The aftershocks of the COVID-19 pandemic will reverberate for years to come, forever changing the way consumers socialise and shop. One of the most relevant changes to retailers is the surge in social media use and the corresponding upswing in social commerce. It’s a shift retailers need to capitalise on in 2021.
Retailers must now reassess their omni-channel model and incorporate an effective social media strategy into their marketing mix. Still not sold on social? Take a look at these numbers:
- Facebook received 200,000 more sign-ups in Australia in 2020 compared to 2019.
- 11.5 million Australians will have a Facebook account by the end of 2022.
- 130 million Instagram users tap on shopping posts, per month
- TikTok has reached close to 700 million users this year.
Our guide: the top social media terms to help you succeed
As social media use goes up, so too does innovation, opportunities and challenges. This social media swell makes it hard for retailers to keep up. So what do you need to know about social media right now? Well, our experts have compiled a list of social media terms into glossary, to help get your head in the game. This resource will equip you with the knowledge and language to better understand the social media world in 2021. From Instagram Shop, to organic growth, follower count and engagement, we’ve got you covered!
| Term | Definition |
| Content Creation: | This refers is the process of sourcing, creating and disseminating different types of visual media across social networking platforms. |
| Content Types: | This refers to the different styles of media published to a social networking site. Content takes many forms, including single-image posts, short videos and blog posts. |
| Engagement: | Engagement, as an online behaviour, refers to the interaction between a brand and social media users. User engagement can take many forms, including shares, reactions, saves, comments and video plays. Engagement from brands mostly takes the form of replying to user comments and messaging followers and prospects. |
| Facebook Catalogue: | A catalogue is a container that holds information about all the items you want to advertise or sell on Facebook and Instagram. You can connect your catalogue to different types of ads and sales channels to promote your items, including dynamic ads, Facebook Shop and more. |
| Facebook & Instagram Shop: | This feature allows businesses to create a customised digital storefront across Facebook’s family of apps (including Instagram). Facebook and Instagram Shop allows social media consumers to view products in-app and then complete their purchase on the business’ website. |
| Google Trends: | This is a site that examines the popularity of top search queries in Google Search. Google Trends data can be used to see what people are searching for and talking about (colloquially referred to as “hot topics” or “trending topics”). Businesses, advertisers and creators can utilise these insights when building social media content. |
| Organic Content: | Organic content refers to the type of content that does not utilise advertising dollars, but instead relies on free social media tools to build and publish. |
| Page Usability: | Page Usability refers to how usable a social media page is. In order to have good page usability, every piece of information needs to be presented clearly and in a way that aids — rather than hinders — a user’s browsing journey. Users should always be able to quickly and easily discover and interact with page content. |
| Paid Content: | This is different to Organic Content, as Paid Content refers to media that is utilising advertising dollars to increase its exposure on social networks. |
| Peak Engagement Periods: | Peak Engagement Periods refers to times where social media sites and individual pages see higher rates of user traffic and interaction. |
| Post Frequency Cadence: | Post Frequency Cadence encompasses the volume, timing and pattern of cross-platform delivery. |
| Product Tags: | As the name suggests, Product Tags allow businesses to tag their catalogue products on social media image posts. Product tags include the item name. |
| Promotional Content: | This refers to content that informs users about promotions, sales, special offers and new releases. |
| Promotional Intent: | This refers to content that has the sole purpose of touting a promotion, special offer, sale or new release, with the hope of driving traffic and sales. |
| Publication Scheduling: | Publication Scheduling is used as a content planning strategy, where content is scheduled for publication at set times. |
| Social Community & Content Management: | Social Community & Content Management is an online retail service carried out by digital marketing agencies. It combines social media content creation and social media management, with the overall goal of improving a brands’ mental availability, influence and popularity. |
