As a marketer, we need to constantly prove your value. You need to show that your company needs you as much any salesperson or business analyst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You know you\u2019re good, and it\u2019s time to show that to everyone else.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To help you, we asked Klipfolio<\/a>\u2019s Valerie Hamilton to give us her top 10 social media management<\/a> metrics, to prove your return on investment (ROI).<\/p>\n\n\n\n We\u2019re going to break down all of these metrics below, to show you how they help. If you\u2019d rather hear it in Valerie\u2019s own words, watch the webinar here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But first\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chances are, your business uses social media already. Whether or not you have a fully-fledged social marketing program, you probably share tweets and image updates and answer customer service questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And you should be. Regardless of what kind of business you are, your customers are on social media. So if you want to reach them, you don\u2019t really have a choice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The problem<\/strong>: Not all social media marketing is equal, and not every strategy will work for you. That means you need a way to track your progress, identify the good and the bad, and measure ROI<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n Without this, you\u2019re just guessing<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s why it\u2019s so important to start tracking social media metrics that matter. With these, you can measure the ROI of your marketing efforts (what you actually get back), and make smarter decisions for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One quick note before we dive in. While all of these metrics are interesting, they may not all be important for you<\/em>. First, you need to figure out why you\u2019re using social media, and what you\u2019re hoping to get back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your goals might include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n And you may have other goals entirely. It\u2019s key to figure this out for your brand, so you\u2019re able to assess whether social media marketing is paying off<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n And now for number 1…<\/p>\n\n\n\n Many marketers dismiss this as purely a vanity metric. How many followers you have isn\u2019t as important as how engaged your followers are.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That may be true. But if your goals include extending your network and increasing your reach, your follower count plays a role. Especially if you\u2019re marketing across several social media channels:<\/p>\n\n\n If one of these profiles is new, it makes sense that you don\u2019t have many followers yet. But what if you\u2019ve worked to build audiences on Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn for the past six months?<\/p>\n\n\n\n You may discover quickly that your YouTube profile is far more popular than your LinkedIn page, and this is a great opportunity to double down on your efforts there. This may also be a sign that your LinkedIn presence isn\u2019t growing, and maybe it\u2019s best to forget about it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another way to approach the follower count is to look at growth. This shows you whether you\u2019re trending up (and fast), or if sadly, your followers are leaving you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If increasing your follower numbers is a key metric, then the growth rate should be too. If you can show consistent growth over several months<\/strong>, you can justify the effort and dedication you\u2019ve put in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Again, you can also single out faster-growing profiles and put extra effort in those. If you\u2019ve put some time into Pinterest, for example, and the rate of growth is stagnant, there\u2019s simply no reason to keep slaving away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In this case, you may want to cut the cord.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Luckily, monitoring follower growth is incredibly easy<\/strong>. You can happily do it with a simple spreadsheet, updated each month. Or, there are plenty of social media tools<\/a> to use, so you barely have to lift a finger.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Valerie explained, mentions are a useful way to measure brand awareness and find out who\u2019s really talking about you online<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Closely tracking mentions<\/a> shows you:<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhy is social media ROI important?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"simpsons-social-media-metrics\"](\"https:\/\/mention.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/simpsons-social-media-metrics.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nThe top 10 social media metrics<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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1. Social media followers<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
![\"Social](\"https:\/\/mention.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/follower-growth-social-media-metrics-1024x485.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n2. Follower growth<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. Social media mentions<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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