Introduction To Social Media Goals
Setting clear, measurable social media goals aligned to overarching business objectives is the key to developing and executing a successful social media marketing strategy. Rather than focusing solely on vanity metrics like the number of followers, likes or shares, brands today need to define concrete, actionable goals that demonstrate a return on investment and impact on the bottom line.
The first step is to categorize your social media goals into four key areas: Reach, Engagement, ROI, and Retention. “Reach goals” relates to increasing awareness of your brand. Engagement goals drive interaction with your target audience. ROI goals directly impact revenue and the bottom line. Finally, retention goals center around improving customer loyalty over time.
Within each of these categories, specific key performance indicators (KPIs) can be identified to track performance against your objectives. For reach, this may include follower count, impressions, mentions and share of voice. Engagement KPIs can dig into metrics like likes, comments, shares, and reviews. ROI goals will analyze sales revenue, lead conversions and customer lifetime value generated via social campaigns. Retention KPIs will look at reviews, issue resolution, service levels, time to resolution, net promoter score and overall sentiment.
By clearly defining business-focused social media goals and proactively tracking performance against key performance indicators in each area, brands can prove the value of their social media efforts and get executive buy-in for the resources needed to fully capitalize on social media marketing.
Reach Goals Increase Awareness
Reach metrics are often focused on growing your audience and increasing awareness of your brand. While these may seem like vanity metrics, they can serve an important purpose if your business goals include expanding your market share and visibility. Some key performance indicators to track for reach include:
Follower Count: This tracks the number of followers across your social media channels. It shows the size of your branded social audience. While raw follower numbers mean less than who those followers are, significant increases or decreases can indicate how well your brand awareness efforts are working.
Impressions: Impressions measure how often your content is being seen. It tracks the number of times your posts have been displayed to users. More impressions mean greater visibility for your brand. High impression numbers may reveal opportunities to turn that viewership into engagement.
Mentions: This social media goal tracks how many times your brand or branded keywords and hashtags are mentioned by others across social media. A higher volume of brand mentions indicates you are stimulating conversation and prompting social sharing. Monitoring your share of voice and mentions versus competitors can provide insight into your influence.
Share of Voice: Share of voice analyzes what percentage of the overall conversation your brand captures compared to competitors. It highlights how effectively you are getting your message out relative to others vying for the same audience. Increasing your share of voice demonstrates rising awareness and mindshare.
Engagement Goals Drive Interaction
Engagement metrics demonstrate how well your audience is interacting with your brand and content. These are often more telling than simple reach and awareness metrics, as engagement shows your messaging is resonating and prompting reactions. Key performance indicators for engagement include:
Likes/Favorites: The like button offers a straightforward way for users to show appreciation for your content. Tracking likes helps gauge interest levels. Content that generates more likes has higher appeal. This can guide decisions on the types of content to produce.
Comments: When users comment directly on your posts, which shows they felt strongly enough to share feedback and engage in conversation. Monitoring comments provides instant insight into what resonates. High comment levels mean your content is prompting discussion.
Shares/Retweets: When users share or retweet your content, they are spreading your message and increasing your reach for free. This shows your content offers value. Users only share content they feel will interest and benefit their own audiences.
Reviews: Customer product/service reviews give credible opinions that influence buying decisions. Positive reviews build trust and credibility. Monitoring reviews helps track sentiment and engagement. Promoting and managing reviews can be a key part of the strategy.
ROI Goals Impact Revenue
Driving measurable business results is the end goal for most marketers, and social media ROI is no exception. To secure budget and executive buy-in, it is crucial to define social media goals and KPIs that directly impact revenue and the bottom line. Examples include:
Sales Revenue: Track revenue from purchases made directly through social media, such as from special coupon codes or clicks on products tagged in posts. This measures the hard dollar impact of social efforts.
Lead Conversions: Count conversions from social campaigns like email sign-ups, content downloads, free trials, etc. These “micro-conversions” indicate interest and intent even if they don’t immediately convert to sales.
Cost Savings: Calculate how much you are reducing customer support costs by proactively answering questions on social channels before they turn into calls. Demonstrate the value of social service.
Lifetime Value: Analyze the projected revenue generated by acquired social media customers over the life of the relationship. Getting the right followers boosts this metric.
Proving you can drive ROI is pivotal in making the case for the business value of social media marketing. The more goals and KPIs that tie directly to revenue, the better.
Retention Goals Improve Loyalty
For brands focused on customer retention and loyalty, social media goals should center around sustaining engagement, monitoring sentiment over time, and resolving issues quickly. Key performance indicators include:
Reviews & Ratings: Continuously monitor customer reviews and ratings on social media. This reveals how perceptions evolve and helps flag problems early. Promote review generation.
