Top 50 Digital Marketing Metrics Part 5: Social Media Marketing Metrics
Continuing our comprehensive blog series on the top 50 digital marketing metrics with part 5: Social Media Marketing Metrics.
Read our recent blogs in the series explaining Website Traffic Metrics, Search Engine Optimization Metrics, Paid Advertising Metrics, and Email Marketing Metrics for a better understanding.
Social media has become an integral part of our daily lives, with billions of users across the globe spending countless hours scrolling through their feeds.
As a result, businesses are also turning to social media platforms to reach their target audience and drive sales in their digital marketing strategy.
According to a recent survey, 75% of marketers say social media marketing has increased web traffic, and almost 90% say it has improved business exposure.
However, simply having a presence on social media is not enough. To truly succeed in this space, businesses need to measure the effectiveness of their social media marketing efforts through various metrics.
Metrics such as likes, shares, and followers are important but do not provide a complete picture of a brand’s social media performance.
To truly understand the impact of social media marketing in overall digital marketing, businesses need to track metrics such as engagement rate, click-through rate, conversion rate, etc.
These metrics can help businesses understand the effectiveness of their social media campaigns, identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions.
In this blog, we will dive deeper into the various social media marketing metrics and their significance. We will discuss how businesses can measure their social media performance, interpret the data, and use it to drive growth. So, let us get started:
Part – 5: Social Media Metrics
First and foremost, it’s important to understand the difference between vanity metrics and actionable metrics in social media marketing.
Vanity metrics, such as likes or shares, may look impressive on the surface, but they don’t necessarily translate into actual business results.
Actionable metrics, on the other hand, directly impact your bottom line and help you make informed decisions about your advertising strategy.
Let’s see how:
Impressions measure the number of times a social media post or ad is displayed on a user screen. This metric is an indication of how many people have had the opportunity to see the content.
It is important to note that impressions do not necessarily mean that the content has been viewed or engaged with the users rather it was just being displayed on the user screen for a while.
For example, if a business posts a new product announcement on its Facebook page, and the post is displayed on 1,000 users’ screens, the number of impressions for that post would be 1,000.
Impressions are a valuable metric for businesses to measure the reach and exposure of their social media content. High impression counts indicate that the content is being seen by a large audience, which can lead to increased brand awareness and engagement.
However, it is important to remember that impressions alone do not provide a complete picture of the effectiveness of social media marketing campaigns. It is crucial to analyze other metrics, such as engagement rates and conversion rates, to gain insights into the effectiveness of the content.
To increase impressions, businesses can focus on creating engaging and shareable content that resonates with their target audience and also utilize paid advertising options on social media platforms to increase the exposure of their content to a wider audience.
Reach measures the number of unique users who have seen a post or ad. This metric is an indication of the total number of people who have been exposed to the content.
Reach can be calculated by counting the number of unique users who have seen a post or ad. Unlike impressions, reach measures the number of unique users who have viewed the content rather than the number of times it has been displayed on a user’s screen.
For example, if a business posts a new product announcement on its Instagram page and the post is viewed by 500 unique users, the reach of that point would be 500.
Reach is a valuable metric for businesses to measure the effectiveness of their social media content. A high reach indicates that the content is being seen by a large number of unique users, which can lead to increased brand awareness and engagement.
To increase reach, businesses can focus on creating content that is shareable and engaging to their target audience. They can also utilize paid advertising options (like reach campaigns) on social media platforms to increase the reach of their content to a wider audience.
The follower growth rate measures the rate at which a social media account’s follower count is growing over a specified time. This metric helps businesses understand the rate at which their social media following is increasing.
The follower growth rate is calculated by dividing the number of new followers gained during a specific time by the total number of followers at the beginning of the period and multiplying by 100.
For example, if a business has 5,000 followers at the beginning of a month and gains 500 new followers during that month, then the follower growth rate would be 10% [(500/5,000) * 100].
A high follower growth rate indicates that a business is effectively attracting new followers to its social media accounts.
However, it is important to also consider the quality of these new followers and their engagement levels with the content being posted.
Businesses can increase their follower growth rate by implementing strategies such as consistent posting of high-quality content, utilizing relevant hashtags, engaging with their followers, running social media contests or giveaways, and promoting social media accounts through other marketing channels.
The follower growth rate is a valuable metric for businesses to track and analyze as it provides insight into the effectiveness of their social media marketing efforts in building a strong and engaged social media following.
The engagement rate measures the level of interaction and engagement that social media content receives from its audience.
It is an important metric as it shows how well a business’s content is resonating with its target audience and can provide insight into the types of content that are most effective at driving engagement.
The total number of likes, comments, shares, and other forms of interactions on social media is counted as engagement. To calculate the engagement rate, the total number of engagements on a social media post is divided by the total number of followers for that social media account and then multiplied by 100.
For example, if a business’s Instagram post receives 1,000 likes, 100 comments, and 50 shares, and they have a total of 10,000 followers, the engagement rate would be calculated as follows:
[(1,000 + 100 + 50 interactions / 10,000 followers) x 100] = 11% engagement rate
A high engagement rate indicates that a business’s content is resonating well with its audience and can lead to increased brand awareness, brand loyalty, and sales.
A low engagement rate can be an indicator that the content being posted is not resonating with the target audience or that the content is not being seen by enough people.
Businesses can increase their engagement rate by posting high-quality, visually appealing content that is relevant and interesting to their target audience.
They can also encourage engagement by using calls to action in their posts, responding to comments and messages promptly, and utilizing features such as polls and question stickers to encourage interaction.
Engagement rate is an important metric for businesses to track and analyze as it provides valuable insight into the effectiveness of their social media content and can guide future content creation and strategy.
Social media referral traffic measures the amount of traffic that is directed to a business’s website or landing page from social media platforms.
It is an important metric as it can help businesses track the effectiveness of their social media campaigns and their ability to drive traffic to their website.
To track social media referral traffic, businesses can use web analytics tools such as Google Analytics. This tool allows businesses to see which social media platforms are driving the most traffic to their website, how long visitors are staying on their website, and what pages they are visiting.
By tracking social media referral traffic, businesses can optimize their social media campaigns to drive more traffic to their website and improve their conversion rates.
For example, a business may find that Instagram is driving a significant amount of traffic to its website compared to other social media platforms. They can then analyze their Instagram content to see what type of content is resonating well with their audience and driving the most traffic.
They can also use this information to target their social media advertising to the platforms that are driving the most traffic and to create content that is specifically designed to drive traffic to their website.
Conclusion
Social media marketing has become an essential part of any marketing strategy in today’s digital age. However, simply having a social media presence is not enough to guarantee success.
Measuring the effectiveness of social media marketing through various metrics is crucial to understanding the impact of these efforts and making data-driven decisions.
We discussed various social media marketing metrics in this blog and how these metrics provide insights into the effectiveness of social media campaigns and help businesses optimize their social media marketing efforts to achieve better results.
By tracking the right metrics, businesses can identify areas for improvement, optimize their social media marketing efforts, and ultimately drive growth and success.
So, if you haven’t already, it’s time to start measuring the effectiveness of your social media marketing efforts and use the insights to take your business to new heights!
Also, you can contact experts at ABK Digital for implementing successful social media marketing and drive targeted results for your digital marketing campaign.
Continue reading our last blog in the series: Customer Metrics – very important metrics to track the success of not only your digital marketing efforts but also overall business development.
