Stepping into the world of influencer marketing can feel like learning a new language. With so many terms, metrics, and strategies, it’s easy to get lost in the jargon. 

But don't worry! Whether you're just starting out or looking to sharpen your skills, this A-Z Glossary Guide to Influencer Marketing is here to break down the buzzwords to save your day. 

Let’s begin:

P.S. If you like what you read, do share it with someone who is new to influencer marketing.

A - F

A

Affiliate Marketing: Affiliate marketing is a win-win for both brands and influencers. Influencers promote a product, and when their followers purchase through their special link, they earn a commission.

For example, if you become an impulze.ai affiliate partner and share a link to our product with your followers, and they buy it, you will get a commission on each sale.

B  

Brand Ambassador: A Brand Ambassador is an influencer who becomes the face of a brand over an extended period. Unlike one-off campaigns, they consistently promote the brand’s products or services. For instance, Cristiano Ronaldo posts regularly about Nike and is their brand ambassador. 

Brand Mentions: Brand Mentions refer to how often an influencer talks about a brand and tags it in their content. These mentions can be organic (when the influencer genuinely loves the brand) or paid (as part of a sponsorship deal). 

Brand Advocate: A Brand Advocate is someone who genuinely loves your brand and isn’t shy about showing it. They publicly praise your products or services, often without any incentive. 

Brief: A Brief is a roadmap for collaboration between a brand and an influencer. It’s a document or discussion outlining everything the influencer needs to know about the campaign—goals, key messages, deliverables, deadlines, etc. It ensures everyone’s on the same page and helps the influencer create content that aligns with the brand’s vision. 

C 

Call-to-Action (CTA): A Call-to-Action (CTA) is a prompt within content that nudges the audience to do something specific, like "Shop Now," "Sign Up," or "Learn More." It’s the driving force behind turning passive viewers into active participants, guiding them to the next step in their journey with the brand.

Collaboration: Collaboration is when two or more parties, like influencers and brands, team up for content. They work together toward a common goal, whether it’s launching a new product, creating content, or driving a campaign. 

Contract: A Contract is an official agreement that lays out the terms of a partnership between a brand and an influencer. It’s legally binding and covers everything from payment to deadlines, deliverables, and usage rights. Once signed by all parties, it ensures everyone knows their responsibilities and protects both sides in case of any disputes.

Conversion Rate: Conversion Rate is a key metric that shows how effectively an influencer's content drives action. It’s the percentage of people who take a desired action (like making a purchase) after seeing an influencer's post or ad. For example, if 100 people view an ad and 10 make a purchase, the conversion rate is 10%.

CPA (Cost Per Acquisition): CPA, or Cost Per Acquisition, measures how much it costs to acquire a new customer through an influencer campaign. It’s calculated by dividing the total campaign cost by the number of customers gained. For example, if a campaign costs $1,000 and brings in 50 new customers, the CPA is $20.

CPC (Cost Per Click): CPC, or Cost Per Click, is the amount a brand pays every time someone clicks on an influencer's sponsored content. It’s a common way to measure the effectiveness of digital marketing campaigns. For instance, if a brand pays $0.50 per click and 1,000 people click on the link, the total cost is $500.

CPE (Cost Per Engagement): CPE, or Cost Per Engagement, refers to the cost of each interaction—like, comment, or share—on an influencer's post. It’s a metric that helps brands understand how much they’re paying for the engagement their content receives. For example, if a campaign costs $200 and gets 400 likes, the CPE is $0.50 per likes.

CPL (Cost Per Lead): CPL, or Cost Per Lead, is the cost of generating a new lead through an influencer campaign. A lead is a potential customer who has shown interest, such as by signing up for a newsletter or downloading a resource. If a campaign costs $1,000 and results in 200 leads, the CPL is $5 per lead.

CPM (Cost Per Mille): CPM, or Cost Per Mille, is the cost per 1,000 impressions of an influencer's content. It’s a way to measure the cost-effectiveness of a campaign in terms of reach. For instance, if a campaign costs $500 and results in 100,000 impressions, the CPM is $5.

