How To Measure Your Social Media Success

A lot of people think that social media is just another way to “get the word out,” and they think that there really is no way of knowing how well they are doing that. Well, social media is a lot more than just “getting the word out.” More importantly, there are ways we can measure how effective your social media efforts are in the first place.

Below are five thresholds that we use to identify levels of engagement in social media. Each higher number becomes a more meaningful measurement; you can quantify how your social media marketing is growing (or not) and what level of engagement you have achieved with your audience.
  • The first threshold is simply how many followers, friends, likes, visitors, and hits you have. Obviously, you want a lot of eyeballs following you – but from this number, we really do not know how many of those eyeballs are paying attention. Anyone can hit the “like” button without really being engaged.
  • The second threshold is counting how many of those eyeballs actually clicked the link to your website that you offered via your social media outlets. Simple web analytics can tell you where your website visitors are coming from and where they are landing. Again, having a lot of visitors is great, but it doesn’t mean they are really engaged, so – knowing that they clicked on a link you provided can separate those who are engaged from those who are not so interested.
  • The third threshold is the number of eyeballs who actually re-tweet your posts or repeat your comments (or others’ comments from you page) or share your posts. When you have fans and followers doing these things, you are expanding your potential audience AND you know that you have at least captured their attention for the moment. If you can do this consistently, then you can expect that people will actually look for what you are offering them through your social media interaction.
  • The fourth threshold is when you get those eyeballs to give you their identity. Typically this is done through some type of registration form. Letting you know who they are is a significant show of trust on the part of the unknown masses. This trust is also the beginning of building customer loyalty.
  • The fifth threshold is when someone makes a purchase and recommends you. When this happens, you have reached the summit of word of mouth marketing. Ultimately, isn’t this the reason your business uses social media in the first place?
As you proceed through these thresholds in your own social media strategy, you probably will notice that the numbers decrease as you get closer to threshold five. If you are have strong numbers in thresholds two and three, you should be encouraged and keep at it, because eventually some of those will make it to thresholds four and five.
 
If you don’t have the time or know-how to work on your social media success, call Horton Group. Our professional team is ready to serve your business with expertise and enthusiasm!