Have you ever wondered what the 411 is with all the acronyms out there on social media? Well, as a foremost authority on everything social, SOCi can help. Here are the top social media acronyms YSK IRL 2B GTG—and, yes, we realize no one has actually asked what the 411 is since the late ‘90s.

Acronyms Social Media Marketers NTK

In addition to knowing the acronyms for each social media channel—FB (Facebook), Twitter (TW), Instagram (IG), LinkedIn (LI), Snapchat (SC) and YouTube (YT)—social media marketers and managers should know the following marketing-specific acronyms.

API, or Application Programming Interface, is the system that connects software applications to each other on the backend. For instance, Google used Uber’s open API to integrate the ride application with Google Maps.

CMS, or Content Management System, is an online platform, such as WordPress, that allows multiple users to create and manage content.

CPC, or Cost Per Click, is the price that a marketer must pay per each link click that they receive from a PPC, or Pay-Per-Click, advertising campaign. 

CR, or Conversion Rate, is the ratio of converted leads to prospective leads. “Conversion” can refer to any action taken by any prospective lead, such as purchasing a product or engaging with a social media post. The marketer should define what their conversion goal is. 

CTA, or Call to Action, is verbiage that clearly conveys to the audience what action the marketer would like them to complete. The CTA should also compel the audience to take said action. Examples of calls to action are to “Contact us today” or “Refer your friends!”

CTR, or Click-Through Rate, is the ratio of online users who click on a link to the number of users who saw the marketing campaign that contained the link, such as a social media sweepstakes post or emailed link.

DM, or Direct Message, refers to a private message that someone sends to someone else on Twitter. (Likewise, PM, or private message, refers to a direct message sent on Facebook.)

GA, or Google Analytics, is the search engine’s analytics service that marketers can use to track online activity, such as where website traffic originated from.

KPI, or Key Performance Indicator, is a metric used to determine success. Businesses and marketers should establish their own KPIs and then refer to them to identify if a person or effort is successful.

MT, or Modified Tweet, indicates that a manual Retweet has been changed slightly.

PV, or Page Views, are the number of times online users have viewed your website or other types of online content.

ROI, or Return on Investment, is a term used to describe the monetary benefit of a service or product in contrast to the amount of money paid for said service or product. The formula used to determine ROI is ROI = net profit / total investment x 100.

RSS, or Rich Site Summary (also often called Really Simple Syndication), is a family of web feed formats that are used to publish updated information frequently, such as news headlines or blog posts.

RT, or Retweet, is a Tweet that has been shared by other users.

RTD, or Real-Time Data, is information that is delivered in real time (i.e., instantaneously or nearly instantaneously).

SaaS, or Software as a Service, is a product-delivery model in which software is centrally hosted and licensed on a subscription basis.

SEM, or Search Engine Marketing, is a form of online marketing that involves increasing websites’ visibility on a SERP, or Search Engine Results Page, often through paid advertising.

SEO, or Search Engine Optimization, is a set of best practices that helps a website rank highly on a SERP.

SM means Social Media.

SMB, or Small or Medium Business (also referred to as Small or Mid-sized Business), is a way to define how large a company is. Small businesses generally have fewer than 100 employees while medium businesses can have between 100 and 1,000 employees.

SMP, or Social Media Platform, is the specific social channel a person is using (e.g., Facebook).

SMM, or Social Media Marketing, is anything a marketer does on social media to identify and nurture sales leads, promote brand awareness, determine target audiences and foster relationships.

SMO, Social Media Optimization, is a set of best practices that helps improve a business’ presence and marketing strategies on social media.

TOS, or Terms of Service, are the criteria that must be adhered to, for a client or customer to utilize a specific service.

UGC, or User-Generated Content, is any type of content that an online user creates. Businesses will often share, repost or Retweet UGC that their clients have produced, once they have approval from the creator of the UGC.

UI, or User Interface, is what an online user encounters when accessing and navigating a site or program. An intuitive user interface allows the user to easily perform their intended actions on a site.

URL, or Uniform Resource Locator, is more easily defined as the address of a website or webpage.

UV, or Unique Views, describe how many distinct views a website or other online content receives. This unique number may be less than the number of total views, because a single person can view the same content multiple times.

UX, or User Experience, describes the nature of an online user’s entire experience while using a service or product.

WOM, Word of Mouth, refers to one person conveying information to another person. WOM referrals may happen in person, via social media or through other online channels.

Acronyms for Social Media Users

As an added bonus, here are popular acronyms that you will likely encounter on social media.

AMA: Ask Me Anything

FOMO: Fear of Missing Out

FTW: For the Win

GTG: Good to Go

IMO: In My Opinion (or IMHO: In My Humble Opinion)

IRL: In Real Life

JIC: Just in Case

LMK: Let Me Know

NSFW: Not Safe for Work (as in, not appropriate for work)

NTK: Need to Know or Nice to Know

SMH: Shaking My Head

TBH: To Be Honest

YOLO: You Only Live Once

YSK: You Should Know (as in, you should already know)

Now that you are familiar with these popular social media acronyms, you should be GTG. JIC you have any more questions about social acronyms or executing a SMM campaign, contact us IRL!