CTR (Click-Through Rate): CTR, or Click-Through Rate, is the percentage of people who click on a link within an influencer's content compared to the number who see it. It’s a key indicator of how compelling the content is. For example, if 1,000 people see a post and 50 click the link, the CTR is 5%.

D 

Disclosure: A disclosure is a required statement that influencers use to let their audience know when a post is sponsored or includes an affiliate link. Influencers generally use words like #ad or #sponsored in their posts for disclosure. 

Deliverables: Deliverables are the specific content pieces an influencer must create during a campaign, like a certain number of Instagram posts, TikTok videos, or stories. These are usually outlined in briefs or contracts.

E 

Endorsement: An endorsement is when an influencer publicly supports or approves a brand or product. For instance, if an influencer gives a glowing review of a skincare product, that's an endorsement.

Engagement Rate: Engagement Rate measures how much an audience interacts with an influencer's content through likes, comments, and shares. A high engagement rate often indicates a strong audience connection. You can calculate it using a formula or just use a free tool for instant results. 

EMV (Earned Media Value): EMV estimates the value of online mentions or media coverage generated by influencer campaigns. It’s like comparing the impact of organic buzz to the cost of paid ads.

F 

Fake Followers: As the name suggests, it refers to bots or inactive accounts that artificially inflate an influencer's follower count. Brands should watch out for influencers with high numbers of fake followers. You can use impulze.ai to find who has fake followers, plus get access to data on audience demographics. 

G - K

G 

Giveaway: A giveaway is a promotional campaign where influencers offer their audience a chance to win a product or service, typically in exchange for actions like following a brand or sharing a post. Travel brands, beauty bloggers, and electronic influencers often use these. 

H 

Hashtag: A hashtag is a keyword or phrase starting with a # symbol that categorizes content on social media, making it easier to discover by others interested in the same topic, like #Travel or #Fitness.

I 

Influencer: An influencer is someone who can affect the purchasing decisions of others because of their authority, knowledge, or relationship with their audience. They often work with brands to promote products. Some popular influencers could be celebrities like Selena Gomez, Beyonce, etc., 

Influencer Outreach: Influencer outreach is the process of brands contacting influencers to collaborate on campaigns. This usually involves pitching ideas, discussing terms, and forming partnerships. Here is a template to make the task easy for you. 

Influencer Marketplace: An influencer marketplace is a platform where brands and influencers can connect, negotiate, and collaborate on campaigns. It simplifies the process of finding and working with the right influencers.

Influencer-Generated Content (IGC): IGC refers to content created by influencers specifically for a brand's campaign. This can include photos, videos, or blog posts that align with the brand’s message.

Influencer Vetting: Influencer vetting is the process of evaluating an influencer’s audience, content, and authenticity before partnering with them to ensure whether they align with the brand’s values and goals or not.  Check out this template to learn more about it. 

Influencer Advertising: Influencer advertising is when a brand pays an influencer to create and share content that features their product or service. This can include product placements, reviews, or sponsored posts.

Influencer Marketing: Influencer marketing is a strategy where brands partner with influencers to promote products or services. It’s all about leveraging the influencer's reach and credibility to connect with a target audience.

Impressions: Impressions are the total number of times an influencer's content is viewed. This metric helps brands understand the potential reach of their campaigns.

Influencer Relationship Management (IRM): IRM is about building and maintaining long-term relationships with influencers. It’s like CRM (Customer Relationship Management) but focused on influencers, aiming to foster ongoing, positive collaborations.

J 

Joint Ventures: Joint ventures in influencer marketing are when a brand and an influencer team up for a campaign or product launch. They share resources and work together to reach common goals.

K 

Key Opinion Leader (KOL): A KOL is an expert in a specific field. Their opinions are trusted, and their endorsements can greatly influence consumer choices.

KPI (Key Performance Indicator): KPIs are numbers that show how well an influencer marketing campaign is doing. KPIs can include sales, engagement rates, or new followers.

L - R

L

Lookalike Audience: A lookalike audience is a group of people similar to an influencer’s followers. Brands use this group to target potential customers who might like their products. Most agencies and brands use automated tools to find lookalike audiences in seconds!

M 

Mega-Influencer: A mega-influencer has over 1 million followers. They have a wide reach but may have lower engagement due to their large audience.

