Every single Instagram Term, Acronym, and Abbreviation

This Instagram terminology glossary will help you become an expert in social media marketing-speak. The Basics: Profiles, Hashtags, Comments, ... Don’tspeakInstagramyet?Noworries.ThisInstagramterminologyglossarywillhelpyoubecomeanexpertinsocialmediamarketing-speak. TheBasics:Profiles,Hashtags,Comments,DMs&More Ifyou’reanexperiencedmarketer,youmayalreadyknowmostofthese.Butlet’sjustgooversomebasicsforthosewhomaybenewtoInstagrammarketing. InstagramProfile AnInstagramprofileisyouraccountonInstagram.Itincludesyourname,username,profilephoto,andyourphotogallery. Instagramprofileandusernameareoftenusedinterchangeably.YourusernameisyouridentityonInstagramandstartswith@.Forexample,we’re@getskedsocial. TherearethreetypesofInstagramprofiles:personal,business,andcreator. Apersonalaccountis,asthenamesuggests,forpersonal(individual)use. Abusinessprofileisforbrandsandbusinesses.ItcomeswithadditionalbusinessaccountfunctionalitylikeaddingCall-to-Actionbuttons,Instagraminsights,Instagramadvertising,andmore. AcreatorInstagramaccountisidealforinfluencersandcontentcreators.Theyusuallycomewithfunctionalitythatmakesiteasiertocreateandsharecontentandcollaboratewithothercreatorsorbrands. Bio Thebio,locatedunderyourusername,isInstagram’sversionofyouraboutme.Useittodescribeyourbrandorbusinessbecauseit’susuallythefirstthingpeopleseewhentheycometoyourprofile.Emojis,shortbulletpointtextisencouraged. Don’tforgetalsotoaddalinkinyourbio.Thiscouldbetoyourwebsite,butwerecommendaddinganInstagramlinktreelikeaSkedlinkifyoutrulywanttooptimizethis.Moreonthislater. Comments AcommentisareplyorresponseonyourInstagrampostfromanotheruser.Acommentisonewayforuserstoparticipateonyourpageactively.Usually,themorecommentsyouhave,themorequalityengagementyouhaveonyouraccount.Spambotsnotincluded! Directmessages(DMs) DirectmessagesorDMsareprivatemessagessentviaInstagram’sbuilt-inmessagingplatform.Whenpeoplerespondtoyourstories,theresponseswillalsocomeviayourDM.It’salsowherepeopleoftenheadwhentheyhaveacustomersupportquery.DMsareagreatwaytobuildtrustandengagementwithyourfollowers. Hashtags Ahashtagisanywordorphrasethatisprecededbythepoundsymbol(#).ThepurposeofhashtagsistoallowuserstofindspecificcontentonInstagramquickly.ThoughinitiallyinventedbyChrisMessinaonTwitter,it’snowusedonalmostallsocialnetworks.Youcanuseasmanyas30hashtagsrelevanttoyourindustryinonepost.LearnhowtousehashtagseffectivelytomakeyourcontentmorevisibleonInstagram. DoubleTap Double-tappingcontentontheInstagramfeedaddsalittlehearttoit.It’ssimplyanotherwayto“like”apost.Invitepeopletodouble-tapaphotoyoupostedtoencouragethemtolikeit. Newsfeed Thenewsfeedisyourhomescreen,whereyoucanviewnewpostsfrompeopleyoufollow.Itautomaticallyopenseachtimeyouopentheapp.Youcanalsotaponthehouseicononthebottomleftcorneroftheapptoaccessyournewsfeed. Tagging Taggingistheactofattachingsomeone’susernametoapost.Simpleasthat. Caption Instagramcaptionsareusuallyacombooftext,numbers,andemojisusedtodescribephotosandappearunderneaththem.Yourcaptioncanbeaslongas2,000characterslongandcanhaveupto30hashtags. Followers FollowersaretheInstagramuserswhofollowyouraccount.Thesefollowerscanseeyourpostsintheirnewsfeed.YoucanseehowmanypeoplearefollowingyouatthetopofyourInstagramprofile. ThinkofyourfollowersasyourInstagram“friends”orcustomers.Themorefollowersyouhave,thelargeryouraudience. Notifications Notificationsarealertsthatannounceanewsocialmediaactivity,suchaslikesandcommentsonyourposts,aswellaswhenausermentionsyouorwhenyougetnewfollowers. Alertsareimportantbecausetheyallowyoutorespondtocommentsandmessagesquickly—whichincreasesengagement.Youcanchoosewhichpushnotificationsyouwanttoreceiveifyougotoyoursettingsandclick‘notifications,’thenturnnotificationsonandoff. InstagramStoriestoBoomerangs:TheContentTermstoKnow