Social media metrics: what are they and how to analyze them strategically?

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Social media , such as Instagram and Facebook, are great channels for promoting your brand and interacting with your customers. With a well-planned strategy and quality content production , many companies, such as health insurance companies, brokers and hospitals, for example, can achieve great results. But to achieve this, monitoring social media metrics is essential . And when we talk about metrics, we are talking about much more than just likes and followers.

What are social media metrics?
Metrics are indicators of user behavior with their profiles. According to Reportei , a tool that generates digital marketing reports and that we use here at the agency, metrics for social networks serve to measure the results of your online actions through data that help to understand user behavior and profile, as well as trends.

Many people confuse metrics with KPIs ( Key Performance Indicators ), which cayman islands whatsapp number database very similar concepts. However, while metrics reflect visitor behavior, KPIs reflect the performance of the business itself. Basically, metrics are information and KPIs are results.

Read also : 5 practical digital marketing tips for healthcare providers

What to consider when choosing KPIs to monitor?
To do this, it’s essential to be clear about what your goals are for each channel. Set specific goals for each social media campaign, and then develop metrics based on those goals.

See more : How to increase brand recognition for your healthcare company

Most important metrics and KPIs
Below, check out the most common metrics and KPIs for social media for companies in the healthcare sector:

Scope
Reach is the number of users that the post reached. However, there is organic reach, which is the result achieved in a non-paid way, and there is paid reach , which is the result of ads promoted on social networks. Due to the great competition and the high number of users, organic reach has been decreasing. That's why ads on social networks are important. They make your publication reach more people.

See : Health ads on social media: what is allowed?

Engagement
Engagement is the metric that measures the audience's involvement with the publication. This takes into account the number of likes, comments, and shares. In the case of Facebook and Instagram ads that have a video format , viewing the video also appears as engagement. On Instagram , specifically, saving the post can also be a form of engagement. Therefore, this is an important metric to know how interested the audience is in your content.

Engagement rate
It is very important to know how many people engaged with the publication according to the reach that the post had. For example, imagine that a post has 50 engagement and 100 reach, while another post has 50 engagement and 300 reach. Which post had better results? The first one. Because its engagement rate was better.

To calculate engagement rate, you generally need to divide engagement by reach and multiply by 100.

Each page has its own audience and content style. Therefore, it is best to compare the engagement rate of your posts with that of previous posts and even with posts from businesses similar to the one you manage, if possible. There is no good average engagement rate to compare across all profiles.

Check out : What is it and how to strategically define your target audience? 5 tips

Brand sentiment
There is no point in having lots of mentions and comments on posts if the interactions are negative. That is why brand sentiment is so important. After all, it is the metric that shows user sentiment. This feedback is very important to understand the relationship between your brand and people .

Conversion
Conversion is the desired action for your company, which you configure through the ads manager, whether on Facebook , Instagram or LinkedIn , and/or in Google Analytics . For example, you want people to visit your website through your Instagram ad and fill out a form. Conversion is the completion of the form.

Click-through rate (CTR)
CTR is the percentage of times people saw your ad and clicked on it . It's a very important metric if, for example, your goal is to drive traffic to your website. This rate is calculated based on the total impressions and clicks of your ad.

Cost per result
To calculate this metric, divide the total amount spent by the number of results. This could be cost per click or cost per engagement, for example. It indicates the achievement of objectives in relation to cost-benefit. Therefore, this metric only appears for ads that have been placed. It is not possible to view the cost per result for organic posts .

Growth by channel
The growth of each channel shows the results of its actions in general. So, by analyzing the increase in the follower base, engagement and traffic, it is possible to calculate the growth of the channel.

Why is it important to track and analyze metrics?
Analyzing metrics is essential to achieving efficiency in your digital marketing strategy and better results. According to the Social Media Trends 2019 report by Rock Content, around 75.6% of companies reported analyzing the results obtained on social media.

By monitoring the data and results of posts and ads, it is possible to understand whether what is being done is working, and define more efficient next steps, always based on the data.


According to Social Media Trends , engagement and reach are the metrics most observed by the companies that participated in the survey, with 75.5% and 72.4% of mentions, respectively. Next, the main ones are conversion, traffic and growth by channel.

How to monitor social networks?
Yes, there are many metrics and KPIs. However, by hiring some support tools, it is possible to access this data and perform strategic analyses. Social networks themselves show some insights and data, such as Instagram Insights, Facebook Insights and LinkedIn Insights. Other tools that can help with this task are: Reportei, Buzzmonitor , Mlabs and SemRush . We, here at Wellmaker, use all of these.