Macro-Influencer: A macro-influencer has between 100,000 and 1 million followers. They are often seen as experts and balance large reach with good engagement.

Metrics: Metrics are ways to measure the success of a campaign. They can include follower count, clicks, or how people feel about the content.

Micro-Influencer: A micro-influencer has a smaller following, usually between 1,000 to 100,000 followers. They often have higher engagement due to their close-knit community.

N 

Niche: A niche is a specific area an influencer focuses on, like fitness, beauty, or tech.

Nano-Influencer: A nano-influencer has fewer than 1,000 followers. They usually influence within their local or small online communities.

O 

Organic Content: Organic content is created and shared by an influencer without any paid promotion. It's often seen as more genuine by followers.

P 

Paid Partnership: A paid partnership is when a brand pays an influencer to promote its products. The influencer usually discloses this to their audience.

PV (Page Views): Page views are the total number of times a webpage or content is seen. It helps measure how much traffic an influencer's content is driving.

Q 

Quality Score: A quality score measures how good and relevant an influencer's content is. It affects how visible their content is on social media. Use impulze.ai to get a quality score for over 250+ million influencers across the world!

R 

Repost: Reposting is when someone shares another user's content. It’s a way to reach more people, but credit should be given to the original creator.

Reach: Reach is the total number of unique people who see an influencer's content. It helps understand the potential impact of a campaign.

ROI (Return on Investment): ROI measures how effective a campaign is by comparing the profit made to the cost of the campaign. For example, if you spend $1,000 on an influencer campaign and it generates $3,000 in sales, the ROI is positive, showing the campaign was successful.

Resonance: Resonance shows how well an influencer's content connects with their audience. High resonance means the content is impactful.

Relevance: Relevance measures how closely an influencer's content matches a brand's goals and audience. The more relevant, the better the results.

S - U

S 

Sponsored Post: A sponsored post is content an influencer creates for commercials. It’s usually marked as “paid promotion”. For example, an influencer might post a photo wearing a brand's clothing and tag it as "sponsored" to let their followers know they were paid to promote it.

SEO (Search Engine Optimization): SEO is the process of making content more visible on search engines. Influencers help by linking to a brand’s website. For instance, if an influencer writes a blog post about a product and links to the brand’s site, it can help that site appear higher in search results.

Sentiment: Sentiment is how people feel about your brand. Positive sentiment means your campaign is likely to be successful. For example, if followers comment positively on an influencer's post about your product, it indicates good sentiment.

T 

Target Audience: The target audience is the group of people an influencer’s content is made for, often based on age, interests, or habits. Different brands and companies can have different target audiences. For example, a beauty brand may reach out to an influencer who is targeting young women interested in skincare.

Trackable Links: Trackable links let brands see how many people visit a webpage and what actions they take. They’re key for measuring campaign success. 

U 

User-Generated Content (UGC): UGC is content made by fans or customers. Brands or influencers then share it to make their campaigns feel more authentic. 

UX (User Experience): UX is how a person feels when using a product, like a website or app. Good UX means it’s easy and enjoyable to use. 

V - Z

V 

Viral Content: Viral content spreads quickly across the internet, becoming popular in a short time. It’s the goal of many influencer campaigns.

Virtual Influencer: Also known as a CGI influencer. A virtual influencer is a computer-generated character that acts like a human influencer. They engage with audiences just like real influencers. 

W 

Whitelisting: Whitelisting lets brands run ads from an influencer’s account, mixing paid and organic content to reach more people. For instance, a brand might use an influencer’s profile to run targeted ads, making the promotions feel more authentic.

X 

Cross-Promotion: Cross-promotion is when influencers share their content on different platforms to reach more people. For example, an influencer might post a YouTube video and then share it on Instagram to reach both audiences.

Y

Yield: Yield is the return on investment from an influencer campaign. It shows how much value the partnership brought to the brand. For instance, if a campaign costs $500 and brings in $1,500 in sales, the yield is positive.

Z 

Zero Party Data: Zero party data is information that influencers willingly share with brands about their audience. It helps create more targeted campaigns. For example, an influencer might share insights about what their followers like or dislike to help a brand tailor its products better.

Want to learn more about influencer marketing, read this guide.