What is a social media account?
An account is a user profile on social media platforms. Users create personal profiles there to network with other users and share their content. User accounts can take different forms, depending on the platform in question and its specific functions. Users usually have the option of making their accounts accessible to the public or only to selected other users. Depending on the visibility setting, the accounts can be viewed and/or subscribed to. Interactions on social media platforms are often based on the principle of “following”. Users can follow the accounts of other people, companies or pages in order to see their posts and activities in their feed. However, this “following” is usually only possible if the user has a user account. Within a social media account, users can enter individual information such as their name, profile picture, personal details, location, any links and activities. If the user account is used commercially, it also requires an imprint.
What is affiliate marketing?
In affiliate marketing, the affiliate (also known as the publisher) acts as a kind of “sales agent” on behalf of another company. This can be done, for example, by offering advertising space on its website or organizing sales events. The company being advertised is called the advertiser or merchandiser. The affiliate is usually paid per completed sale. In the online sector, affiliate marketing largely works by the affiliate directing visitors to their website to the website of the advertised company by means of a link. Link tracking makes it possible to record the number of customers that the affiliate has brought to the advertiser.
How does a social media algorithm work?
A social media algorithm is an automated filtering and sorting of posts in a user’s feed. It organizes and filters posts based on various criteria such as user interactions, relevance and other factors in order to show users the content that is most likely to be of interest to them.
Before there were targeted algorithms in social media, content was usually simply displayed in reverse chronological order. The latest posts were at the top of your feed. Although this sounds plausible, it meant that posts that were of particular interest to individual users had to be searched for with great effort. Modern algorithms are designed to ensure precisely this. They analyze user behavior, e.g. past interactions such as likes and comments, to make predictions about which content is most relevant for the respective user. In addition to your own frequency of interaction with posts, the size (number of followers) of the accounts you follow also plays a decisive role in the algorithm. Accounts of relevant personalities such as influencers or celebrities that you follow are prioritized by the algorithm. Smaller accounts that you follow are categorized as slightly less relevant and are therefore shown later – even if you regularly interact with their posts and are also a fan of them (follow them). Additionally, posts from friends, family, and other contacts with whom the user frequently interacts are highlighted. Feeds are therefore no longer organized chronologically, but according to the interest, importance or (supposed) success of a post. It should be mentioned that the logic with which algorithms work is constantly being adapted and are not rigid models. The reason for this is to offer users an ever-better user experience and to prevent targeted optimisation solely for the purpose of algorithm playout.
What is artificial intelligence (AI)?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is a technology that enables computers and machines to perform tasks that would normally require human intelligence. AI offers a wide range of possibilities in marketing. For example, companies can use AI-driven systems to analyze customer data and develop personalized marketing campaigns. By intelligently processing large amounts of data, targeted messages can be sent to individual customers. AI also improves the customer experience through the use of chatbots or virtual assistants that can answer customer questions and provide support. Artificial Intelligence can also help with content creation and optimization. An application in SEO optimization is also conceivable.
The automatic analysis of social media data with the help of AI enables companies to understand customer opinions and trends and adapt their marketing strategies. AI also helps to automate tasks such as data analysis, target group segmentation and social media content creation, allowing marketers to use their time more efficiently. In all applications of artificial intelligence, however, it is always important to consider the ethical, copyright, and data protection challenges in dealing with AI in marketing to maintain customer trust and build long-term relationships.
What is an influencer’s audience?
An influencer’s audience, also known as the community or following, comprises the number of followers or subscribers that the influencer regularly reaches through posts, videos and stories on a social media platform. It is crucial that the followers are actually real people or company accounts and not fakes, as otherwise, the influencer’s reach would be worthless. Audience analyses are therefore often carried out in influencer marketing, in which the demographic data of followers such as age, gender and location are evaluated. The aim of these analyses is to ensure that the composition of the followers is also plausible and – in the case of a planned collaboration – corresponds to the intended target group of a company. Audience analysis can not only minimize scattering losses but also compare the communities of different influencers and determine an appropriate price for content creation.
What is B2B content?
B2B content (business-to-business content) refers to text, audio or video content that is created by companies or professional providers such as agencies and is aimed at providers other than customers. The target group is therefore not an end customer, but another company, a group of companies or an industry. In influencer marketing, B2B content is created by B2B influencers or corporate influencers by blogging, posting and reporting on relevant topics. The aim of B2B content is to increase interest and reputation among partners, generate new leads and close sales.
What is a social media bio?
The biography (usually just referred to as a bio) contains the most important information about a person or company on a social media platform. It is the account’s business card, so to speak. Almost all social networks offer the option of writing a bio. This is the first thing users see next to their profile picture. There are no formal requirements in the bio, which is why the use of emojis plays a major role, among other things for better organization. A meaningful bio can help influencers or brands to be found more often in a keyword search.
What is a blog?
