Measuring your performance is important to know what is working and whether you have achieved your goals with your social media efforts.

Social media is a two-way marketing channel, and it’s important that you foster positive interactions with your target audience and existing customers. To measure how your efforts are paying off, you need to set your brand goals and then select key performance indicators (KPIs) that align with them.

What are key performance indicators and how to track them

Key performance indicators (KPIs) can be seen as different slices of your whole brand goals performance pie. As you take bites of the pie, you can see how close you are to finishing it (reaching your company goals). 

You might call one slice “engagement”, another slice “conversions”, and so on. As you track this information over time, you get a clearer picture of how your strategy is performing. If needed, reach out to your social media marketing team and adjust goals or metrics.

For a start, the following key metrics can be helpful:

  • How happy or unhappy your customers are with your company (customer happiness). 
  • How long your customers continue to purchase your products or interact with your brand (customer retention). 
  • How quickly and completely you answer your customer questions or complaints (response time). 
  • The amount of interaction that customers are having with your brand’s posts and social media presence with likes, comments, and shares (engagement).

When you track social media metrics like the ones in this list, you can begin to paint a picture of how well your brand is performing on social media. It can help you pick the right social media KPIs.

As an example, consider brand awareness. When lots of people start commenting on your posts, liking your Reels or TikToks, and sharing your posts with their friends, you’ll start to see that your engagement is going up. Likewise, you can use clicks and conversions to understand whether your content is engaging enough to make customers want to buy your product. 

Why it’s important to monitor social media KPIs

Your team should monitor social media KPIs so they can figure out if the effort they're putting into the social media strategy is worth the time. Then, talk with your marketing peers and figure out if the ideas are working. Social media analytics tools like Brandwatch can help track your performance.

As you track social media KPIs, you can identify patterns and use this data to inform your social media team about the type of content they should create. If videos are resulting in tons of engagements, mentions, and share of voice, it’s a good idea to put more resources toward creating videos.   

The strategies you can use to set KPIs and metrics on social media

Let’s dive into the strategies you should use as you set the KPIs and metrics you’ll track for your social media channels.  

Set realistic goals for your social media KPIs

It’s so important that your goals are realistic and attainable. The SMART model is very helpful as you begin to identify social media KPIs – the goals should be specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-based. 

We recommend using your larger company or brand goals to help you identify social media KPIs. As an example, one of your brand goals is increasing brand awareness. For this goal, you should set a KPI that focuses on reach and impressions. A KPI around impressions could be something like, “Increase social media impressions by 20% over the next six months.” 

By setting SMART goals that align with your overall business goals, you can ensure that your social media efforts help your business become more successful.

Keep your company’s growth stage in mind

Maybe your company is a startup, in the mid-level stage, or an enterprise giant. The stage your company is at will influence the types of KPIs you should focus on.

For example, a small startup company is not likely to have a very good brand awareness or a lot of customer loyalty. Small companies should focus on getting more reach and making their customers happy. A large company should focus on retention and conversions.

How to select the essential KPIs to monitor

There are a LOT of KPIs that you can monitor. How can you know which ones to choose for your company? Focus on quality over quantity. At the end of this article, we’ll list out a ton of KPIs you might want to track. You should read through them all, then, with your brand goals in mind, select three or four. With a smaller number of KPIs, you can laser focus on those that will make a big impact on your social media strategy.  

Consistently return to your social media KPIs and make adjustments

As your brand grows, you’ll start to hit the business goals you first set. This is good news! But it does add a bit of extra work when it comes to your social media KPIs. Every month, review your KPIs to make sure they still align with your business goals and if you want to mark any KPIs as “reached.”

You might start to notice that your post reach is improving. Your marketing team also says you’re gaining followers every hour, and impressions are going up. Take this time to adjust your social media KPIs to track data for the next stage of your company’s growth.  

How you can measure reach on social media

Let’s talk about how you can measure reach on social media. Below, we’ll list some popular social media KPIs that you can learn more about. Then, choose one or two social media KPIs that you want to measure for your brand.

Track the number of new followers

Follower count is a key KPI that you should track. The more people that follow your brand, the more likely people will talk about you on social media. A month-over-month increase in followers can help you dial in which posts reach your target audience.

Monitor the number of impressions

An impression is a single view of your social media content. It does not include clicks or opens. As an example, let’s say that one of your TikTok videos got 1.2 million impressions. Great! But that doesn’t mean anyone actually liked it, shared it, made a purchase, or signed up for your newsletter. 

