PilotPostSocial media terms, explained
109 words and abbreviations you'll meet when you post for a business, from A/B testing to zero-click content. Each one is explained in plain English, with an example and a tip.
A
- A/B testing
- A/B testing is a way of comparing two versions of a post, ad or page by showing each to similar people and seeing which one performs better.
- AI-generated content
- AI-generated content is text, images, video or audio created fully or partly by artificial intelligence tools, often from a short written prompt or instruction.
- Algorithm
- An algorithm is the set of rules a social network uses to decide which posts each person sees, and in what order, in their feed or recommendations.
- Alt text
- Alt text is a short written description of an image that screen readers read aloud, helping people who are blind or have low vision understand the picture.
- API
- An API, or application programming interface, is a set of rules that lets different software programs talk to each other and share data or actions.
- Aspect ratio
- An aspect ratio is the proportion between an image's or video's width and height, such as square, vertical or widescreen, written as two numbers like 1:1.
- Audience
- An audience is the group of people who see, follow or interact with your social media content, including both current followers and the people you want to reach.
- Avatar (profile picture)
- An avatar, or profile picture, is the small image that represents your account across a social network, appearing next to your posts, comments and messages.
B
- Best time to post
- The best time to post is the day and hour when your audience is most likely to be online and engage with your content on a particular social network.
- Bio
- A bio is the short description on a social media profile that tells visitors who you are, what you offer and often what to do next.
- Bluesky
- Bluesky is a decentralized social network for sharing short text posts, images and videos, built on an open protocol that lets users choose their own feeds.
- Boosted post
- A boosted post is a regular social media post that you pay to show to more people, usually turning it into a simple ad without building a full campaign.
- Brand awareness
- Brand awareness is how familiar people are with your business, name or products, and how easily they recognize or remember you when they need what you offer.
- Brand voice
- Brand voice is the consistent personality and style a business uses in its words, such as friendly, expert or playful, across posts, replies and messages.
- Bulk scheduling
- Bulk scheduling is the process of preparing and scheduling many social media posts at once, rather than creating and publishing each one individually.
C
- Call to action (CTA)
- A call to action, or CTA, is a short prompt that tells people what to do next, such as "Shop now," "Comment below" or "Book a call."
- Caption
- A caption is the text that accompanies a social media post, image or video, used to add context, tell a story, share details or encourage a response.
- Carousel
- A carousel is a single social media post that contains several images or videos people can swipe or click through, one after another.
- Character limit
- A character limit is the maximum number of letters, numbers, spaces and symbols a social network allows in a post, caption, bio or comment.
- Click-through rate (CTR)
- Click-through rate, or CTR, is the share of people who clicked a link, ad or button after seeing it, usually shown as a percentage of impressions.
- Collab post (Instagram)
- A collab post is an Instagram feature that lets two or more accounts co-author one post or Reel, so it appears on each account's profile and reaches all their followers.
- Comment
- A comment is a written reply someone leaves under a social media post, allowing people to react, ask questions or start conversations with the poster and others.
- Community management
- Community management is the work of building and looking after relationships with your audience online, by replying to people, moderating discussions and encouraging conversation.
- Content calendar
- A content calendar is a schedule that shows what you plan to post, where and when, helping you organize social media content ahead of time.
- Content curation
- Content curation is the practice of finding, selecting and sharing useful content created by others, usually with your own comment, to inform or entertain your audience.
- Content pillars
- Content pillars are the few main themes or topics a brand regularly posts about, giving its social media a clear focus and a balanced mix of content.
- Conversion rate
- A conversion rate is the share of people who complete a desired action, such as buying, signing up or booking, out of everyone who had the chance to.
- Cost per click (CPC)
- Cost per click, or CPC, is the average amount you pay each time someone clicks on your online ad, calculated by dividing total ad spend by total clicks.
- Creator
- A creator is a person who regularly makes and shares original content, such as videos, photos, posts or podcasts, for an online audience and often earns money from it.
- Cross-posting
- Cross-posting is sharing the same piece of content on more than one social network or account, either word for word or adjusted slightly for each one.
D
- Dark social
- Dark social is content sharing that happens in private channels, such as messaging apps, email or direct messages, where analytics tools cannot easily see where traffic came from.
- Direct message (DM)
- A direct message, or DM, is a private message sent between users or accounts on a social network, visible only to the people in that conversation.
- Duet (TikTok)
- A Duet is a TikTok feature that lets you record your own video alongside another person's video, so both play side by side on screen at the same time.
E
- Emoji
- An emoji is a small digital picture or symbol, such as a smiling face, heart or thumbs up, used in messages and posts to express emotions or ideas.
