You’re likely a small business owner (as you’re reading this) and as such, we often find ourselves overwhelmed with data of some kind, like accounts, reports, and statistics that are launched at us on the daily. The key to navigating this rather over stimulating data is to understand which social media metrics really matter for your business. Whether you're just starting out in social media or maybe you have a bit of experience under your belt, knowing the right metrics (aka Key Performance Indicators - KPI’s) can help you measure your success and help refine your strategies.
In this blog post, I will define frequently used metrics and give a brief example of how they are used.
Why Social Media Metrics Matter
We use social media metrics - because they’re quantifiable points (definition: able to be expressed or measured as a quantity) of data that can help you gauge the effectiveness of your social media strategy. They provide insights into how well your content is performing, how engaged your audience is, and hopefully illustrate your Return on Investment (ROI) into achieving your business goals. By focusing on the right metrics, small businesses can make full data-driven decisions, adjust strategies in real time, and ultimately drive growth.
Terminology that (Should) Matter:
Reach
Definition: Reach refers to the number of unique users who have seen your content. It's an essential metric for understanding the potential size of your audience.
Monitoring your reach helps you assess the “organic” visibility of your posts. If your reach is low, it likely indicates that your content isn't fulfilling or resonating with your audience or that you need to improve your posting times and frequency.
We could talk about reach all day, but I’d rather give you an example of it:
Let’s imagine you run a coffee shop and you post a photo of your brand-new espresso machine. A high reach means that many unique users have seen your photo, increasing the likelihood of new customers visiting your shop.
Impressions
Definition: Impressions indicate the total number of times your content was displayed, regardless of whether it was clicked on or not.
While reach measures the number of unique viewers, impressions indicate how often your content is being shown to them. High impressions with low engagement may suggest a need to refine your content strategy.
Going back to your coffee shop, let’s assume you’ve created a post about a special weekend discount, and this receives high impressions but low likes and shares. Consider tweaking your content to make it more engaging or appealing.
Engagement Rate
Definition: Engagement rate is the ratio of total engagement (likes, comments, shares) to total followers or reach (yes, some maths must be involved!)
Measuring all of your engagement helps determine how well your content is resonating with your audience. High engagement rates indicate that your followers find your content valuable and relevant.
If your coffee shop posts a behind-the-scenes video of the coffee brewing techniques you do and it receives a high engagement rate, it indicates that your audience enjoys this type of content, encouraging you to produce more similar posts.
Click-Through Rate (CTR)
Definition: CTR is the percentage of users who clicked on a link within your post compared to the total number of users who viewed the post.
Your CTR helps you assess the effectiveness of your calls-to-action (CTAs) and overall content appeal. A low CTR may signal that your CTA needs improvement or that your offer isn’t compelling enough. You may just need to tweak images or copy (wording).
If your post about an upcoming coffee-tasting event includes a link to register at and it has a low CTR, consider revising your CTA to make it more enticing or adjusting your messaging to better capture interest.
Conversion Rate
Definition: Conversion rate is the percentage of users who completed a desired action, such as signing up for a newsletter or making a purchase, after clicking on your social media post.
You must see your conversion rate as a critical metric for understanding how effectively your social media activities are driving business results. It shows whether your content is not only engaging but also motivates users to take action, which is the ultimate aim.
If your coffee shop runs a social media ad offering a 10% discount on the first purchase and sees a high conversion rate, it shows that your offer successfully attracted new customers, thus positively impacting sales.
Audience Growth Rate
Definition: Audience growth rate measures the rate at which your social media following increases over a specific timeframe.
If you can show and reflect a growing audience, it indicates you have an expanding brand awareness and reach. By tracking audience growth, it helps you assess the effectiveness of your content and campaigns in attracting new followers.
Imagine your coffee shop holds a contest encouraging users to follow your social media pages. Monitoring the audience growth rate will help you evaluate the contest's success in boosting your following.
Social Share of Voice (SSoV)
Definition: SSoV measures your brand’s social media mentions compared to competitors.
This particular metric is more a third-party tool but it's handy to know as a part of your competitor analysis going forward. Understanding your brand's share of voice helps gauge brand visibility and what your possible influence within your own industry is. It also provides data / insights into competitive positioning and brand perception.
If your coffee shop notices an increase in SSoV after launching a sustainability campaign, it implies that your efforts have successfully captured attention and set your brand apart from competitors.
Customer Sentiment
Definition: Customer sentiment evaluates the emotion or opinion of social media interactions, such as reviews, comments, and mentions.
This is also usually tracked within a third-party tool, so not generally available natively. What this does is help you better understand how your customers perceive your brand and identify areas for improvement. Positive sentiment can enhance brand reputation, while negative sentiment naturally will require prompt attention and rectifying.
If your coffee shop receives glowing comments about the ambience and service, it boosts your brand image. Alternatively, addressing critical feedback can help you improve customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Cost Per Click (CPC)
Definition: CPC indicates the cost you pay for each click in a paid social media campaign. (ads)
Monitoring your CPC helps you optimise your advertising spend and evaluate the efficiency of your campaigns. I would typically download the ads app on my phone for ease of access. If you’re paying a high CPC, it likely indicates the need to refine your targeting or ad creative (image).
For example, if your coffee shop runs a paid campaign promoting a seasonal drink and you see it reflects a high CPC, you might try adjusting your audience targeting or creative elements to increase the campaign's efficiency and lower costs.
This list is by no means exhaustive, I may add – I just wanted to go over the more typical metrics that I have come across. By understanding and monitoring these types of social media marketing metrics, you will get a more comprehensive and valuable understanding of the effectiveness of your overall social media strategy.
A lot of this data is available to you natively, just not always easily understood to the untrained eye. If you intend to use third party tools, which you might have to pay for, you will definitely get more data and insights from them; however, few business owners fully appreciate what data they have at their fingertips without spending the time to learn how its best used. I’m hoping this blog will encourage you the reader to be better informed of what these tools can do for you. All of these free / paid for tools will have a library of videos or a customer team who can help you better understand how to use them.
If I can be of any help as you navigate this, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Working with clients Nationwide from base in Mullingar.
