LONDON, United Kingdom — With the digital realm constantly in a state of flux, it can feel overwhelming trying to stay ahead of the latest tools, tricks and their accompanying jargon. To better equip digital marketing aspirants with the latest terminology, BoF sat down with Drew Elliott, whose career at Paper Communications saw him transition from intern to co-owner and creative director of the renowned New York publishing and marketing company.

"Digital is everything," says Drew Elliott. "It's replacing traditional ways and modes that we use to talk to people and is becoming the main conversation and main vehicle for getting content, for getting promotion and for getting your brand out there."

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Amplification

A variety of mechanisms to increase the number of people who see and interact with a piece of content.

“Amplification is how you are syndicating [content] as wide as you possibly can, or to the exact right audience, so that they're able to take in the creative and understand the utility that it's going to bring them,” explains Elliott. “Amplification helps make sure that it gets it out to all of the different press, different influencers and starts that swell of word of mouth inside of the internet.”

Cadence

A newer term within digital marketing used to describe the flow and regularity of content.

“Cadence means, ‘What is the rhythm?’ When are you going to be sharing images? What are you going to be doing? How does it match with what's happening in the world?” says Elliott. “Cadence is king. How quickly can you get to market with things and how fast can you be a part of the conversation that you would like to be a part of? Look at all the different utilities, the emotions you want to make people feel, and start building your cadence around those things.”

Evergreen

This refers to a type of content which has longevity and can be read/watched more than once and by a wide population.

“Evergreen content doesn't have any time-based relevance,” explains Elliott. “It's something that, if you're looking at it today or if you look at it in two years, it's still relevant. It's telling people what your identity is, who you are. You can make it at any time and you can publish it at any time — you always have a piece of evergreen content that you can plant right in that forest.”

Native

Refers to creating content which is specifically suited to the platform it will be released on.

“What you create for Instagram is different from what you would create for Facebook, which looks different from what you do for YouTube or Snapchat,” explains Elliott. “Native content is a branded message inside digital that is conducive to the environment. Creating content native to the platforms means that you're looking at all the fundamentals of the platforms: the algorithms, how it's built and really playing by those rules and that system.”

Social Anxiety

A new term used to describe a technique of releasing content to create anticipation to know and see more — for instance, teasers.

“Many brands have what I call social anxiety,” says Elliott. “They're anxious about what's happening on social media. They once used to create billboards or magazine ads, and their customers couldn't respond in real time. Social is spectacular because it's actually where you can go to the marketplace and tell them what you’re doing, hear what they have to say and bring back more.”

UGC

Or "user generated content" — images, text and videos which are created by the end consumer and can be repurposed by a brand.

“This is a big conversation. User generated content is where users take a cue, a call to action or some type of art that you've created, and they make their own version — they reinterpret it into their own lives,” explains Elliott. “This is the true sign that you've been successful. If you can put out a call to action or an amazing piece of art and people come back with their own versions of it, you have scored.”

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