Social lead generation glossary: the terms explained
Last updated: 28 October 2026
Social lead generation has its own vocabulary. This glossary explains each term in plain language, so you can follow guides, tools and conversations about it without guessing.
Each entry says what the term means and why it matters in practice.
Core terms
- Lead: a person who may become a customer, such as someone who engaged with your post.
- Prospect: a lead you have decided is worth contacting.
- Warm lead: a lead who has already shown interest in what you offer or in the problem you solve.
- Cold lead: a person who matches your customer profile but has shown no interest yet.
- Qualified lead: a lead who fits and shows real interest, so a conversation is worth having.
Signals and scoring
- Intent signal: something a person does that suggests they may buy, such as asking for a recommendation.
- Buying intent: how strongly a person's words and actions point towards a purchase.
- Lead score: a number that ranks leads so the most promising come first.
- Fit: how closely a person matches your ideal customer.
- Engagement: a comment, reaction, follow or reply.
Outreach terms
- Outreach: contacting a lead to start a conversation.
- Connection request: LinkedIn's request to become connected before you can freely message.
- Message request: a direct message from someone you do not follow, held in a separate folder.
- Follow-up: a second message after no reply, usually sent once.
- Cadence: the timing and number of contacts over days or weeks.
Safety terms
- Pacing: spreading actions out so activity looks like a person's.
- Daily cap: a ceiling on actions in a day, set below what a platform appears to tolerate.
- Warm-up: a slow ramp of activity on a new account.
- Rate limit: a platform's refusal to accept more actions for a time.
- Restriction: a platform's temporary or lasting limit on an account's abilities.
Platform terms
- Capture: saving the people who engaged with a post, profile or search so you can work with them.
- Source: the post, profile or search you capture people from.
- Session: one capture run, with its own list of people.
- Relationship state: whether you already follow, are followed by, or are connected to someone.
- First-degree connection: a person you are directly connected to on LinkedIn.
Campaign terms
- Campaign: a planned run of follows, connection requests or messages to a chosen group of leads.
- Template: a saved message you adapt for each person.
- Variant: one version of a template, used to compare which wording gets more replies.
- Acceptance rate: the share of requests that people accept.
- Reply rate: the share of contacted people who answer.
Terms that are easy to mix up
- Follower and connection: a follower sees your posts; a connection is a mutual relationship that LinkedIn requires before most messaging.
- Like and reply: a like is a light signal, while a reply with words says much more about interest.
- Automation and pacing: automation does the work for you; pacing is how slowly and carefully it is done.
- Leads and contacts: a lead has shown a reason to talk, while a contact is simply a name you hold.
Key takeaways
- A lead is a possible customer, and a warm lead has shown interest.
- Scores rank leads so you contact the best first.
- Pacing, caps and warm-up keep accounts safe.
- Cadence means timing, and one follow-up is usually enough.
See how Avocado Leads works, what works on each platform and how it keeps accounts safe.
Questions people ask
What is a lead in social media?
A person who may become a customer, often someone who engaged with a post, followed an account or asked a question related to what you sell.
What is an intent signal?
An action or a phrase that suggests a person may be ready to buy, such as asking for a recommendation or complaining about a current solution.
What does warm-up mean?
A slow start on a new account, with fewer actions at first and more added over weeks, so the account is not limited.