A blog (short for the now obsolete term “weblog”) is a type of online journal or diary, a digital collection of texts published by one or more authors (the so-called bloggers), usually on a specific topic on a website. Bloggers, but also many companies, use blogs to share interesting content with their target group. The focus is often on demonstrating their own expertise on a particular topic. Influencers also occasionally use blogs to entertain their audience with their own articles. In addition to text-based blogs, there are also video-based blogs – so-called vlogs.
Our blog focuses on the latest and most exciting news from the influencer marketing world.
What is brand awareness?
Brand awareness measures the probability that people know a particular brand. There is no standardized formula for calculating brand awareness. Instead, it can be measured for different periods of time and in different ways. The attention a company receives in the form of mentions and engagement (likes, comments and shares) on social media is often considered an indicator. It is assumed that the more users talk about a brand online, like or tag it, the higher the brand awareness. Website traffic, search engine rankings and direct and indirect surveys can also provide information about brand awareness. Many influencer campaigns are carried out with the aim of increasing brand awareness or specifically introducing the brand to a new target group.
What is a caption?
A caption is a short, descriptive text accompanying a photograph, graphic or illustration. The caption is often identical to the image or work title. On social media, a caption in the form of text, hashtags, @ mentions or emojis has a special meaning. It is relevant for telling the story behind a post on social networks and is one of the most important measures for increasing the number of interactions.
What is a chatbot?
A chatbot is software based on computer technology that conducts conversations and enables human-like interactions. With the help of artificial intelligence and natural language processing, a chatbot can communicate with users in real-time. There are text-based chatbots for messaging applications and voice-based chatbots that are integrated into voice assistants. There are also two basic types of chatbots: rule-based and learning chatbots. Rule-based chatbots follow set instructions and are designed to process specific commands. In contrast, learning chatbots evolve through interactions with users and adapt their responses based on these experiences.
Chatbots are used in various areas, e.g. on websites in customer support and e-commerce. They offer the advantage of round-the-clock support and are able to perform both simple and repetitive tasks efficiently.
What is clickbait?
Clickbait is web content, usually in the form of links. They use misleading or sensational headlines to entice users to click on the associated video, blog article, link, image or similar. However, behind these enticing headlines, in most cases, are contents that are irrelevant, misleading, disappointing, or even potentially dangerous (for example, in terms of viruses or Trojans). The main aim of such measures is typically to increase page views and advertising revenue.
Although social media networks generally disapprove of clickbait and develop algorithms to filter clickbait posts, they can still be found on these platforms. Our tip: Don’t even click on particularly sensational texts, images and the like!
What is a comment on social media?
A comment on social media is a reaction or response that users write under posts, photos or videos to share their opinions, thoughts or feedback. Comments enable interactions and discussions within the platform community. As an expression of engagement where users respond to social media posts, they can contain praise, criticism, questions, approval or other opinions and often consist of text, emojis, hashtags, mentions and GIFs. A high number of comments under the posts shows that the content is particularly appealing to the community. This can lead to this content piece and the corresponding profile achieving a better position in the feed.
What is a community on social media?
The community includes all followers and subscribers on a social media platform that an influencer or a company reaches through regular posts, videos and stories. The community is also referred to as the audience.
What does a community manager do?
A community manager is an expert in the field of social media who is responsible for direct communication between companies and the online community on a social media platform, as well as on their own platforms such as blogs. Their tasks include maintaining relationships with a group of social media users. They are responsible for the conception, development, management, operation, support and optimisation of virtual communities. Community managers play a crucial role in developing professional and brand-oriented social media relationships. They achieve this by monitoring and interacting with their followers.
What is content marketing and how do you create good social media content?
Content includes everything that is published on a website, blog, feed, newsletter or social media page for a previously defined target group. This content is designed to be helpful, informative or entertaining and can be text, images, graphics, videos, GIFs or podcasts. In social networks, the creators of this content are referred to as content creators, digital creators or influencers.
Content marketing is a marketing strategy that aims to create and share valuable, relevant and targeted content in order to appeal to and engage a specific target group. As content is generally not direct advertising and is more cost-effective compared to conventional online advertising formats, content marketing has become a prominent part of the digital marketing mix in recent years.
High-quality social media content is characterized above all by authenticity (the true nature of a person or company), relevance for the target group (no self-enrichment or self-aggrandisement), uniqueness (no copying of what already exists) and added value for users and followers (whether through a clear message, a voucher code, the provision of new information or simply through entertainment or food for thought) and is not outdated. It is perfectly acceptable to take inspiration from competitors or professionals, but simply copying ideas does not usually result in significant reach. Accordingly, good social media content is a combination of appealing visual elements (such as images or videos), relevant information and a clear message that is tailored to the needs and interests of the target group.
What is a conversion in online marketing?
A conversion takes place when a social media user or website visitor performs a specific, desired action. A purchase is often the desired conversion, but it can also be a newsletter subscription, registering for a webinar or downloading a white paper, for example. Depending on the objective, there can be several types of conversions that exist in parallel.
What is the conversion rate and how is it calculated?
