Social media metrics are the lifeblood of any successful digital strategy. They’re the numbers that tell you whether your posts are hitting the mark, your audience is engaged, and your campaigns are driving results. But with countless metrics, it can be overwhelming to know where to start.

That’s why we’ve compiled a list of the top 13 social media metrics you need to track. Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just getting started, this guide will help you unlock the insights you need to optimize your performance and achieve your goals.

Why tracking Social Media Metrics is Important?

Social media success relies on understanding your audience and the effectiveness of your content. This is where social media metrics come into play. These metrics, essentially numerical measurements, provide valuable insights into how your social media strategy and efforts are performing.

Social media metrics are data points that tell a story. They help you understand what content resonates most with your audience, how many people have viewed, liked, shared, and commented on your content, and how well your social media strategy aligns with your overall goals.

Fun Fact: 94% of business owners agree that social data and insights positively impact building their brand reputation and loyalty online.

Here’s why tracking social media metrics is more important than ever:

Evolving Algorithms

Social media platforms constantly update their algorithms, influencing what users see. By tracking metrics like engagement and reach, you can adapt your content strategy to keep pace with these changes and ensure your content reaches the right audience.

Shifting User Behaviors

User preferences and online habits are constantly evolving. Almost 91% of business owners say that social data and metrics help them understand their customers’ behavior more accurately.

So, tracking metrics like video views and click-through rates (CTR) helps you understand what content formats and topics capture your audience’s attention and when they’re most active online. This allows you to tailor your content accordingly.

New Platform Features

Social media platforms are constantly rolling out new features. Tracking relevant metrics associated with these features (like Instagram Reels views or Twitter Spaces listeners) helps you determine if these features effectively connect with your audience and achieve your goals.

Understanding the meaning behind your social media metrics allows you to gain valuable insights that empower you to:

• Identify areas for improvement: Metrics pinpoint what’s working and what’s not, allowing you to refine your content strategy for better results.
• Measure ROI (Return on Investment): Tracking metrics associated with conversions (sales, leads) helps you demonstrate the value your social media efforts or spent money bring to your business
• Gain a deeper understanding of your audience: Metrics reveal valuable insights into your audience demographics and their online behavior. This knowledge empowers you to tailor content that resonates with them.
• Optimize your social media strategy for success: By analyzing and tracking metrics, you can make data-driven decisions to improve your overall social media performance and achieve your goals.

Here is a list of the top 13 social media metrics you must track:

A. Social Media Engagement Metrics

Engagement metrics are the most important ones for your social media presence. They tell you how effectively your content resonates with your audience and sparks interaction. Here are the top engagement metrics you must be tracking in 2024:

1. Engagement Rate

This metric provides a more comprehensive picture of how well your content performs. The engagement rate is valuable because it shows the percentage of people who saw your content and took action.

There are a few ways to calculate the engagement rate, but a common formula is:

Engagement Rate = (Total Engagements / Total number of Followers) x 100

• Total Engagements: The sum of all interactions with your post (likes, shares, comments, clicks, etc.)
• Total followers: The total number of Followers you have at that time.

A higher engagement rate signifies that your content resonates with your audience and encourages active participation.

2. Virality Rate

The virality rate measures how quickly and widely your content spreads across the platform. It indicates the potential for your content to go viral.

To calculate the virality rate, divide a post’s number of shares by its impressions. Then, multiply by 100 to get the virality rate as a percentage.

Virality Rate = (Total Shares / Total number of Impressions) x 100

• Total Shares: The number of times users have shared your content.
• Total Impressions: The number of times your content appears on users’ screens.

A high virality rate suggests your content is highly shareable and has the potential to reach a wider audience organically.

3. Amplification rate

The amplification rate measures the effectiveness of your content in generating shares and mentions per post relative to the number of overall followers on other platforms. It indicates how well your content encourages users to take further actions and is spreading beyond your social channels.

Amplification Rate = (Total Post Shares / Total number of Followers) x 100

Total Shares: The number of shares your single post gets.

Total Followers: The total number of you have.

A higher amplification rate suggests that your content effectively drives users to take desired actions, such as sharing it, visiting your website, or purchasing.

