Most people who read the phrase ‘social media engagement metrics’ won’t necessarily know exactly what that means.

The first thing that springs to mind for people are usually buzzwords such as comments, likes, and shares on Facebook posts, and that’s not incorrect, but they’re just the tip of the iceberg.

In 2019 we know how important it is for every business to embrace social media marketing, but it’s also critical to have a solid understanding of the social media metrics that matter specifically for your business. Over time, evaluating the data that comes from your content and your social media marketing strategy will not only become more straightforward and more streamlined, but it will also become more powerful and propel you to reaching new customers.

Are you starting to feel overwhelmed? Don’t worry! You don’t need to watch every single social media metric out there – in fact we don’t recommend it! Instead, start with your intent for the post and track the most important metrics as you choose.

This way, you’re sure to select the engagement metrics that will provide you with the most valuable information when your campaign ends.

Likes and shares may be great ways to track engagement on your social media channels and how effective your posts are, but don’t stop there! Dig a little deeper into your social media metrics, and you will find a gold mine of information and insight on your customers.

Let’s take a look at which social media engagement metrics matter most to your business.

Reach

You’ve probably heard the term ‘reach‘ mentioned on Facebook and Twitter, but what does it actually mean? Across the board, (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc.) reach is the number of accounts that have been exposed to your social media post.

Your post reach is the number of people whose eyeballs have seen your post; 150 accounts saw your post, so your reach is 150. Reach can be improved with an increased budget for paid social media ads and targeted posts.

Impressions

An impression is a metric that can happen at any time in a user’s social media feed, and an impression can be recorded without the viewer even seeing the post at all.

Impressions are challenging to improve given the little control you have over them.

Shares

It’s what you want the most: people to share your content! If users share your posts, you reach more of an audience than you had before.

Retweets are shares on Twitter, and if you want a better reach and a better share rate, the key is high-quality content.

People will only share things that they deem highly shareable: and that’s why your words matter. Shares on social can be seen as an endorsement from your fans. More shares will develop a sense of social proof, which leads to a good online reputation and will convey that your brand is trustworthy.

Likes

We like you! We really like you! When it comes to ‘likes,’ it all depends on the network. Facebook ‘likes’ and Instagram ‘hearts’ are essentially doing the same thing just with a different name.

They’re the quickest way for your audience to indicate that they approve what you post and what you say. Likes take little effort, and there isn’t much thought behind them.

However, pay attention to which pieces of content get the most reactions from your audience, and work with your team to develop similar content in order to get the shares and improve your reach.

Comments

Comments are one of the most important social media engagement metrics to measure because you can engage directly with your audience and bring them into conversation with you.

Try not to be too controversial, but share content that asks compelling questions that will lead to increased conversations and a higher number of comments per post.

 

If you’re ready to improve your company’s social media engagement, contact the team at Sprout Media Lab by calling (800) 617-6975 or visit us online to request a free quote. You need smart, effective and affordable marketing solutions, and your content rankings matter for your overall online reach. Reaching out to one of our Social Media Experts today could be the first step in your social media marketing strategy.