Nextup,wehavetheInstagramlingoyouneedtoknowwithregardtocreatingandconsumingcontentontheplatform. InstagramPosts ApostisanyvisualcontentyoushareandappearsinyourInstagramgridandyourfollowers’feeds.Thisincludesbutisn’tlimitedtophotos,memes,graphics,andvideos. InstagramStories InstagramStoriesareanothercontentformatontheplatform.ThekeydistinguishingfeatureofStoriesisthattheydisappearfromyourprofileafter24hours(likeSnapchat)unlessaddedasahighlight.Storiesarelocatedatthetopofthenewsfeed. IGStoriesareagreattoolthatbusinessescanusetogrowrelationshipswithfollowers.It’sespeciallygreatforsharingbehind-the-scenesphotosorlivevideos,polls,andreactionstodeveloparapportwithfollowers. IGTV IGTVisavideofeatureonInstagramthatallowsyoutouploadvideosupto15minuteslongoruptoanhourforaccountswithmorefollowers.Storiesallow15-secondvideos,whileReelsandthenewsfeedallowone-minutevideos.Soifyouhavealongvideo,itneedstobeinIGTVformat. InstagramReels InstagramReelsareshort(15,30,or60seconds)videoclips.ReelsaretheTikTokofInstagram.They’reafun,engagingwaytocreatevideocontentwithmusic,text,stickers,voiceovers,andotherspecialeffects. InstagramLive InstagramLiveisawayforyoutohostlivestreamsforyourfollowers.Theycanwatchyouandinteractwithyouinreal-time.Whenyougolive,itappearsatthetopofyourfollowers’Instagramfeeds(whereStoriesappear)withaplayicon. User-generatedcontent(UGC) User-GeneratedContent(UGC)isanycontentcreatedbyyourfans/userbase.Itcanrefertovideos,pictures,blogposts,testimonials,andeverythinginbetween.Thiscouldbeacustomerwhopostspicturesofthemselvesusingyourproductorservice.UGCisgreatforabrandbecauseit’sawaytogetendorsedbyyourcustomers—turnedbrandambassadors.Getpermissionfromthecontentownerstorepostitforincreasedbrandvisibilityandtoearntrustfrompotentialcustomers. Boomerang Boomerangsareshortvideosthatplaycontinually,likeavideoversionofGIFs.They’refunandstraightforwardtocreateandusuallymoreengagingthanaphotoalone.,BoomerangisavailablewithinInstagramStoriesorviaaseparatevideoappcreatedbyInstagram. Carouselposts AnInstagramcarouselisanewsfeedcontentformatwithmultiplephotosorvideosthatuserscanviewbyswipingleft.Youcanaddupto10imagesorvideosandsharethemasasinglepostonthefeed.Peoplecanlike,comment,andshareyourcarouselpost,justlikeanyother.Itcanbeanespeciallygreattoolforstorytellingorsharingeducationalcontent. Repost RepostingonInstagramistheactofpostingaphotofromanotherInstagrammer’saccount.Currently,there’snooptiontoreposttoyourfeeddirectlyonInstagram.YoucanhoweverrepostpoststoyourInstagramStories. Torepostcontentonyourfeed,youhavetodoitmanuallybytakingascreenshotofthepost.Anotheroptionistouseathird-partyrepostInstagramapp. Geotag Geotaggingiswhenyoutagalocationonapost.Thetaggedlocationwillshowupunderyouraccountname.Geotaggingpostsisanothergoodwayofhelpingpeoplefindthem.Taggingtherightlocationforyourpostscanbeusefulforextendingyourreachasabusiness. Linkinbio You’veprobablyseenpostswith“Seelinkinbio“intheircaptions.The“linkinbio”istheclickableURLthatappearsinyourInstagramprofiledescription.Marketersoftenusethelinkinbioto: Promoteproducts/services Announceanewproductlaunch Promoteanevent OfferspecialdiscountsandofferingsforInstagramusers Provideinformationontheirmostimportantproducts Sendtraffictothecompanywebsite,podcast,orYouTubechannel Directuserstoavideoorblogpostwithuniquecontent. SinceInstagramonlyallowsoneclickablelinkinthebio,mostmarketerswilluseatoolthatallowsthemtocreatealinktree.WerecommendSkedLink,ofcourse.It’stheonelinktorulethemall.SkedLinkenablesyoutoaddbuttons,addlinkstoyourInstagramgalleryposts,andeasilycreateshoppablelinks. Savedposts