B. Social Media Awareness Metrics

Here are the top social media awareness metrics you must track:

4. Reach

Reach represents the unique individuals who saw your content at least once within a specific timeframe. It measures your content’s potential exposure to your target audience.

Reach helps you understand how far your content spreads and reaches new people. However, it’s crucial to remember that reach can be influenced by factors like algorithm changes and platform limitations. Hence, focus on creating content that reaches a broad audience and encourages interaction.

Facebook page reach benchmarks (30 days):

• Education: 273K
• Financial services: 164K
• Government: 497K
• Healthcare/Wellness: 170K
• Travel/hospitality/leisure: 366K

5. Impressions

This metric measures the total number of times your content appears on users’ screens, regardless of whether they interact with it or not. Impressions can be higher than reach because a single user might see your post multiple times.

Impressions give you a broader picture of your content’s visibility. They help you understand the overall exposure your content receives. However, it’s important to consider that multiple impressions from the same user don’t necessarily equate to increased engagement. Factors like platform algorithms, paid advertising, and content promotion can influence impressions.

Facebook page impressions benchmarks (30 days):

• Education: 374K
• Financial services: 223K
• Government: 646K
• Healthcare/Wellness: 223K
• Travel/hospitality/leisure: 485K

6. Video Views

Video views measure the number of times your video content has been watched on social media. Different platforms have varying definitions of a “view,” with some counting a view after a few seconds of watch time while others require a longer duration.

Video views are crucial for understanding the popularity and engagement of your video content. It’s a valuable metric for measuring audience interest and the effectiveness of your video strategy.

7. Follower/Audience Growth Rate

This metric shows the number of new followers you gain within a specific period. While follower growth is essential, remember–quality over quantity. Focus on attracting engaged followers who resonate with your brand.

There’s no specific formula for follower growth, but you can calculate the growth rate. Subtract the number of followers you had at the beginning of a period (e.g., month) from the current number. Then, divide this difference by the starting follower count and multiply by 100 to express it as a percentage.

For example, if you started a month with 1,000 followers and ended with 1,100 followers, your follower growth rate would be: [(1,100 followers – 1,000 followers) / 1,000 followers] x 100 = 10% growth rate.

The follower/audience growth rate helps you assess the success of your audience acquisition efforts. It’s essential for tracking your overall social media growth and identifying trends over time.

Monitoring this audience growth rate allows you to assess the effectiveness of your social media strategies in attracting new followers. This empowers you to refine your approach and implement tactics that resonate with your target audience, leading to sustainable audience growth.

C. Social Media Marketing Metrics

Here are the top social media marketing metrics to track:

8. Click-Through Rate (CTR)

CTR shows how often users click a link in your post or content to see the additional linked content. This metric measures the effectiveness of your content in driving traffic to your website or online store.

It represents the percentage of people who clicked on a link or ad compared to the total number of people who saw it. It’s calculated as:

A high CTR indicates that your content is engaging and successful in directing users to your desired destination.

9. Cost per Thousand Impressions (CPM)

(CPM) measures the cost of displaying your ad 1,000 times on a social media platform. It is more about views than actions. It helps you compare the cost-effectiveness of different ad placements and campaigns.

A lower CPM generally indicates a more cost-effective ad campaign.

10. Cost-per-click (CPC)

Cost per Click (CPC) measures the amount you pay for each click on your social media ad. It helps you evaluate the efficiency of your ad campaigns in driving traffic to your website or desired landing page.

The CPV for the social media platform where you’re running your ad can also be found in the analytics. A lower CPC means paying less for each click, indicating a more efficient ad campaign.

11. Conversion Rate

Conversion rate is one of the most important social media metrics. It measures the percentage of people who take a desired action after seeing your social media ad or post. This action could be a purchase, sign-up, lead generation, subscription, or predefined goal.

A higher conversion rate indicates that your ad or post effectively drives desired actions or attracts new customers. By tracking these social media marketing metrics, you can gain valuable insights into the performance of your campaigns, optimize your ad spend, and measure the return on investment (ROI) of your social media marketing efforts.

Remember, integrating your social media efforts with your CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system can provide even deeper insights into the customer journey. This lets you track how social media interactions translate into leads and sales.

