In the world of metrics, likes are easy to come by and not worth much in the long run. Likes and, to some extent, impressions, cost per thousand, page views, and even followers, are vanity metrics that look good on paper but don’t mean much to your business.
Unfortunately, many marketers and managers love vanity metrics.
However, most metrics are vanity metrics without a precise goal because you have no idea how you’re stacking up unless you have a goal in mind.
But as a social media professional, metrics are still your chance to demonstrate the value of your work.
So, which social media metrics matter?
Continue reading this article and find out top 15 social media metrics that matter in 2021.
All the social media metrics that matter in 2021
Awareness metrics
1. Brand mentions
2. Follower growth
3. Reach
4. Impressions
5. SSoV or Social Share of Voice
Engagement metrics
6. Total engagement
7. Engagement rate per post by followers
8. Engagement rate per post by reach
Conversion metrics
9. Conversion rate
10. CTR or Click-Through Rate
11. CPC or Cost per Conversion
12. CPM or Cost per Thousand Impressions
13. Bounce rate
Customer care metrics
14. Customer reviews/testimonials
15. Customer satisfaction
Awareness metrics
These social media metrics focus on your current and potential audience. Consider looking at these awareness metrics on your next report:
1. Brand mentions
This metric refers to the overall number of mentions of your brand online per a specific period.
2. Follower growth
Growing your followers is good.
However, what’s more important is who your followers are. If you sell roses and most of your followers don’t like flowers, having more followers isn’t helpful.
Depending on the network, you can learn about age, income, interests, social habits (such as time of day they are active), profession, and more.
Ask yourself: Does this audience match up with what I’m trying to accomplish? If not, it might be time to take a new look at your social media posts analytics.
3. Reach
This is one of the most common social media metrics out there.
Also, reach is an actionable metric since it’s directly influenced by timing (when is your audience most active?) and content (what does your audience find valuable in your post?).
It refers to the total number of unique users who have seen your post since it went live.
Track this metric with a social media analytics tool, like Socialinsider.
4. Impressions
Impressions refer to the number of times your content has been displayed, whether it was clicked or not.
This metric tells you that your content has been shown in someone’s feed.
A viewer doesn’t have to engage with the post for it to count as an impression. Also, one person could have multiple impressions for a single piece of content.
5. SSoV or Social Share of Voice
SSoV measures how many people mentioned your brand compared to your competitors.
There are two categories of SSoVs:
- Direct - by tagging your posts through posts (e.g. @Socialinsider).
- Indirect - simply mentioning your brand without a tag (e.g., “Socialinsider”).
Engagement metrics
This is a big umbrella category to track. Think about engagement metrics in terms of how many people are interacting with your content. Engaged consumers interact with a post through likes (or other reactions), comments, and shares.
A high engagement rate means people like what you’re posting.
Using an analytics tool like Socialinsider, you can keep track of your engagement reports for your business and understand how your brand performs on social media platforms.
6. Engagement rate
Total engagement represents the sum of interactions, shares, and comments for the posts published in a specific time period.
Engagement rate is calculated as total engagement divided by the total number of followers, all multiplied by 100.
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The engagement rate formula for Facebook
When it comes to Facebook, social media managers usually report engagement by followers since the engagement by reach is only available for the owned accounts.
The engagement rate by followers on Facebook is calculated as reactions+comments+shares divided by the total number of followers, all multiplied by 100.
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The engagement rate formula for Instagram
On Instagram, you’ll encounter the same situation with the engagement rate by followers as on Facebook.
The engagement rate by followers on Instagram is calculated as likes+comments divided by the total number of followers, all multiplied by 100.
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The engagement rate formula for Twitter
The engagement rate by followers on Twitter is calculated as likes+retweets divided by the total number of followers, all multiplied by 100.
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The engagement rate formula for LinkedIn
The engagement rate by followers on LinkedIn is calculated as likes+comments+shares divided by the total number of followers, all multiplied by 100.
7. Engagement rate per post by followers
It divides the average engagement by the number of followers the page has, all multiplied by 100.
8. Engagement rate per post by reach
It is calculated as the percentage of likes and comments divided by the total number of posts for a specific time, divided by reach, all multiplied by 100.
Continue reading 👉 Engagement Rate for All Social Media Platforms.
Conversion metrics
You define what a conversion is. At the middle of the funnel, it might be a request for information; at the end of the funnel, it’s probably a sale.
These metrics define how efficient your social engagement is. So you might want to ask yourself - How much of my social activity generated a conversion?
9. Conversion rate
It represents the total number of users who take a desired action after clicking on a link in your post.
The conversion actions can be defined as the ultimate action you’d like users to take on your site: downloads, registrations, subscriptions, installations, etc.
10. CTR or Click-Through Rate
CTR takes the number of clicks a post gets and divides it by the number of impressions.
A low CTR means you have a high number of impressions and a low number of clicks – and that your content isn’t resonating with the audience.
11. CPC or Cost per Conversion
When all is said and done, how much did it cost to get that conversion? Take all the costs of the social media campaign and divide it by the number of conversions you got.
If you spend $1,000 and get two conversions, your CPC is $500. If your profit is $300, you have some work to do.
12. CPM or Cost per Thousand Impressions
CPM is the amount you pay every time a thousand people scroll past your sponsored social media post.
13. Bounce rate
This metric measures the percentage of users who clicked on a link in your social media post, but quickly left the page without taking any action.
Customer care metrics
We talked about the performance of social media posts and overall social activity, but what about your customer’s experience with your brand?
This is where customer care KPIs come in.
These social media metrics cover the most crucial stage of the customer journey. They measure how your active users feel and think about your brand.
14. Customer reviews/testimonials
These include any positive or negative reviews, comments, assessments, or endorsements your brand received over a specific period.
This is a really important metric to track. If your customers are happy with your product, chances are they will share their positive experiences with others.
15. Customer satisfaction
As the name itself suggests, this metric tells you how satisfied customers are with a certain product or service.
Final thoughts
So, there you have it: social media metrics that matter.
As you’ve probably noticed from a quick scroll through this article, there are dozens of metrics that are available to you to track. I’ve compiled this list that includes the essential ones that matter to most brands.
All businesses are different, so some of these metrics may be more important to you than others.
Just be sure to have a clear goal and choose the right social media metrics to make sure you get there!
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