Measuring Social Media Success Without Vanity Metrics: A 101 Guide.

"The only thing worse than starting something and failing is not starting something." - Seth Godin

In today's digital landscape, social media is a crucial tool for businesses to connect with customers and meet their marketing objectives. However, it can be challenging to accurately measure the success and impact of your social media efforts. Relying solely on vanity metrics like followers, likes, and impressions does not provide meaningful insights.

To truly understand how your social media presence is performing, you need to dig deeper into the data and define metrics that align with your specific goals. Follow this guide to measuring social media success without vanity metrics:

Set Clear Objectives and KPIs

The first step is defining your objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs). Consider what you want to achieve via social media. Is it to increase brand awareness, generate leads, drive sales or improve customer satisfaction? Once you know your goals, determine 2-3 KPIs to track progress for each. Relevant metrics could include engagements, conversions, revenue, lead generation cost, and customer lifetime value.

Use Analytics Tools 

Leverage the analytics tools available on each social platform and third-party solutions to collect data on your desired KPIs. For example, use Facebook Insights to track actions on your Facebook page or Hootsuite to monitor engagement across multiple networks. Google Analytics can also provide insights on site traffic, lead conversions, and sales driven by social.

Benchmark and Compare 

Look at how your metrics stack up over time and against competitors or industry benchmarks. Are you generating more traffic from social week over week? How does your social media engagement rate compare to others in your niche? Identify areas you excel at and those needing improvement.

Run A/B Tests

Experiment with different elements of your social media strategy through A/B testing. Try various content formats, posting times, calls-to-action, and target audiences. Analyze how each variation impacts your metrics to optimize and improve performance.

Focus on ROI

At the end of the day, social media should drive real business results. So focus on measuring ROI rather than vanity metrics. Track how social media spending and activity impact lead generation, sales, and overall profit. This ensures your efforts align with overarching business goals.

Rather than chasing likes and follows, take a data-driven approach to social media. Define meaningful metrics, leverage analytics, and focus on optimizing performance. This allows you to demonstrate the tangible ROI of social and continually refine your strategy.

TECH NEWS

• Smarty pants: Google is training smart robots with AI.

• Fool Me Twice: Researchers find new ways to jailbreak ChatGPT and generate offensive answers.

• Big Picture: Photoshop’s new AI feature lets you make images bigger by ‘uncropping’ them.

• Sky High: Despite being plagued by controversy since the acquisition, Elon Musk says X users are at a new high.

• Stargazing: NASA is launching a free streaming service later this year.

AI TUTORIAL

How to create 3D Dioramas in Midjourney

Want to create a 3D diorama to illustrate any historical, natural, or product scene via miniatures and props? Try the prompt below:

marine life diorama --v 5.2 --ar 16:9 

Here’s the result:

You can create a diorama of anything you want. For instance, you can create a diorama of products, landmarks, electronics, or any other object.

NEWS

What else is brewing

• Drones hit buildings in Moscow on Sunday in a series of attacks Russia blamed on Ukraine. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said, “The war is gradually returning to Russia’s territory.”

• X (formerly Twitter) reinstated Kanye West’s account after a nearly eight-month suspension.

• Sizzling temps in the US Southwest are set to ease this week with the arrival of monsoon rains.

• American swimmer Katie Ledecky broke Michael Phelps’s record with her 16th individual gold medal at the world championships.

• “A female microscopic roundworm that spent the last 46,000 years in suspended animation deep in the Siberian permafrost was revived and started having babies in a laboratory dish,” the Washington Post reports.

ADVERTISE WITH US

Partner With A Trusted Voice In Marketing And Entrepreneurship

This newsletter is loved and read by thousands of industry leaders, SMBs, and companies.

We have a strict back-check process to ensure that every product/service we share with our audience is high-quality and vetted.

If you’d like to get in front of a trusted audience, learn more here →

Thanks for reading.

Until next time!

Owais

p.s. if you want to sign up for the Disrupt Daily newsletter or share it with a friend, you can find us here.