Social media terms. Clearly explained.

A/B testing

A comparison of two versions of content or an experience to learn which performs better against a chosen goal. A useful test changes one main variable while keeping the comparison as fair as possible.

Accessibility

Designing content so people with different abilities can understand and use it. On social media, this includes image descriptions, video captions, readable text, and adequate color contrast.

AI-generated content

Text, images, audio, or video produced with a generative AI system. It can provide a starting point for creative work, but the output still needs human review for accuracy, suitability, and rights.

Algorithm

A set of instructions used to process information and make decisions. Social platforms use ranking and recommendation systems to decide which content to display and in what order.

Alt text

A text alternative that communicates the purpose or essential information of an image. Screen readers can use it to make visual content understandable to people who cannot see the image.

Attribution

The method used to assign credit for a conversion to marketing interactions. Different models and lookback windows can give the same journey different results.

Audience persona

A research-informed description of a type of person you want to reach. It captures needs, motivations, obstacles, and relevant habits to help a team make better content decisions.

B

4 terms

Bio

The short introduction on a social profile that tells visitors who you are, what you offer, and why they might follow you or take the next step.

Bounce rate

A website or app metric whose definition depends on the analytics system. In Google Analytics 4, it is the percentage of sessions that do not qualify as engaged sessions.

Brand awareness

How familiar an audience is with a brand and its identity. Social campaigns can support recognition, but no single reach or engagement number fully measures awareness.

Brand voice

The consistent personality expressed through a brand’s words. Voice stays recognizable across channels, while tone can adapt to the audience, situation, and purpose.

C

14 terms

Call to action (CTA)

A prompt that tells someone what to do next. A useful call to action connects the content to one clear step, such as replying, saving, visiting a page, or signing up.

Caption

The written text accompanying a social post, photo, or video. It supplies context, adds a story, and can invite a response or other action.

Carousel

A post or ad containing multiple pieces of media that viewers can move through. A carousel can break a story, explanation, or product collection into a sequence.

Click-through rate (CTR)

The percentage of impressions that result in clicks. It is calculated as clicks divided by impressions, multiplied by 100. Reports may distinguish link clicks from other kinds of clicks.

Community management

The ongoing work of building relationships with an audience. It includes answering questions, encouraging discussion, moderating behavior, and helping people feel heard.

Content calendar

A shared plan showing what will be published, where it will appear, and when it is due. It can also track owners, assets, campaign themes, and approval status.

Content curation

Selecting relevant material from other sources and presenting it with useful context for your audience. Curation adds judgment and perspective rather than simply reposting everything you find.

Content pillars

The recurring themes that organize a brand’s content. They help connect individual posts to audience needs and business goals without making every post sound the same.

Content repurposing

Adapting an existing idea or asset into a different format or use. The core message stays connected while the presentation changes to suit the audience and channel.

Conversion

A completed action that a business chooses to measure as valuable. A conversion could be a purchase, a completed form, a booking, or another defined outcome.

Conversion rate

The percentage of eligible interactions that produce a defined conversion. The denominator might be ad interactions, clicks, users, or sessions, so the reporting definition matters.

Cost per click (CPC)

The amount spent per click in an advertising campaign. Average CPC is total click-related advertising cost divided by the number of clicks.

Cost per thousand impressions (CPM)

The advertising cost for one thousand impressions. It is calculated as spend divided by impressions, multiplied by 1,000.

Cross-posting

Sharing the same or closely related content across multiple social accounts or networks. It can save time, but the post still needs to fit each destination.

D

1 term

Direct message (DM)

A message sent through a platform’s private messaging interface to a person or group. It is separate from a public comment thread, though platform and account access rules still apply.

E

4 terms

Earned media

Exposure a brand receives through other people’s independent coverage, recommendations, or sharing, rather than placement it purchases or publishes itself.

Engagement

The interactions people have with content or an account, such as reactions, comments, saves, shares, and clicks. The interactions included in a report vary by platform.

Engagement rate

A percentage that puts interactions in relation to a chosen base, such as reach, impressions, or followers. Different formulas answer different questions and should not be mixed without explanation.

Evergreen content

Content that stays useful beyond a short news cycle or campaign window. It often answers recurring questions or explains a lasting concept, but it can still need updates.

F

3 terms

Feed

A stream of posts or updates displayed in a social app. It may be ordered by time, recommendations, user preferences, or a combination of signals.

Follower growth rate

The percentage change in follower count over a chosen period. Net new followers divided by the starting follower count, multiplied by 100, gives one common calculation.

Frequency

How often, on average, each reached person or account is shown an ad within a reporting period. A common calculation is impressions divided by reach.

G

1 term

Geotag

Location information attached to a post or piece of media. It can connect content to a place, such as a venue, city, or event location.

H

2 terms

Hashtag

A word or phrase preceded by the # symbol that can label a topic or connect related posts. How hashtags support discovery varies by network.

Hook

The opening line, image, or moment designed to earn attention and make someone want to continue. A strong hook sets up a payoff the content actually delivers.

I

2 terms

Impressions

The number of times content is displayed or served under a platform’s measurement rules. Multiple appearances to the same person can count more than once.

Influencer marketing

Working with a creator or other influential person to communicate with their audience. Partnerships may involve content creation, product education, endorsements, or campaign participation.

J

1 term

Jump cut

A video edit that moves abruptly between moments in a similar shot. It can remove pauses, speed up an explanation, or create a deliberate change in rhythm.

K

1 term

Key performance indicator (KPI)

A metric selected to judge progress toward a specific objective. A KPI is useful because of the decision it supports, not simply because it appears in a dashboard.

L

5 terms

Landing page

The page a visitor reaches after following a link, often designed around a focused campaign goal. A dedicated landing page connects the promise of the post or ad to the next action.

