Do you ever find yourself wishing you had a cheat sheet to help you understand the special language that’s used on social media platforms these days? Hashtags, Connections, DM, PM….the list goes on and on! What do they all mean? Well, we’re here to help you breakdown, and understand those “must-know” social media terms:
1.) @ “at” symbol
The @ sign has evolved past email! Now, the ‘@’ sign is a way to direct a message at another user, brand, or company.
Used in a tweet: Hey @brandadvocatejim. Thanks for following @Tytanium_Ideas!
2.) # Hashtag
It’s a number symbol? It’s a pound sign? No – it’s a hashtag! Put hashtags in front of words on social platforms to make that word searchable or to express a joke / convey humor.
Used for search: Have a hankering for something sweet? Try our #glutenfree #chocolatechipcookies to satiate that #sweettooth!
Used for humor: Have you tried using a hashtag? #theywork
3.) Blog / Blogger
Originally called “web blog”, this term was shortened to “blog” when people became sick of typing both words. Blogs are places where individuals or companies can share their commentaries, videos, graphics, or news. A blog is like an online journal and can have different voices and authors. When used properly and regularly updated, blogs help a web site maintain fresh content. Also, a person can be a blogger. And the word can be a verb.
Used in a sentence: I just read a blogger’s post on how their company is concerned with migration patterns of dolphins – what an inspiring blog! Now I want to blog about dolphins.
4.) Connections
Connections used to be people you met in past business relationships, events, or people that you knew from high school. That’s so 2002. LinkedIn changed the game and now LinkedIn members can connect with individuals or groups that make sense to their business interests…or high school classmates.
Used in a sentence: I saw that Kelly now has 500+ connections on LinkedIn. I wonder how much new business she’s developed from those connections? I made 14 new connections today!
5.) DM & PM
DM, Direct Message, and PM, Private Message, are like secret digital notes. Or short emails directly to a particular user. They don’t show up on public feeds and are where the social-media-lead-conversion-magic often takes place.
Used in a sentence: I just got a DM on Twitter from a customer that wants to meet with our client. Score!
6.) Engagement
Engagement is when your company interacts with your target market, connects them to your brand, and builds real conversations that create relationships with your audience who then become your brand advocates.
Used in a sentence: We have been seeing a ton of engagement on your Facebook page – likes, comments, and shares. Users love your brand and want to engage!
7.) Followers
You’re not trying to start a new religion or anything, but you are trying to get people to hear your voice on social media! People who track along with your brand are your followers. Additionally, reach out to your Most Likely to Advocate (MLTA’s) fans and customers. Not sure what an MLTA is? We wrote about them here. Enjoy!
Used in a sentence: Engaging with your social media followers will help you build your brand.
8.) Like
Facebook has given this word a whole new meaning and implication: getting likes on status updates and photos is now the social media way of seeing that people have some sort of connection with your content. Likes are glimpses into who is connecting with your brand.
Used in a sentence: I can’t believe how many people liked the recipe we shared!
9.) Tweet / Tweeting
The 240-character-or-less update on Twitter is a tweet. To publish a tweet is called tweeting, often mistakenly called twittering. (One cannot be twittering, only tweeting.)
Used in a sentence: I saw your helpful tweet about the home prices in the area. You have been tweeting a lot lately!
10.) ReTweet
Think of retweet this way: Twitter was trying to come up with a branded way of saying “repeat” and succeeded! Users retweet a tweet when they decide whatever they read or saw was worth sharing with their followers.
Used in a sentence: I had to retweet that Mother Theresa quote – it totally changed the way I looked at my day.
11.) Share(s) / Sharing
In short, shares are social media gold. Sharing happens when a user posts or reposts/retweets content you’ve published. This creates viral word-of-mouth marketing of you or your brand to their entire network and amplifies (see below) your content!
Used in a sentence: Our “5 Creative Cronuts” blog, featuring some of the cronut flavors in our shop, was shared 250 times across social networks. Sales have increased and people are asking specifically for the cronuts they saw on the blog!
12.) Amplify / Amplification
To amplify means utilizing the power of the crowd to get your content out to otherwise unreachable connections in otherwise untapped networks. Amplification happens when a company or individual shares your content with their network, giving you reach to second-degree connections and beyond!
Used in a sentence: We need to grass-roots amplify that post. Will you share it on your Facebook page so we can get the amplification process going?
13.) MLTA
MLTA is the acronym for Most Likely to Advocate. MLTAs are the customers and followers most likely to go out and brag about you on social media or otherwise tell all their friends. MLTAs check in at your store, retweet your tweets, share your Facebook posts, forward your emails, retweet your content, and talk about you.
These are also the people you want to be sure to pay close attention to, treat like royalty, and, overall, engage at all time!
