As we entered 2024, over 5 billion people were scrolling, liking, and sharing content on social media. For context, that’s over 60% of the world’s population. An even more remarkable statistic is that 75% of those users now turn to these platforms to learn more about a product before buying it.
Imagine capturing the attention of just 0.001% of that number for your e-commerce store. That’s a potential 50,000 people discovering your products and engaging with your brand. And if you turned even a fraction of them into brand advocates, they could significantly broaden your reach through their networks.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
As much as every business with a social media presence dreams of it, going viral isn’t as easy as just posting something and waiting for the likes to roll in. It takes a lot of fine-tuning to identify what resonates with your audience. That’s where social media key performance indicators (KPIs) come into play. They’re the pointers that guide you on your road to 50K.
Monitoring and adapting your marketing strategy to these key metrics for e-commerce is essential if you want to harness the full potential of your online store.
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What are Social Media KPIs?
The e-commerce landscape is expanding exponentially, and as digital trends like livestream shopping have proven, social media is one of the most significant contributors to this transformation. Many businesses are shifting their models from brick-and-mortar to online shopping platforms because of their proven ability to reach more people and boost sales.
Within this ever-changing and somewhat overwhelming environment, social media KPIs serve as valuable data points to measure the effectiveness of your marketing efforts. They tell you how well your social media strategy is performing and the impact of your activities across different platforms.
Beware of Vanity Metrics
Remember, tracking social media KPIs informs your decisions on optimizing your strategy. As such, you should prioritize the actionable KPIs supporting your business goals.
Like acquaintances, vanity metrics might make you feel popular with their high numbers—think likes, follows, and views. They wave at you from across the street or double-tap on your photo, but will they be there for you when you launch a new product or need genuine feedback? Probably not.
On the other hand, actionable social media KPIs are your true friends. They’re the engaged customers who show up and participate in your brand’s journey. You want to look at your conversion rate, customer lifetime value, and engagement rate for this. That’s where you will see the real impact of your social media efforts on your business’s bottom line.
Key Social Media Metrics for E-commerce
The key social media KPIs for an online store can be grouped into four main categories: reach, engagement, conversion, and customer satisfaction data. Let’s take a look.
Reach KPIs
Reach metrics are all about how visible and influential your brand is across social platforms.
- Impressions: The number of times your content appears on users’ screens, whether they interact with it or not. It’s a vital measure of whether your posts reach your audience and how often people come across them.
- Audience growth rate: A better way to measure a follower count, this KPI shows how your brand’s audience expands over time. A high audience growth rate shows that your brand resonates with your target audience and maintains their interest.
- Reach: The number of unique users who have seen a specific piece of content. This figure provides insight into the spread of your posts across platforms and their ability to capture attention.
- Potential reach: A measurement of the maximum number of people a post could reach, including followers and their connections. This social media KPI gives you an idea of your post’s potential to go viral.
- Social share of voice: Voice share shows how often your brand is mentioned in social conversations compared to your competitors. It’s a great way to understand your brand’s prominence and how customers engage with you relative to others in your industry.
- Website traffic: The number of visitors who visited your e-commerce website from social media. If you’re currently running a campaign, this metric is a great way to assess its effectiveness in driving traffic to your website and converting customers.
Engagement KPIs
Engagement social media KPIs show you the quality and depth of the interactions between your brand and its audience. Beyond the standard likes, comments, and shares, these are the items to pay close attention to:
- Applause rate: Your content’s level of audience approval can be gauged through actions such as likes and favorites. These metrics provide insight into whether people like what you post.
- Average engagement rate: This is a percentage calculation of the level of interaction your content receives divided by your audience size. I.e., the likes, comments, shares, and saves. It shows how your content speaks to your audience and whether they engage with it.
- Amplification rate: How frequently does your audience share your content? Again, the frequency tells you how much your content resonates with them and makes them want to spread the word.
Conversion Social Media KPIs
Conversion is a key metric for e-commerce because it shows how successful your campaigns are and whether your marketing efforts make any impact on your bottom line.
Remember, high engagement is only beneficial if it translates into concrete results like more website visitors and prospective customers for your e-commerce store. If not, you’re either reaching the wrong audience or there’s something amiss in your content.
Here’s what to look at:
- Click-Through Rate (CTR): The number of people who clicked on a call-to-action link within your post or ad. A high CTR means your content is compelling enough for viewers to take the next step toward a conversion.
- Bounce rate: This shows how many visitors leave your site after viewing only one page on your website. A lower bounce rate suggests you are “talking to” the right audience and your e-commerce store is engaging enough to keep them scrolling.
- Cost per Click (CPC): This shows how much every click on your sponsored posts or ads costs. It is a good marker of how financially efficient and effective your paid social media campaigns are.
- Cost per Thousand Impressions (CPM): This metric estimates how much it costs for your advertisement to reach a thousand viewers. Like the CPC, it helps evaluate how cost-effective your awareness campaigns are.
- Revenue: How much income do you generate from social media marketing? It clearly shows your campaign’s return on investment (ROI).
Customer Satisfaction KPIs
Customer retention metrics evaluate your customers’ experiences and your brand’s ability to fulfill their expectations. If you want to foster brand loyalty and maintain long-term customer relationships, these are your social media KPIs.
- Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT): Calculate your CSAT score by dividing the number of satisfied customers (those who rated their satisfaction as “Satisfied” or above) by the total number of customers surveyed. Then, multiply the result by 100. This figure gives you a precise, quantifiable measure of your customers’ satisfaction with your products or services.
- Net Promoter Score (NPS): On the other end, the NPS is calculated by subtracting the percentage of customers who are detractors (those who would not recommend your company to others) from the percentage of customers who are promoters (those who would). A high NPS indicates customer satisfaction and loyalty.
- Customer Lifetime Value (CLV): This social media KPI is the total revenue your business can expect from a single customer throughout their relationship. A high CLV shows you have a quality product that appeals to your target audience.
Together, conversion and customer satisfaction KPIs show you how well your company brings in customers and keeps them happy.
How To Track Social Media KPIs
The whirlpool of social media metrics can be daunting with all the data you need to collect and analyze. So, where do you start?
Thankfully, some tools and methods make it easier to identify what is working and where there is room for improvement.
Native Solutions
First, begin with the analytics tools the social media platforms provide. These built-in tools are still exhaustive and do an excellent job of analyzing your account’s performance.
They are also easy to use, which makes them a good starting point for beginners or marketers looking for a quick snapshot of their social media activity.
Custom Reports
If you want more detailed insights, then custom reports are what you should look at. Tools like Google Analytics allow you to create reports tailored to your specific needs, such as tracking your customer’s journey from social media to your website or analyzing how your traffic converts into sales.
This approach may require more effort but pays off by giving you precise data more relevant to your campaign goals.
Social Media Management Platforms
For those managing multiple accounts or looking for comprehensive analytics, social media management platforms like Hootsuite and Sprout Social are excellent resources for monitoring social media KPIs.
For one, viewing detailed analytics of multiple social media accounts on one centralized dashboard is super convenient. Centralized analytics mean you can compare performance across platforms, streamline your reporting process, and make strategy decisions based on a holistic view of your social media efforts.
Work Smarter With Coalition Technologies
It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the different data one can use to measure progress within marketing, so make sure to focus on the key metrics for your e-commerce goals. And if you find yourself needing expert guidance, help is just a click away.
Coalition Technologies can give you specialized assistance in navigating the complexities of social media KPIs and tailoring a social media strategy that aligns with your online store’s objectives.
Let us help you harness the power of social media analytics to propel your business forward. Contact us for a free digital marketing strategy review today.
