You've asked for it; now you have it. This article covers the most important metrics to track in social media.
Are there too many social media numbers for you to keep track of?
In a time when data is at the center of everything, it can be hard to figure out what information is most important.
Help is close by, which is good.
In this post, we'll show you the most important social data. You'll discover:
Why each indicator is important to a social media marketing goal,
How to use examples and data to track your progress
How to improve your performance
Are you all set?
Sweet! Let's go!
What are metrics for social media?
Social media analytics are the data you use to figure out how well your social media plan is working.
Have you ever gone to a meeting with your peers in marketing without being ready?
It's not easy. You can't back up your idea, project, or campaign because you don't have the facts to do so.
So, social media data are the building blocks for a strategy that works.
They let you keep track of everything from the number of sales to the cost-per-click.
Why are metrics for social media so important?
So, we know that social media data are the building blocks of a successful campaign. But how do we use these tools to make a masterpiece?
Well, with the right info, you can keep making changes to your marketing efforts to hit your goals.
But, just like a masterpiece, using only one source of motivation may not work, so it's best to choose a mix of social measures instead.
Do you want more people to know about your brand? Check the spread, the number of views, and the social share of voice (SSoV).
ROI (return on investment) might be your main goal. Check the cost per click (CPC) and the click-through rate (CTR).
In the end, the measures you choose will rely on the goals you have for your social media marketing.
10 Important Social Media Marketing Metrics to Help You Reach Your Goals in 2023
Our list of important measures will help you show whether or not your social media plan is working.
After all, what good are your efforts if you can't tell how well they work?
1. Rate of growth of followers
Follower growth rate, also known as "the vanity metric," is an important company recognition statistic that comes first on our list.
It tells you what percentage your number of fans has gone up (or down) since your last count.
You can look at how many people are following you. But you know the rate of growth if you look at it as a percentage.
For example, if brand A has 1,000 followers and gets 100 new fans every week, the percentage gain is 10%.
If brand B already has 100,000 fans and gets the same 100, that's only a 0.1% increase.
If the rate of your growth isn't going up by the same amount each time, you know you need to change your social approach.
Social Pilot also found that the average rate of growth for business accounts is 1.46 percent per month.
So, how fast are you growing? Are you lagging?
TIP
One way to improve this measure is to make sure your social media sites are as good as they can be.
Shelley’s Social Media does a great job of explaining how to make your Facebook Page can be the best it can be.
Even though they talk mainly about Facebook, you can use what you learn on your other social media accounts.
2. Social Reach
Social impact is the number of new people who see your post.
So if the same person looks at your post twice, three times, or even ten times, it only counts as one view.
It's an important recognition metric that you should include in your awesome social media plan.
Check out Facebook Insights if Facebook is part of your social plan. They show, among other things, how many people saw your free and paid ads, as shown below:
If you want to dig deeper, click "Reach" on the left and see which posts your audience likes the most.
Influencer Marketing Hub found that the average spread on the biggest social media sites is:
Instagram = 20%
LinkedIn = 13%
Facebook = 5.2%
Twitter = 3.61%
So, check your social media spread with an analysis tool and see where you can improve.
Tip
As was said above, you can use social reach to find out which posts your audience likes the most. So make a list and focus on this type of material even more.
But if you want your results to go through the roof, use social media stars in your field.
Influencers have built up a good reputation in your field and already have a group of people who might be interested in your product or service.
Still, it's important to choose the right kind of leader.
3. Number of Impressions
The amount of times your work has been seen on social media is called its "impressions." In contrast to social influence, a single person can count as more than one view.
It not only measures how well known your brand is, but it can also tell you about your free and paid social traffic.
Use a tool like Twitter Analytics to figure out how people feel about you. To view your Twitter analytics go to analytics.twitter.com
From the screen, you can see both the total number of views and the number for each tweet. Just download the platform and click "view tweet activity" on your post.
But how can you tell if you're heading in the right direction?
Tweet Binder says that 15–20% of your follows is an easy goal to shoot for.
So, how many do you have? Do you need to improve the way you use social media?
Tip
Your total number of impressions will go up if you reach more people, but the real wins come when you improve your social plan.
Oktopost has made a helpful movie to help you get more social media sales and get more views on your posts.
4. Share of Voice on Social Media (SSoV)
Social share of voice (SSoV) is the last awareness measure that will help your business move up a level. It means how many people talk about your brand compared to how many talk about your rivals' brands.
SSoV % = (Brand Mentions / Total Mentions) x 100
You can use the above math to figure out your SSoV, but Sprout Social's social tracking tools are easier to use.
SSoV is an important part of your social media marketing plan, whether you chose to do it manually or automatically. After all, it shows how well known you are on social media.
For example, if your brand sells wicker baskets, you should see yourself talking about wicker baskets, basket making, and baskets in general.
So, the higher your SSoV, the more people in your industry talk about you.
Tip
Being involved on social media is the easiest (and most effective) way to get your SSoV going.
Find out when your goal crowd is online and post at those times. This will help people find you and show them that you have a busy group that is worth their time.
If you're always busy, like I am, you can plan your posts with a social media calendar tool.
5. Engagement Rate
The engagement rate is the number of likes, comments, shares, etc., that your posts get.
It should be at the center of all social media plans, because improving this metric will have a good effect on every other metric on this list.
How do you keep track of it?
If you go back to Social Reach and Number of Impressions, you'll see that Facebook Insights and Twitter Analytics show your participation rate.
(Source: Smartblogger)
In addition, TikTok Analytics has a useful tool.
(source: Hootsuite)
Use the data from the above TikTok example and plug it into the equation. Let's say we can reach 500 people.
So, our interaction rate equals:
(1,137 likes + 36 comments + 48 shares) / 500 = 2.44%
TikTok has the most interaction, with an average rate of 5.96%, out of all the social media sites.