- Employee advocacy
- Employee advocacy is when a company's staff share its news, content or values on their own social media accounts, helping the business reach more people through trusted voices.
- Engagement
- Engagement is any interaction people have with your social media content, such as likes, comments, shares, saves, clicks, replies and reposts.
- Engagement rate
- Engagement rate is a measure of how actively people interact with your content, usually calculated as total engagements divided by followers, reach or impressions, shown as a percentage.
- Evergreen content
- Evergreen content is social media or web content that stays useful and relevant for a long time, rather than depending on news, trends or a specific date.
- Explore page (Instagram)
- The Explore page is a section of Instagram that shows each user a personalized mix of photos, videos and Reels from accounts they do not already follow.
F
- Facebook Page
- A Facebook Page is a public profile for a business, brand, organization or public figure on Facebook, used to share updates and connect with customers.
- Feed
- A feed is the continuously updated stream of posts you see when you open a social network, made up of content from accounts you follow and recommended content.
- Follower
- A follower is a person or account that has chosen to subscribe to your social media profile so your posts can appear in their feed.
- For You page (FYP)
- The For You page, or FYP, is TikTok's main personalized feed, showing each user a stream of recommended videos based on their interests and activity.
G
H
- Handle
- A handle is the unique username that identifies an account on a social network, usually shown with an @ symbol and used for mentions and tagging.
- Hashtag
- A hashtag is a word or phrase after a # sign that groups posts about the same topic, making them easier for people to find and follow.
- Hook
- A hook is the opening line, image or first few seconds of a post or video that grabs attention and makes people want to keep reading or watching.
I
- Impressions
- Impressions are the total number of times your content was shown on someone's screen, counting repeat views by the same person.
- Influencer
- An influencer is a person with an engaged social media following who can affect what their audience thinks, buys or tries, often through recommendations and reviews.
- Influencer marketing
- Influencer marketing is a strategy where businesses partner with influencers or creators to promote their products or services to the influencer's audience.
K
- KPI (key performance indicator)
- A KPI, or key performance indicator, is a specific, measurable number a business tracks to see whether it is reaching an important goal.
L
- Lead generation
- Lead generation is the process of attracting people who are interested in your products or services and collecting their contact details so you can follow up.
- Like
- A like is a quick reaction, often shown as a heart or thumbs-up, that people use to show they enjoyed or agree with a social media post.
- LinkedIn Company Page
- A LinkedIn Company Page is a free business profile on LinkedIn where an organization shares updates, job openings and news with followers and employees.
- Link in bio
- A link in bio is the clickable website link placed in a social media profile, often used on networks where links in regular posts are not clickable.
- Link preview
- A link preview is the card with a title, short description and image that appears when you paste a web link into a social post or message.
- Live streaming
- Live streaming is broadcasting real-time video on a social network so followers can watch, comment and react while it is happening.
M
- Meme
- A meme is a funny or relatable image, video or phrase that people copy, remix and share widely online, usually following a familiar format.
- Mention
- A mention is when someone tags an account in a post, comment or story using the @ symbol and the account's handle, which usually sends that account a notification.
- Micro-influencer
- A micro-influencer is a social media creator with a smaller but highly engaged following, usually focused on a specific topic, community or local area.
N
- Niche
- A niche is a specific, focused topic or audience segment that an account or business concentrates on, instead of trying to appeal to everyone.
O
- Organic reach
- Organic reach is the number of unique people who see your social media content without you paying to promote it.
P
- Paid social
- Paid social is any social media content that a business pays to show to a wider or more targeted audience, such as ads and boosted posts.
- Pinned post
- A pinned post is a post that you fix to the top of your profile or a group so it stays visible first, no matter what you post later.
- Pin (Pinterest)
- A Pin is a post on Pinterest, usually an image or short video with a title, description and link, that people save to their boards.
- Posting frequency
- Posting frequency is how often an account publishes new content on a social network, such as several times a day, daily or a few times a week.
- Posting queue
- A posting queue is a list of scheduled social media posts that publish automatically, one after another, at preset times you choose in advance.
- Profile
- A profile is the public page on a social network that represents a person or business, showing its name, photo, bio, links and posts.
Q
- Quote post
- A quote post is when you share someone else's post on your own profile and add your own comment above it, so both appear together.
R
- Reach
- Reach is the number of unique people who saw your social media content at least once during a set period.
- Reels (Instagram and Facebook)
- Reels are short, vertical videos on Instagram and Facebook that can include music, effects and text, designed to be discovered by people beyond your followers.
