Social media marketing is essential for all businesses in the modern era. Therefore, proactive brands care about measuring success online. Actions, reach, engagement, user acquisition, conversion rates, retention, and advocacy are some of the most popular KPIs brands seek to achieve. We highlight 10 important matrices that every business should measure on social media:

1. Average Response Time 

The average time that a brand takes to respond to comments and answers, queries/concerns online. The lower (faster) the response time, the higher the engagement of the brand. Consumers today expect human-like digital interactions with brands. Research shows that 42% of consumers expect a response within 60 minutes. While this can be taken as a benchmark, the aim should be to make this time short and be consistent with it. Robi’s social media team has done a great job in this regard in Bangladesh.

2. Audience Growth Rate 

The rate at which a brand adds (or loses) audience members per channel, found by dividing the net increase in audience by total audience members. This KPI helps determine the effectiveness of a brand’s activation campaigns. It can also help determine which campaigns work and which don’t.

3. Share of Voice 

It is a measure of how a brand’s engagement metrics compare to others in a similar category (comparative metrics). A higher share of voice indicates the brand connects to the emotions and interests of its audience better than its competitors. The better a brand does this, the more “human” they appear.

4. Average Engagement Rate 

The percentage of the total audience that has engaged with a brand’s content on a social channel per reporting period. People like to engage with content that excites, interests or benefits them. Thus a high rate of engagement indicates the brand connects with its audience in the right context.

See how you can create a content strategy that works!

5. Conversation Rate 

It is the number of conversations going on per social media post. On Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and Instagram, these will be comments. On Twitter, it replies. A high rate indicates that a particular strategy is working well and vice-versa, and is crucial to determine what kind of content works for a specific audience, helping to understand the consumer mindset, behavior as well as interests.

6. Traffic 

Several visits and visitors on social media drive to your website. No matter what the business is, if you have a website, social media should drive a significant amount of traffic every day. Website traffic can be significantly increased by making the URL visible on social media and by being proactive in promoting links to your site.

See also: 3 tricks to improve social media presence. 

7. Click Through Rate (CTR) 

The rate at which your audience clicks on a link within a post on a given social network. It is found by dividing the number of clicks on a post by the total number of impressions. Higher CTR is an indication of high content relevance and conversion rates.

8. Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) 

The dollar amount a brand spends to get relevant users (follower/audience). Generally, the aim should be to bring the cost down to as low as possible, preferably lower than competitors. Relevant content and interesting conversations help derive the CPA down. Giveaways are also very useful.

Learn more about today’s media reality [infographic].

9. Customer Reviews/Ratings 

Number and quality of positive or negative customer reviews or ratings received per period. It provides a clear picture of how the consumers perceive the brand. These are valuable insights that help any brand create a strong presence online. Reviews are user-generated word-of-mouth and are very important for purchase decisions. Brands should incentivize users to review and rate their products and services so that it generates positive WOM or useful insights that can improve the product/service. Read more about ways to stay ahead using social media here.

Unsure about how important customer reviews are? This might help: 20 Inspiring Quotes On Customer Service

10. Customer Turnover Rate or Churn Rate 

A measure of the number of customers who leave over a specific period of time. This shows a brand’s ability to retain consumers and consistently offer value. If the churn rate is high, it is a clear indication that something is wrong with the applied strategies.

Consumers in today’s world are easier to reach out to. On the other hand, they are also, more than ever vocal and powerful in sharing their experiences with brands and peers. Success and failure in social media marketing depend on how well the brand understands the consumers and connects with them on a “human-like” level. Brands now have the power to get closer to people, befriend them and earn their trust. At the same time, they are vulnerable to consumer outrage and negative WOM. KPIs are useful tools to consistently track and monitor your brand’s customer experiences on digital platforms.