Does your team know how your social media marketing is performing, or do you just post and hope for the best? It’s critical to have a definitive strategy for your target audience as “social shopping” – buying products via social media – gains significant traction. Nearly half of a group of 1,000 consumers in the U.S. recently told Sprout Social they made a purchase after seeing a targeted ad, 40% did so after seeing an organic post from a brand that resonated with them, and 34% bought a product after seeing a friend’s post tagging the company.

Each year, the number of people researching brands, engaging with them and ultimately purchasing from them increases. And this has ramifications on the promo industry, where end-buyers increasingly come from the millennial and Gen Z cohorts.

The key to measuring social media marketing strategy is through analyzing key performance indicators (KPIs) that include reach, engagement and conversions. By examining your company’s performance in these areas, you can continue to make improvements in your strategy.

Here are seven steps to measuring social media marketing KPIs.

1

Analyze your current performance.

Take a look at the platforms you’re currently using and see how your social media presence is doing. Is your audience engaging with your content? Are prospects approaching you for products after getting to know you on social? Do a deep dive, look at the areas that could use improvement and note them.

2

State your objectives.

Lay out exactly what you want to achieve with renewed efforts. Perhaps it’s to gain more followers, drive more engagement, see your company mentioned more within industry circles, convert more brand fans into clients, or all of the above. Talk to your team members for their input, and get buy-in from everyone involved.

3

Make them SMART.

The objectives should be:

Specific – e.g., a certain number of new followers in a defined timeframe.

Measurable – so you can look at improvement incrementally.

Attainable – be realistic with yourself and your team.

Relevant – so they connect to your larger company goals.

Timely – objectives should have an end-date, six or 12 months, for example.

49%
the percentage of social shoppers who made a purchase after seeing a targeted ad. (Sprout Socialon)

4

Determine your reach.

Your “reach” is, generally speaking, the number of people who have seen your company on social. A wider reach means more opportunity for eventual conversions. It includes number of followers, impressions and share of the discourse (how much buzz you get).

5

Examine engagement.

Engagement is the next step, when people actually click on your post or a link to your website to find out more – many times, that action means conversion just got a whole lot more likely. Also look at likes, shares, comments and mentions, and see how they measure up to click-throughs to your site.

6

Look at conversions.

Conversions mean sales and growth, which is key. In fact, if you have high engagement on social but not many of them becoming paying customers, there’s a missing piece. Look at your social media-specific lead conversion rate and experiment with ways to grow it, like different types of content and paid ads.

7

Invest in analytics software.

When your social media becomes key to your company’s growth, using automated software can be a game-changer. Platforms such as Hootsuite, Sprout Social and Buffer, among others, can give you performance comparisons for your content, post recommendations, customized analytics reports, brand mention tracking and more.