Before you kick off your 2017 social media strategy, it is important to familiarize yourself with some common social media terms. To assist you, we have identified and defined the top 8 need-to- know social media keywords and phrases.
1. Followers
In the world of social media, followers refer to online users who choose to keep tabs on your social networks. Essentially, they “follow” (subscribe to) your posts. These are your fans, customers, and clients who are interested in hearing what you have to say online.
2. Engagement Rate
A common metric that many companies like to focus on is your follower count. However, we find that a more powerful metric is your engagement rate. Engagement rate is the total number of engagements (likes, shares, comments) a post receives divided by the total number of impressions (people the post was served to).
3. Editorial Calendar
One of the first steps in a social media strategy is the creation of an editorial calendar. An editorial calendar is an outline of what you plan to post and when you plan to post it, for each of your social media channels. This allows you to plan in advance what you will be sharing so as to avoid writer’s block and to schedule posts ahead of time.
4. News Feed
Your news feed is just what it sounds like: a listing of news and updates on a particular social media channel. You are likely most familiar with the Facebook News Feed, “the homepage of users' accounts where they can see all the latest updates from their friends” (Hubspot).
5. Algorithm
Most social media sites use an “algorithm” to determine which posts will be seen by which followers. Essentially, it is a set of formulas. Often times, social media algorithms factor in content length, quality of links, and engagement rates.
6. Hashtag
A hashtag brings together the pound symbol (#) and a keyword or phrase to denote a trending topic. Many social networks use hashtags to categorize conversations and make it easy for people to participate. Marketers use hashtags to help increase their reach.
7. Click-Through- Rate (CTR)
Click-through- rate is a common term across all digital marketing channels. In social media it refers to the percentage of people clicking on a link in a post and accessing the destination URL. Whenever you post a blog and share a link to it on your Facebook page, you are aiming to increase your CTR.
8. GIF
GIF stands for Graphics Interchange Format and refers to small-scale animations and film clips. Many users share GIFs in their social media posts because they are highly engaging.
If you are interested in learning more about social media glossary definitions or would like to kick off your 2017 social media strategy, contact Informatics Inc. today.
