SOCIAL MEDIA GLOSSARY: SOCIAL TERMS EXPLAINED
Scroll through any marketing blog or social media webinar, and you'll quickly come across phrases like engagement rate, organic reach, carousel post and user-generated content. They're often treated as if everyone already knows what they mean.
The reality is, a lot of business owners don't.
And that's perfectly normal.
Running a successful business doesn't mean you also need to speak fluent social media.
This glossary explains the terminology you'll hear most often when planning campaigns, reviewing performance or working with a social media agency. We've kept the explanations clear, practical, and free from unnecessary jargon, so you can spend less time Googling definitions and more time focusing on growing your business.
And if you liked this glossary, be sure to check out our: SEO Glossary, Video Glossary and Web Design Glossary.
SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY TERMS
Every successful social media campaign begins with a clear strategy. These are some of the most common planning terms you'll encounter.
AUDIENCE
The group of people your social media content is designed to reach based on factors such as age, interests, location or profession.
BRAND AWARENESS
The extent to which people recognise and remember your business. Many social media campaigns focus on increasing brand awareness before generating enquiries or sales.
CONTENT CALENDAR
A schedule used to plan upcoming social media posts, helping businesses publish consistently and organise campaigns in advance. Some common social calendar platforms are SproutSocial, Buffer, and HeyOrca.
CONTENT PILLARS
The core topics your business regularly posts about. For example, a marketing agency might focus on educational content, client success stories, company culture and industry news.
ENGAGEMENT
Any interaction users have with your content, including likes, comments, shares, saves and clicks.
ORGANIC REACH
The number of people who see your content naturally, without paid advertising.
PAID SOCIAL
Advertising on social media platforms, where businesses pay to promote content to a selected audience.
SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY
A documented plan outlining the goals, target audience, content themes and platforms that will be used to achieve specific marketing objectives.
TARGET AUDIENCE
The specific group of people most likely to be interested in your products or services.
SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT TERMS
Creating engaging content is at the heart of every successful social media presence.
CAPTION
The written text accompanying a social media post that provides context, encourages engagement or includes a call to action.
CAROUSEL
A post containing multiple images or videos that users can swipe through.
CALL TO ACTION (CTA)
A prompt encouraging users to take a specific action, such as visiting your website, contacting your business or downloading a guide.
FEED
The main stream of content displayed when users open a social media platform.
HASHTAG
A keyword or phrase preceded by the "#" symbol that helps categorise content and improve discoverability.
REEL
A short-form vertical video designed for quick, engaging content, particularly on Instagram and Facebook.
SHORT-FORM VIDEO
Video content typically lasts less than a minute, designed for platforms such as Instagram Reels, TikTok and YouTube Shorts. If you’re looking to improve your socials, check out our blog on how to create engaging videos for social media.
STORY
Temporary content that usually disappears after 24 hours unless saved to a profile.
USER-GENERATED CONTENT (UGC)
Photos, videos or testimonials created by customers rather than the business itself. UGC often builds trust because it demonstrates genuine customer experiences.
VERTICAL VIDEO
Video recorded in portrait orientation, optimised for viewing on smartphones.
PLATFORM TERMS
Most social media platforms share common features, regardless of whether you're using LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram or TikTok.
ALGORITHM
The system used by a platform to decide which content appears in a user's feed based on factors such as relevance, engagement and previous activity.
BIO
A short description displayed on a social media profile explaining who a person or business is.
DIRECT MESSAGE (DM)
A private message sent between users on a social media platform.
FOLLOW
Choosing to subscribe to another user's content so their future posts appear in your feed.
HANDLE
A unique username used to identify an account, often beginning with the "@" symbol.
MENTION
Tagging another user or business within a post or comment using their handle.
PROFILE
The public page representing an individual or organisation on a social media platform.
TAG
Adding another account to a post, image or video so they are notified and linked to the content.
VERIFICATION BADGE
A symbol confirming that an account genuinely belongs to a recognised individual, organisation or brand.
SOCIAL MEDIA ADVERTISING TERMS
Paid social media campaigns introduce another set of terminology focused on advertising performance.
AD CREATIVE
The visual and written content used within a social media advert, including images, videos, headlines and copy.
CAMPAIGN
A collection of adverts created to achieve a specific marketing objective.
CLICK-THROUGH RATE (CTR)
The percentage of people who click on an advert after seeing it.
CONVERSION
A valuable action completed by a user, such as submitting an enquiry, making a purchase or downloading a brochure.
COST PER CLICK (CPC)
The average amount paid each time someone clicks on an advert.
COST PER MILLE (CPM)
The cost of displaying an advert one thousand times, regardless of whether users click on it.
LANDING PAGE
The webpage users arrive on after clicking a social media advert.
REMARKETING
Showing adverts to people who have previously visited your website or interacted with your business online.
RETURN ON AD SPEND (ROAS)
A metric measuring how much revenue is generated for every pound spent on advertising.
SOCIAL MEDIA ANALYTICS TERMS
Understanding your results is essential for improving future campaigns.
CLICKS
The number of times users click a link, button or image within a social media post or advert.
ENGAGEMENT RATE
A measurement of how actively people interact with your content compared with the number of people who viewed it.
FOLLOWERS
People who have chosen to subscribe to your account and receive your future content.
IMPRESSIONS
The total number of times your content is displayed on users' screens, regardless of whether they interact with it.
REACH
The number of unique people who have seen your content.
SAVES
The number of users who bookmark a post to revisit later.
SHARES
The number of times users distribute your content to their own audience or send it directly to others.
VIDEO VIEWS
The number of times a video has been watched. Different platforms measure video views differently, so definitions may vary.
READY TO TAKE YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA TO THE NEXT LEVEL?
Understanding the terminology is a great place to start, but successful social media is about much more than knowing the difference between reach and impressions or organic and paid content.
The businesses that consistently see results are the ones with a clear strategy, engaging content and a consistent presence. They understand who they're trying to reach, what they want to say and how each platform fits into their wider marketing efforts.
Whether you're managing your own channels or looking for support from an experienced team, having the right approach can make all the difference.
At Treefrog, we help businesses create social media strategies that are built around real objectives, not just chasing likes or following trends. From content planning and professional photography to video production, community management and paid social campaigns, we work as an extension of your team to help your business grow online.
If you'd like to get more from your social media, get in touch with Treefrog to see how we can help you create content that connects with your audience and delivers measurable results.