Social Media Glossary: ABC

Administrator, blog, call to action, engagement, hashtag, response rate…

So many terms, but what do they all mean? They are all words and phrases which you might hear in relation to social media, but may not mean much to you. If you aspire to having a successful presence on your social media channels though, you should.

Don’t despair though. Whether you struggle to know the difference between your preferred audience and organic reach, I can help. That is what a glossary is for! Of course listing off every possible term in a blog post has its limitations. For one, there just isn’t enough space and for another, I just might lose you. So why not start with the ABCs!

ABCs of Social Media

A

Administrator – Someone with administrative powers on a social media page. Depending upon their page role, an admin on a Facebook page can publish posts, respond to and delete comments, edit, create ads, view insights, assign page roles, and more. An administrator is an important member of your social media team and their prompt response is key to the success of your page.

Algorithm – The formula that a social media page uses to determine which posts are shown to an audience. Facebook does not publicly disclose its exact algorithms, but they do give hints as to what boosts the potential of your posts being seen; amount of content available, active interaction (comments & shares), time of post, relevance of post to audience, etc. All social media channels use algorithms, so it is best to learn a little about each site you plan to post on to know how their specific algorithms work.

Audience – Your audience is the people who view your social media posts. These would be your followers, but also the people you would like to attract to your page. Ultimately, it is the people you want your message to reach; clients, potential clients, business affiliates, members of your extended community, friends, and family.

B

Blog – Similar to a news or magazine article, a blog is an informational web page. Blogs come in all range of topics, but typically focus on a certain theme, for example cooking, poetry, parenting, etc. They are typically updated on a regular basis and occur in a chronological order. The voice depends upon the author, ranging from informal to highly informative. The choice is that of the publisher, who is you or the group publishing it. Blogs usually contain written content, but may also feature images, videos, infographics, sound bytes, or whatever you think might work. They are a great addition to any business’s social media presence, as you can highlight your business’s services, products, activities, or whatever else you might want to share. Plus, they provide a valuable space for clients to communicate with you via comments and an opportunity for them to share your message further on other social media channels (don’t forget to include social sharing buttons!).

Boost – A boost is a leg up in today’s competitive social media engagement game. In terms of social media posts, it means to pay to have your post seen by a wider audience. This increases your possible reach, reactions, comments, and shares. When you boost a post, you decide how much money to spend overall, over a set time period, or over a daily basis. You set the target location, age range, and time period for the boost. Boosting posts not only helps to increase how many people see the specific post, but also potentially increases your number of followers (and hopefully new customers!).

Brand – What is your image all about? That is your brand. Are you socially conscious, environmentally aware, or community minded? That is part of it. What does your business offer? What message do you want to promote? Do you have a logo, slogan, or recognizable sign that defines who you are? That makes you, YOU. And that is what your brand is.

C

Call to Action – An important communication tool is the simple call to action—asking your followers to do something. You might request that people retweet, share a post, comment, or click on a link. While this may seem obvious, many people simply skim content. Specifically asking for feedback or taking an action, lets your audience know what you are looking for. And without that specific message, an opportunity could be lost.

Character Count – While limits have changed over the years, Twitter has a limited character count to play with to get your message out. Originally, only 140 characters were available to users, but Twitter upped the ante in late 2017 to 280 characters. Characters include numbers, letters and spaces. They do not include images, GIFs , videos, quoted tweets, or links.

Content Calendar – A content calendar is a document to help you keep track of what you post. It helps you map out when you want to post certain content over the course of the month or year. It includes holidays, birthdays, celebrations, special events, and more. With a content calendar, you can build on a certain theme over the course of a year by mapping out when to post content. It helps to keep you on track and timely.

This list and these definitions are not exhaustive by any stretch, but they touch on a few terms some people might be unsure about.

Have I left something out? Do you want to know more about any of these terms? Are there other terms from the rest of the alphabet which you would like to see me define?

Leave me a message in the comments (that’s my call to action for you)!