MRKTDEPT
Glossary
Short-form video and UGC glossary
Plain definitions of the terms small businesses run into on TikTok, Reels and Shorts.
- UGC (user-generated content)
- UGC is content made by customers or creators rather than the brand itself — on TikTok and Reels, usually a person talking to camera about a product they use.
- AI UGC
- AI UGC is a UGC-style video made with AI — an AI spokesperson or avatar presents a script about a product, instead of a filmed creator.
- UGC creator
- A UGC creator is a person paid to make UGC-style videos for brands to post or run as ads, usually without posting them on their own account.
- Usage rights
- Usage rights are the permission a creator gives a brand to use their video — where, for how long, and whether in paid ads.
- Spark Ads
- Spark Ads are TikTok ads that boost an existing organic post — from your own account or a creator’s, with their authorisation code — so likes and follows go to the original post.
- Whitelisting (creator licensing)
- Whitelisting is when a creator lets a brand run ads through the creator’s account, so the ad appears under the creator’s name rather than the brand’s.
- Hook
- A hook is the first one to two seconds of a short video — the line, image or text on screen that makes someone stop scrolling.
- Hook rate
- Hook rate is the share of people who keep watching past the first few seconds of a video — commonly 3-second views divided by impressions.
- Watch time
- Watch time is how long viewers spend watching a video, in total or on average — one of the strongest signals short-video platforms use to decide who else sees it.
- Completion rate
- Completion rate is the share of viewers who watch a video to the end.
- Faceless content
- Faceless content is video that never shows the creator’s face — hands, products, screen recordings, text on screen or an AI presenter instead.
- AI avatar (AI spokesperson)
- An AI avatar is a generated person, or a digital copy of a real one, that presents a script on video with a synthetic or cloned voice.
- Content calendar
- A content calendar is the schedule of what will be posted, where and when — usually planned a week or a month ahead.
- Posting frequency
- Posting frequency is how often an account publishes; for most small businesses on TikTok, three to five videos a week is a sustainable starting point.
- Call to action (CTA)
- A call to action is the one thing a video asks the viewer to do next — visit, book, follow, or tap the link in the bio.