to a social media management tool or platform that offers similar features and functionality to Hootsuite.

An individual, usually with a large following, that can influence buying behaviours and opinions of their audience through social media. Influencers have an area of interest that is specific to them, promoting products, services, or social issues as part of their role. Influencer marketing involves using an influencer in your strategy to promote your brand’s message.

Visual representations of data, or knowledge, that are designed in a clear and simple format, making them accessible to most users. Data types to create infographics include statistics, research findings, or other educational content.

Primarily a photo and video sharing app used by individuals and organisations.

Instant messaging allows users, two or more, to have private conversations in real-time. For corporate accounts, this could be used to provide customer service and support, respond to queries, and resolve any issues.

A professional network with more of a business and employment focus than other social media networks. It is used for connecting with other professionals across myriad industries, organisations, and recruitment purposes.

A real-time communication tool that allows organisations and the general public to have a conversation with one another, providing instant support when required.

Broadcasting video content live to your audience, as it happens. Livestreaming is a great vehicle for hosting virtual events, sharing live updates, Q&A sessions, and to engage with the audience in real-time.

Media monitoring involves tracking mentions of a brand, product, or service in traditional media outlets to gauge public opinion. Social media monitoring, however, refers to this process but for social channels. Monitoring assists organisations in identifying and responding to feedback, tracking brand reputation, and gaining insights into how their audience really feels.

A meme is popular text, video, or images shared on social media platforms. They’re typically used for comical purposes, and users can create their own variations and share them. Memes are usually derived from pop culture, occasionally going viral.

Applications designed specifically for mobile use, meaning users have access to a service whenever they want.

The main content stream on social media platforms which is unique to each user. The newsfeed consists of posts, updates,  suggested and sponsored content from people, pages, groups, and businesses. Previously the newsfeed would have only been made up of content from accounts you choose to follow, but in recent years there has been a shift towards suggested content appearing in feeds.

Nextdoor is an app for people in local areas (neighbourhoods) to connect with each other, get trusted information, recommendations, or buy and sell items, amongst others. Organisations can also have a profile on Nextdoor but only if they are in a particular area. Nextdoor has a much stronger community to feel as opposed to other social networks thanks to its local focus.

The process of establishing how your organisation is perceived on the internet, and managing this to negate or minimise negative sentiments. To do this, an organisation may address the negative feedback directly, respond to reviews, and proactively manage online conversations and interactions.

Organic refers to any activities that aren’t paid, generally focusing on brand awareness to engage and attract prospects and leads. Organic content can be viewed by anyone on social media.

PPC is a type of advertising that draws traffic to a website or landing page. The advertiser, i.e. the paying organisation, only pays a fee whenever their advert has been clicked on. Advertisers must bid on certain keywords for which they want to appear in the search results. PPC refers to all advertising across all platforms, not just search engines.

When speaking about the digital world, a platform provides a service to users enabling them to create, share, and exchange information. Each platform will have its own features, demographics, and methods for engagement, meaning strategies will have to be optimised according to this. ‘Platform’ is most commonly associated with social media sites.

Reactions are a type of engagement in response to a post. Each platform has its own set of reactions, with the most common being ‘like’. Reactions are a quick way to gauge sentiment in response to your post(s).

A digital advertising strategy that focuses on reaching out to previous visitors of, or people who have interacted with, your website. This involves displaying adverts across multiple channels, or by sending targeted emails, in an attempt to recapture potential leads.

Really Simple Syndication (RSS) feeds collate content from multiple sources into one centralised, easy to follow, feed. RSS feeds are great for keeping you in the loop on particular topics or keywords as they automatically update as it finds a new source to pull from.

An excellent organic tactic! SEO is the process of improving a website’s performance and positioning in organic search engine results through different methods including content, technical and code improvement, and link acquisition. Excellent SEO = more visitors to your website.

The page you see after entering your query into your search engine.

In marketing and social media, sentiment analysis is the process of analysing users’ public posts and comments to decipher their true opinions or feelings about an organisation or topic. Sentiment analysis helps organisations to understand their brand reputation or gather feedback on an initiative, driving decision making.

Shadowbans, or ghost bans, are when a user’s profile, content, or comments are restricted from appearing to other users. The user that has been shadowbanned will not be notified. This can occur when a user violates the terms of use for a social media platform, or their posts are considered offensive or inappropriate.

SMART goals, or objectives, are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. These are set by organisations to give clear structure to a strategy or planned activity. Using SMART ensures that your goals are attainable and relevant to your organisation as they align with wider business objectives.

