KPIs in Social Media: key indicators & measurement strategies

Successful businesses know that their strategy in the social media must be measured continuously. The KPIs in social media are the key performance measurement indicators we choose to assess the effectiveness of our actions. For example, they show how responsive an audience is to a post or how many purchases an ad drives. As Papaki's blog points out, doubts about whether social media is "performing" can be dispelled by properly measuring and tracking the right KPIs. In this day and age, when Greece counts 7.4 million social media users (71.7% of the population), the right metrics guide small businesses, e-shops and professionals to make informed decisions.

What are Social Media KPIs and why they are important

The KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) on social media are quantified data that show us how successful our strategy is. They are measured through analytics tools (e.g. Facebook Insights, Instagram Analytics) and illuminate which actions are working and which are not. As Semrush reports, KPIs allow you to link effort to company goals. Especially for small businesses In Greece, where digital marketing is a key to survival, monitoring these indicators is essential. Papaki points out that by properly measuring social media actions, we get answers to the success of our strategy.

A friendly advice: Define your goals from the start (e.g. increase sales, improve awareness), so that you can choose the right KPIs. For example, if you are an e-shop, you may be interested in conversion and ROI indicators. Again, if you want to increase brand awareness, measure impressions and reach. Another reason KPIs are critical is that they allow for competitive comparisons and benchmarking, as Semrush reports. In short, we measure so we can improve.

Main Categories of Social Media KPIs

The Social media KPIs are divided into categories, depending on the target they measure. Let's look at the main ones:

Visibility KPIs (Visibility KPIs)

They show how many people are watching your content. More visibility means a greater chance of new followers and customers:

• Impressions: The number of times the post appeared in the users' feed (counts repeated views by the same user). High impressions indicate content exposure.
  
• Reach: The number of unique users who saw your post. But the same user is counted once, even if they saw many posts. This counter shows how far your message travels.
  
• Number of Followers: How many people follow your profile in total. Increased by new followers and decreased by unfollows. The level of followers shows the size of your audience. In special cases, decreasing followers can mean better targeting (as Semrush reports).
  
• Audience Growth Rate: The rate of growth of new followers within a period of time. Calculated by dividing new followers by the total number of followers before, and multiplying by 100. E.g. 100 new followers in 1,000 is an increase of 10%. It signifies how fast your community is growing.
  
• Video Views: If you upload videos, count how many times each video has been viewed. The meaning of "view" varies by platform (e.g. 3 seconds on Facebook, 30 on YouTube). View "counts": lots of views mean your content is catching interest.
  

Engagement KPIs (Engagement KPIs)

Retrieved from how the public reacts in your content. They show the relationship you have with your audience:

• Likes and Reactions (Numerous Interactions): The total number of "likes" and other reactions (smiles, hearts, etc.) to your posts. The more likes a post gets, the more likely it is that your content is getting a response.
  
• Disclosures / Shares: When people share your content on their own profiles, visibility (spreading the message) is greatly increased. They help with viral marketing, since a share acts as a recommendation.
  
• Comments: The number of comments on your post. They comment when the audience wants to talk to you or exchange views. A post with many comments has deep interaction. Papaki stresses that responding to questions and even negative reviews is important.
  
• Mentions (References to other posts): When people mention your business in posts or comments with your name (tag), you see what's being said about it. As Papaki writes, these mentions provide insights into how much people are talking about you.
  
• Engagement Rate: The most concise indicator: calculated by dividing the sum of interactions (likes+shares+comments) by the number of followers, multiplied by 100. E.g. 200 interactions in 1,000 followers is 20%. It shows the percentage of followers who react to your content. A high interaction rate indicates that your audience finds value in what you post.
  

Conversion KPIs (Conversion KPIs)

These measure how many users take a final action (sale, registration, etc.) after an interaction on social media:

• Conversion Rate: The percentage of users who perform a desired action (e.g. purchase, subscribe) after clicking on the post or ad. Calculated as (Number of Conversions ÷ Number of Clicks)×100. A high conversion rate means that your content motivates action.
  
• CTR (Click-Through Rate): The percentage of those who do Click in the prompt (CTA) among those who saw the post. A user who sees the post and clicks is a percentage in the CTR. Calculated: (Click on CTA ÷ Views)×100. It measures how engaging your content and call-to-action is.
  
• Cost Per Click (CPC): If you do paid ads, it shows how much you pay on average when someone clicks on your ad. According to the Yellow Pages, CPC = Total Ad Spend ÷ Total Clicks. A low CPC means efficient advertising.
  
• Sales Revenue (Sales Revenue): The total amount of sales attributed to social media. It is often tracked with cookies, special URLs or Google Analytics. It directly shows the financial benefit (ROI) of social media.
  
• Bounce Rate: The percentage of people who click on the CTA but quickly leave your page without completing an action. It is calculated as. Increasing, indicates problems on the landing page. Decreasing bounce rate (reducing abandoners) means improved sales or signups.
  

Customer Satisfaction KPIs (Customer Satisfaction KPIs)

They assess how satisfied your customers are:

• Review Ratings: Average number of stars in comments/reviews on social media or Google My Business. A business with 4.5/5 stars has high satisfaction.
  
• CSAT (Customer Satisfaction Score): Satisfaction rate. You ask customers to rate from 1 to 5 how satisfied they are and count (%) those with a score of 4-5. Over time, any change over time reveals a problem or improvement in the customer experience.
  

Share of Voice KPIs (Share of Voice KPIs)

They measure how often your brand is mentioned compared to the competition:

• Brand Mentions: How many times is your brand mentioned in tags/user reviews or on the internet in general. A high number offers insight into trust and awareness.
  
• Company/Campaign hashtags: How many times are the official hashtags of your business used. This is how you see how much your campaign is spreading organically. Hashtags "drive search" - the more people click on your hashtags, the more your overall visibility increases.
  

How to Choose the Right KPIs

You don't have to keep track of everything. The most important thing is to link KPIs to your strategic goals. For example, if you are small business e-shop that wants to increase sales, focus on Conversion Rate, CTR and Sales Revenue. If you want to increase brand awareness, measure mainly Impressions, Reach and Followers.

In addition, consider the your corporate strategy: as Semrush says, compare your position in the industry and study what the competition is watching. Each platform (e.g. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok) has its own analytics capabilities. Social media analytics, such as Facebook Insights, offer these metrics for free. If, for example, Instagram gives you analytics on how many users viewed and interacted with your stories, leverage them for comparisons and improvements.

To maximise the benefit of social media marketing, set clear goals, select the corresponding KPIs and measure them systematically. Statistics show that 71.7% of Greeks use social media. Take advantage of this opportunity: with the right indicators, you will have a scientific insight into your performance, thus optimizing your strategy. As experts say, successful social media marketing is not a matter of luck but of planned metrics.

Sources: semrush.com | papaki.com | datareportal.com | adsolutions.xo.gr |