Issues Resolved: Track how many customer issues and complaints are resolved satisfactorily via social channels. Speedy public issue resolution improves perception.
SLA: Monitor service level agreement (SLA) metrics like response time. Set standards for initial response time and resolution time when customers engage on social media.
Time to Resolution: Measure how long it takes to not just respond but provide answers and resolve customer issues flagged on social. Fast resolution strengthens loyalty.
Net Promoter Score: Survey social media followers periodically to calculate NPS. This measures satisfaction and likelihood to recommend. High NPS indicates stronger retention potential.
Sentiment: Analyze the tone and sentiment of social mentions. The more positive the commentary, the better. Work to shift negative sentiment by addressing concerns.
Building an audience is just the first step. The real goal is sustaining engagement and satisfaction over time. Setting retention-focused social media goals is key.
Conclusion
Defining clear social media goals and key performance indicators aligned to overarching business objectives provides focus and direction to execute a results-driven social media strategy. But given how rapidly the social landscape evolves, it is crucial to revisit and refresh your social media goals at least every 6-12 months.
As your business grows and changes strategy, your KPIs need to shift as well. Do not stick rigidly to metrics that no longer fit your needs. Review them regularly and adjust based on new initiatives.
Well-defined social media goals get results. But more than that, they get executive buy-in by demonstrating in quantifiable terms how social efforts impact the bottom line. Keeping leadership aligned on the right KPIs for the business is key to securing the budget and resources to fully capitalize on social media marketing.
Social Media Goals FAQ
Q: What are some examples of social media goals?
A: Common social media goals include increasing brand awareness, driving engagement, generating leads and sales, improving customer satisfaction, and reducing customer service costs.
Q: How do I choose the right goals for my business?
A: Align your social media goals with your overall business objectives. If your focus is sales, set goals for driving conversions and revenue. If it’s customer retention, target goals around satisfaction and loyalty.
Q: What is the difference between vanity metrics and KPIs?
A: Vanity metrics like followers and likes only measure surface popularity. KPIs (key performance indicators) track progress towards business goals like revenue and customer growth.
Q: What are some examples of social media KPIs?
A: KPIs can include conversions, leads, sales, website traffic, reach, engagement, sentiment, customer service metrics, reviews, and more.
Q: How often should I revisit my social media goals?
A: Review and refresh your social media goals every 6-12 months. Business strategies evolve so you want your KPIs to stay relevant.
Q: How do I get leadership buy-in for social media goals?
A: Show how your goals and KPIs directly support overall business objectives. Quantify the value and ROI of social efforts.
Q: What tools can I use to track social media KPIs?
A: Social media management and analytics tools like Sprout Social, Hootsuite, and Google Analytics can help you monitor and analyze your performance against key goals.
Social Media Goals Glossary
KPI: Key Performance Indicator – A measurable value used to evaluate success in meeting objectives.
ROI: Return on Investment – A measure of profit or loss generated by an investment.
SMART Goals: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound goals.
Impressions: The number of times content is displayed to users.
Reach: The total number of people exposed to content.
Engagement Rate: The amount of engagement a piece of content generates divided by total reach.
CTA: Call-To-Action – Encourages audience to take specific action.
Conversion: When a user takes a desired action like making a purchase.
CTR: Click-Through Rate – The ratio of clicks on a link compared to impressions.
SEO: Search Engine Optimization – Improving content for better search ranking.
NPS: Net Promoter Score – Measures customer satisfaction and loyalty.
SLA: Service-Level Agreement – Defines standards for customer service response time.
UGCO: User-Generated Content – Content created and shared by users.
Share of Voice: Your brand’s share of the total conversation on social media.
Sentiment: The overall tone, feeling, and emotion expressed in mentions, conversations, and interactions about a brand on social media, measured as positive, negative, or neutral.
Social Media Goal Setting Checklist
☐ Align goals with overall business objectives
☐ Categorize goals into reach, engagement, ROI, and loyalty
☐ Make goals S.M.A.R.T. (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound)
☐ Set both short-term and long-term goals
☐ Define targets and KPIs for each goal
☐ Include a mix of vanity and business metrics
☐ Track awareness KPIs (followers, reach, etc.)
☐ Track engagement KPIs (likes, shares, comments)
☐ Set revenue goals and ROI metrics
☐ Set customer service and retention goals
☐ Determine process for measuring KPIs
☐ Identify necessary tools and resources
☐ Get stakeholder input on goals
☐ Create processes and policies to support goals
☐ Document goals for internal alignment
☐ Revisit goals quarterly and refine as needed
☐ Report on goal progress regularly
☐ Celebrate successes and analyze areas for improvement
