Social Media Glossary for Publicans

Feb 13, 2023

As the hospitality industry continues to evolve, it’s essential for publicans to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to marketing and promoting their pubs. One of the most powerful tools at their disposal is social media. However, with so many different platforms and terms to keep track of, it can be overwhelming for even the most tech-savvy publicans.

We’ve created this social media glossary to offer clear and concise definitions of the key terms to help you manage social media marketing for your pub.

A

Admin –  A person responsible for managing a social media presence for a business. The goal of a social media admin is to create and maintain a positive image of the business.

Algorithm – A set of rules used by social media platforms to determine what content is displayed in a user’s feed. This may mean that new content is pushed below content which is deemed more relevant to the user.

Avatar – A profile picture or icon that represents a user (you or your business) on a social media platform.

B

Bio – A short description that offers a short description of the owner of the account.

Bitly – A URL shortening service frequently used on Twitter. It makes sharing long website addresses neater and you can see statistics on the usage of each link.

Blog – A website or section of a website that features written content and is updated regularly.

Brand Awareness – The extent to which consumers are familiar with a particular brand or product.

Boosted post – A paid advertising feature that allows businesses to promote their content to a larger audience beyond their followers. By boosting a post, the post will be shown to a much wider audience, including people who don’t follow the business’s account, increasing its visibility and reach. Boosting a post involves paying a fee to the social media platform to display the post in users’ feeds, often based on target demographics such as age, location, and interests.

C

Caption – A short description of an image on Instagram underneath the image or video offering more information.

Chat – Live text-based communication between two or more people using a service available on the Internet.

Clickbait – Headlines or titles that are designed to be sensational or misleading in order to attract clicks.

Clickthrough rate – The number of users that clicked on a link divided by the number of users that saw the link.

Community management – The management of a brand’s relationship with its community of customers, prospects, fans, advocates, and other users that interact with the brand online.

Content curation – The process of gathering information related to a topic with the intent of publishing it.

Conversion – The process of turning social media interactions into actual sales or conversions through the use of targeted advertising and effective calls-to-action. It’s a crucial metric in measuring the success of a social media marketing campaign and can involve a range of actions such as clicking a link to purchase a product, filling out a contact form, or signing up for a newsletter.

D

Direct Messages (DMs) – Private messages between social media users. 

E

Employee advocacy – The process by which a brand uses its employees to authenticate its products. Brands may reach out to their social media savvy staff to become more involved in the promotion of the company, using their own social media accounts.

Engagement – Interactions between users and content, such as likes, comments, and shares.

F

Facebook Live – Live lets people, public figures, and pages share live videos with their followers and friends on Facebook. According to Facebook, Live allows you to interact with your followers and friends on another level: “Field their burning questions, hear what’s on their mind, and check out their live reactions to gauge how your broadcast is going.”

Facebook Messenger – Facebook Messenger (sometimes abbreviated as Messenger) is an instant messaging service and software application, that allows Facebook users to chat with friends both on mobile and the desktop website.

Facebook Stories – Photos and videos shared on your Facebook that disappear after 24 hours.

Feed – The constantly-updating list of posts in a social media platform, typically displayed in reverse chronological order.

Filter – A photographic effect that can be applied to enhance images on social media.

Follow/Follower – When you follow someone on Twitter you are essentially subscribing to their updates and tweets.

G

Generation Z – (Also known as Gen-Z or Centennials) is the demographic born between 1997-2012.  

GIF – Acronym for Graphics Interchange Format, which refers to a file format that supports both static and animated images. Visit giphy.com to find gifs to share on social media.

H

Handle – The name you choose to represent yourself on Twitter e.g. @starpubsandbars

Hashtag – A word or phrase preceded by the “#” symbol that is used to categorize content and make it easier to find on social media.

Header image – The large banner-like images which are found at the top of both company pages and personal accounts on many social media platforms.

I

Impressions – The number of times a social media post has been seen by users.

Influencer – A person with a large following on social media who can influence the purchasing decisions of their followers.

Instagram – A social media app that allows users to share pictures and videos, as well as follow each other, like and comment on each other’s posts, and direct message each other.

Instagram Stories – Photos and videos shared on your Instagram that disappear after 24 hours.

Interactive Content – Forms of media that allow users to engage and participate in some way, rather than just passively consuming it. This can include quizzes, polls, games, and other types of content that encourages users to interact and make choices that affect the outcome.

K

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) – Metrics that measure the success and effectiveness of a social media marketing campaign. They help businesses and marketers evaluate their performance and determine whether their efforts are producing the desired results.

Key Words  – Specific words or phrases that are used to describe a piece of content or to help users find the specific information they are looking for. Keywords can be related to a wide range of topics, including specific interests, events, locations, and trending topics. By using keywords in their posts, social media users can increase the visibility and discoverability of their content, and make it easier for others to find and engage with it.

