Lost in the jargon-heavy, acronym-filled world of social marketing? We can help.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s our quick rundown of key terms you need to know in 2025:<\/p>\n
Uses click-throughs, page-views or engagement to measure the performance of social content. Tip:<\/b> Use AI-powered analytics tools to gain deeper insights.<\/p>\n
RELATED: 7 free tools to analyse and measure your social media marketing.<\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n The set of rules a computer or program follows to rank and display content in user feeds. Example: <\/b>Instagram’s algorithm prioritises content based on relevance, timeliness and user interaction.<\/p>\n How often a visitor clicks through from an ad to your site or landing page, divided by the total number of people who view the ad.<\/p>\n The percentage of browsers who take the desired action, such as signing up or making a purchase.\u00a0Pro tip:<\/b> A\/B testing can improve your conversion rates.<\/p>\n A private message sent on a social platform. Best practice: <\/b><\/strong>Use automated responses for faster customer service.<\/p>\n A long-form piece of content used to generate leads \u2013 like this one on social media advertising.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Tiny cartoon images to show emotion. Fun fact:<\/b> Emojis can increase engagement in captions, email subject lines or posts.<\/p>\n Measures how much customers have interacted with a post through likes, shares or comments. Trend:<\/b> Short-form videos have the highest engagement rate in 2025.<\/p>\n A looping animation used to convey reactions or responses.\u00a0<\/b>Best use:<\/b> Add GIFs to Stories for playful interactions.<\/p>\n A word or short phrase prefixed with a # to group posts on social media channels.\u00a0Example:<\/b> #SocialMediaTrends2025<\/p>\n The number of times users might have seen your content.\u00a0Key insight:<\/b> High impressions don’t always equal high engagement.<\/p>\n Collaborating with influencers to promote your products or services.\u00a02025 insight:<\/b> Micro-influencers deliver higher engagement rates than celebrities.<\/p>\n Paid ads that blend seamlessly with organic content. Why it works:<\/b> Consumers are more likely to engage with ads that don’t look like ads.<\/p>\n The \u2018home page\u2019 where social media users see the most recent or relevant updates from friends, groups and brands they follow. Tip:<\/b> Consistency is key to staying visible in the feed.<\/p>\n A strategy targeting users who have previously interacted with your site or ad.\u00a0New trend: <\/b>Cross-platform retargeting is gaining traction, allowing advertisers to re-engage users with personalised ads across multiple devices and platforms based on their previous interactions.<\/p>\n The buying and selling of products directly through social media platforms.\u00a0Key platforms:<\/b> Instagram Shop, TikTok Shop and Facebook Marketplace.<\/p>\n Monitoring social media channels for mentions of your brand, competitors and industry. Why it matters:<\/b> Helps brands respond to feedback and trends in real time.<\/p>\n A series of videos or images with links, text, animated images and stickers, that disappears after 24 hours. Trend:<\/b> Brands now use interactive polls and Q&A stickers for higher engagement.<\/p>\n Used to connect posts to people or businesses.\u00a0Best practice:<\/b> Tagging influencers can expand your reach.<\/p>\n A series of comments on a post or on a website that make up a conversation. Example:<\/b> Reddit threads are great for storytelling.<\/p>\n Blogs, posts, or videos created by social media users. Businesses can tap into this content by partnering with users or linking to relevant content. Take a look at our guide to user-generated content<\/a> for examples.<\/span> Pro tip:<\/b> Encourage customers to share experiences using your products.Algorithm: <\/strong><\/h2>\n
CTR (click-through rate): <\/strong><\/h2>\n
Conversion rate: <\/strong><\/h2>\n
DM (direct message):\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
eBook:\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Emoji: <\/strong><\/h2>\n
Engagement rate:\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
GIF (Graphics Interchange Format)<\/strong>:<\/h2>\n
Hashtag:\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Impressions: <\/strong><\/h2>\n
Influencer marketing: <\/strong><\/h2>\n
Native advertising:\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
News feed:\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Retargeting:\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Social commerce: <\/strong><\/h2>\n
Social listening: <\/strong><\/h2>\n
Story: <\/strong><\/h2>\n
Tag:\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Thread:\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
UGC (user-generated content): <\/strong><\/h2>\n
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