Have you ever asked yourself, “How do I know if my social media is working?” If you own a business or work in digital marketing, you probably have.
Measuring social media can seem difficult because there are so many metrics to review. Who has the time? It probably doesn’t feel this way, but you have the time.
For example, think about how much time you put into content creation and community management. If you stay consistent, you are already spending a good chunk of time on social media efforts.
Once you start reporting, everything else you do becomes easier. You uncover efficiencies (and inefficiencies) which allows you to work smarter, not harder.
Sigh…
Reporting. Man, it’s boring. Look – it even rhymes.
But it’s actually the most valuable step of your entire process. Understanding if your social media is working is crucial. You need to justify all the time spent on creation and execution. The only way to do that is to get in the habit of monthly reporting.
How Do I Know If My Social Media Is Working?
Reporting is the only way to know if your social media is working. It has two main benefits:
- You will grow an engaged community more effectively when you know what your followers like (and don’t like).
- You will identify and can therefore enhance ways to maximize profit (whatever that means to you).
Once you begin gathering data, you will quickly see if your social media is working. Odds are, even if it is going great, you still have room for improvement. Your report will uncover those areas.
If your social media is not going so well, your report will help you see what isn’t working. Tweaking your efforts can make all the difference. But – you won’t know what to tweak without reporting.
Social Media Report Template
Creating a solid social media report can be a bit frustrating if you don’t know which metrics to review. So, having a template is key!
Define your relevant metrics now. It will save you time and keep you focused in the long run.
Understanding your KPIs and goals means you can streamline the reporting process and focus only on what matters to your brand.
- The best social media report template is simple. Make skimming the numbers easy and quick.
- Include a chart for month over month growth and a few key strategy notes. That’s really all you need!
What to Measure on Social Media
While every report will vary, here are a few metrics I’ve noticed EVERY client wants, along with their definitions. I hope this helps you identify what you’ll be including in your report.
Followers:
This refers to how many people are in your community – specifically who is following the business.
Posts:
This is the number posts sent out by the business within the time period being measured.
Post Engagement:
This is the number of clicks, likes, shares and/or comments accumulated on all posts (see above) within the time period being measured. In my humble opinion, Post Engagement is one of the most relevant metrics available. Be sure to include it.
Page Views:
This is the number of times a Business Facebook Page was directly viewed by Facebook Users.
Overall Reach:
This refers to how many people were “reached” by the business’s content/how many users saw content shared by your business.
Clicks to Website:
This is the number of people who clicked over to the business’s website directly from the social media page.
CTR:
Click-Through-Rate is the percentage of users who clicked on a post as compared to how many users saw that post.
CPE:
Cost-Per-Engagement shows how much each click, like, share, etc. cost over the span of the ad campaign. This is a measurement for advertised content only.
These terms can be modified by platform. For example. “Posts” would be “Tweets” if you’re reporting on Twitter.
Conclusion
I hope this helps streamline your time spent creating and gathering social media metrics. For more tips on all things social, connect with me @bellestrategies!
Belle Strategies is a boutique Digital Marketing company with offices in South Florida and South Carolina. We pair data-driven strategy with attention to detail to produce revenue-based results. For assistance growing your brand, contact us!
With nearly two decades in the industry, Belle Strategies’ owner, Rachel Creveling, is a seasoned business consultant who crafts comprehensive frameworks that integrate operations, marketing, sales and HR to position her clients for optimal success. She excels at incorporating trending tech ethically and studied Strategies for Accountable AI at Wharton.