Lead generation

Attracting people who express interest in a product or service and collecting an appropriate way to continue the conversation. A lead is an opportunity to qualify, not a guaranteed sale.

Link in bio

A link placed in a social profile’s introduction area. Posts may direct viewers there when another clickable link is unavailable or when the profile serves as a central destination.

Live streaming

Broadcasting video or audio as it happens over the internet. Social live sessions often include real-time audience comments and questions.

Lookalike audience

An advertising audience modeled from a source group to find other people with similar characteristics. Availability, naming, and modeling rules depend on the advertising platform.

M

2 terms

Mention

A reference to an account or brand in a post, comment, or conversation. A tagged mention usually links to an account, while an untagged mention may only include its name.

Moderation

Managing participation in a community according to its rules. It can include reviewing comments, removing spam, responding to abuse, and escalating serious concerns.

N

1 term

Native content

Content designed for and consumed within a particular platform’s experience. It uses a format and style that fit the channel rather than relying entirely on an external destination.

O

1 term

Organic reach

The estimated number of distinct people or accounts that see content through unpaid distribution. Reporting boundaries and deduplication methods depend on the platform.

P

3 terms

Advertising distributed through social platforms in exchange for payment. Campaigns can use audience, placement, budget, and optimization settings to pursue defined goals.

Pinned post

A post deliberately kept in a prominent position on a profile or community page where the platform supports it. It helps visitors find important or useful information quickly.

Publishing workflow

The sequence of steps a team follows to take content from an idea to a live post. It commonly includes drafting, review, approval, scheduling, and checking the published result.

Q

1 term

Quote post

A post that shares another post together with the sharer’s own commentary, where the platform supports this format. It adds a public perspective to the original conversation.

R

6 terms

Reach

The estimated number of distinct people or accounts exposed to content during a reporting period. Unlike impressions, reach aims to count each reached person or account once within the stated scope.

Reel

A short-form video post published in a platform’s Reels format. It often appears in a scrollable video experience and may combine footage, audio, text, and effects.

Response time

The time between an incoming message or comment and a reply. Teams may measure first response separately from full resolution and may use business hours or elapsed time.

Retargeting

Showing advertising to an eligible audience based on previous interactions, such as a site visit or engagement with content. It depends on available data, consent, and platform rules.

Return on ad spend (ROAS)

Attributed revenue divided by advertising spend. ROAS describes revenue relative to ad cost, but does not by itself account for production costs, margins, returns, or other expenses.

Review management

The process of monitoring, organizing, responding to, and learning from customer reviews. It combines reputation awareness with service follow-up and improvement.

S

9 terms

Sentiment analysis

An attempt to classify the tone or opinion expressed in text, often as positive, negative, or neutral. Automated results can miss context, mixed feelings, irony, or sarcasm.

Share of voice

A brand’s share of a defined set of mentions, exposure, or conversation compared with a selected group. The result depends heavily on what sources, competitors, and terms are included.

Short-form video

A brief video built around a focused idea, moment, or story. The exact length and delivery format vary by platform and placement.

Social commerce

Shopping activity supported within or closely connected to social experiences. Depending on the platform, this may involve product discovery, product tags, a storefront, or checkout.

Social listening

Analyzing conversations and recurring themes to understand audience needs, brand perception, or market changes. It looks beyond individual notifications to patterns that can guide decisions.

Social monitoring

Tracking individual mentions, comments, messages, or keywords so a team can notice and respond to relevant activity. It supports day-to-day awareness and customer care.

Social proof

Evidence of other people’s experiences or choices that can influence how an audience evaluates a brand. Reviews, recommendations, and customer stories are common examples.

Social SEO

Making social content easier to understand and discover through relevant wording, context, and clear profile information. Social search and web search use different systems, and results are not guaranteed.

Story

A sequence of photos or videos shared through a platform’s Stories format. Stories are often temporary, although saving, highlighting, or archiving options depend on the service.

T

3 terms

Target audience

The group of people a piece of content, campaign, or service is intended to reach. It can be defined by needs, interests, behaviors, context, or relevant characteristics.

Thumbnail

A preview image that represents a video or other content before someone opens it. It helps people recognize the topic and decide whether to look closer.

Tracking pixel

A small tracking resource or related code used to report actions such as visits or conversions. Its operation depends on the implementation, browser behavior, consent, and privacy controls.

U

3 terms

Unified inbox

A shared workspace that brings supported conversations from multiple connected channels into one place. It can help a team organize replies, assignments, and follow-up.

User-generated content (UGC)

Content created by customers, community members, or other users rather than the brand’s own editorial team. It may describe or show a product, service, or experience.

UTM parameters

Labels added to a URL to help analytics tools identify campaign traffic. Common fields describe the source, medium, and campaign so teams can distinguish one promotion from another.

V

3 terms

Vanity metrics

Numbers that look impressive but provide little guidance when disconnected from a goal or decision. A metric is not automatically a vanity metric; its usefulness depends on context.

Video captions

Text synchronized with a video that communicates speech and relevant sound. Captions improve access and help viewers follow content when they cannot hear the audio.

Viral content

Content that spreads rapidly through sharing, recommendations, and attention. There is no universal view threshold that makes a post viral across all audiences and platforms.

W

2 terms

Watch time

The total amount of time viewers spend watching video content within a report’s scope. It differs from average watch duration and from the percentage of a video watched.

Workflow automation

Using defined triggers and rules to carry out repeatable steps with less manual work. Automation can assist a team while leaving review, exceptions, and important decisions with people.

Z

1 term

Zero-click content

Content that delivers its main value within the post itself, without requiring someone to open another page. It can educate, explain, or entertain directly in the feed.