- Reply
- A reply is a response to a comment, message or post, written directly beneath it or in a private conversation, to continue the discussion.
- Repost
- A repost is sharing someone else's content on your own profile or feed so your followers can see it, usually with credit to the original creator.
- ROI (return on investment)
- ROI, or return on investment, is a measure of how much value you get back from social media compared to the time and money you put in.
S
- Saves
- Saves are the number of times people bookmark your social media post so they can find it again later, usually in a private collection.
- Sentiment analysis
- Sentiment analysis is the process of judging whether written text, such as comments or reviews, expresses a positive, negative or neutral feeling.
- Share
- A share is when someone passes your social media post along to their own followers, a friend or a group, helping it reach new people.
- Short-form video
- Short-form video is brief video content, usually under a few minutes, made to be watched quickly on mobile feeds like TikTok, Reels and YouTube Shorts.
- Social inbox
- A social inbox is a single place where you can read and respond to comments, messages and mentions from several social media accounts at once.
- Social listening
- Social listening is tracking public online conversations about your brand, competitors, industry or keywords to understand what people are saying and feeling.
- Social media analytics
- Social media analytics is the collection and study of data about your social accounts, such as reach, engagement and follower growth, to understand what is working.
- Social media audit
- A social media audit is a review of all your social accounts and their performance to see what is working, what is not and where to improve.
- Social media manager
- A social media manager is the person responsible for planning, creating, publishing and measuring a brand's social media content and conversations.
- Social media scheduling
- Social media scheduling is planning and setting up posts in advance so they publish automatically at chosen dates and times.
- Social media strategy
- A social media strategy is a plan that sets out your goals, audience, channels, content and how you will measure success on social media.
- Social proof
- Social proof is the idea that people trust and follow the choices of others, shown through reviews, testimonials, follower counts and customer posts.
- Social selling
- Social selling is using social media to find, connect with and build relationships with potential customers, leading to sales over time.
- Sponsored content
- Sponsored content is any social media post that a brand pays for or provides products for, whether shown as an ad or posted by a creator.
- Stitch (TikTok)
- A Stitch is a TikTok feature that lets you clip a few seconds of someone else's video and add your own video after it as a response.
- Stories
- Stories are short photos or videos that appear in a separate full-screen format at the top of an app and usually disappear after a day.
T
- Tagging
- Tagging is adding another account, product or location to a social post so it is linked, and the tagged account is usually notified.
- Telegram channel
- A Telegram channel is a one-way broadcast feed on the Telegram messaging app where an account owner sends posts to an unlimited number of subscribers.
- Thread
- A thread is a series of connected posts by the same author, linked in order, used to share a longer idea or story on a social network.
- Threads (app)
- Threads is a text-focused social app from Meta, linked to Instagram accounts, where people share short posts, images and video and join public conversations.
- Thumbnail
- A thumbnail is the small preview image that represents a video, post or link before someone clicks on it to view the full content.
- Trending topic
- A trending topic is a subject, hashtag, sound or phrase that suddenly gets a lot of attention and conversation on a social network.
U
- Unfollow
- An unfollow is when someone stops following an account on a social network, so that account's posts no longer appear in their feed.
- User-generated content (UGC)
- User-generated content, or UGC, is any content, such as photos, videos, reviews or posts, created by customers or fans rather than by the brand itself.
- UTM parameters
- UTM parameters are short tags added to the end of a web link that tell analytics tools where a visitor came from, such as which network or campaign.
V
- Vanity metrics
- Vanity metrics are social media numbers, like follower counts or likes, that look impressive but do not clearly show progress toward real business goals.
- Verification badge
- A verification badge is a small icon, often a check mark, shown next to an account's name to signal that the network has confirmed or approved it.
- Vertical video
- Vertical video is video filmed and shown in a tall, portrait shape, made to fill a phone screen without needing to rotate the device.
- Viral
- Viral describes a social media post that spreads very quickly and widely, being shared and viewed far beyond the creator's usual audience.
W
- Watch time
- Watch time is the total amount of time people spend viewing your videos, often used by networks to judge how engaging the content is.
- WhatsApp Business
- WhatsApp Business is a version of the WhatsApp messaging app built for companies, with tools like a business profile, catalog, quick replies and broadcast features.
X
- X (formerly Twitter)
- X, formerly known as Twitter, is a social network where people share short text posts, images and videos and follow real-time news and conversations.
Y
- YouTube Shorts
- YouTube Shorts are short, vertical videos on YouTube, shown in a swipeable feed, designed for quick viewing on phones.
Z
- Zero-click content
- Zero-click content is a social media post that gives people the full value right in the feed, without asking them to click a link to another site.