Asyoubrowseyournewsfeed,youmaycomeacrossapostthatcouldcomeinhandyinthefuture,suchasashoppingidea,atutorial,arecipe,etc.YoucansavethepostonInstaandcomebacktoitlater.Tosaveapost,tapthebannericonatthebottomright,justabovethecaption.ThepostwillbesavedinyourInstagramlibrary,notyourphonelibrary. CommonInstagramTermstoKnowforSocialMediaMarketing ThesearetheInstagrammarketing101termsyoumustknow. TheInstagramalgorithm TheInstagramalgorithmdecideswhichcontentgetsseenwheneverauseropenstheapp.Itdecides: Whichcontentwillappearatthetopofthenewsfeed,andinwhatorder WhichpostswillbefeaturedontheExploretab InwhatorderStories,Livevideos,Reels,andIGTVvideosshowupinthefeedandtheirrespectivetabs. EverytimeyoutakeanactiononInstagram,suchaspost,like,comment,save,share,etc,thealgorithmrecordsitandusestheinformationtocustomizeyourfeed.Learnmoreaboutthealgorithmandoptimizationstrategieshere. Targetaudience Thetargetaudienceistheusersyouwanttoattract,followyouraccount,andultimatelyconvertintocustomers.Agoodaudiencehascommoninterestsinthetopicsyoushare.Knowingyourtargetaudienceallowsyoutocreatecontentthat’sinterestingandsuitableforthem. Trendingcontent Atrendingtopicisasubjectoreventthathasasuddensurgeinpopularityonsocialmedia.Insomecases,itmayevenbeaparticularcontentformatthatistrending. HoppingonInstagramtrendsisanexcellentwayforbrandstostayrelevantandcreatesimilartrendingcontentthatappealstotheiraudience. Engagement EngagementreferstohowpeopleinteractwitheachotheronInstagram.SomeofthewayspeopleinteractincludereplyingtocommentsanddoinganInstagramliveQ&A.Asabrand,engagementisacrucialmetricforsuccess,andyouwanttoincreasetherateatwhichusersengagewithyourInstagramaccount. Calculatingengagementratescanbeamatterofdebate.SomemarketersmeasuretheengagementrateontheirInstagrampostsbythenumberoffollowers.Whileothersbelievemeasuringbasedonthenumberofimpressionsisabettermethod.Agoodengagementrateindicatesastrongrelationshipbetweenyouandyourfollowers. Impressions Impressionsarethetotalnumberoftimesyourposthasbeenviewed.Oneusercanviewapostmultipletimes.Eachofthesetimesiscalculatedasanewimpression.Sohere,we’renotjustreferringtothenumberofpeoplewhoviewyourpostbutthetotalnumberoftimesthesepeopleviewit. Reach Reachreferstothemetricthatmeasuresthenumberofuniqueuserswhoviewyourcontent.Instagramreachisoftenrepresentedinpercentages,andthisisknownastheReachRate.It’scalculatedbydividingthenumberofpeoplewhohaveseenyourcontentbythenumberoffollowersyouraccounthas. Therearetwowaysyoucangetreach;organicandpaid.Organicreachreferstothepeoplewhofindyourcontentorganically,i.e.,withoutanyinterventionfromadvertisingdollars.Ontheotherhand,paidreachreferstothepeoplewhodiscoveredyouraccountthroughaspecificadvertisingcampaign. Schedulingandauto-postingcontent Schedulingandauto-postingyourInstagramcontentrefertoplanningthecontentandschedulingitintoatooltopublishatasettimeautomatically.YoucanuseatoollikeSkedSocialtoscheduleyourcontentinadvanceanduntetheryourselffromyourphone.Schedulingandauto-postingcansaveyoutimeandeffortandhelpyoubuildmorefollowersthroughconsistentandtimelyposting. InstagramInsights InstagramInsightsisInstagram’sbuilt-inreportingtoolallowingyoutomonitorkeymetricsaboutyourcreatororbusinessprofile.Itbreaksdownthedataandwillenableyoutoseetheageandgenderbreakdownofyourfollowersandthereachofeachpost. WhileInsightsisgreat,togetevenbetterinsightsintothemetricsofyourInstagramaccount,considerusingamoreadvancedanalyticstool.Itwillhelpyoulookdeeperintotheaccountandseewhereyourpostsaregoing,howpeoplearediscoveringthem,andevendetailssuchasthetimeofthedaywhenmostpeopleinteractwithyourcontent.TheseinsightscanhelpmakeyourInstagrammarketingstrategymorefocused. Influencermarketing