Are All Social Media Metrics Created Equal?

There is more to analyzing social media posts than just counting the number of likes a post might have or seeing how many views your video may have received. The significant growth of the data analysis industry has extended to social media, and the demand for its implementation is crucial for executing digital marketing strategies. Optimization techniques in social media marketing are frequently implemented through the use of metrics.

Before diving deeper into the application of metrics in the world of social media, it would be appropriate to define what a metric is. 

A metric can be generally defined as measurements used to evaluate performance. In the context of social media, metrics can give us insight to how well a particular post, channel, or campaign is performing. Some of the most commonly observed ones in measuring social media content are as follows:

The overall pool of metrics used in social media is vast and highly dependent on objectives, platforms, and the level of analysis. Today, we aim to answer the specific question of which social media metrics carry more weight when it comes to analyzing performance.

We will take a look at each of the most prominent metrics used to analyze social media performance and analyze them on a platform-by-platform basis.

How Social Platforms Weigh Metrics Differently 

Engagement is likely the most commonly used metric to measure performance on every social platform. This metric generally accumulates all the different interactions that are unique to their respective platform to create a holistic measurement of content relevancy and how well the audiences are resonating with a post.

On Meta platforms, specifically Facebook and Instagram, engagement is considered a significant variable when it comes to prioritizing a post's ability to spread to a broader audience. Among different types of engagement, both platforms heavily prioritizes likes, comments, and shares when it comes to fueling this visibility. Engagement on Facebook is also thought to be more personal, considering the network's tendency for personal connections with friends and family. 

On Instagram, as a platform with a greater emphasis on visuals and a robust influencer culture, engagement takes a similar form to that on Facebook (likes, comments, and shares). However, on this platform, engagement may be derived more from what the viewer finds visually appealing.

The metrics themselves, when it comes to engagement, may start to take a different form when we start comparing platforms such as LinkedIn and X (formerly Twitter). 

For example, LinkedIn includes 'Post Clicks' and 'Follows' as additional metrics when calculating the total engagement for each piece of content. These 'Post Clicks' differ from Meta's 'Link Clicks' as they record not only direct user interactions with any given links but also interactions with any clickable elements within a post (such as images or profiles). The trade-off with this method of recording clicks is that it can inflate the click-through rate (CTR) and complicate efforts to standardize clicks across different platforms. This is an important factor to consider when understanding why total engagement may appear in larger quantities for this platform. When it comes to weighing various forms of engagement metrics, LinkedIn's 'Follows' can indicate a higher level of engagement, as they demonstrate users' intent to see more of your content in their feeds.

At its current stage of rebranding, X may be the most challenging platform to analyze. Formerly known as Twitter, the platform's users have become accustomed to its posts, which were normalized as 'Tweets,' aligning well with the platform's name. Due to its ongoing changes, X might undergo a renaming process that incorporates metrics along with post names. Content on X consistently prioritizes trending topics and timely information, resulting in a high level of engagement through the 'Retweet' metric. They are often used as a measure of how viral or shareable a tweet is, and they contribute to the overall engagement level of a tweet. Clicks on X may carry less weight compared to the previously mentioned platforms, as recent studies indicate that this platform has the lowest average percentage in click-through rate (CTR). This could be a result of the skewness towards higher impressions per tweet. Additionally, differences in ad performance between platforms might also contribute to this phenomenon.

Navigating this sea of metrics is a complex yet necessary task. With each platform having its unique metrics landscape, understanding the significance and weight of these metrics can provide valuable insights tailored to the context of each platform.

Which Metrics Should I Prioritize? 

When evaluating which metrics to prioritize in regards to measuring success for a campaign or post, it's highly important to factor in key performance indicators (KPIs). KPIs help measure the success of content as they are quantifiable metrics that provide a clear understanding of how well a campaign or post is performing in relation to those goals. It's important to note that all KPIs are metrics, but not all metrics are KPIs. 

When thinking about a social media post, metrics can cover a wide range of engagements and impressions. Let's say we're creating a promotional post with the goal of attracting more users to visit a website through the link in the description. A good KPI to measure the success of our objective would be clicks (or CTR). Other forms of engagement, such as likes or comments, might not be weighted as heavily as they are usually not going to correlate to an increase in website traffic. Being able to align social media posts with an objective allows you to transform any of these metrics into a measurable KPI. These will greatly enhance your understanding of how effective your social media strategy is and whether you're reaching your goals.

Below are a few more examples of common social media objectives, along with some of their corresponding KPIs:

Our experts at Random are ready to create data-backed digital campaigns for your business! Reach out to us below to learn more about how we can work together.