The conversion rate describes the number of conversions in relation to the number of interactions or visits to a website, a blog, an advert, a newsletter or a social media profile. It is a key figure that is used to measure certain business objectives. It can therefore be used to measure the performance of your own social media activities.
It is calculated as follows: Number of conversions / number of visitors or interactions * 100.
What is a cookie?
A cookie is a file that is stored on a user’s computer after they have visited a website. Cookies are primarily used for tracking purposes and are also used to save preferred settings on a website. They therefore store data about the user’s behavior on a particular website in order to improve the user experience and provide personalized content. When this website is visited again, the cookie retrieves the previously stored data and information about the user’s surfing behavior and applies it accordingly.
Examples of the information stored in cookies include language settings, location preferences, pages or products viewed, login information, personal settings (e.g. font size or color schemes), shopping basket contents, etc.
What does the cost per click indicate and how is it calculated??
This metric indicates how much each click in a pay-per-click advertising campaign costs. Although the terms “pay per click” and “cost per click” are sometimes used interchangeably, pay per click refers to the advertising process, while cost per click indicates the cost per individual click. The average cost per click is calculated by dividing the total cost of the specific campaign by the total number of clicks generated. The cost per click for each individual advertising medium can also be calculated in exactly the same way: Cost of the individual ad media divided by the clicks generated per ad media. A low value indicates that the advertising campaign is cost-efficient, as comparatively less money is spent for each click.
What is a crawler?
In crawling, a computer program automatically searches and analyzes the Internet or a website based on certain specifications in order to search for (new or changed) content. This process replaces manual searches and therefore makes it much easier to find content on the Internet. The result of the search and analysis can be used to index websites with an algorithm in a search engine ranking, create web feeds or enter data into databases.
What does a social media creator do?
Creators are people who create content such as text, images, audio or videos. On social networks, they usually do this on a specific topic on a regular basis. Their aim is to attract attention and encourage interaction with users. Creators publish their content via blogs or on various social media platforms such as Instagram, YouTube or TikTok. Creators are also known as influencers, as they stand out from the crowd of social media users and often achieve high reach through their activities.
What is an emoji?
An emoji is a graphic representation of an emotion or object that is used in text messages, messenger services, chats or social networks to depict feelings such as joy, anger, tiredness, disappointment, enthusiasm or everyday objects (such as technical devices, food, symbols, means of transport, sports activities). Emojis are used to replace words and can shorten texts or convey facts more effectively and quickly. They follow the principle that a picture is worth a thousand words. Technically speaking, emojis are pictograms and/or ideograms (symbolic images).
What does engagement mean?
Engagement includes all reactions, such as comments, likes and shares, that a post has generated on social media. It refers to the interactions or participation of followers with regard to a specific post. The engagement rate goes beyond this and sets the number of followers of an influencer in relation to the interactions (= the engagement) that a post has received.
What is engagement fraud?
Engagement fraud is a form of influencer fraud in which an influencer buys additional engagement for their posts, such as likes or comments. Software, such as a bot or ‘engagement pod’, is often used for this. These generate fake followers who pretend to interact with a post, for example by commenting and leaving likes. This artificially increases the number of views, comments or likes on a profile. However, these fake interactions are of no value to a customer or client and therefore constitute fraud. Normally, only a small proportion of an influencer’s audience sees and interacts with each post on Instagram, on average around 1-5%. However, if a post has a disproportionate number of likes compared to the influencer’s follower count, there is reason to suspect that the likes and engagement on that particular post may have been bought. It is advisable to protect yourself against fake engagement. You can find more tips here.
What is the engagement rate and how is it calculated?
The engagement rate, also known as the interaction rate, represents the ratio of an influencer‘s followers to the interactions of followers (such as comments, likes and shares) on one of their posts. In other words, it measures how many comments, likes and shares a creator receives compared to the total number of followers.
The engagement rate is calculated by adding up all responses (comments, shares, likes) and dividing by the number of followers. Let’s assume an influencer has one million followers and receives 2,000 comments, 1,000 shares and 5,000 likes for one of their posts. The calculation is therefore: (2,000 + 1,000 + 5,000) : 1,000,000 = 0.008. The engagement rate in this case is therefore 0.8%.
Whether an engagement rate can be categorized as good (high) or bad (low) cannot be answered in general terms. This depends in particular on the platform, the creator of the post, the type of post (post, video or story) and the objectives of the post.
What is a feed?
A feed, also known as a newsfeed, is a list of the latest content from the accounts that a user follows on social media. This list is usually not only sorted chronologically, but also controlled by an algorithm. The feed serves as a central place to see the latest updates and posts from friends, pages, people or organizations that a user follows.
What is a follower?
On social media, people or accounts that follow certain accounts, content, people, interests or brands are referred to as followers. Synonyms for a group of followers are audience or community.
What are GIFs?
“GIF” is the abbreviation for “Graphics Interchange Format” and is a short animation or a sequence of images. The graphics format enables several consecutive or superimposed individual images to be saved in one file. GIFs are often used to create short animations that can be easily uploaded online and shared on social media.
What is a hashtag?
