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In a digital landscape with more competition, content, and networks than ever, the importance of keeping up with the latest social media best practices is vital when it comes to developing a succinct competitive strategy.

But creating campaigns alone doesn’t guarantee success. That’s where social media analytics comes into play.

Social media analytics is the analysis of data points that help you measure the performance of your social media accounts. Basically put, it helps you understand the why. The specific data involved keeps your strategy on track to reach your social media goals and prove your ROI. Ultimately, there are the metrics that will help you assess your social media marketing strategy and verify what’s working and — just as importantly — what’s not.

There are a lot of social media metrics out there, and they can differ by platform. There’s also a lot of conversation around which social media metrics matter the most. But to answer this question, you first need to understand which social media KPIs to set to help you reach your specific business goals.

KPIs, or Key Performance Indicators, are the metrics that help you understand your social media strategy’s effectiveness and success — and where you should head next.

Every business will have different things they need to focus on, and there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. However, one thing is true for all brands: social media metrics help you determine the adjustments you need to make to your strategy, regardless of how your digital marketing funnel is performing.

We’ve outlined three KPIs that will help you develop an analytics-driven approach for your social media marketing in 2022 and beyond.

1. Reach

Reach measures how many people come across your social media accounts and posts. These users might only interact with the channel passively, so it’s important to think of reach as a quantitative measurement. Data relating to your reach speaks to your existing and potential audience by outlining growth over time and brand awareness.

Reach KPIs:

• Impressions
• Follower Count
• Post Views
• Brand Mentions
• Website Traffic

2. Engagement

When it comes to your brand’s digital presence, strong social media engagement is a sign that you’re making an impact with your target audience and amongst the competition. To boost your brand and ROI, both on and offline, it’s important to make meaningful connections with your current and potential audience.

To grow this KPI, make sure to reply to all comments in a timely manner, address any complaints or concerns, and show appreciation for those who appreciate your brand. The greatest measure of social media success is an engaged audience, not just a big one.

Engagement KPIs:

• Shares
• Saves
• Comments
• Likes
• Approval Interactions
• Click-throughs
• Mentions
• Profile Visits

3. Conversions

Conversions are when social interactions turn into website visits, phone calls, newsletter sign-ups, purchases, or other desired actions that help quantify ROI. Conversion metrics reflect how effective your social media strategy is and whether it’s leading to actionable outcomes. Essentially, you’re converting your audience into customers.

Conversion KPIs:

• Conversion Rate: number of users who perform the actions outlined in your social media call to action (CTA), such as visit your website, subscribe, purchase, etc., compared to the total number of clicks on that given post.
• Click-through Rate (CTR): percentage of people who viewed your post and clicked on the CTA is included.
• Bounce Rate (via website analytics)
• Sales Revenue (via social media)

Tracking your social media KPIs is a vital part of your social media marketing strategy. Without tracking your performance, you won’t know if you’re succeeding in your business goals. Tracking your KPIs will also allow you to make changes to your content if needed and optimize performance amongst your existing and potential audience.

So, how will you use these KPIs in maximizing the effectiveness of your business’s social media marketing efforts?