Used in a sentence: Rosie is one of our strongest MLTAs. Every morning when she comes in for her double-shot almond milk latte, she checks in on Facebook, snaps a photo of the latte art for Instagram, and always excitedly tweets about new menu items! Many of her friends have now become regular customers. We love to share her content to our followers! To keep such a wonderful customer and rockstar MLTA, we often discount her coffee and offer her first tastes of our newest pastries.
14.) YOU-tility (courtesy of Jay Baer)
The strategy of helping, not selling; providing relevant, useful information. Your company/brand is a source and resource of content your target market and MLTAs find valuable.
Used in a sentence: This chocolate company is such an incredible YOU-tility for the yummiest recipes! I was looking for gluten-free cookie recipes, went straight to their site, and found the most delicious gluten-free chocolate chip cookie recipe ever!
15.) Boost & Piggy Boost
To boost a post on Facebook is to pay a designated amount of money – $5 or more – to be featured more prominently in newsfeeds of current followers and to be featured, period, in newsfeeds of Facebook users who are not currently your followers.
Piggy boosting is strategically boosting posts. Rather than pay $5+ to feature just any post, piggy boosting evaluates the engagement on a set of posts already published, then boosts the post with the most valuable engagement statistics.
Used in a sentence: The post about our just-launched product already has incredible engagement statistics – way better than our other posts from this week.
Piggy boosting the announcement lets us get even more likes, comments, shares, and sales!
16.) Growth Hacking
Growth hacking, traditionally used by technology startups, is a marketing technique relying heavily on solid strategy, creativity, analytical thinking, and social ties to build a brand, gain company awareness, and grow sales. At the core, growth hacking is about minimizing advertising and marketing dollars spending while maximizing creativity, utilizing innovative tactics.
Used in a sentence: Did you see that promotion to invite a friend to get email updates from Company ABC and you’ll both get 20% off your next purchase? I bet Company ABC has exponentially grown their email list from utilizing that tactic!
17.) SEO & SEM
SEO is Search Engine Optimization. SEO is the process of organizing your website and a various number of accompanying online presences, especially social media, to affect the organic (unpaid) ranking of a web page in search results. On Google, organic search results are displayed in the large left portion of the page, with a white background.
SEM is Search Engine Marketing. SEM is a type of paid-for digital marketing, promoting your website. Quality rankings, how visible your SEM ad is on search engine results page, depends on many factors, including the relevancy of the ad vs. website, the price paid for keywords and strength in other areas around the web.
On Google, SEM ads are denoted by a small, square, yellow “Ad” notice and are displayed in two places: on the very top left portion of the page and in the smaller right column.
Used in a sentence: Between our well-organized, super-relevant, perpetually updated website and our strong, engaging social media presence, both branding our company as the best gluten-free chocolate chip cookies ever, our SEO ranking is through the roof! Our company shows up first when you Google “gluten-free chocolate chip cookies”. We’ve also increased sales for our oatmeal gluten-free cookies through our SEM ads. With some creative keyword bidding and enticing text, we’re making an insane ROI. Keep it up, team!
18) Algorithm
An algorithm is a set of formulas developed for a computer to perform a certain function. All site in the social sphere, especially Facebook and Google, have specific algorithms to determine the placement of each user’s content. Understanding the key factors within these algorithms is necessary to develop an effective social strategy.
Used in a sentence: The Facebook algorithm puts high value on boosting posts. When you put at least $5 behind a Facebook post, your content will be featured more prominently in the newsfeed.
19) Circles
Circles are clusters of a user’s friends on Google+, meaning you can group certain people you choose to connect with on your Google+ into a certain Circle – such as colleagues, college connections, family, etc. When you want to share content with only these individuals, you include that specific Circle in your post’s sharing options.
Used in a sentence: I added Aunt Jenny to my Family Circle and my coworkers to my Social Media Circle.
20) Hangout
A Hangout is a video service on Google that allows you to video chat with up to 10 users are a time. You can name these chats, watch YouTube videos during them, open a Google Doc with colleagues, and much more.
Used in a sentence: Tytanium Ideas is having a Google Hangout about using social media to grow your business. I’m excited to watch the hangout and learn from their Marketing Strategist, Content Team, and Engagement Specialists!
21) Pinning
Definition: Refers to adding pictures of items you like onto a virtual collage board, on Pinterest, usually sticking to a theme.
Used in a sentence: Now that Summer is here, I’ve been pinning sassy bathing suits, cover-ups and sandals to my board, “Poolside Chic” and gorgeous beaches to my board “Best Places to Relax and Rejuvenate”.
22) Regramming
Definition: Refers to reposting a picture from someone else’s Instagram account to your own. There are apps that allow you to do this, giving credit to the owner of the original post, while still posting it on your own account and allowing you to add a caption.
Used in a sentence: I spent the morning regramming quotes and pictures to share with my followers.
Was this helpful? We hope so!
If not and you’re still looking for some explanations, let’s talk.