L

Likes – A form of engagement on social media platforms where a user can indicate that they approve of or enjoy a post.

LinkedIn – The social network for businesses and professionals. Individuals can make connections with others and create profiles. Company pages can also be created.

List – A curated group of Twitter accounts. You can create your own lists or subscribe to lists created by others.

Live Streaming – Live broadcasting through social media. This is expected to grow in 2019, especially between social media platforms and television broadcasters. Facebook, it is expected, will announce partnerships with major broadcasters to screen exclusive content.

M

Meme – An image, video, or piece of text that is spread widely on the internet, often for humorous effect.

Mention – The act of tagging another user’s handle or account name in a social media message. Mentions typically trigger a notification for that user and are a key part of what makes social media “social”. When properly formatted (for example, as an @mention on Twitter), a mention also acts as a link, so your audience can click through to the user’s bio or profile.

N

Newsfeed – A list of the news posted on a particular platform. Newsfeeds exist on your Facebook profile page and on Twitter. 

Notification – A message or update sharing new social media activity. For example, if somebody likes one of your Facebook photos you will receive a notification to inform you.

O

Organic Reach – The number of people who see a social media post without it being boosted or promoted.

P

Paid social media – The practice of using paid advertising on social media platforms, to promote a brand, product, or service. Paid social media advertising allows businesses and marketers to target specific audiences and to reach a wider audience than they would be able to through organic, or non-paid, means.

Permalink– Link to a web page that is intended to remain unchanged for years.

Pinned tweet – A tweet that has been pinned to the top of a Twitter profile page. Pinning a tweet is a great way to feature an important announcement or update.

Pinterest – A photo-sharing site where users create themed image collections around events, interests, or hobbies.

R

Reach – The total number of people who see a post on social media.

Reddit – A social media platform that allows users to submit, vote on, and comment on content, such as links, images, and text posts. The platform is organized into “subreddits,” which are communities dedicated to specific topics, such as technology, politics, and entertainment.

Response time – The time a brand takes to respond to engagement from a user. This can alter the brand’s overall online reputation, especially in the response to queries and complaints.

Retargeting – An advertising technique in which you send content to the users who have already visited the website or page once.

Retweet – A tweet that is re-shared to the followers of another user’s Twitter account. Retweeting helps to share news and build relationships with others on Twitter.

S

Search Engine – A tool that allows users to search for information on the internet by entering keywords or phrases related to what they are looking for. The search engine then scans its database of websites and web pages and returns a list of results that are relevant to the search query.

Share – The main focus of all social media platforms is to share your content, thoughts and company voice with others. Sharing options can also be added to your site, allowing people to like, +1, email or tweet you, as a method of endorsing or forwarding your content to others.

Shopping tags – Instagram shopping tags offer business pages the option to put information and price tags on their images.

Snapchat – A multimedia messaging app that allows users to send images and videos that disappear after being viewed. It also offers a range of features, such as filters and lenses, that allow users to enhance and play with their photos and videos.

Social Media Marketing – The process of promoting a brand or product on social media platforms.

T

Tiktok – A social media app that allows users to create and share short-form videos, usually set to music. It has become particularly popular for its lip-syncing and dance challenges, as well as its creative editing tools that allow users to add special effects and filters to their videos.

Trending – The most popular topics or posts being discussed on social media at a given moment.

Troll – A word that is used to describe someone who deliberately tries to offend others on social media, often posting abusive messages to a particular individual or group in order to get a reaction.

Twitter – A microblogging platform that allows users to post short messages, called tweets, of up to 280 characters. It is used for a wide range of purposes, including sharing news and information, promoting products and services, and connecting with others on personal and professional topics.

Tweet – The name given to messages posted on Twitter. Tweets are microblog messages that can be a maximum of 280 characters in length.

TweetDeck – TweetDeck is a platform for managing Twitter activity. Tweets can be created and scheduled along with many other advanced features.

Tone of voice – The persona a business or brand portrays on social media to its audience.

U

User-generated content (UGC) – Any type of content that is created and shared by users of a social media platform, rather than by the business or brand the content is about. This type of content is often created and shared by users in order to express themselves, share experiences, or participate in communities.

V

Vimeo – Similar to YouTube, Vimeo is a platform for storing, sharing and uploading video content.

Viral – Describes content that is spread rapidly and widely on the internet, often through social media sharing.

Vlogging – The practice of regularly posting vlogs (video blogs) online.

W

WhatsApp – A free-to-download messenger app for smartphones. WhatsApp uses the internet to send messages, images, audio, or video.

Y

YouTube – A video-sharing platform that allows users to upload, share, and view videos.

Who we’ve

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