A hashtag consists of the “#” sign and a keyword (e.g. #influData). You can use one or more hashtags to make your posts on social media channels such as Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn easier to find and assign a specific topic to them at the same time. Examples include “sponsored hashtags” (where influencers tag the company they are promoting) or “company-owned” hashtags (where brands tag their own posts). They are a good way to start a successful influencer collaboration.
What is an influencer?
Influencers are people who regularly publish content such as texts, images, audio and videos on a specific topic online – especially on social media. Through these activities, they reach a large number of people and encourage social interaction. This takes place via various internet-based communication channels such as blogs and social networks, including platforms such as Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. The speciality of influencers lies in their ability to create a far-reaching presence through their activities and reach a large number of people.
If their influence is mainly based on their digital presence, they are also referred to as digital influencers, social influencers or social media influencers. Terms such as creators, content creators or opinion leaders are also commonly used for influencers these days.
What are influencer ads?
Influencer ads, also known as social ads (and in a slightly modified form as dark posts), are advertising postings by influencers for companies on social networks and offer advertisers the opportunity to organize their influencer marketing in an innovative way. These sponsored adverts are specifically placed on various social media platforms, in particular Instagram, YouTube, TikTok and Facebook. The posts are published as adverts on behalf of the influencers and are designed to look like natural, organic content at first glance without being easily recognisable. This sets them apart from traditional advertising posts and allows them to reach not only the influencer’s followers, but also a broader target group, thereby overcoming organic reach.
In influencer ads, it is common to include the words “sponsored” or “advert” in the caption or in the post itself. They also often contain a clear call to action, such as “Redeem discount code” or “Buy now”. This encourages the desired interaction with the advertiser.
What is an influencer analysis?
An influencer analysis gives you detailed insights into a creator’s account and performance on various platforms. On the one hand, you can view the most important information about the creator themselves (name, linked profiles on other social media platforms, number of followers, number of posts, email address, personal website, etc.). You also receive the most important information about the influencer’s followers, such as their location, gender distribution, age groups and language. The analysis also allows you to evaluate the influencer’s engagement and performance (in past campaigns) and identify fake followers to determine whether the audience is authentic. Last but not least, you receive a smart media value that shows you how much a cooperation with this creator is likely to cost.
How high are the influencer costs and how much does an influencer cooperation cost?
The costs for influencers can vary greatly and depend on various factors:
You can use the influData Smart Media Function to view the estimated costs per influencer for individual posts, reels, stories and videos. Please note, however, that these costs are only forecasts. You negotiate the final costs individually with the creator.
What is influencer fraud and how do I protect myself from influencer fraud?
Influencer fraud, refers to the deliberate manipulation of an influencer‘s follower numbers, engagement and/or performance. A common form of fraud is follower fraud, where followers or accounts are artificially generated to follow the creator. This can be done with the help of tools or external service providers that create fake accounts and link them to the influencer’s profile. This creates the illusion of a higher reach that does not actually exist. Influencers do this in order to achieve higher prices for collaborations. Influencers can also manipulate the engagement and performance of their content pieces – with the same aim of increasing their prices. It should be noted that not all influencers cheat, of course. Nevertheless, you should always keep your eyes open before and during a collaboration and ideally use tools such as influData to avoid being ripped off.
There are a few clues to recognise genuine engagement. Pay attention to the progression of follower numbers and be wary of unusually high peaks followed by a sharp decline in follower growth. Also carry out checks on the origin of the followers, for example using audience analyses. Do the locations of the followers match the geographical area of the influencer or do large proportions come from diverging areas? A mismatch could indicate that followers have been bought. Furthermore, inactive accounts can be a sign of fraudulent behavior. Inactive profiles show no activity on their own account or on the profiles they follow. Accounts without profile pictures, only a few followers and a low number of posts are also suspicious. Furthermore, influData can analyze and break down the followers for each influencer in even more detail and show you whether an account has a particularly high number of fake followers. This way, you can rule out falling for influencer marketing scams.
What is influencer marketing?
Influencer marketing comprises the strategic planning, management and monitoring of the targeted use of opinion leaders and multipliers (known as influencers or creators) in social media for the purpose of promoting brands or products or increasing their awareness or credibility. The recommendations of influencers are intended to increase the value of brand messages and exert a positive influence on the purchasing behavior of the target group. Companies hope that influencers will make particularly authentic recommendations that appear more natural than other marketing or advertising measures. The overarching goal is to increase brand awareness and ultimately generate sales.
Influencer marketing is part of a company’s marketing mix, just like TV advertising, online ads or print advertising, for example. Some companies even focus exclusively on influencer marketing in their advertising measures.
What are influencer relations?
Influencer relations means building a positive, authentic and long-term connection between brands and creators with the intention of developing a sustainable influencer strategy. This leads to smoother and more efficient campaign execution and lower costs for both parties.
What is an influencer search?
