32 Social Media KPIs for Measuring Social Media Performance

When your manager asks, “How are we doing on social media?” you need more than just likes and shares to provide a solid answer. You need clear evidence that your social media strategies are not only popular but also profitable. 

That’s where Social Media Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) come into play—the important metrics that help you measure the success of your social media activities. They give you insights into how well your marketing efforts are aligning with your business goals and whether they’re cost-effective.

In this article, we’ll break down Social Media KPIs in a simple and easy-to-understand way and give examples of how to choose and use these KPIs to match different goals and strategies. 

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What Are Social Media KPIs?

Social Media Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are numerical metrics used to measure the success of social media efforts widely adopted by companies globally today. Social Media KPIs go beyond just counting likes, shares, or the popularity of content; instead, they are categorized into various branches based on primary objectives. 

These Social Media KPIs delve into what platforms can deliver to your business, whether it’s in terms of Reach and visibility, Engagement, Conversion, or analyzing customer sentiment in the context of Community Management within social media accounts. Each of these categories further breaks down into more specific details.

How to Set Up Social Media KPIs?

When it comes to setting your social media KPIs, they must be intertwined with your specific objectives. Here’s a simplified, yet insightful guide on how to tailor Social Media KPIs to your business needs:

Step 1: Clarify Your Business Goals

Let’s start by zooming out and looking at the big picture of your business. What’s your destination? Are you Company A, stepping into a new market and aiming to boost your reputation? Or Are you a luxury condo complex fresh off the construction site, with a goal to fill up bookings this year?

Step 2: Define Specific Social Media Objectives

Social media objectives should be crystal clear, measurable, and tied directly to your business goals. For instance, if you’re seeking more recognition, your social media objective might be to increase brand awareness and visibility among your target audience. If you’re that luxury condo complex aiming to fill those rooms, you might want to focus on lead generation to supercharge your sales team.

Step 3: Identify the Right Social Media Metrics

With your objectives in place, it’s time to select the metrics that matter most for tracking your social media KPIs. Concentrate on metrics that align with your goals and offer a cost-efficiency measurement of success. Don’t overlook those hidden gems of data that can provide deep insights into the effectiveness of your social media strategies.

Step 4: Keep a Close Eye on Your KPIs

Consistently monitor the outcomes of your social media efforts. Make use of performance dashboards provided by various social media platforms to gain valuable insights into your profiles, content, and ads. 

Step 5: Analyze, Adapt, and Elevate

Regularly dissect your social media KPIs and the actual performance. Use the data you gather to make real-time adjustments and fine-tune your content strategies for the future. Always keep your KPIs in mind as guiding stars on your journey to social media success.

Pro tip: you can simultaneously pursue multiple business objectives and social media goals, depending on your budget and timeline. The key is to employ diverse strategies, whether through creative content, online advertising, or collaborating with influencers, to achieve your desired outcomes.

Engagement Metrics

1. Likes: Think of likes as virtual thumbs-up to your content. They’re a simple yet powerful way for your audience to express their appreciation for your posts. The more likes you get, the more love your content is receiving, which can also boost its visibility on social platforms.
2. Comments: Comments are your audience’s conversations around your content. More comments mean your content is sparking interest and engagement, creating a buzz around your brand. However, don’t just count the number, deeply analyze what comments are about, and beware of those spams that will annoy your content.
3. Shares: When someone shares your content, it’s like they’re giving your brand a shout-out to their own followers. This amplifies your reach and signals that your content is valuable and share-worthy.
4. Click-Through Rate (CTR): CTR tells you what percentage of people who saw your post actually clicked on your link. It’s a key measure of how effectively your content drives traffic to your website or landing page. To boost your CTR, consider incorporating a compelling call-to-action (CTA).
5. Follower Growth Rate: This metric shows how fast your social media tribe is growing. A rising number means more people are eager to see your content, perhaps because it’s informative, engaging, or simply enjoyable.
6. Audience Engagement Rate: This composite score factors in likes, comments, and shares relative to your total audience. A high engagement rate suggests your content is hitting the mark and encouraging active participation from your audience.
7. Social Mentions: This counts how often your brand or associated keywords are mentioned on social media. It’s like eavesdropping on the online chatter about your business, offering insights into your brand’s visibility and reputation.

As some social media platforms themselves do not allow full function for business accounts to explore social mentions completely, the pro tip here is to use social listening tools, like Mandala AI, to help you discover conversations or mentions around your brand with specific keywords more precisely at ease.

8. Social Listening Sentiment: This involves analyzing the tone of social mentions to determine whether they’re positive, negative, or neutral. By tracking sentiment, you can gauge public opinion, spot potential issues, and assess the impact of your social media efforts on brand perception to respond effectively to both positive and negative sentiment to maintain a positive brand image.
9. Hashtag Performance: This metric sheds light on the effectiveness of your branded hashtags. It measures how well your hashtag campaigns are boosting visibility and engagement. Key indicators include hashtag reach, engagement rates, follower growth, conversions, and user posts featuring your hashtags.
10. Message Response Rate: This KPI evaluates how promptly you respond to customer messages on social media. A high response rate can enhance your brand reputation and customer satisfaction, reflecting the efficiency and responsiveness of your customer service.
11. Video Views: The counted number of how often users watch videos on your social media platforms. This metric gauges engagement and interest, showcasing user investment in your content. Higher views can boost brand awareness, message retention, and potential conversions,
12. Video Thruplay: This metric counts how often a video ad plays almost to completion, typically 95% of its length. It shows if viewers engage with and grasp the ad’s message. A high ThruPlay rate signifies effective ad engagement, vital for delivering a complete message or call to action.

