In 2019, Instagram began testing an update that would hide the number of likes on photos and videos. If you run the account, you can still see how many people liked your post, but as a follower, you see this:
For many brands, influencers and creators out there, public metrics are one indicator of social media success. But perhaps this update hints that likes aren’t the only thing that matter. Behind the scenes, every marketing team or social media manager has a number of goals and KPIs (key performance indicators) that serve as their north star and measure the ROI of all the thumb-stopping photos and videos they’re sharing.
We asked a few Social Media Pros which KPIs are most important to them, and how they measure success on social media. Check out their answers below, and share your own thoughts with us. How do you measure your social media success? Let us know on Twitter at @psforbrands, or in the #social-pro channel in our creative Slack community.
Emerald Chan, FreshDirect
Food Stylist + Associate Editorial Photographer
LinkedIn | Instagram
We see our social as a way to grow brand awareness, making impressions and engagement big for us! Our FreshDirect community is not huge, but through tracking engagement rates we are able to see the effectiveness of our content and those numbers also become an indicator of what type of content/products interest our audience.
Carina Petrillo, MTV
Social Media Coordinator
LinkedIn | Twitter
Engagements, engagements, engagements! As of late, our team has pivoted from placing emphasis on video views ➡️ to tangible engagements. While we do value impressions – I feel it’s most important to present numbers in terms of RTs / QTs / Replies. That means your content is worth talking about, not just scrolling over!
Related Content: 21 Social Media Pros to Watch in 2021
Julian Valentin, Colorado Rockies
Director, Brand Management & Social Media
LinkedIn | Twitter
KPIs – Good question and always a complicated one for us…
Ultimately, our goal is to convert our fans/followers into paying customers. The goal is to sell tickets, merchandise, help/promote sponsorships, etc. and get them into the ballpark. Those conversions are always difficult to track, so we are focused primarily on daily fan connections, community building, social engagements (likes, retweets, clicks, views, etc.) and we believe that if we are good at the fan engagement piece, all the other stuff will come. We track “sales” in different ways, the effectiveness of our engagement turning into sales, but it’s an inexact science.
Related Content: A Step by Step Look at the Colorado Rockies Real-Time Social Media Workflow
Want to hear from more social media pros and marketing leaders? On November 19, we’re hosting 20/21 Vision: The Strategy Summit by PhotoShelter.
We’ll be diving into social media and marketing strategies with an incredible line up of brands. Tap here to save your seat. You’ll hear from brilliant creative leaders and get access to our Slack community, where you can network with creatives and join the conversation.