In this case, consider making different kinds of content or targeting a smaller audience. 

Consider the range of your post reach

Post reach is the number of people who saw your content for the first time. It does not take repeat views into account, so you can understand if the same person is viewing your account over and over, or if you’re reaching unique viewers. 

You can use a social media management tool like Brandwatch to understand your customer reach. These tools collect and analyze your social media marketing data, and you can use the result to improve your strategy.

Carefully monitor website traffic coming from social media

Traffic, or visits, to your website from social media demonstrates how well your social media campaigns are working. With social media management tools, you can measure how well your posts or ads get people interested in your brand (and then take action, like visiting your website).

Track your market presence and share of voice

The share of voice KPI is a way of seeing how big of a deal people think your company is within your specific industry. For example, Apple has a large share of voice in the cell phone industry. This KPI can help you understand how much your brand is talked about compared to others.  

Tools like Brandwatch can help you count the number of times your brand is mentioned on social media versus your competitors. 

Measure social media engagement using KPIs

Tracking social media KPIs on engagement helps you understand how people are interacting with your social media posts. This demonstrates the success of your social media marketing. The time of day and day of the week both impact how much engagement you get on your posts – we recommend using a social media scheduling tool to dial in and boost engagement. 

Total number of clicks

Keep an eye on how many customers are clicking on your links within a social media post, advertisement, or campaign. A high click rate means that your audience finds your content interesting or helpful, and you can use this information to improve your social media content strategy.

How many people like your content

Likes are a great indicator of how well your images and videos are being received by your customers. Keep an eye on the number of likes over time to see what your audience enjoys.  

Track count of shares

If you’ve used social media in the past few years, you know how important shares are in getting your content to show up in the algorithm. Shares tell social media accounts that your audience likes your content so much that they’re willing to share it with their friends. Posts with a high number of shares mean your target audience loves your content. 

Look at volume of comments

No press is bad press, a sentiment that counts for double on social media. Your social media followers can leave good or bad comments, which all count towards engagement. Social media listening tools can help you figure out if your comments are mostly positive or negative. 

Frequency of mentions

Getting tagged in a post and direct mentioned are two ways how people can talk about your brand online and directly link to your brand account. For example, a customer who just bought new Air Jordans can @mention Nike in their post.

Try to regularly review this KPI, as it can give you information about your social media users and who is talking about your brand. This is a good way to see which campaigns are the most successful.

Percentage of customer engagement

This is how many people are commenting, liking, and sharing your posts compared to the number of people who saw your post. A high engagement rate tells you that your content is working for your intended audience.  

KPIs for tracking conversions via social media

A conversion is an action a customer takes on your social media account. This could be making a purchase, signing up for emails, filling out a form, and more. If conversions are one of your business goals, track one or more of the following KPIs. 

Watch your customer click-through rate (CTR)

It’s good for people to click on your links, whether they’re in posts or ads. This KPI tells you that your content was interesting enough for people to want to know more about it. CTR can lead to conversions like making a purchase or filling out a form. 

How many leads end up as conversions

How do you track the clicks that lead to actual customer actions, like filling out a form or making a purchase? Enter the rate of lead conversion. This essential KPI measures this metric. The best social campaigns lead to customer conversions, so it’s critical to track the rate of lead conversion. 

Monitor website bounce rate

Are people clicking around your website, or are they leaving after the first page? Website bounce rate gives you that exact information. If you have a high bounce rate, make sure that your social media channels and your website give users the same experience (like branding, voice, products, and so on).

Track the cost per thousand impressions (CPM)

CPM tracks how much money your business spends to get 1,000 impressions on one ad. This KPI can tell you whether your social media campaigns are efficient. This is important since you’re likely paying for them. A lower CPM means more people see your social media ads for less money. This is useful for campaigns aiming to raise brand awareness.   

KPIs for assessing customer loyalty on social media

It's important to track customer loyalty social media KPIs. Loyal customers repeatedly buy from your brand over other brands in your market. Consider tracking one or more of these social media KPIs: 

Cost per lead acquisition

This KPI measures how much it costs you to acquire a new lead via social media. A sustainable social media marketing strategy will help you balance the cost of getting a new lead while maintaining the lead quality. Social media platforms that offer lower cost-per-lead metrics, like LinkedIn for B2B companies, can get you more bang for your buck.    

Time to resolve customer issues

Customer service can have a big impact on whether a customer buys from your brand or turns their back on you and goes to the competition. It’s important to track how fast your customer service is resolving customer issues. When you solve customer issues quickly and your resolution time is low, you can improve customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Customer lifetime value

Customer lifetime value is a metric that tracks how much money your brand can expect to make from a single customer over their lifetime. 