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, on the other hand, all have less than 1%.
So, how do you make this all-important social media measure better?
See our suggestion below.
Tip
To improve your engagement rate, provide material that adds value to your target group.
Look at your feed and pay attention to what your customers want.
Also, just be yourself.
Leave your company form behind and become your regular user. Start discussions, show people who your business is, and get to know your people.
6.Response Rate
If we're talking about communication, having a high reaction rate is important for customer service and sales. When you add a quick response time to that, you have a winner.
answer rate is the number of people who asked for an answer and got a reply from you.
Customers expect you to answer their questions when you use social media. They also want you to do it quickly.
In fact, Social Sprout found that 76% of buyers expect an answer within 24 hours, and 13% expect it within an hour.
Also, have you ever thought how to get that cool Facebook badge that says "Very responsive to messages"?
Well, you need a 90% success rate and less than 15 minutes.
So, how fast are you? What is stopping you?
Tip
If you get a lot of texts every day, it can be hard. You might need a separate route for customer service and a manager of the group to run it.
But if you can't do that, use chatbots to handle some of your frequently asked questions (FAQs) to save time and money.
7. Referrals
You can find out where a user came from before they went to your website or home page by keeping an eye on your social media connections.
By focusing on your high-referral outlets, you can increase sales and improve your social media return on investment (ROI).
How do you find them, though?
Google Analytics is the right answer.
Read more about Google Analytics and How to use them in our Article about Digital Analytics 2023
Tip:
Go deeper.
Check each page with your facts and ask yourself:
What social outlet gets the most people to visit?
What kind of material is doing better than the others?
How long do people stay interested in your content?
Find out what works and do more of that.
8. Conversion Rate
So, you know where your social media traffic comes from, but what happens when someone clicks on your Facebook ad and ends up on your page?
Well, they either sign up or they leave.
What is a change, though?
In this case, it's a sale, but it could also be a download, a ticket, or an interest form for an event.
Google Analytics can do something else, too. With just one click on the "Conversion" tab, you can see how much money you made through each social media.
But how do you figure out the rate of exchange?
Sorry, but you'll have to do some math again. Here's how it works
Conversion Rate % = (No. of conversions / No. Of clicks) x 100
For example, if Google Analytics shows that you have 100 sales and 10,000 hits, your conversion rate is 1%.
The usual conversion rate on social media is between 0.8% and 4.5%, but many companies want to do better.
So, if you're not meeting your goals, take a look at the tip below.
Tip:
Optimize your landing page...
It gets better.
The best way to boost your conversion rate and get ahead of the competition is to work on your landing page. It makes the most of your page and gets every last turn out of it.
9. Click Through Rate (CTR)
CTR stands for "click-through rate."
Click-through rate (CTR) is another social media conversion measure you should use. You don't look at the end of the sales process. Instead, you look at the click.
CTR%=(No. Of clicks on your link / NO. of impressions) x 100
You can use the above calculation or Google Analytics to find out what your CTR% is.
No matter what analysis tool you use, you need a rough estimate to know where to focus your efforts.
You can find the average CTR% for paid ads on each social site with a quick Google search.
But what if you don't pay for ads? Well, now it gets hard.
If you have a profile on YouTube, you could also use their statistics tool. It has a lot of different social media numbers, but you need to go to the reach tab to find your CTR.
Average CTR for Social Media Posts:
YouTube = 4.5%
Facebook = 3-4%
LinkedIn = 2-3$
Twitter = 0.01%
This information shows the average CTR for some of the most popular social media sites. As you can see, YouTube and Facebook are way ahead, but Twitter is surprisingly far behind.
If your CTR is low, it means that your content isn't very good. It doesn't make sense to your target group and doesn't offer any value.
Tip
So, providing value is the obvious way to increase your CTR, as we saw with our engagement measure.
Get the post's title right.
Choose a title that focuses on what the reader will get out of it.
We have a headline grader tool on our website that you can use. It is primarily for blog titles, but works very well for post headlines as well. Go to our webpage to see your subject line grader.
10. CPC stands for "cost per click" and "cost per conversion."
CPC can be used to mean either "cost per click" or "cost per conversion."
Cost-per-click is how much you spend on ads. It's the amount you pay each time someone clicks on a paid social media post, whether or not they buy something.
But the cost-per-conversion is what we are focused on.
Why?
Because it is easier and covers all the costs of social media.
Cost per Conversion = (Total Spend / Conversions)
If your social media effort costs $10,000 and brings in 100 new customers, it cost you $100 per new customer. If you only make $80 from each of them, you have a problem.
What can you do then?
To raise your CPC, you can either spend less on ads or get more people to buy from you.
Tip
You can also try A/B testing in addition to using all of the quick tips in this post.
They let you change one part of your post or ad without changing the rest.
Are the pictures you post on Instagram having the effect you want them to? If not, try an Instagram movie or short video.
Which gets more attention from your Twitter followers: a statement or a question?
How long should your Facebook posts be?
You see what I mean.
If you hit the sweet spot, not only will your CPC go up, but so will every other measure in this post.
Which Social Media Metrics Will You Use For Your Strategy?
So, is it worth it to spend time on social media?
Take a couple of the social media measures on our list and use them in your social plan. Look at your results and see where you are doing well and where you need to improve.
Use some of our tips if you want to step it up a notch.
You may have noticed that most of our suggestions improve each measure, which is a win-win.
So, why are you still sitting around?
How long should your Facebook posts be?
You see what I mean.
If you hit the sweet spot, not only will your CPC go up, but so will every other measure in this post.
Have we covered the Important Metrics to Track in Social Media to? We appreciate your feedback! Let us know what you think!