D. Other Key Social Media Metrics

Here are the other key social media metrics to track:

12. Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) Score

Customer satisfaction (CSAT) score measures customers’ happiness with your products or services. While primarily used in customer service, it’s also relevant for social media as it reflects how well you address customer concerns and queries on these platforms and the overall customer experience.

How to measure CSAT:

• Directly ask customers: Use surveys or polls on social media to ask customers about their satisfaction level. For easy responses, use a rating scale (e.g., 1–5 or smiley faces).
• Analyze sentiment: Monitor social media conversations to gauge customer sentiment. Positive comments, replies, and reviews contribute to a higher CSAT score.

It’s calculated as a percentage of satisfied customers.

For example, if you received 100 responses and 80 customers expressed satisfaction, your CSAT score would be 80%.

13. Social Share of Voice (SSOV)

Social share of voice (SSOV) measures your brand’s visibility and the number of people talking about it on social media compared to your competitors within your industry. It helps assess your brand’s influence and dominance in the online conversation.

Brand mentions can be like this:

• Direct (tagged—e.g., “@SocialBuHootsuite”)
• Indirect (untagged—e.g., “SocialBu”)

How to measure SSOV:

Track brand mentions: Monitor social media platforms for mentions of your brand and competitors.

Calculate SOV: Divide the number of brand mentions by the total number of mentions for your industry.

For example, if your brand received 500 mentions and the total industry mentions were 5,000, your SOV would be 10%.

Note: Calculating accurate SOV can be complex, especially for large industries. Social listening tools can help streamline this process.

Social Share of Voice (SOV) measures your brand’s visibility compared to your competitors on social media. It indicates how much conversation you’re driving within your industry or niche.

Tools for Tracking Social Media Metrics

Feeling overwhelmed by the sheer amount of social media data you need to track? Don’t worry; there are numerous tools available to help you measure your social media marketing performance and make sense of all those social media metrics.

Here’s a breakdown of some popular options:

1. Built-in Analytics Platforms

Most major social media platforms offer built-in analytics dashboards. These tools are free to use and provide valuable insights into key metrics like reach, engagement, and audience demographics directly within the platform.

Some of the native analytics tools are:

• Twitter Analytics
• Meta Business Suite (Facebook and Instagram)
• TikTok Analytics
• LinkedIn Analytics
• Pinterest Analytics

2. Social Media Management Tools

Many social media management tools offer comprehensive analytics features that go beyond what native platforms provide. These tools allow you to track metrics across multiple social media platforms in one central location, simplifying data analysis and offering deeper insights.

SocialBu is also an all-in-one social media management tool that allows you to track all your social media metrics from Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Pinterest, and LinkedIn all in one place and easily create custom reports.

With its help, you can analyze your content strategy and various social media metrics and get comprehensive content performance reports in easy-to-understand charts and graphs to make better decisions.

So, track your social media performance and growth trends to get more out of your marketing strategies with SocialBu. Schedule and publish your posts and Reels ahead of time, and analyze the results on the same single dashboard.

Sign up for a free 7-day trial today!

FAQs

What are Social Media Metrics?

Social media metrics are data points that measure the performance of your social media efforts. They help you understand your audience, track engagement, and measure the impact of your campaigns.

What are the Best Social Media Performance Metrics?

The best social media performance metrics vary depending on your goals. Key metrics include:

• Engagement rate,
• Reach,
• Impressions,
• Click-through rate,
• Conversion rate,
• and audience growth.

What are Social Media KPIs?

Social media KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are specific, measurable targets aligned with your business objectives. They help you track progress and make data-driven decisions.

What is the 80/20 rule in Social Media Marketing?

The 80/20 rule suggests that 80% of your social media content should be informative and engaging and provide value to your audience, while 20% can be promotional. This balance helps build trust and relationships with your audience and drives conversions.

How is Social Media Measured?

Social media is measured through various metrics, such as engagement, reach, impressions, click-through rates, conversions, and audience growth. Social media analytics tools provide detailed data for analysis.

What is a Social Media Matrix?

A social media matrix is a visual representation of different social media platforms, their key features, target audiences, content formats, posting frequency, and key performance indicators in table form. It helps you compare and select the most suitable platforms for your business and marketing goals.