Social media analytics: which metrics should you track?
· 4 min read
Analytics screens show dozens of numbers, and looking at all of them tells you about as much as looking at none. The right question isn't "which numbers look good?" but "which number shows whether we're getting closer to our goal?". In this guide we group metrics into four layers and explain how to pick them by goal.
Pick the question before the metric
Every report should answer a question, such as "are we reaching new people?", "is our content getting attention?" or "is social media bringing visitors to the site?". Once the question is clear, so is the metric. Without a question, a report turns into a showcase for whichever number went up the most.
Four layers: reach, engagement, clicks, conversions
- Reach and views: how many people saw your content and how many times. Reach counts unique people, views count every showing; if the same person sees it twice, reach goes up by one and views by two.
- Engagement: likes, comments, shares and saves. It tells you whether the content got attention.
- Clicks: visits to a link, your profile or your website. They tell you whether attention turned into action.
- Conversions: sales, forms, bookings, orders through messages. They tell you what social media contributes to the business.
How to calculate engagement rate
A raw engagement count is misleading on its own; a post that reaches more people naturally gets more engagement. Dividing engagement by reach and looking at it as a rate lets you compare posts of different sizes.
Which metric to watch for your goal
| Goal | Main metric | Supporting metrics |
|---|---|---|
| Awareness | Reach | Profile visits, follower growth |
| Interest and community | Engagement rate | Comments, saves, shares |
| Website traffic | Link clicks | Time on site, visits from social media |
| Sales and demand | Conversions | Questions through messages, add-to-carts |
Metrics that mislead on their own
- Follower count: shows growth, but not whether those people see your content.
- Likes alone: the easiest form of engagement; comments, saves and shares show stronger interest.
- A single post's result: one post doing very well or very badly is not a trend.
- Periods of different length: comparing 30 days with 28 inflates or hides the difference.
Not every platform provides every metric
Platforms differ in the data they share with apps. Some don't provide reach through their API, in which case you'll need to use views. When comparing channels, make sure the same metric exists on each one; otherwise you're comparing apples with oranges.
In Fourdeck, each workspace shows the performance of its own connected accounts and content in its own context. The metrics you can see depend on the data each platform provides.
Five steps for a monthly report
- Write the month's goal and main metric at the top of the report.
- Compare this month's value of the main metric with last month's.
- Pick your best three and weakest three posts and sum up what they share in one sentence.
- When comparing channels, use only metrics that all of them have.
- Suggest one change for next month and check its result in the next report.