KPIs in Social Media: What are they and why is it so important to choose the right ones for you business.

Digitization is undoubtedly here to stay. The world adopted information technology in its daily development and Telecommuting became the best ally for the confinement by COVID-19. Learn the importance of KPIs in Social Media.

Besides, given the exponential growth of social media, we consider them a great ally to increase sales and grow your business. 

Therefore, big brands know that their constant interaction with the audience on these platforms is essential for success.

Most organizations want to have a presence on the most visited social media.

Certain meters are used to know if your strategy on these platforms is paying off by measuring your business success.

So if you don’t do this measurement, it will be more difficult to succeed, since you can’t track your business’s online results.

To measure your performance, there are Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).

These provide you with the necessary tools to find out if your strategy is working.

Thus, in this article BluCactus will explain some of these indicators that are used on these platforms.

What are KPIs on social media?

A Key Performance Indicator is a variable that allows you to measure the results of your communication campaigns.

Therefore, this valuable data will let you know if you need to change any strategy, rethink objectives, or even modify approaches.

In the case of social media, the objectives are part of the strategy. For this reason, it’s important that before setting short, medium, and long-term goals, you define why you want to use social media for your business.

Do you want to get more clients? or collaborate with other brands?

Once you answer these questions, you will know what is the best strategy for your chosen social media to promote your company.

So, the KPIs on social media will simply be that notice that will make it easier for you to process a lot of information generated on social media.

Besides, with these indicators, you will know if you are taking your business on the right path.

How KPIs work on social media

KPIs work through the objectives that we establish in these virtual platforms.

We will only use the indicators that are necessary as KPIs to measure the performance on our platforms.

Today, companies need to adapt to technological changes without leaving aside the essence of their brands.

This fact is challenging, as the digital world is constantly changing.

For this reason, you can also change KPIs in social media depending on the aim you want to develop in a certain strategy.

Therefore, each organization will have different KPIs depending on what they are looking for.

For example, if you want to know how many people are reading your site, it’s good to use some kind of KPI to measure the number of views.

Why is it good to establish KPIs on social media based on SMART criteria?

As already mentioned, if your goal is to increase sales, use indicators that visualize how many people view your product online.

Besides, you must base the choice of these KPI keys on the SMART criteria to optimize the result.

This will help you link your indicators with your sales strategy, making them more effective in obtaining results.

KPIs on social media: what are the SMART criteria?

Choosing the goals based on the SMART criteria will avoid wasting resources.

Besides, you can set realistic goals that will help you achieve your goals.

The SMART criterion implies that your strategies are specific, achievable, measurable, relevant, and temporary.

• Specific: What is the aim you want to achieve? With social media, you must define what you want to use them for. Then, you can define the rest of the objectives and the strategies to achieve them.
• Attainable: Can the goal be reached? At this point, it’s key to highlight the environments of the companies, since they influence important decisions.

1. Microenvironment: it comprises the departments of your company and everything related to it.
2. Macroenvironment: these are uncontrollable factors external to your organization, but that influence your environment and strategic decisions. Some examples are politics, economics, and technology.

So before measuring your goal reach, consider these factors that will influence your goal.

For example, if your goal is to buy a cookie machine, but you don’t have enough money.

Your goal is unattainable in the short term and you will need to adapt to your financial situation.

• Measurable: What results do you need to measure? With KPIs on social media, it’s a good opportunity to question whether the meter of your objectives is correct.
• Relevant: what could this aim bring to your company? Why can it be relevant? It’s key that we draw the objectives according to the benefits they could produce.
• Temporary: How long will it take to reach the goal? For when is it needed? Define whether the target compliance period is consistent with what the company needs or not.

The main KPIs in social media

These digital platforms have their own algorithms.

Many times, without realizing it, they also provide us with useful tools that we can take advantage of to exploit our brand.

Also, although there are many KPIs, there are some essential and specific ones that are used in these communities.

Below, we present the main KPIs on social media:

Engagement: shows the interaction that your audience has with your brand and the loyalty they have towards your products.

For this reason, in social media, it’s not advisable to invest money buying false followers, since most likely, you won’t have real growth in your account.

