Social media plays a crucial role in the marketing strategy of any business. However, numerous terms and metrics used in social media reports can be difficult to understand for those not familiar with this field. This article aims to explain the most important terms and indicators used in social media and how they can be interpreted to better understand the performance of online marketing activities.
Followers represent the number of people who have subscribed to your social media page or profile. These are users who have chosen to receive updates about your activity, whether it’s posts, images, or videos. The number of followers is an important indicator because it reflects the size of your audience and your potential to reach a broader public.
Some reports may also mention the number of non-followers, which represents the number of accounts that viewed your content but did not subscribe to your social media page. Generally, this term appears on Instagram and is not necessarily a negative aspect. The more non-followers who see your posts, the more your content reaches a new audience, potentially leading to more followers or even customers.
Engagement is one of the most relevant indicators of success in social media. It measures user interactions with your content, such as likes, comments, shares, and clicks. A high level of engagement indicates that your audience finds the content interesting and relevant.
Types of engagement:
- Likes: the number of likes received on a post
- Comments: the number of comments left by users
- Shares: the number of times a post has been shared
- Clicks: the number of clicks on the links included in the post
Engagement is essential because it not only reflects direct interaction with the content but also helps increase the visibility of posts due to social media platforms’ algorithms that promote content with high levels of interaction.
Reach refers to the total number of unique users who have seen your post. This measures how many different users were exposed to the post, not how many times it was seen. Reach can be organic (unpaid) or paid (through ads).
- Organic Reach: the number of users who saw the post without paid promotion
- Paid Reach: the number of users who saw the post through paid advertising campaigns
Reach is important to evaluate how well your content is reaching the desired audience.
Impressions represent the total number of times your post has been displayed on users’ screens. Unlike reach, impressions measure how many times the post was seen, even if the same user saw it multiple times. Impressions can be useful for evaluating the frequency with which a message is exposed to the audience.
Difference between Reach and Impressions
Essentially, reach measures how many unique people saw the post, while impressions measure how many times the post was seen in total, regardless of the number of unique users. For example, if a post has a reach of 100 and 300 impressions, it means that each of the 100 users saw the post approximately 3 times on average.
How to measure success in Social Media?
Several factors and metrics must be considered. Here are some of the most important:
- Engagement rate: The percentage of interactions (likes, comments, shares) relative to the total number of followers or reach. This gives an idea of how engaged your audience is with the posted content.
- Growth rate: The growth rate of the number of followers over a certain period. This can indicate the effectiveness of your strategies in attracting a new audience.
- Conversion rate: The percentage of users who perform a desired action (such as purchasing a product, subscribing to a newsletter) after interacting with your post.
- Click-Through rate (CTR): The percentage of users who clicked on a link included in your post relative to the total number of post impressions. A high CTR indicates a high interest in your content.
Understanding social media terms and metrics is essential for correctly evaluating the performance of your online marketing campaigns. The number of followers, engagement, reach, and impressions are just a few of the key indicators that can help you adjust your strategies and improve your online presence. By monitoring these metrics and correctly interpreting the data, you will be able to make informed decisions and maximize your impact on social media.