Digital DownLow: Social Media MarketingThis is part two of a four-part informational series written to define common and not-so-common terms used in the digital marketing world.
We’re back again with some more clarity into commonly used (but rarely explained) terms used in advertising – this time, we’re decoding social media marketing jargon. It’s already confusing enough to make sense of all the LOL’s, BTW’s & BRB’s, but to tackle the technical terminology that social media marketers use is tiresome. Allow us to relieve some of that burden.
Below is our definitive guide to all things social media marketing. Use it, study it, share it and soak up all of its knowledge to be up on your social media game. TTYL? Brand Advocate: a social media influencer hired by a company to share the brand’s products/services with his or her following. Social media influencers with a large following and high engagement rates are prime candidates for brand advocate positions.
FB: Facebook. Often, this abbreviation will be seen on Twitter when referencing Facebook to save space.
Meme: Viral visual content you see on the web; usually humorous.
SMO: Social Media Optimization. Similar to SEO in the sense that it is an act of ensuring visibility of all social media assets within each social platform. This is becoming more integrated with SEO and Search Engines.
SRP (Social Relationship Platform): A platform used by marketers to manage multiple social media accounts from one place. One could schedule posts, monitor engagement, and even interact with followers from one central hub.
UGC: User Generated Content. Same thing as CGM (Consumer Generated Media) or UCC (User Created Content), just a different way of saying it.
Emerging Social Medias: Periscope (live streaming app), Snapchat (video messaging app), & Tinder (social networking app)
DM: Direct Message. This often appears when you indicate to someone that you want this conversation to go private.
RT: Re-tweet. A method of acknowledging someone else’s post and giving them credit for what they have said, or sharing information and giving credit.
#TBT: Stands for Throwback Thursday. Users usually post an old picture for nostalgic reflection.
Troll: Can be a verb or a noun. An annoying social media profile who posts content to annoy, instigate arguments, belittle others or all of the above. It is best not to engage a troll as it usually worsens the situation.
Unfriend: To remove a person from your virtual circle of friends. A term coined by Facebook.
Unfollow: The act of unsubscribing from someone else’s social feed. Can be performed on Twitter, Instagram & Snapchat.
URL Shortener: An online application used to shorten links so as to share on character-limiting social media platforms like Twitter. Popular URL shorteners include: bit.ly, goo.gl & ow.ly.
Verified: The state of being validated by any given social media platform. Usually indicated by a blue check mark (as seen on Twitter) next to the social media influencers’ handle.
Vlogger: An online personality that blogs using video; predominantly famous on Youtube, Vimeo and other video-sharing platforms.
