SMM glossary
Plain-English definitions of the social media marketing terms you'll meet across the tools in our directory.
A/B testing
Comparing two versions to see which performs better.
API
A way for tools to connect to a platform's official data.
Analytics
Measuring and reporting on social performance.
Auto-posting
Publishing queued content automatically at set times.
CPC (cost per click)
The cost of one click on an ad.
CPM (cost per mille)
The cost of one thousand ad impressions.
CTR (click-through rate)
The share of viewers who clicked a link.
Content calendar
A schedule of what will be published and when.
Conversion rate
The share of visitors who completed a goal.
Cross-posting
Sharing one piece of content to several platforms.
DM (direct message)
A private one-to-one message on a platform.
Engagement rate
The share of an audience that interacts with a post.
Hashtag
A keyword tag that groups posts by topic.
Impressions
The total number of times content was displayed.
Influencer marketing
Partnering with creators to reach their audience.
KPI (key performance indicator)
A metric chosen to track progress toward a goal.
Link in bio
A single profile link that points to more destinations.
Organic reach
How many people saw content without paid promotion.
ROI (return on investment)
The return earned relative to what was spent.
Reach
The number of unique people who saw a piece of content.
Reel
A short-form vertical video format.
SMM (social media marketing)
Promoting a brand, product or person through social platforms.
Scheduling
Preparing posts in advance to publish automatically.
Sentiment analysis
Judging whether mentions are positive, negative or neutral.
Social listening
Monitoring public conversation about a topic or brand.
UGC (user-generated content)
Content created by an audience rather than the brand.
UTM parameters
Tags added to a link to track where traffic came from.
