Reach, engagement, impressions, oh my! Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest all have Insights or Analytics for you to view, but how do you know which to pay attention to? 

Before you dig too deep into your social media analytics, you first need to decide what your broad social media goals are. Below are 4 Broad Social Media Goals to consider. You may choose as many goals as you want, but it is best to stick to one to two. 

Exposure and Growth 

You fall in the exposure and growth category if your goals include things like growing your followers, getting a bunch of likes, and/or having a ton of people view your stories. 

Metrics to track:

• Facebook:
  • Page Likes
  • Post Reach
  • Post Engagement
  • Page Visits
• Instagram 
  • Reach
  • Impressions
  • Hashtag Impressions
  • Followers
  • Likes
  • Comments
  • Engagement Rate
• Pinterest:
  • Monthly Views
  • Impressions
  • Pins/Saves

Community Building 

If you are looking to build a tight-knit tribe of engaged people, you fall into the community building category. 

Metrics to track:

• Facebook:
  • Page Likes
  • Post Engagements
  • People Insights
    • See if your people insights match who your target audience is
• Instagram:
  • Likes
  • Comments
  • Engagement rate
  • Hashtag impressions 
  • Audience Insights (gender, age, location)
    • See if your audience insights match who your target audience is
• Pinterest:
  • Monthly Views
  • Pins/Saves 
  • Audience Insights (gender, age, location)
    • See if your audience insights match who your target audience is

Sales 

All online retailers really should be taking advantage of social media. Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest are particularly powerful in sharing your product with the world. If your goal falls into the sales category, make sure to pair it with either the community building or exposure and growth goal category to maximize your social media. 

Metrics to track:

• Facebook: 
  • Clicks to Website
  • Post Reach
  • People Insights
    • See if your people insights match who your target audience is
• Instagram:
  • Engagement Rate
  • Website Clicks
  • Website Clicks from Post
  • Product Views 
    • you must have your Instagram Shop set up to view these metrics. Learn more here.
  • Product Clicks 
    • you must have your Instagram Shop set up to view these metrics. Learn more here.
  • Profile Visits
  • Audience Insights (gender, age, location)
    • See if your audience insights match who your target audience is
• Pinterest:
  • Monthly Views
  • Pins/Saves
  • Link Clicks (to your website)
  • Audience Insights (gender, age, location)
    • See if your audience insights match who your target audience is

Note: Make sure to compare these numbers to your sales to really see how your social media is impacting your sales. 

Website Traffic 

If you host a blog or some other website that you would like to drive traffic to, social media can be a really helpful way to show off your website content. Try pairing this goal category with either the community building or exposure and growth category goals. 

Metrics to track:

• Facebook: 
  • Clicks to Website
  • Post Reach
  • Post engagement
  • People Insights
    • See if your people insights match who your target audience is
• Instagram:
  • Engagement Rate
  • Website Clicks
  • Website Clicks from Post
  • Profile Visits
  • Audience Insights (gender, age, location)
    • See if your audience insights match who your target audience is
• Pinterest:
  • Monthly Views
  • Pins/Saves
  • Link Clicks (to your website)
  • Audience Insights (gender, age, location)
    • See if your audience insights match who your target audience is

Note: Make sure to compare these numbers to your website traffic analytics to really see how your social media is impacting your traffic. 

Check out the blog post on why and how to track your social media analytics to get a free Google Doc Social Media Analytic Tracker Template.