Reach and Visibility Metrics

13. Impressions: This number is a count of every time your content shows up in a user’s social media feed, regardless of their interaction. It’s great for understanding how often your brand is seen but doesn’t tell you if people are truly engaging with your content.
14. Reach: Unlike impressions, reach gives you a more precise view. It tells you how many unique users or accounts have actually seen your content. It’s akin to knowing how many individual people glanced at your billboard on that busy street. This metric is especially useful for understanding the actual size of your audience.
15. Most Reached Cities:  This metric is like a map showing where your social media content or ads have the most impact. It ranks cities or locations where your content has resonated the most. It’s handy for local or regional social media goals, helping you focus efforts where they matter most. It can also guide advertising and content strategies based on high-reach areas.
16. Virality Rate: This metric quantifies how effectively your content spreads beyond your initial audience, essentially measuring how viral your content becomes on social media platforms. To calculate it, divide the total number of shares by the total number of impressions during a specific period, then multiply the result by 100 to obtain a percentage.
17. Estimated Ads Recall Lift: This vital metric is employed in social media advertising to gauge an ad campaign’s potential impact on users’ ad recall. It assesses whether users exposed to a particular ad are more likely to remember it compared to those who weren’t exposed. This metric holds immense importance, particularly if you’re aiming to enhance brand awareness through online advertising.

Conversion and Sales Metrics 

18. Conversion: This metric tallies how often a specific action, such as making a purchase or adding an item to a cart, occurs after users engage with your social media content or ads. Modern platforms offer tools like pixels and conversion trackers to monitor these actions, even if they happen outside the platform.
19. Conversion Rate: Think of this as the “engagement to action” ratio. It’s the percentage of users who take a desired action out of all those who interacted with your content or ads. A high conversion rate signals the effectiveness of your social media strategy in turning engagement into valuable actions that align with your business goals.
20. Conversion Value: This reveals the total value generated through conversions driven by your social media marketing. It’s a critical metric for assessing the cost-effectiveness of your social media strategies and optimizing them to maximize returns.
21. Cost per Conversion: This tells you how much you spend on social media to secure a conversion. To calculate it, divide the total cost of your conversion-focused ad campaign by the number of conversions. Keeping this cost below the total conversion value is key to achieving a favorable cost per conversion in your social media KPIs.
22. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC): For businesses focused on lead generation via social media, CAC is crucial. It represents the average amount invested in social media to acquire one new customer. Calculate it by dividing your total social media cost by the number of new customers acquired in a specific period.
23. Return on Investment (ROI): ROI measures the profitability of your social media activities, factoring in expenses like advertising, content creation, and engagement. The formula is ROI = (Net Profit from Social Media / Cost of Social Media Investment) x 100. A positive ROI means your social media efforts are profitable, while a negative one signals a need for adjustment.
24. Sales Attribution: This process tracks sales linked directly to social media efforts. It involves dissecting which social media channels, campaigns, or specific posts influenced a sale or conversion in line with your social media KPIs. By dissecting user interactions, you can credit each touchpoint in the customer’s journey, from social media exposure to the final purchase.

Traffic Metrics

25. Clicks: The number of times users click on links, buttons, or elements in your social media posts or advertisements that lead them to your website or a specific destination. Analyzing click data can help you understand which social media posts, content, or calls to action resonate most with your audience and encourage them to take the desired action of visiting your website.
26. Average Click per Post: This figure calculates the average number of clicks each post receives to help you pinpoint which posts are drawing the most traffic. By identifying your star performers, you can fine-tune your content strategy to create more of what works and optimize what’s underperforming.
27. Cost per click (CPC): CPC reveals how much you spend to secure a single link click from your audience. It’s a critical indicator of cost efficiency, especially if you’re boosting content as ads to drive traffic to specific destinations.
28. Bounce Rate: The percentage of visitors who make a swift exit from your website after viewing just one page. A higher bounce rate may occur if you have a significant number of link clicks, particularly from advertising, leading to accidental clicks on your call-to-action (CTA) buttons.
29. Mobile vs. Desktop Traffic: This metric shines a light on the devices users prefer when visiting your website through social media links. Knowing whether your audience leans toward mobile or desktop informs your website optimization efforts. It helps ensure that your site offers an optimal experience, whether users are on their phones or computers.

Customer Service and Satisfaction Metrics

30. Customer Feedback: This metric encompasses the comments, reviews, and messages your social media audience and customers generously share about your products, services, or brand. Their feedback is a goldmine of information that can guide improvements and enhance your offerings.
31. Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT): CSAT measures the overall satisfaction of your customers, often obtained through feedback or surveys. You quantify it by calculating the percentage of positive feedback from the total feedback received, or vice versa for negative ones.

Competitive Analysis Metrics

32. Share of Voice (SOV): SOV is your lens into how your brand stands amidst competitors in a specific industry or niche across social media. Calculating SOV involves dividing your brand’s specific social media KPI metrics by the total metrics of the competitors you wish to benchmark against.

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Have You Set Up Social Media KPIs for Your Business?

Now that you’ve got a grip on these essential social media KPIs, it’s time to put them into action. Craft clear and specific social media objectives that align seamlessly with the metrics you’ve chosen. Always keep an eye on cost-efficiency, ensuring every action delivers value.

Don’t forget to keep tabs on your competition. Tools like Mandala AI can provide a comprehensive view of your competitors’ social media strategies, allowing you to gauge your performance accurately. Start our free trial today and elevate your social media game to new heights!