How to Conduct a Social Media Performance Assessment
Social media is always changing. Algorithms are updated, consumer behavior evolves, trends emerge - all altering the social media ecosystem that one’s social media strategy is built around. The constantly-evolving digital landscape requires organizations to be responsive in their social media approach and commit to routine performance evaluation to ensure that their social presence remains effective.
Additionally, every organization’s social media is different. What works for one organization may not work in the same way or yield the same results for another organization. Consideration of the organization’s unique mission, positioning, and target market are important when developing an assessment strategy for the entity. While competitor evaluation is one aspect of marketing strategy development, recognition of the organization-specific variables that contribute to performance is essential for sustainable success in the social media space.
Evaluating social media performance on a routine basis (weekly, monthly, quarterly) and tracking patterns and changes can help organizations keep their online actions on point and relevant. Just because something posted a year ago received a good response, doesn’t mean the same content will work today. Social media metrics - many of which are available for free within social media apps - provide organizational leaders with insight into what types of content results in the desired response.
Which social media metrics matter?
All social media metrics are not equal. Some metrics, like the number of followers, may sound good; however, if not supported by engagement, they do very little for the organization’s bottom line. Marketers call these potentially misleading smoke and mirror results “vanity metrics.”
Valuable social media metrics, like post engagement, contribute to the organization’s development goals, and these are the social media metrics nonprofits should prioritize in their routine social media performance assessments.
Here are a few social media metrics that are potential performance markers:
Clicks:
Tracking the number of clicks organizational content receives through social media provides insight into how well the digital content prompts users to take action.
Reach:
Defined as how many social media users saw the content, reach informs on organic potential, and offers valuable data that can be used alongside other metrics for additional insight into strategy performance.
Two types of reach - Organic vs. Paid. Organic reach is the number of social media users that have seen the brand’s post through unpaid distribution. Paid reach is the number of social media users that have seen a paid post from the brand’s social media channels.
Engagement:
Dividing a post’s total recorded engagements by the reach can offer organizational leaders more information on whether or not their social media content is resonating among users.
Depending on the social media platforms, engagement can consist of a variety of actions, including likes, shares, retweets, comments, and clicks. If a post reached 2000 people, but only generated two likes and one click, you’re not getting much engagement.
How often should social media metrics be evaluated?
Routine social media metric evaluation can help organizations to make informed decisions and improve the performance of future digital content through data-supported strategy revision. When reviewing social media performance, be sure to compare apples to apples (Facebook page performance a year ago to Facebook page performance a month ago - not Facebook page performance to Twitter account performance) and make notes of any changes - both internal and external - that may have contributed to reported performance.
Here are a few actionable suggestions for social media performance evaluation:
Compile a list of organizational goals - both short-term and long-term - to assist with social strategy development.
Review industry standards for engagement and ROI results and compare your organization’s digital performance to these published benchmarks.
Compare the organization's Facebook Page performance to that of competitors using tools like Agorapulse’s Barometer.
Compare the organization’s social media channel performance to industry benchmarks:
In 2018, the average engagement rate per post for nonprofit organizations was:
0.17% on Facebook
2.14% on Instagram
0.05% on Twitter
3. Develop informed, customized social media criteria that can help assess the organization’s social media performance over a set period of time.
Answer the following questions:
What are the top three metrics we should track per platform?
What platform(s) do we think we can see the most improvement in within invested in paid reach?
How much time will we give a new tactic or strategy to perform?
Suggestion: 30 to 90 days, depending on the channel’s following and activity level.
4. Evaluate which social media posts did well and which ones did not. Did video posts on Instagram outperform static ones? Did graphics on Pinterest perform better than video pins? Adjust the organization’s editorial calendar accordingly.
Maintaining an editorial calendar for your organization’s social media content can help with social media assessment, as it provides the Client with easy access to post information.
At a minimum, organizations should pull all in-app social media metrics every quarter for evaluation. Monthly performance reports are preferred.
Social media metrics are available for free within the app to the Page/account administrator and are readily available for download and/or export.
Review any changes that were made (example: increased video posts, posting date coincided with influencer activation, etc.) and assess how much influence these changes may have had on the social media performance. Also, be sure to consider any external updates, like app-directed algorithm changes, that may have contributed to any of the observed patterns.
Learn more about social media strategy for nonprofit organizations:
If your organization is looking for a creative partner to provide marketing and PR services, Becker Digital is always ready to help. Our team of experienced professionals is available for projects large and small. We work to customize our services to the client’s needs. Contact us to schedule a complimentary call and learn more about how digital strategy can enhance your organization’s mission.