A photo, video, or message exchange app where the content shared disappears after it is viewed by the recipient. Messages can be saved in threads by users and snaps can be screenshotted – however the sender will be alerted of this.

This is a single view that centralises all incoming messages, comments, or interactions, from multiple social media platforms. Having a social inbox streamlines communication and improves efficiency when dealing with large volumes of engagement.

Analytics involves the collection, processing, and interpretation of data from social media channels. Using analytics data gives you critical insight into (content) performance, audience behaviour and location, and engagement rate. This allows you to make more informed decisions about your social strategy, optimising when required.

Software applications that collect and analyse data from different social media channels, usually offering advanced reporting capabilities, tracking, and visualisation features that you might not get natively on the platform itself.

Competitor analysis, but with a purely social focus. Social media competitor analysis includes looking at your direct, or indirect, competitors and researching and analysing their social media channels to decipher overall strategy, strengths, and weaknesses. Competitor analysis allows you to get a better understanding of what’s performing well, areas for differentiation, and changes to be made in order to optimise your own strategy.

Using social media to provide customer support to those who need it. This can include direct messaging to discuss the matter privately, online reviews and responding to them, or social media posts that give clear instructions on what the reader should do in an event.

This encompasses all activities on social media designed to grow and nurture an audience across different channels. Social media management includes defining strategies, creating and overseeing campaigns, producing content (including scheduling it), and reviewing analytics for strategy optimisation.

A tool designed to streamline the management of social media accounts to improve overall efficiency, usually with a key focus on scheduling content, content planning, collaboration features, and analytics reporting.

This involves analysing and presenting data on your social accounts’ performance, engagement, and campaigns, to provide insights to relevant stakeholders and adapt your strategy accordingly. There are tools available to streamline this process, usually automating and customising the metrics so the reports are personal to you and your goals.

This is the same as Return on Investment (ROI) except with a key social media focus. This determines the value that your social media activities are bringing into your organisation, and is calculated by dividing return minus the investment made by the total investment.

A psychological and social phenomenon where people look to others’ actions and behaviours to determine their own actions and behaviours, as well as what is within the realm of being appropriate or acceptable. This is also known as social influence. In terms of marketing and social media, this is demonstrated through reviews, recommendations, case studies, and much more.

On various social media platforms, users are able to publish a story which is temporary content that is normally only available for 24 hours or less if the user decides to remove it themselves. Stories consist of images, text, videos, resharing content, and are a great way to show your audience what you’re doing or even thinking at that moment in time.

Users that opt-in to receiving updates from other users or organisations. This can be on social media platforms through notifications, or over email.

Collecting feedback and opinions from a general or targeted audience about a particular topic, to drive action and decision making.

An individual or organisation that provides content rich with insight and expertise in a particular subject area. Thought leaders are generally considered to be subject matter experts, providing guidance to influence behaviour and innovation.

A thread, when thinking about social media, is a series of posts or comments about a particular topic that are connected, like a conversation. 

Threads is also new to social media, created by Meta. A user can create a threads account using their Instagram handle, allowing users to post and share text, images, videos, and interact with content posted by others.

TikTok is a short-form video sharing app that enables users to get creative with their content and join in with popular trends. TikToks can be duetted, stitched, have filters, and be about absolutely anything the user wants them to be.

This refers to all user visits to a website or web page. Traffic can also be defined by its original source, such as paid, organic, campaign, or direct.

When something is trending in marketing or on social media, it means it is actively popular at that moment. This can be a certain topic, hashtag, or content format. Social media platforms tend to have an area on the homepage showing what topics are trending at the time.

This is content that is created by your audience, providing authentic and relatable content. Content types can include comments, photos, blog posts, or polls, to name a few.

If an account or profile is verified, this means that the platform on which it is hosted has authenticated and confirmed it to be who they say they are, giving the profile credibility and reducing impersonation efforts.

In terms of marketing, viral (or going viral) is when a piece of content or a post spreads quickly and widely amongst users through sharing. Viral can also apply to trends.

A portmanteau of video and blog. Someone who creates vlogs is known as a vlogger.

Short for web-based seminar, a webinar is an online presentation, workshop, or meeting, usually conducted through video conferencing platforms.

A set of pages under a single domain that serves a particular purpose for an individual, brand, or organisation.

Formerly Twitter, X is a microblogging platform where users communicate using short messages, with each post (previously known as a Tweet) only being maximum 280 characters. X is popular for live updates, news sharing, and engaging in trending topics.

A video sharing website where users can create their own profile, upload videos, watch, like, subscribe, and comment on others. You do not need an account to access videos on YouTube.