Aninfluencerissomeonewhohasinfluenceovertheiraudienceonsocialmedia,andinthiscase,Instagram.Theyproducehighlyengaging,organiccontent,oftenforprettylargeaudiences.Theyusuallyhaveexpertise(oratleastanestablishedinterest)inaparticulardomainsuchasfashion,travel,food,finance,business,fitness,etc.Theyarealsolikelytohaveover10,000followers,althoughmicro-influencerswithfewerbutmoreengagedfollowersaregaininginpopularityaswell. InstagraminfluencermarketingisaformofmarketingwherebrandspartnerwithinfluencerswhopromotetheirproductsorservicesonInstagram.Wheninfluencersmentionorendorsetheproductsorservices,theygeneratebuzzandawarenessaboutthebrandthey’vepartneredwith.Giventheinfluencer’sauthority,socialfollowing,andexpertise,theycanaddsocialprooftoyourcampaign. Collaborations Collaborations(orcollabs)isacommonInstatermnow.It’swhereyoucollaboratewithabrand,business,orinfluencerinajointcampaignorpartnershipformutualbenefits.Collaborationisgreatbecauseitcanleadtonewinnovations,newprocesses,bettercontent,growth,andnewrelationships.Collaborativemarketingissimilartoinfluencermarketingbutisn’tlimitedtoinfluencersalone.AnyonecancollaboratewithanyoneonInstagram.It’stheperfectwaytotryoutnewideaswhilereachinganewaudience. Instagramadvertising Instagramadvertisinginvolvesrunningpaidads,alsoreferredtoassponsoredcontentonthesocialmediaplatform.Adsallowyoutoreachalargerandmoretargetedaudience.UsingInstagramadvertisingcanalsogrowbrandexposureandwebsitetraffic,generatenewleadsandconvertcurrentleadsintopayingcustomers. WhenitcomestoInstagramadvertising,therearesomeessentialtermsthatyouneedtounderstand: SponsoredAds:Theseareadsthatmightlooklikeatypicalpostatfirstglance,buttheyhavethe“Sponsored”mark.Theyshowupinusers’newsfeedsjustlikeanyotherpost. PaidReach/Impressions:Paidreach,asearliermentioned,referstouserviewsyoureceivedthroughasponsoredorpaidpost. Conversions:Thisreferstoyourad’sabilitytoconvinceyourleadstotakeaction.Forexample,clickalink,andconvertonyourwebsiteorwithinyourapp. AppInstalls:Thisiswhenpeopleclickonyouradandinstallyourapp. PopularAcronymsandAbbreviations(JustaFew!) Ifyou’veeverusedInstagram(lols,ofcourse,youhave!),youknowthatacronymsandabbreviationsaboundonInstagram.Itwouldtakeusforevertomakealistofallofthem,andbythetimewefinished,Instagramuserswillhavecomeupwithseveralnewones. Anyway,hereareafewofthemostpopularacronymsyou’relikelytocomeacrossonyourInstagramadventures: AFAIK:AsFarAsIKnow AMA:AskMeAnything BAE:BeforeAnyoneElse FTW:ForTheWin HMU:HitMeUp ICYMI:InCaseYouMissedIt IDC:IDon’tCare IDK:IDon’tKnow IKR:IKnowRight? ILY:ILoveYou IMO/IMHO:InMyOpinionorInMyHumbleOpinion JK:JustKidding NGL:NotGonnaLie NSFW:NotSuitableForWork TBT:ThrowBackThursday(related:FBFakaFlashBackFriday) TFW:ThatFeelingWhen Protip:Ifyou’reeverunsurehowtouseanacronymcontextually,simplysearchfortheabbreviationonUrbanDictionary.Thereareusuallygreatexplanationsforeachterm(someNSFW)andin-contextexamplestoo. OverToYou IfallofthisInstagramterminologyisnewtoyou,don’tletitoverwhelmyou.Youdon’thavetolearnallthelingotoday.Romewasn’tbuiltinadayandallthat. Feelfreetobookmarkthispostsoyoucaneasilyrefertoit. Bytheway,ifyou’relookingforatooltomakeplanning,scheduling,andmanagingyourInstagramcontenteasier—SkedSocialisthesocialmediasidekickyou’vebeenwaitingfor! Signupforafree7-daytrialtoseehowSkedcanhelpyouturbochargeyourInstagrammarketingefforts. SUBSCRIBE WeeklytipsthatmakeyouanInstagramgenius? Inthiseconomy? Hellyes. Submit GetaSkedstartwithafreetrial Tryourampedupall-in-oneplatformfreefor7days.Getfullaccessandseehow absolutelyeasyitistorockyourvisualmarketingplansfromhereonout!