Influencer search or influencer research refers to the identification and discovery of influencers for the purpose of influencer marketing. This can be done through online research in search engines, blogs and forums, on social media platforms themselves or with the help of specialized influencer search engines. Careful influencer research forms the basis for a successful influencer campaign and is therefore of crucial importance. The ideal influencer should have a strong performance (reach, engagement rate, posting frequency, etc.), authentic and engaged followers and a suitable target group for your brand. Influencer tools such as influData are suitable for ensuring these factors. Research with an influencer search engine such as influData is significantly faster, more comprehensive and more precise than manual research. It automates the process of searching and analyzing, which saves time and enables a more detailed evaluation.
What are keywords?
Keywords are terms that internet users search for. They often have a high search volume and are therefore of great importance in search engine and influencer marketing. Keywords can be individual words or specific phrases. For example, “car” can be a keyword, but also “buy used car”. influData’s keyword search allows you to find the ideal creators for your brand by simply entering the keywords that best suit your brand, and our free text search will show you all relevant creators, brands or content on this topic. It works in a similar way to a Google search.
What are KPIs?
KPI stands for Key Performance Indicator and refers to a metric used to measure the performance of company activities. Companies can take a closer look at KPIs to evaluate the success or failure of a measure. Which KPIs are used to evaluate performance depends on the company, the specific measure and the objectives. Examples of KPIs include revenue, profit, new leads, new customers, impressions, views, return on investment, conversion rate, cost per acquisition and video plays.
What is a Like?
A like is a form of interaction and engagement in social media. A like shows that you like the content. Likes are usually symbolized by a “Like” button that you can click on.
What exactly are macro-influencers?
Macro-influencers are influencers with a high reach of 500,000 to 1 million followers and are seen as trendsetters in the scene. They are often imitated by other creators or used as role models. The visibility of macro-influencers on the internet is good and their engagement with their target group is acceptable – better than that of larger influencers, but not as intense as that of nano or micro-influencers. Macro-influencers already have a greater scatter loss in advertising partnerships compared to nano- or micro-influencers.
Who is considered a mega-influencer?
Mega-influencers are influencers who have at least 1 million followers and therefore generate a lot of attention. To a certain extent, they are the stars of the influencer scene and working with them can incur correspondingly high costs. However, their content pieces also reach a very large number of people, which makes them very attractive for advertising collaborations with companies. On the other hand, the scatter loss also increases with advertising partnerships with them, which is why such a cooperation is only suitable for a few brands. Companies are usually better served with micro-influencers or nano-influencers as advertising ambassadors.
What is a mention?
A mention, also known as a @mention or tag, refers to the tagging of a social media profile in a comment or post. The purpose of this tag is to notify the tagged account and make them aware of the mention. This is done by simply placing the account after an @ sign, for example @influData. The mention acts as a link so that the bio or profile of the tagged user can be accessed directly.
What are micro-influencers?
Micro-influencers have between 10,000 and 50,000 followers on social media – although these ranges can vary slightly depending on the source. Micro-influencers maintain a strong bond with their audience and are in close contact with their followers. Working with them can be beneficial for brands, as they usually have higher engagement rates than large influencers and come across as very authentic. They reach a specifically interested audience and are well suited to promoting niche markets or niche products.
The comparatively smaller number of followers enables influencers to respond better to their followers and interact more with them compared to influencers with a larger following. Nevertheless, they have an audience that is large enough to reach many interested parties. The strong interest of followers in the content of micro-influencers creates a closer bond between creator and audience, which makes them ideal for advertising partnerships. Micro-influencers interact very intensively with their audience and generally achieve good results with advertising partnerships. You can find more information about micro-influencers here.
What are nano-influencers?
Nano-influencers are users in social media who have a comparatively small but very committed and specifically interested following of around 1,000 – 10,000 followers. Depending on the source, the range of followers that characterizes a nano-influencer varies. Nano-influencers maintain an intensive relationship with their community. Working with them can be beneficial for brands, as they generally have higher engagement rates than larger influencers and have an authentic impact.
Unlike influencers with a wider reach, who often appeal to a broad audience, nano-influencers reach a specific audience and are particularly well suited to niche markets. Due to the small number of followers, nano-influencers are able to know their followers very well and interact intensively with them, which leads to a close connection between creator and audience. This makes them ideal for advertising partnerships. Although they do not reach a large audience, nano-influencers still achieve strong results in collaborations due to their strong interaction with their target group. You can find more information about nano-influencers here.
What are organic mentions?
Organic mentions are mentions of a company or other user in a post or comment that are made voluntarily and without compensation. Brands are marked either in the image or in the caption without an obvious advertising reference using the @ symbol. If a brand is tagged on Instagram, for example, this does not automatically mean that it is a paid partnership (= paid mention). Large brands in particular, such as Red Bull, BMW, Apple or Coca-Cola, can often appear voluntarily in the posts of users or influencers due to their popularity or image.
What describes organic reach?
Organic reach refers to the “natural” distribution of a post on social media that is achieved without payment or the placement of advertising. This natural reach includes the number of individual users who see your content without paid advertising. People discover this social media content through their own feeds, whether from other users or businesses whose accounts they have subscribed to, or through content shared by friends or connections. Even if someone visits your social media profile as a result of a search or other non-paid recommendation, this is counted as organic reach.
