Regardless of whether your business has been on social media for years or you’re just starting out, it’s important to establish and monitor social media KPIs to make sure you’re getting a high return on your investment.

‘What is a KPI?’ you ask.

Key Performance Indicators are data points you measure to determine whether your actions are moving you towards your business goals.

Social Media KPIs: How Business Owners Can Track Social Media ROI

 

How KPIs Fit Into Your Business Goals

Imagine you’re taking a trip to Awesome Vacation Paradise. You map out your route and set out. During your trip, you pass several signs that let you know how far away you are from Awesome Vacation Paradise.

Applied to your business, this means that your goal is your destination. The actions you take to reach that goal is your mapped route. Your KPIs (the road signs) are what you track to know you’re getting closer to your goal.

So, what would you do if during your trip you noticed a sign that said you were farther away from Awesome Vacation Paradise than what you had been earlier? You’d probably change course, right?

Of course you would!

But, in order to know you were off track, you’d first have to pay attention to the signs.

The same holds true when it comes to your business.

 

Social Media KPIs

With all the data available within each social media platform, it can be tough to know exactly what you need to pay attention to. So, what KPIs should you be tracking to determine whether your social media strategy is supporting your overall business goals?

In plain English: How can you tell if your social media efforts are paying off?

 

4 Areas to Pay Attention to for Your Social Media KPIs

There are dozens of different metrics you can track, but, at the end of the day, you really only need to focus on the following four areas.

 

1. Reach

Are you getting the word out about your business and being seen your ideal audience?

 

Social Media KPIs that Measure Reach

• Followers or fans

• Impressions

• Web Traffic Sources

If you have a low reach, you might consider posting at different times, promoting your social media networks on other channels, or optimizing your profile.

2. Engagement

Does your audience find value in your content and does it resonate with them?

 

Social Media KPIs that Measure Engagement

• Likes

• Shares

• Comments

• Mentions

• Click Through Rate

If your engagement rate isn’t as high as you’d like, you might try targeting your posts to your particular audience, using a different posting format, or changing your posting frequency.

 

3. Leads

Are your followers showing interest in your product and services? Are they moving through the buyer’s journey; from the awareness stage to the consideration stage? This one’s a bit trickier to track, but it can be done.

 

Social Media KPIs that Measure Lead Generation

• Sign ups for gated content

• Email opt ins

• Direct messages

If you’re not generating the leads you had hoped from your social media networks, you might consider tweaking your calls-to-action, exploring if the social network is right for your business, or creating/redeveloping your customer avatar and tailoring content specifically to them.

4. Conversions

Are the leads generated from social media actually becoming customers? Like tracking leads from social media, this one’s a little trickier, but it’s definitely doable. You’ll need to have a solid system or process in place to keep track of your data.

How to Measure Conversions from Social Media

• Keep track of social followers who opted in for gated content.

• Follow those people throughout the buyer’s journey.

• Monitor whether they ultimately make a purchase.

• Divide the total number of leads generated from social media by the number of social media leads who made a purchase.

 

In Sum
Social media is a fantastic way to market your business. Not only is it great for building brand awareness and nurturing relationships with current and future customers, it also can drive traffic to your website and boost your bottom line! Start monitoring the social media KPIs we shared in this post to take full advantage of all these great opportunities and maximize your ROI!

 

Now it’s your turn. What are the biggest benefits you have gained from using social media to market your business?

How do you track your success? Let us know in the comment section.

 

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