Internet and Facebook Marketing Terms

Terminology for Internet marketing sometimes seems like a whole new language. In addition to all the technical aspects of the Internet and Social Media websites, promotional activities have an additional layer of terms that apply both to marketers and users of websites.

For marketers, understanding this language is critical since these acronyms and words explain what's happening with ads and expenses. For users, it's valuable to know why advertisers want to know this information and how they use it.

I prepared this list for my Marketing with Facebook and Social Media class workbook and thought it would be useful to share it in a newsletter.

Campaign

An ad or set of ads with a unique targeted audience. More than one ad can be used in a campaign, and an advertiser can run more than one campaign. Each campaign for an advertiser has a unique target audience

Bid

The maximum amount per click or impression an advertiser is willing to pay for an ad.

Impressions

The number of times ad is shown. Facebook has options for buying advertising based on how many impressions your ad is shown. An impression is when your ad appears on a page. A user may or may not click on it, but the advertiser pays based on the number of impressions.

CPM

Cost per impression, in thousands of impressions. CPM is the cost for every 1,000 times the ad appears.

PPC

Pay Per Click, a way of advertising based on the number of clicks an ad receives. Advertisers pay only when a user clicks on the ad.

Click

When someone clicks on an ad and is taken to the destination webpage for the ad.

Clicks

The number of times your ad has been clicked on.

CPC

Cost per click. The cost to the advertiser whenever someone clicks on the ad.

CTR

Click Through Rate is the number of times an ad is clicked on divided by the number of impressions. For example, if an ad appears 100 times (impressions) and has one click, it has CTR of 1%.

Average CPC

Average Cost Per Click. Since PPC is a bid, the maximum price for a click is just that, a maximum. PPC ads are priced like an auction when more advertisers want to run an ad to reach a targeted audience; the price is higher.

Conversions

The number of times a person takes action on the destination web page. Some examples of conversions are when someone clicks on an ad, views a web page and enters their email address on a form or when someone clicks on an ad that is being used to promote “Likes,” a Like is a conversion.

Facebook and Instagram Advertising Terms

Frequency

The average number of times each person saw your ad.

Social Impressions

Impressions shown with the name of the viewer's friend who liked your Page, RSVP'd to your event or used your app.

Social Clicks

Clicks on ads shown with the names of the viewers friends who liked your Page, RSVP'd to your event or used your app.
Social Reach - People who saw your ad with the names of friends who liked your page, RSVP'd to your event or used your app.

Social Reach

People who saw your ad with the names of friends who liked your page, RSVP'd to your event or used your app.

Social %

The percentage of impressions where your ad appears with the names of viewers friends who liked your Page, RSVP'd to your event or used your app.

Connections

The number of users who liked your Facebook Page, RSVP'd to your event or installed your app within 24 hours of seeing this ad. If you're not advertising a Page, event, or app, you won't see Connections data.

To My Way of Thinking

Social Media and Internet marketing are becoming more important for all types of organizations. From small to large businesses, non-profits, local government, and community-based organizations, the Internet is one of the most important forms of reaching people with a message. With all of this new technology comes a whole new set of terminology that it's valuable to understand to help you, whether you're a marketer or a targeted audience member.

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