20 Must-Know Terms In the Influencer Marketing Industry

To have skin in the influencer game, you need to fully understand the ins and outs of the industry. While it is ever-evolving and full of buzzwords, it is still important to know the defined terminology of the space. Not only will this help you understand the workings of the industry in general, but it will also ensure your professionalism when interacting with a brand or content creator. Use our definitions below as your go-to dictionary for anything Influencer related.

1. Algorithm

A  computer code that determines the content social media users see on their feed and its frequency. It is determined based on user patterns and past interactions.

2. Call-to-Action (CTA)

A communing phrase, sentence, or word that draws people to perform a desired action or behavior.

3. Campaign

A project with a brand partner that promotes a product, service, or offering.

4. Clickthrough Rate (CTR)

A calculation of the proportion of web users who followed a hyperlink to a particular page from an original piece of content. 

5. Collaboration

A partnership between two or more parties to create something together. It must be mutually beneficial with all parties giving their own contribution.

6. Conversion Rate

A calculation found by dividing number of conversions (ie completed actions) by number of visitors. This is important for affiliate links.

7. Creative Brief

A document to provide clear creative context in terms of imagery and verbiage.  It ensures both brand and talent are on the same page creatively.

8. Deliverables

The content a talent produces for a brand based upon a letter of agreement between the two parties. This could be in the form of blog posts, social media posts, and videos.

9. Disclosure

The action of notifying followers whether the talent is being hired by a brand to produce content as an advertisement. All sponsored content must have a disclosure (#ad, #sponsored, #partner) as mandated by the FTC.

10. Engagement

Any form of interaction with a talent’s brand on digital platforms. This includes likes, comments, shares.

11. Exclusivity

The restrictions of  posting/partnerships with brand competitors while in another brand partnership. This will be in the letter of agreement between the brand and talent.

12. Gifting

A brand gifting talent its product/service with no strings or requirement to post.

13. Impression

The number of times a talent’s content is displayed on someone’s feed, no matter if he/she clicked or engaged on it.

14. Media Kit

A digital document, like a resume or CV for influencers, that is used in brand outreach and collaborations. It contains information like experience, followers, social media insights, and more.

15. sponsored and organic Content

Sponsored content talent is paid to post either monetarily or with product/service. Organic content does not include the intervention of payments.

16. Reach

The total number of unique people who have seen a talent’s content.

17. Return on Investment (ROI)

A performance measurement found by dividing benefit of investment by cost of investment. It is the brand’s ideal outcome from a campaign divided by the cost it paid the talent to promote the product/service.

18. Scope of Work (SOW)

The summary of content, campaign objectives, requirements, and deliverable timeline for the partnership.

19. Trade-for-Post (TFP)

A brand trading its product/service for  the talent’s review and post. The compensation is in the form of said product/service.

20. Usage

An agreement on how a brand can use a talent’s content for its use. This includes sharing on its social media platforms, marketing materials. It also states  where it is allowed to use the content.

Any terms you didn’t know existed? Or terms you didn’t know applied to the industry? Tell us below!

Cheers,