What is performance marketing?
Performance generally refers to measurable actions or achievements, such as clicks, contacts, inquiries, leads, purchases, newsletter registrations or subscribers. Performance marketing relies on the targeted use of online marketing tools to achieve a measurable response or transaction from users. Examples of effective performance marketing measures include programmatic ads, text ads, YouTube videos, Google Ads, landing pages and influencer marketing. The results of these forms of advertising can be measured precisely. Performance marketing generally focuses on the middle or bottom of the sales funnel, where potential customers are already familiar with the company and product and now need to be convinced to buy it. It is crucial that a specific action is carried out rather than just raising awareness, increasing brand awareness or arousing interest in a product.
People who do performance marketing are often referred to as growth hackers. Influencer marketing can be part of performance marketing, but it doesn’t have to be. Influencer marketing tends to be used in the upper part of the sales funnel (top of the funnel).
What is a post or posting?
A post or posting refers to every status update, every uploaded photo or video and every shared content in a social network, blog or forum. Another term for it could be content piece.
What is a private account?
A private social media account or a private group is not visible to the public. The basic information of the account or group, such as the profile picture and name, is visible to everyone. However, only followers approved by the owner can see and react to the shared content.
What is reach in social networks?
Reach refers to the total number of people who can potentially be reached with a social media post or advertisement. It is measured by metrics such as number of views, interactions, shared content or number of followers. A greater reach indicates a wider distribution of the content and can increase the engagement and visibility of a profile or post. However, it is important to note that this metric does not necessarily mean that all of these people have actually and actively seen the content – they may have simply scrolled over it. Reach simply indicates that the content has appeared at least once in the user’s social media feed. Analytics tools such as influData usually track both organic and paid reach as separate metrics. In contrast to reach, impressions provide information on how often a post was displayed at all, as a user can also see a content piece multiple times.
What is a reaction on social media?
Reactions are a special form of interaction on social media, especially on Facebook and LinkedIn. In addition to approval in the form of likes, as is also the case on Instagram or YouTube, there are various other reaction options such as affection, joy, astonishment, sadness and anger, which are represented by emojis. Users can access the reaction options by moving the mouse pointer over the Like button or holding it down. These additional reaction options are intended to enable a wider range of emotions for a content piece.
What is a reel?
Reels are short, entertaining videos in 9:16 portrait format on Instagram. Reels are therefore synonymous with videos on Instagram. They usually have a duration of 15 to 90 seconds and can be created in the Instagram app. You can add music and special effects to make them even more appealing. Reels give you the opportunity to inform your target group about your brand in a creative way.
What does reposting mean?
By reposting, a user shares the content of another user on social media on their own profile or in their own feed. This can take various forms, such as a Regram (on Instagram), a Repin (on Pinterest) or a Retweet (on X or Twitter). Another example is sharing another user’s Instagram post in your own Instagram stories. The core of the repost is the distribution of other users’ posts in your own feed. This benefits both your own feed and the post itself, and therefore the user who originally created the post. Usually, the repost always refers to the original user – especially when companies repost.
What is ROI (return on investment)?
ROI, also known as return on investment, is the ratio between the capital invested and the profit made. It is calculated by dividing the profit by the invested capital. The ROI provides important information about the efficiency of a business performance or an advertising measure, for example an influencer marketing campaign. In the case of such a campaign, it makes it possible to assess whether the collaboration with an influencer has been financially worthwhile. The ROI in influencer marketing varies depending on the desired goals and the individual brand. New platforms such as TikTok or YouTube Shorts can offer a particularly high return on investment, as the competition there is not yet so well established.
What is sentiment and what does sentiment analysis calculate?
Sentiment analysis examines the feelings, opinions, moods and attitudes of a specific target group towards something, for example a brand, a company, a product or a post on social media. For this reason, sentiment analysis is also colloquially referred to as mood analysis. When evaluating content pieces on social networks, linguistic data processing or other computer-aided analysis methods are typically used to determine the attitude towards a social media message. Analytics platforms such as influData classify sentiment in various ways, for example by dividing it into positive or negative sentiment or by categorizing it according to emotion or tone (e.g. satisfaction/gratitude, fear/discomfort).
What does sharing on social media mean?
Sharing refers to the process by which posts and messages on social media platforms are forwarded or shared with other users. This enables the distribution of content across different user profiles.
What is a shitstorm?
A shitstorm primarily occurs online on social media platforms, where the online profiles of influencers, brands, celebrities or private individuals are flooded with excessive and massive criticism, insults and negative comments.
What is social media?
Social media are websites and apps that allow users to create, share and like content (such as photos, videos or texts) and network with each other. The best-known social media platforms include Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Pinterest and Twitch.
What is social media marketing all about?
Social media marketing refers to the use of social media to promote products or services, increase brand awareness, identify relevant target groups, generate leads, build valuable customer relationships and, ideally, sell products or services. Social media marketing should always be considered as part of a comprehensive social media strategy that also includes activities such as social media customer service, community management and social selling.
