Just like with any industry, the social media world has it’s own language. Some of the words are easy to figure out but other social media jargon may be more challenging than others: like what is the difference between reach and engagement. So, we’ve gone through and tried to identify some of the common terms used on the “business” side of social media to keep you educated and in the loop!
Words you should know
Platform – any social media profile, network, or site that you have. Facebook, Instagram, X, etc. are all platforms.
Page – a dedicated profile for your business.
Organic Social – Posts that you make on a traditional timeline. I.e – posts that you create that your followers see
Paid Social – A dedicated advertising campaign where you are spending money. These can more accurately present results as campaigns can be framed with a specific metric in mind.
Engagement – Any like, comment, share, or click on your post.
Engagement Rate – The percentage of people who are engaging on any post. This is calculated by taking the total number of engagements and dividing by the total reach of the post and multiplying by 100 (ex. 10 engagements on a post with a reach of 300 will have an engagement rate of 3%).
Reach – the number of individual people who saw your post.
Impressions – the number of times your post was seen. With an impression, one individual could see your post 3 times. Thats a reach of 1 but 3 impressions.
Analytics – the data that helps determine what is and is not working. Facebook calls this data Insights.
Metric – an individual piece of analytical information. The number of followers would be considered a metric.
Likes/Followers – the number of people who want to continue to recieve updates for your page.
Content Calendar – a plan of what is being posted on which platform and when.
Content – The photos, videos, graphics, etc that make up your post.
Boosted Post – A ‘boosted post’ is a post that you have decided to put ad dollars to. You are essentially taking a post you have already made and converting it into an ad. This is different than an actual ad campaign
Hashtag (x)– A hashtag is a way to connect your post to a larger conversation about a related subject. For example, if we search the hashtag #muncieindiana, we will see posts that have also used that hashtag relating to Muncie, Indiana.
Key Performance Indicator (KPI’s)– these are the most important analytics that you view. KPI’s may include Reach,Impressions, Total Engagements, and Engagement Rate are examples of KPI’s
Need to refer back to this? That’s OK: download this guide as a PDF!