Many of these are well known and generally need no further definition – such as “lol” for example. But there are many that are lesser known that people may look at and wonder what they mean.
ISO is one of these. ISO stands for “in search of” and is often used on various platforms. But there’s lots to cover when it comes to this.
This guide will look at the usage of ISO, where it came from and how it might be used.
Read on to learn more.
ISO Meaning
As mentioned, ISO stands for “in search of”. The term is most often used when a social media user is searching for something to buy, or maybe for recommendations for things like restaurants or nightclubs.
The problem with ISO is that the abbreviation can mean a multitude of different things. As a result of this, many social media users can get confused as to its meaning.
It can be useful to use the term ISO when you’re involved with groups with similar interests when you’re looking for something to purchase, as it saves time and you do not need to fully type out “I am in search of (product/service).
For example, there are many Facebook groups that are designated to specific products. Let’s say you are in a group that buys and sells shoes. You may post something like “ISO size 8 black Nikes”.
This will then enable other users to get in contact with you to sell these products.
Where Did ISO Come From?
Interestingly, ISO actually has a longer history than people may believe. While many abbreviations are as a result of social media and new technology, ISO goes back to the early 2000s and potentially even earlier, used in newspapers.
Advertising sections would use ISO as a way to attract their readers to purchasing or selling products using their newspaper as a platform.
Seemingly, Facebook adopted this strategy for their Facebook Marketplace platform, as well as their users adopting it for designated groups and pages for buying and selling.
Of course though, Facebook was not the only social media platform where ISO took off. Twitter users may utilize hashtags along with ISO to seek something specific – but it also benefits Twitter users due to the limit on characters.
Craigslist and dating sites also use ISO to save time and reduce reading time to their potential audience.
How Might You Use ISO?
ISO has many functions and general uses, but there are areas that it is best utilized. We’re going to explore some of the best uses for ISO and how that might look.
Advertising And Marketing
Attracting more customers and clients can be quite challenging, but one of the best things advertisers can do is keep up with the evolution of terminology and digital lexicon.
Terms like ISO can help to not only identify new customers and a new customer base, but also allow you to target them more easily and effectively, through the use of things like keywords and hashtags.
Additionally, advertising for selling purposes, ISO can be effective as it can help to build credibility and a digital relationship between the seller and the buyer.
Helps To Save Time And Characters
Whilst social media can allow for messaging and communication to take place almost instantly, it can still take time to create posts.
As a result, many users of social media will use ISO as a way to quicken their typing speed and then ultimately get their post on the platforms much faster.
But it is not only time that using ISO can save. Using fewer letters and fewer words can help reduce the amount of characters you are using on a social media platform.
This is critical when it comes to social media platforms like Twitter because they have limits to the amount of characters you can use.
Additionally, those who are aware of SEO and how to achieve a higher engagement of their content will be knowledgeable that fewer character posts are usually engaged with more.
Resultedly, using fewer characters can help build an online presence and get your chosen message out there. This can be extremely useful for businesses as they can increase their potential customer base.
Helps To Find Something On Facebook
Using ISO on Facebook will automatically identify you as someone looking for something. This will set you up for those who can help, as it works as a preface for your overall request.
When you are using designated Facebook buying and selling groups, this can save time when writing your posts – which can be crucial if you are in a very competitive group.
In other words, by the time you complete your post, you may have lost a potential sale to another poster.
Additionally, using ISO as a search term on Facebook can help to more easily find items or a specific group. This saves you plenty of time as you will not need to wade through pages and pages of irrelevant groups.
Using ISO Effectively
As we mentioned previously, marketers will understand the benefits of creating compelling posts in a specific way.
Typically, posts that gather the most traffic and engagement are the ones that use fewer characters, explain their point and contain a photograph or picture to visually aid the supporting text.
When it comes to buying and selling groups on social media such as Facebook, you can use the analytics generated by Facebook to fully understand how effective your posts are.
The Bottom Line
ISO means “in search of” and is used on social media as a way to save time, words and potentially attract customers.
These days, everything is online. You can’t get your business anywhere without a great online presence. With search engines forever changing, it’s difficult to stay on top of it all! That’s where I’ll come in.
Hello, my name is Jack O’Neil and I have been in the marketing industry for almost 10 years. I focus on online marketing, SEO, advertising, and more.
