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ITS SM-CDT study materials
ITS SM-CDT study resources

ITS SM-CDT: Analytics, Ethics, and Digital Citizenship

ITS SM-CDT · Work through your exam, one topic at a time.

All guide sections

Analytics, Ethics, and Digital Citizenship

What the exam tests

Analytics, Ethics, and Digital Citizenship covers measurement that maps to goals, plus lawful and responsible practice: disclosure, copyright, privacy, and accessibility.

Core rules

  • Metrics: impressions are displays; reach is unique viewers; engagement rate = (likes + comments + saves + shares) / reach x 100, and you must state the denominator. CTR = clicks / impressions. Conversion rate = conversions / clicks.
  • Goal alignment: awareness uses reach and video views; consideration uses saves, shares, and profile visits; conversion uses CTR, leads, and sales. Follower count alone is a vanity metric.
  • Testing: change one variable at a time (hook, thumbnail, call to action), run long enough to clear normal variation, and record the hypothesis.
  • Disclosure: paid partnerships need clear labels such as #ad or "Paid partnership" placed where they are seen before the "more" cut, consistent with advertising and endorsement rules.
  • Copyright: assume music, images, and video are protected; use licensed or Creative Commons assets and follow attribution terms. Fair use is a narrow legal defense, not blanket permission.
  • Privacy: collect the minimum data, obtain consent where required, honor deletion requests, and avoid targeting children under platform and child-privacy rules.

Worked example

Post A: 40,000 impressions, 30,000 reach, 900 likes, 60 comments, 40 saves, 100 shares. Engagement = 1,100 / 30,000 x 100 = 3.7%. Post B: 60,000 impressions, 20,000 reach, and the same 1,100 interactions = 5.5%. B engaged a smaller audience more deeply, so it wins on engagement rate despite fewer impressions; but if the KPI is awareness, compare reach instead. The denominator changes the conclusion, which is exactly what exam items test.

Traps that cost marks

  • Reporting impressions as reach.
  • Comparing engagement rates computed on different denominators.
  • Using popular music in brand video without a license.
  • Burying #ad at the end of a long caption.
  • Treating fair use as automatic permission.