What is social selling?
Social selling refers to the use of social media tools to identify leads, approach potential customers, maintain business relationships and sell products or services. The targeted use of social media can effectively support sales activities and enable successful customer management.
What is spam?
Spam refers to unwanted or repetitive content that appears in email inboxes, social media feeds or online profile messages. The term “spam” is also used for junk messages.
What are sponsored posts?
Influencers not only create private posts, but can also be “booked” by companies to create a post that promotes a company or product or presents it in a positive light. Such a post is referred to as a “sponsored post”. The creator marks a brand in the image or in the caption and adds a corresponding advertising reference (e.g. “ad”, “advertisement”, “advertisement” or “paid partnership”). The advertising label is highly relevant, as the absence of such a reference is considered surreptitious advertising, which is illegal. In the past, there have already been several cases in which this has led to problems.
What is a star-influencer or celebrity-influencer?
Star-influencers or celebrity-influencers are well-known personalities who have a large number of followers due to their celebrity status. Their enormous fan base usually comprises well over 1 million followers. This category includes musicians, actors, athletes, movie stars, models and other well-known people. Working with them is usually very costly and often challenging due to their busy schedules. The high reach and low interaction of followers with their content pieces and the return on investment in advertising partnerships are in direct conflict with each other.
What is a story?
Stories are short-lived content pieces that are published on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp or Snapchat and are only visible for a period of 24 hours before they automatically disappear.
What is a subscriber?
A subscriber refers to registered interested parties of a feed in the context of social networks. On YouTube, followers are also referred to as subscribers. However, it is important to note that in other social media, the term “followers” is more common than the term “subscriber”.
What is a tag?
A tag is a keyword that is added to a social media post to assign the content to a specific category. However, it is also possible to tag someone in a post or photo (in this case it is called “tagging”) in order to establish a connection to their social media profile and associate them with the content of the post. Users have the option to remove unwanted tags from their profile.
What is social media targeting?
Targeting refers to the strategic alignment of marketing activities to a specific group or target group of potential customers. It aims to present relevant content, products or services to a specific audience in order to specifically address their interests and needs. Effective targeting enables companies to use their resources more efficiently and achieve a higher conversion rate. Various targeting options are offered online and especially on social media, based on factors such as demographics, location and interests. Through precise targeting, companies can direct their ads to those users who are most likely to be interested in their products or services.
What is the target group in marketing?
The target group of a company or brand comprises the defined people or companies that a brand would like to attract as customers and therefore address. Defining the target group is a key step in developing a marketing strategy. By gaining a precise understanding of the target group, targeted marketing measures and advertising messages can be developed that are tailored to their needs and interests. This definition is based on demographic data (e.g. age, gender, marital status or place of residence), membership of certain interest groups, past experience with other target groups, market research or, for example, website visitors.
The best way to reach a target group for advertising purposes is if the individuals are known individually, for example through lists of participants in a lecture, e-mail addresses that interested parties have provided for newsletters or similar, or existing customer lists. But even if this is not the case, the target group can be approached via a wide variety of media, such as TV, radio, outdoor advertising, post, search engine advertising, online banners, influencer marketing, emails or online retargeting measures.
What is a thread?
A thread is a sequence of messages that represents a conversation. The thread begins with an initial message and is followed by a series of replies or comments. Threads are an essential component of online communication, including social media and email, to keep track of conversations and follow them in a structured way.
What are TikToks?
The social media platform TikTok offers users the opportunity to upload short videos known as TikToks. TikToks are therefore a synonym for videos on the social media platform of the same name. These videos can be set to music and edited with filters and effects before being shared with other users. The majority of videos are tagged with specific hashtags that can be used to encourage other users to participate interactively in challenges, among other things.
What is tracking in marketing?
Tracking (also known as web tracking or web analytics) is the targeted tracing and analysis of visitors’ activities on a website. The best-known and most widespread methods of data collection are via IP addresses or cookies. Tracking also plays an important role in influencer campaigns. It is crucial to track influencer campaigns to see whether the investment in the campaign has paid off for your brand. Were the defined goals achieved? Campaign tracking makes it possible to track how often your brand and/or product were mentioned in the creators’ posts, reels and stories and whether the company’s own hashtag was used. Leads and sales generated via this campaign can also be tracked. If you have run several influencer campaigns, you can monitor the development of your company and compare the different campaigns with each other. This allows you to further optimize your influencer marketing strategy and include it in future influencer advertising.
What does trending mean?
Trending refers to the current state or development of a topic, discussion or content on social media. When something is “trending”, it means that there is a high level of attention and activity around that topic or content. It can be hashtags, posts, stories, videos or discussions that are widely used on social media and shared, commented on or liked by many users. Trending topics can change quickly and often reflect current events, trends or popular content.
What is a troll?
