5 Social Media Metrics That Actually Matter

Vanity metrics are out. Learn which KPIs actually correlate with revenue and business growth.

In the age of social media marketing, it's easy to get distracted by numbers that look impressive but don't actually drive business results. Likes, followers, and impressions might feel good, but they don't pay the bills.

1. Engagement Rate

Engagement rate measures how actively your audience interacts with your content. Unlike raw engagement numbers, the rate accounts for your audience size, making it a fair comparison across accounts of different sizes.

Formula: (Total Engagements / Total Followers) x 100

A good engagement rate varies by platform, but generally 1-3% is average, 3-6% is good, and above 6% is excellent.

2. Click-Through Rate (CTR)

CTR shows how effectively your content drives traffic to your website or landing pages. It's a direct indicator of how compelling your calls-to-action are.

• Track UTM parameters for accurate attribution
• Compare CTR across different content types
• A/B test your CTAs to improve performance

3. Conversion Rate

This is where social media meets revenue. Conversion rate tracks how many social visitors complete a desired action—whether that's signing up for a newsletter, downloading an ebook, or making a purchase.

"A thousand followers who never buy are worth less than ten followers who become customers."

4. Share of Voice (SOV)

Share of voice measures your brand's visibility compared to competitors. It tells you how much of the conversation in your industry includes your brand.

• Monitor brand mentions across platforms
• Track competitor mentions for comparison
• Analyze sentiment along with volume

5. Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC)

Perhaps the most important metric for proving ROI, CAC tells you how much you're spending to acquire each customer through social media.

Formula: Total Social Spend / Number of Customers Acquired

How PostDog Helps

With PostDog's unified analytics dashboard, you can track all these metrics across WhatsApp, social media, and email in one place. No more jumping between platforms or manually compiling spreadsheets.

Focus on the metrics that matter, and watch your social media strategy transform from a vanity project to a revenue driver.