From the number of followers to impressions and share of voice to conversions, there are so many social media metrics that help track engagement and social performance that it can get confusing.
While there are independent vendors offering social media measurement solutions, social media platforms also have dashboards that consolidate the information you need.
So, which solutions should you use? Which metrics should you track? How should you measure engagement?
The answers to these questions lie in the answer to one key question – What are your social media goals?
Once you set your social media goals, it becomes much easier to measure your social performance and determine if your social strategy is delivering results or not.
Some of the common goals businesses have include:
- Lead generation
- Brand awareness
- Increasing share of voice
So, based on what your objectives are, you can leverage the following metrics to measure your social media performance:
I. Engagement
Engagement is a blanket term that covers everything ranging from likes and comments to shares and post saves. It is a measure of how the audience is interacting with your social media accounts.
The higher the engagement rates, the better it is.
For starters, you can begin by tracking the number of likes and shares your posts are receiving. You can also do a further sentiment analysis by reviewing the comments to understand how your audience feels.
Measuring engagement is important because it gives you a sense of how your content is performing and what content should you focus on to expand your reach and spark conversations.
II. Reach and Following
Following, impressions, and reach are metrics you should definitely track, especially if your primary social media objective is to drive brand awareness and enhance brand perception.
While impressions and reach are for your specific posts, the account following gives you an idea of how many people are interested in what your company has to share.
When it comes to following, the rate at which you are obtaining followers is critical. If the rate slows down, you can increase your posting speed or post more of the content that is getting higher engagement.
Though if you’re losing followers, you may need to go back to the drawing board, review your recent activity, and revisit your overall strategy.Â
III. Quarterly Measurement
While it is good to measure how your social channels are performing at a point in time, to get a clearer picture, it is often recommended to look at performance over a period of time, preferably three months.
This gives your content more time to perform, you’re able to observe trends over time, and you’re able to track KPIs against your goals more effectively.
For instance, if your objective is to drive traffic to your website. You can track the URL shares, clicks, and conversions.
Similarily, if it is increasing the share of voice, you can do a competitive analysis and track the performance of your social media presences against those of your competitors’.
IV. The Bigger Picture
At the end of the day, social media is a component of your overall marketing strategy.
When evaluating your social media performance, it helps to review it alongside other components of your marketing and communications plan.
Also, look at how your organic vs. paid content is performing. This helps review the investments you’re making in marketing activities and analyze if they’re helping you meet your KPIs.
As there are dozens of social media metrics that are available to you, we at Pulsion Marketing, can help you ascertain which metrics are worth leveraging, how you can improve engagement, and build scalable campaigns.
Reach out to us today for a free consultation. Call 1-888-701-4441 or visit www.digiforcemarketing.ca.