A troll is a person who deliberately publishes provocative, offensive, false, detrimental or disruptive posts in online communities in order to provoke negative reactions, discredit other users and disrupt the discussion. Trolls often act anonymously or under fake identities and aim to cause unrest, distract the discussion, and defame or insult users.
What is a tweet?
A Tweet is a message on X (formerly Twitter). A tweet can contain a maximum of 280 characters of text as well as images, videos, GIFs, polls, links to websites and tags from other Twitter users using @mentions. X is used by many brands, companies, media and influencers to share up-to-date information and short messages.
What are social media users?
A user is a person who has an account or profile on social media platforms or other online services. The name of the profile or user is unique and can be changed, but there can be no duplicate names per platform. A person can have several accounts under different names. Only as a user, i.e. as the owner of a profile or account, can you like, comment, share, save content or follow other profiles and send messages.
What is user-generated content?
User-generated content (UGC) is content that is created and published on a social media platform by users themselves. This is in contrast to content created by a website operator or company as well as content created on behalf of or for someone else. UGC can take various forms of content, such as videos, texts, images, blog articles, ratings and comments. UGC is so important and exciting because it is authentic, diverse and often better tailored to the needs of the target group than content created by other sources. Companies and platforms themselves therefore use UGC specifically to address users and promote their products.
What does “verified” mean in social media?
Verification proves the identity of a person or company on a social media platform and confirms it as authentic. This type of verification is used in particular for the social media accounts of prominent and well-known personalities to prevent fraud and ensure the credibility and integrity of the account. Confirmed verification on social media is usually indicated by a special mark, such as a blue tick or a verification symbol next to the name or profile picture of the account. This mark indicates to other users that the profile is authentic and actually belongs to the person or company it claims to represent.
The exact process of verification can vary from platform to platform, but usually, information and proof of identity, such as ID documents or official confirmations, are submitted by the account holders and checked by the platforms in order to carry out the verification.
What are vertical videos?
Vertical videos are content created specifically in portrait format, with an aspect ratio of 9:16. Unlike traditional horizontal videos, which have a wider aspect ratio (e.g. 4:3 or 16:9), vertical videos are designed to be viewed optimally on mobile devices, especially smartphones. This type of video has gained popularity in recent years, especially on social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram (Reels) and YouTube (Shorts). The vertical orientation allows users to watch the video in full-screen mode on their mobile screens without having to rotate the device.
What does virality mean in social networks? And what does “going viral” mean?
The term “virality” is used in social media to describe when a particular post or content generates an exceptionally high number of interactions. If a post is viewed and shared particularly frequently, this is seen as a clear sign that it is “going viral” as it spreads across the internet like a virus. The virality factor of a piece of content can vary on different social media platforms and depends on the response of the target group as well as trends, current events and the characteristics of the respective platform.
What is viral marketing all about?
Viral marketing refers to a marketing strategy in which an advertising message is created with the aim of spreading quickly and on a large scale via the media. Creative content, emotionality or controversial elements can contribute to a campaign going viral and spreading like a virus on the internet. Likes and shares can increase the reach of the message exponentially. Which marketing channels and platforms are initially chosen is of secondary importance. The focus is on the goal of cross-platform awareness. Viral marketing makes it possible to reach a broader target group, as users voluntarily share and spread the message. However, there is no guarantee of virality, as it depends on many different factors.
What is a vlog?
A vlog is a combination of video and blog and refers to the creation and publication of video blog content. Those who vlog are referred to as vloggers. This format is particularly widespread and extremely popular on YouTube. A vlog provides an insight into a person’s life. In most cases, influencers use this format to document their private lives and show viewers authentic and personal impressions of their everyday lives. Successful German vloggers include BeautxVlogs and ANKAT, for example.
What are YouTube Shorts?
YouTube Shorts are short, entertaining video clips lasting around 15 to 60 seconds that are shared on the YouTube platform. With Shorts, as the short videos on YouTube are also called, YouTube is moving away from the long videos that have been predominant on this platform to date and is thus responding to the trend of entertaining entertainment from successful formats such as TikTok videos and Instagram Reels. YouTube now offers both long and short videos for users. Shorts are geared towards the 9:16 vertical format and offer a dynamic and creative way of presenting content. With the integration of music and hashtags, YouTube Shorts become an engaging and interactive experience for viewers. They allow content creators to unleash their creativity and connect with their community in an entertaining way.
What is 9:16 marketing?
The term 9:16 refers to the format in which content pieces (videos and images) are posted and consumed on social media. The 9:16 portrait format has replaced the traditional landscape format (16:9) in social media and is a reaction to the growing consumption of content on mobile devices. 9:16 marketing is therefore advertising in mobile portrait format. Platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and YouTube Shorts are already fully committed to the 9:16 format, which is often associated with Generation Z. In the field of influencer marketing, 9:16 opens up a wide range of possibilities, especially as such content can be created comparatively quickly and cheaply. Cost-efficient campaigns are possible, particularly on the TikTok platform, which focuses exclusively on 9:16 content. Even with a limited budget, successful influencer partnerships can be realized on TikTok using sponsored content by creating viral videos.