Sentiment of customer interactions

This KPI measures how customers talk about your brand on social media platforms. This can an important metric to measure if you keep in mind that the opinion of customers can have an influence on other potential customers.

KPIs for evaluating social commerce

Social commerce is the money that your customers spend on social media sales. To see exactly which social commerce KPIs to track, check out the following section. 

Track the revenue generated from social media sales

We recommend tracking the revenue that social media sales created. This information gives you a clear picture of how well your social media marketing efforts are paying off. Whether you're using Instagram Shopping, Facebook Marketplace, TikTok Shop, or something else, tracking this KPI is important to understand the benefit of your social media investments.  

For example, if your brand sells products through Instagram Shopping, you should track how much revenue comes from direct social sales. This data helps you determine which types of posts or promotions drive the most conversions.  

Keep an eye on the average value of orders

This metric helps you understand how social media consumers are spending their money. Tracking AOV lets you identify purchase trends, such as products that customers buy together. Then, you can improve your product lineup or adjust your social media strategy. As an example, you might notice an increased AOV when you have a bundle or limited deal.  

Track your Return on Investment (ROI)

ROI is one of the most important social media KPIs you can track. ROI measures how much revenue you gain from a social media campaign versus the money you put into it. Tracking your ROI gives you insights into how your social media efforts are paying off.

Methods for tracking social media KPIs

Now that you know which social media KPIs to track, here are a couple of ways to gather the data.

Using built-in analytics tools

Since you’re already using social media platforms like Instagram or Facebook, using their built-in analytics tools is the next logical step. These tools gather basic metrics on audience reach, engagement, and conversions. When you use these tools, it’s easier to track your posts’ performance without buying more software or spending money on tools.  

Leveraging Brandwatch for advanced tracking

Sophisticated social media management tools offer a more comprehensive view. You can use an advanced tool like Brandwatch to get deeper insights into your social performance. You can track metrics like sentiment, share of voice, and industry benchmarks. These data points give you even more insight into how your social media strategy is performing. Pick the best solution depending on your business needs.  

Utilizing social media KPIs to enhance business growth

How can you enhance business growth with social media? Look at your business with an umbrella view. Next, thoughtfully choose the social media KPIs that align with your brand's goals. When you analyze the right social media KPIs, you can refine your marketing strategies. This leads to optimized customer engagement so you can get the most out of your campaigns. 

Focus on the future with social media KPIs

Tracking social media metrics is important, so your social media strategy is aligned to your overall business goals. With the right social media KPIs, you can identify what works and areas for improvement. You can make more data-driven decisions, improve your social media presence and overall, grow your brand.

Social media KPIs FAQs

How do I measure engagement on social media platforms

To measure engagement, start tracking KPIs for engagement. The KPIs you want to track include likes and reactions, comments, shares, mentions and tags, and engagement rate. 

How can I track lead generation from social media?

It can be tricky to track lead generation, but there are special codes you can add to links that help you track leads. These are called urchin tracking module (UTM) parameters. You can use them to create social media links, sync with your social media reporting platforms, track when social media interactions lead to conversions, and sync your social media efforts with your CRM. 

Why is it important to monitor the click-through rate on social media?

CTR is one of the most important social media KPIs. It lets you measure how many customers are clicking on your content or taking action. A high CTR suggests that your audience finds your content relevant and engaging enough to click on links. Your links can lead to any brand content like blogs, your website, specific product pages, or other company collateral.  

Which KPIs are best for analyzing customer retention through social media?

The best way to analyze customer retention is to track KPIs that show how customers are staying engaged with your content. This looks like comments, likes, and shares of your brand posts. 

How do I calculate ROI for social media marketing?

It’s easy to calculate ROI for social media marketing. Use this simple formula: 

Track total revenue: Figure out how much income is coming from your social media campaigns. This income might come from product sales or lead conversions from social channels.  

Measure total costs: Get the sum of all your expenses, including your employees, tools, subscriptions, overhead, etc. 

This is a good formula to use:  

ROI = [(Revenue from social media - Costs of social media) / Costs of social media] x 100

How frequently should I review social media KPIs?

Generally, it’s best to review paid campaigns in real-time, such as daily or every week. However, the best cadence to review your social media KPIs depends on what your company does and what kind of campaigns you’re running. It’s good to review social media performance generally each month and do a deeper dive each quarter.