Influencer marketing, in plain language.
The terms we use every day with brands and creators — defined without the jargon, with examples from real programs.
Strategy
2 termsTactics
3 termsMeta Partnership Ads
Meta's official format for running paid ads from a creator's Instagram or Facebook handle, with full targeting and optimization.
TikTok Spark Ads
TikTok's paid format for amplifying a creator's organic post through the creator's own handle.
Whitelisting
Granting a brand permission to run paid ads from the creator's social handle rather than the brand's own.
Commerce
3 termsAffiliate Marketing
Paying creators a commission on the sales they drive, tracked via unique links or codes, rather than a flat fee.
Amazon Influencer Program
Amazon's affiliate program for creators, with on-platform storefronts, idea lists, and on-PDP video reviews.
TikTok Shop
TikTok's native commerce surface that lets users buy products without leaving the app, often via creator-led video or live streams.
Measurement
7 termsAudience Quality Score
A composite metric estimating how real, relevant, and brand-safe a creator's audience is.
CPA
Cost per acquisition — the total spend required to acquire one customer or one of any defined action.
CPM
Cost per thousand impressions — the price a brand pays for every 1,000 times its ad or content is shown.
Engagement Rate
The percentage of a creator's audience that interacts with a given post — likes, comments, shares, saves divided by followers or reach.
LTV
Lifetime value — the total revenue a customer is expected to generate over the duration of the relationship.
ROAS
Return on ad spend — revenue generated for every dollar of media or program spend.
Saves Rate
The share of viewers who save a post for later — a strong intent signal on Instagram and Pinterest.
Operations
4 termsBrand Safety
The discipline of ensuring brand content doesn't appear alongside — or come from — sources that could damage reputation.
FTC Disclosure
U.S. Federal Trade Commission requirement that creators clearly disclose paid or material relationships with a brand.
Rate Card
A creator's published or negotiated pricing for different content formats, usage windows, and exclusivity terms.
Usage Rights
Permission for a brand to repurpose creator content — in ads, on the brand's owned channels, in stores, or in CRM.