Metrics That Really Matter To Your Business

It’s easy to get caught up in paying attention to how many followers, likes, comments and subscribers people have on Instagram. This, in turn, makes us easily distracted by factors that are less important than they truly are. There’s more to Instagram than likes and followers. Learning how to boost engagement rate is the key to a successful account.

Looking closer at your analytics and numbers will tell you how loyal your audience is. This will give you a view of how invested they are in yours of whichever brand you may be looking at.

Not only that, but analytics will also provide insight into how well your content is driving audiences to the point of purchase; ultimately, your goal for social media marketing.

Here are a few ways to start steering away from vanity metrics to pay closer attention to the numbers that matter, your engagement rates.

1: Likes VS Engagements Rates

We most often look at the number of likes a brand gets on their photos but instead, should be looking at the engagement rates of these photos. How to calculate engagement rate of your photos is rather simple. Calculated by totalling likes and comments and dividing that figure by the total number of followers for that account.

The percentage that will result from this calculation will give you an indication of how much of an audience is engaged with that page.

Anything above 3% (planable.com) is considered above average and means this page would have a more loyal and engaged audience than most others.

2: Session times VS Page Views

If you own a website or blog, growing your number of page views might seem like a high priority. More than page views, you should take time spent per session into account. So if you only have 3 page views but your visitors are staying on the site for 20 minutes, for example, that’s a clear indication your content is engaging and is adding value for your readers. Take this one step further but noting which pages are the ones with the highest view times. That way you can continue to create content that aligns with what people are coming back to your site for.

3: Subscribers VS Path to purchase

Whether you have a newsletter or are growing a YouTube channel, having a large number of subscribers is certainly exciting. It’s a great feeling to have large volumes of people so interested in what you have to offer, they hit “subscribe” to continue receiving your updates. This would be your vanity metric. The proxy metric that will add value to your number of subscribers is to learn more about what directs your consumers along their path to purchase or “convert” to your brand in some way. For example, a newsletter reader would have to click the products or other articles you share and eventually purchase or engage with the content on another platform. For YouTube, subscribers would be effective in driving your metrics when they start clicking items in the description of your videos and eventually, purchasing them.

The distinction between vanity and proxy metrics is sometimes unclear and it can be easy to get caught up in the ‘easy’ numbers. Just remember the deeper you look into your analytics and numbers, the more informed you’ll be as you continue building your brand and content.