The point is to have loyal customers and to have a real interaction with your followers. Besides, for this, some meters let you know how committed users are to your business. Some of them are:

Comments: they generate interaction with your brand. The different users through this space want to express their opinion on its content. So read them as the comments can also tell you if things are going well. Be on the lookout if your product dissatisfies any customer and lets you know.

• Likes: the amount of them matters if it comes from real users. A “like” is just that, the user liked what you have published. Upon receiving them, people show their support for your brand.
• Shared: if people share your content, it means that they take something you have published as a reference, which shows loyalty to your brand and increases its positioning.

The number of sales: this number will also be an important indicator only if this is your main objective.

Other useful KPIs on social media 

Visualization

Visibility gives businesses some positioning.

The more they see you, the more they know you.

So if your goal is to attract potential customers and publicize what you offer, pay attention to this point.

The KPIs you need for everything related to visualization are the following:

1. Printing: Printing as a KPI meter in posts refers to the number of times the brand content is viewed.
2. Reach: represents the amount or the exact number of people who viewed the content of your brand, whether it’s an advertisement, publication, and video, among others.

It should be noted that in most cases print and scope work together because they are powerful KPIs if used properly.

For example, if someone observes the same product more than once, the impressions increase.

While the scope does not because it would be the same user.

Also, to maximize the potential of this indicator, relate your impressions and reach to what you publish.

The number of followers:

the number of people who follow your account will be a key indicator to know if you are achieving your goals on social media.

However, the number of followers will always be in constant variation.

Therefore, you must consider that real followers with true interactions are the ones that will bring long-term benefits to your brand. Loyal customers support you by liking or following your brand account.

Attracting new users

The acquisition of potential customers is always essential if we want to increase sales and expand in the market.

Social media is an excellent window that will allow you to expand your range of clients.

For this, there are some KPIs that can measure those potential clients.

Besides, with these indicators, you can define new marketing strategies.

1.- Private messages:

Have you thought about the importance of replying to all messages found in the mailbox? A potential buyer may ask about the availability or price of a product, if you don’t respond in time this customer may lose interest.

Also, your competition could respond to that message faster and you would have missed a good opportunity.

These conversations can generate loyal customers. Speed ​​of response, precision, and friendliness are the keys at this point.

2.- Visits on the web generated from social media:

showing the link of your websites and generating that facility to link with them is a good strategy to attract new customers.

If someone looks at your brand’s profile on Instagram and liked a product, chances are they will head to the website for more information and to see how they can get it.

Why KPIs on social media is important to your business

If you don’t apply KPIs in your business, chances are you don’t know if you got the results you expected from your strategies.

Therefore, it’s vital to have these indicators, since the dynamics of the media constantly change.

Also, being aware of all the signals that our audience sends us is crucial. Here are some benefits KPIs bring on social media to your business:

They influence the objectives:

Without a doubt, a negative result of any indicator will be influential in rethinking the objectives of your brand.

Besides, a good meter allows you to find the strengths and weaknesses of a strategy in real-time.

This is elemental, as changes in marketing are volatile given globalization.

Therefore, having this knowledge will contribute to the growth of your business.

Know your progress:

If you are not clear and don’t use an important tool like this, chances are you are wandering around the media.

Therefore, you are at great risk because you don’t know if your efforts and resources are meeting your objectives.

Optimize results

Whatever their indicators, it’s important to consider that measurement can affect your brand if you establish what you want to achieve with KPIs on social media and how to use them in your strategy.

Monitor actions

This advantage stands out as it allows you to communicate the performance of the actions to the other members of your team.

Conclusion

Finally, thanks to these tips, you can now better define your KPIs on social media based on the objectives of your business to grow.

They are very useful in the world of marketing.

Consumers are more demanding today, and the best way to satisfy them is to listen and offer more than just a product. For this reason, KPIs are very necessary.

These indicators are to help you improve the conditions and business strategies to be successful with the proposed goals.

At BluCactus we offer you the best options that you can apply in your business to succeed in the market by expanding your brand and keeping loyal and happy customers.

Now it’s your turn to contact us to advise you on this and other important digital marketing issues.

To conclude, if you have any doubts or questions about KPIs on social media, we invite you to express them in the comments section. You can also subscribe to our daily newsletter to receive our articles and news with the latest in digital marketing.

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