Stop wasting your time monitoring useless Social Media metrics
Companies need KPIs and figures to estimate their teams' performance. Consequently, numerous marketing departments end up monitoring metrics that have no reason to be monitored or even boosted. Let's review what really matters for your business.
More and more, traditional companies find a need for opening digital marketing departments in order to increase their online presence and follow trends. Unfortunately, since digital isn't their inherited strength, they tend to impose traditional rules & management style to new digital strategies in order to justify their creation. The result is often unrealistic KPIs that do not serve the company's ultimate goal.
What is your company goal?
Before discussing any details about the right Social Media metrics, let's take a step back and analyze WHY you should be tracking specific metrics. What is your company goal?
If the answer is "make money", the next question shall be "How to achieve that?". Finding new customers & retaining existing ones seems to be a pretty good start. Then once again, "HOW"? Or more specifically, how can your digital department help you achieve these goals?
Traditional metrics
The most common metrics for measuring your digital team's performance is the number of followers.
Your manager or boss would walk to your desk, ask "how many followers do we have now?" and then arbitrarily decide "that's too little, I want you to double it before next month", then return to his office, satisfied to have "managed" digital operations. Does it sounds like something you've experienced? No worries, you're not alone!
Why it makes no sense to evaluate your digital pole efficiency with followers
It isn't difficult to get new followers. It is actually the easiest aspect of digital marketing: throw some money in and see your page numbers rise.
But let's return to the original question: what you must achieve. If you are to find new customers on one hand and retain the existing ones on the other hand, you won't achieve it by throwing poor quality followers on your page.
A more suitable metrics would be engagement - how many people have liked, shared or commented on your posts? Let's go even one step further: how many people have clicked a link you posted? And why not even go through the entire cycle? How many people have seen, liked, clicked, taken an action and become customer?
Here you go! You've discovered your Digital Marketing Funnel, equivalent to the traditional "Sales Funnel". Now, you can see that while it is important to fill the funnel with new visitors, the essential goal is to push as many people as possible down the different levels.
For this, you will need good engagement and reach levels. The problem is: these metrics are often damaged by the growth of followers. Let me explain.
Facebook algorithm works as follow: each time you post something, your content appears on 1-3% of your followers' wall. If they engage with it (comment / like / share), Facebook will show it to more people. Otherwise, the reach will decrease for next time. If you dilute your followers pool with people who don't really care about your brand, you reduce your engagement, then your reach, and ultimately your ability to talk to your REAL fans.
Focusing on adding followers constantly becomes a vicious cycle you can't extract yourself from. With less followers you have a better experimentation pool of people you can walk down your funnel.
In the end, which metrics should I consider?
Take a closer look at the Social Media funnel: only half of its process actually happens ON Social Media. Start building pages and tools enabling you to convert your followers into something more profitable.
You should still monitor the number of followers, but it should be ONE metrics among many others. Your most important metric should be "conversions": how many Social Media followers have you been able to transform into real customers? Then consider the number of leads you have generated, the number of people who've clicked your links, and so on.
Whenever you are asked to track or improve something, ask yourself: why? Does that ultimately help me achieving my goal?