I want to start a social media campaign, I want to be known and offer my community quality content. Which metrics should I follow? Which is the most important? In social media we work with 3 main metrics: followers, reach and interactions. Good data in these three parameters are the confirmation of a good health of our channel.
Although we should focus on improving all the data equally, it is common for professionals in the sector to find brands and advertisers that seek to stand out in just one of them, especially if we are talking about the volume of followers.
Followers, followers and more followers
In the early years of the professionalisation of social networks, the number of followers of a community was the most desired metric for brands. Advertisers measured the success of a profile based on the number of followers it had and the more the better, regardless of their quality.
As time went by, the issue of buying followers appeared on the scene and as it was a common practice among brands, which meant a change in trend, quality began to take precedence over quantity. Once the business of social networks began to take off, it was proven that followers are necessary but that on many occasions success does not only come from the number of profiles that follow the account. The reach of each piece of content can be even more important.
Measuring outreach to understand impact
All content published on social networks is likely to be shared, which means that it will impact profiles that are not necessarily followers. That is why reach is one of the three most important metrics. This parameter refers to the number of profiles that have been impacted by a publication and does not always have to coincide with the number of followers of the account.
The greater the reach, the greater the number of profiles impacted. It should be noted that this metric is only useful to know the number of people who have been able to see the product or brand, it does not really give us a relevant vision of it. This is where the study of interactions begins.
Interactions as the key metric
Likes, comments, shares or even clicks on links are what are known as interactions with the publication. These metrics tell us if the content we are showing is really interesting for the audience. They are the way to communicate directly and quickly with users. It should be noted that these interactions can come from any profile that has been impacted by the publication, it is not an exclusive metric of followers.
When we talk about which of all the metrics is the most accurate to know the health of our social networks, it is usual to talk about the engagement rate. This is the percentage of interactions that a publication has had, according to its reach. This allows us to know if a content has been interesting or not for users who have been reached by it.
As we can see, the number of followers is a parameter that, despite being very interesting in the early years of social networks, has been relegated to a secondary role. With time and the study of these platforms, other metrics considered more interesting and realistic for understanding the sentiment towards a product or brand have given way to other metrics.
The importance of followers for influencers
It is not only brands’ social networks that are being influenced by this trend that prioritises engagement over the number of followers, influencers are also experiencing it.
When hiring a profile for a collaboration, the number of followers is important, but it is not the only parameter to take into account. Many of these followers may not match the brand’s audience. In addition to the visibility that these types of collaborations provide, the ultimate goal of these collaborations is conversion and this is not a data that is usually provided. However, we can use the engagement rate to guide us and get a fairly close view of the interest generated by the content of that profile.
This does not mean that followers no longer matter, but rather that, at the point where the brand or profile has an acceptable community, this metric takes a back seat and what really matters is the loyalty of the community.
The social media landscape and user behaviour are constantly evolving, so it is likely that these parameters will change over time and we will soon have new, game-changing parameters.