Social media glossary
Social media terms explained in plain words, no jargon.
Carousel (Instagram)
A carousel is an Instagram post made up of multiple images or slides (up to 20) that people swipe through sideways. It's the ideal format for telling a story, explaining something step by step, or showing a before-and-after, because it keeps people on the content longer and generates more saves.
Engagement rate
Engagement rate is the percentage of people who interact with a piece of content (likes, comments, saves, shares) relative to who saw it or your follower count. It measures how much a piece of content genuinely resonates, and is more telling than follower count for understanding what works.
Reach
Reach is the number of unique people who saw a piece of content at least once. It's different from impressions, which count every view: if someone sees the post three times, that counts as 1 for reach and 3 for impressions.
Impressions
Impressions are the total number of times a piece of content was shown, including repeat views from the same person. Unlike reach (unique people), impressions can exceed the number of people reached.
Reels
Reels are Instagram's short vertical videos (9:16 format), built for entertainment and discovery. They're the format with the greatest potential reach among people who don't yet follow you, making them ideal for getting found by a new audience.
Hashtag
A hashtag is a word or phrase preceded by the # symbol that makes a piece of content findable by topic. It categorises posts and helps you get discovered by people who search for or follow that theme. A few relevant, specific hashtags (including local ones) beat a lot of generic ones.
Feed
The feed is the sequence of posts that appears on a profile and in the home screen of the people who follow it. On a profile it gives the first impression of the brand: consistency of style, colours and messaging. A curated, recognisable feed increases trust and the likelihood a visitor starts following you.
CTA (call to action)
A CTA, or call to action, is the explicit invitation to act that closes a piece of content: 'book now', 'DM us', 'save this post', 'find out more'. Without a clear CTA, even a well-viewed piece of content rarely turns into contacts or customers.
Hook
The hook is the first sentence or the first slide of a piece of content: the few seconds that decide whether someone stops or keeps scrolling. A good hook sparks curiosity, promises a benefit, or asks a question, and it's the single biggest factor influencing reach.
Content calendar
A content calendar is the plan for what to post, when and on which channels. It ensures consistency — the single biggest driver of profile growth — by preventing stop-start posting. It turns social media from an improvised activity into an organised process.
Copywriting (for social media)
Copywriting for social media is writing text and captions designed to grab attention and drive action. It isn't writing 'well' in the abstract: it's choosing the right words for your audience, with an opening hook, a clear message and a call to action.
Saves
Saves are the number of people who saved a post to look at again later. They're one of the strongest quality signals for the algorithm: they show useful content worth keeping. For a business, saves matter more than likes because they point to a future action.
Tone of voice
Tone of voice is the recognisable way a brand communicates: its words, style, attitude. Kept consistent across all content, it makes a business memorable and distinguishable. It can be warm and friendly, professional, or witty: what matters is that it stays consistent and fits the audience.
Content pillar
A content pillar is one of the recurring themes you build a profile's content around, instead of improvising a different topic every time. Having 3 to 5 fixed pillars — for example practical tips, behind the scenes, customer questions — makes it easier to decide what to post and helps followers immediately understand what to expect from you.
Instagram algorithm
The Instagram algorithm isn't an enemy arbitrarily deciding to penalise you: it's the system that ranks what to show each person, based on signals like time spent on content, saves, shares and how consistently you post. Likes count, but weigh less than people think: they're the easiest signal to give, and so the least telling.