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12 Social Media KPIs You Should Keep an Eye On

Want to measure the success of your social media channels? Here are 12 key performance indicators (KPIs) you should track.

Yassine
Published on Aug 22, 2022

kpi, indicators, performance

As social media becomes an increasingly important part of our lives, it’s more important than ever to track the social media performance indicators that determine its success.

Success on social media can be difficult to measure if you don’t know what social media metrics to focus on.

The most important social media KPIs (key performance indicators) will vary from business to business and platform to platform, but there are some general metrics that all businesses should keep an eye on.

By monitoring these KPIs, you can ensure that your social media campaigns are on track and achieving their objectives.

What Are Social Media KPIs?

Whether running a social media campaign for your business or managing a team of social media marketers, tracking the right KPIs is crucial.

Social media KPIs are the metrics that help you measure the success of your social media campaigns and activities.

KPIs stand for Key Performance Indicators.

They are the metrics you use to track whether or not you are achieving your goals.

There are many different social media KPIs, but not all of them will be relevant to every business.

It’s important to choose the KPIs that are most important to your business, and that will help you measure the success of your social media campaigns.

12 Social Media KPIs You Should Be Tracking

Follower Count

Instead of focusing on the number of likes or retweets, focus on the number of new followers you’re gaining.

This is a good metric to track if you’re trying to increase your brand’s reach on social media.

Your number of followers is a good indicator of how successful your social media marketing campaign is.

There are many ways to get more followers, such as running ads or using hashtags.

However, you shouldn’t focus on getting followed for followers’ sake.

Make sure you also focus on the quality of your followers, not just quantity.

What are quality followers?

These people are interested in your brand and what you have to say.

They’re more likely to engage with your content and even become customers.

Impressions

Impressions are the number of times users see your content.

This is a good metric to track if you want to gauge the reach of your content.

If you’re trying to increase brand awareness or get more people to see your content, then impressions are a good KPI to focus on.

But remember, just because your content has a lot of impressions doesn’t necessarily mean the right people are seeing it and they noticed it.

Audience Growth Rate

You should also track your audience growth rate when tracking your follower count.

This metric will help you see how quickly your brand is growing on social media.

It’s a good metric to track if you’re trying to increase your reach on social media.

It shows that your brand is more organic than if you just had a high follower count with no growth.

To calculate your audience growth rate, take the number of new followers you gained in a month and divide it by the number of followers you had at the beginning of the month.

OR

Audience growth rate = (Number of new followers/Number of total followers) x 100

This will give you your monthly growth rate as a percentage.

If you want to track your audience growth rate over time, you can calculate it for each month and compare the results.

This will help you see if your growth is increasing, decreasing, or staying the same.

Social Share of Voice

If you’re trying to increase brand awareness, then a social share of voice is a good metric to track.

Social share of voice is the percentage of online mentions about your brand.

To calculate the social share of voice, use the following formula:

(Number of mentions for your brand/Total number of mentions for all brands) x 100 = Social share of voice

For example, if your brand was mentioned 100 times and your competitor’s brand was mentioned 200 times, then your social share of voice would be 50%.

If you want to track the social share of voice over time, you can calculate it for each month and compare the results.

This will help you see if your brand is becoming more or less visible online. And based on that, you can adjust your social media marketing strategy.

Potential Reach

Most businesses want to reach as many people as possible with their content.

That’s why potential reach is such an important metric to track.

Potential reach is the number of people who could see your content during a reporting period.

This metric differs from impressions because it includes not just the people who saw your content but also those who could have seen it.

Another way to look at it is that if one of your fans shared your post with their network, 2% to 5% of their followers would be included in the post’s potential reach.

The formula for potential reach is:

Total number of mentions x Followers of account that mentioned you = Potential reach

To calculate potential reach, you need to track the number of mentions and followers for each account that mentioned you.

You can do this manually or use a social media monitoring tool.

Likes

The number of likes your content receives is a good metric to track if you’re trying to increase engagement.

Likes are a way for people to show their approval of your content.

  • And the more likes you have, the higher your content will appear in people’s news feeds.

Applause Rate

Applause rate, an essential social media KPI is the percentage of people who engage with your content out of the total number of people who see it. This interaction includes saves, retweets, shares, comments, or like.

Applause rate is a good metric to track because it gives you an idea of how engaging your content is.

To calculate applause rate, use the following formula:

(Total number of engagements/Total number of impressions) x 100 = Applause rate

Comments

More than like, comments are a great way to start a conversation with your audience.

They’re also a good metric to track if you’re trying to increase engagement.

You can ask questions in your posts or run competitions or polls to encourage comments.

Here are some tips on how to increase engagement with your content:

  • Use images or videos: People are likelier to engage with posts that include images or videos.
  • Use emojis: Emojis can help make your content more relatable and approachable.
  • Use hashtags: Hashtags can help you reach a wider audience.
  • Use calls to action: Calls to action can encourage people to take the next step, whether commenting on your post or visiting your website.

Average Engagement Rate

  • The amount of interaction your post receives is known as engagement, measured in this category. On your social channel, your number of followers is divided by the total number of interactions that item received, including likes, comments, saves, and favorites.
  • To calculate the average engagement rate, use the following formula:
  • Total number of engagements/Total number of posts = Average engagement rate

Conversion Rate

This measures the number of leads or sales from your social media activity.

A conversion can be any action you want people to take, such as signing up for your newsletter, downloading a PDF, or making a purchase.

To calculate the conversion rate, use the following formula:

(Total number of conversions/Total number of impressions) x 100 = Conversion rate

Bounce Rate

Most deciding yet, this social media metric that can help you determine whether people are finding what they’re looking for on your site.

Bounce rate is the percentage of people who land on your site and then leave without further action.

A high bounce rate indicates that people are not finding what they’re looking for on your site.

To calculate bounce rate, use the following formula:

(Total number of bounces/Total number of impressions) x 100 = Bounce rate

Cost per Click (CPC)

How much are you paying for each click on your ad? CPC is the amount you pay every time someone clicks on your ad.

To calculate CPC, use the following formula:

(Total cost of campaign/Total number of clicks) x 100 = CPC

Click-through Rate (CTR)

Who clicked on the link in your social media post? Click-through rate (CTR) helps you track how often people click on links in your posts.

A high CTR indicates that people are interested in your sharing content.

To calculate CTR, use the following formula:

(Total number of clicks/Total number of impressions) x 100 = CTR

Final Thoughts

Living in a digital world, social media is one of the most powerful tools at your disposal. Understanding and tracking these social platforms’ KPIs give your business the best chance to succeed.

What other social media KPIs do you track? Share your thoughts in the comments below with a logical social media strategy.

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