Our journey through the landscape of social media marketing metrics continues, building upon the discussions in our previous articles (January 2018, January 2019, January 2020, and January 2021) regarding the limitations of relying solely on SLRVVs – Shares, Likes, Reach, Views, and Visits¹. As we enter 2022, the imperative for marketers is clearer than ever: demonstrate how social media activities translate into tangible business results². The focus has decisively shifted from merely quantifying audience activity to understanding user intent and connecting social media engagement to valuable customer behaviors and outcomes³.

Research published up to the end of 2021 reinforces the critique that while SLRVVs provide a basic layer of reporting on content visibility and initial interaction, they offer limited insight into whether social media is effectively moving users through the marketing funnel and contributing to core business objectives⁴. The challenge remains in bridging the gap between social media activity and metrics that truly reflect customer interest, intent, and value⁵.

Beyond Surface-Level Engagement (Research up to Dec 2021)

As of early 2022, the conversation around social media engagement has matured, emphasizing quality over sheer volume. Research during 2021 and preceding years highlighted the need to look beyond simple counts of Likes and Shares to understand the nature of user interaction⁶.

  • Engagement Quality: Studies are increasingly focusing on metrics that indicate deeper processing and genuine interest, such as the depth and sentiment of comments, the duration of video views, and interactions within private brand communities or groups⁷. A high volume of superficial likes or shares may not be as valuable as fewer, but more meaningful, interactions that reflect thoughtful consideration or personal connection with the brand⁷. Analyzing the content of user interactions provides richer insights into audience perceptions and motivations than just quantifying the interaction itself⁶.
  • Click-Through Rate (CTR) and Beyond: While CTR remains a key metric for measuring social media’s ability to drive traffic, the focus is shifting to the user’s behavior after the click³. Are they spending time on the landing page? Are they exploring other pages on the website? Are they converting? Metrics like bounce rate, time on site, and conversion rate of social media referral traffic provide crucial context to CTR, indicating the quality of the traffic driven from social media³.

Connecting Social Media to the Customer Journey and Business Outcomes (Research up to Dec 2021)

A central theme in research leading up to 2022 is the need to better connect social media touchpoints to the broader customer journey and specific business outcomes⁹.

  • Conversion Tracking and Attribution: Accurately tracking conversions (leads, sales, sign-ups) that originate from social media remains a critical focus³. While multi-touch attribution models are becoming more common, integrating data from various social platforms and other channels to understand social media’s role in a complex customer journey is still a significant challenge as of late 2021³’¹¹. However, the ability to track any conversion directly linked to social media provides valuable evidence of its impact³’¹². Marketers are leveraging improved tracking tools and analytics platforms to get a clearer picture of social media’s contribution to desired actions¹².
  • Social Media as a Driver of Intent: Research is exploring how social media activities influence consumer intent at various stages of the buyer journey⁵. Beyond initial awareness, social media can play a role in shaping consideration sets, influencing evaluations of alternatives, and driving the final purchase decision⁵. Metrics that capture these influences, such as brand mentions in purchase consideration discussions or social media’s impact on website product page views, are gaining importance⁵.
  • Lead Generation and Nurturing: Social media’s role in generating and nurturing leads continues to be a key business outcome⁴. Tracking lead volume and quality from social media, and analyzing how social media interactions influence lead progression through the sales funnel, provides quantifiable evidence of SMM’s contribution to pipeline growth⁴.
  • Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) from Social Media: Calculating the cost of acquiring a customer specifically through social media allows for a direct comparison of SMM efficiency against other channels⁵. This requires careful tracking of social media spend and attributing new customers accurately to social media touchpoints⁵. Research highlights the importance of understanding channel-specific CAC for optimizing marketing budgets⁵.
  • Social Listening for Strategic Insights: Social listening is increasingly recognized not just for monitoring brand mentions, but as a vital source of strategic insights that can inform product development, identify market trends, understand competitive positioning, and improve the overall customer experience¹⁴. Analyzing online conversations provides a real-time window into consumer needs, preferences, and sentiment, offering value that extends far beyond marketing metrics¹⁴.

Challenges and the Path Forward (Research up to Dec 2021)

Despite the growing emphasis on outcome-oriented metrics, challenges in social media measurement persist as of early 2022³. Attribution complexity across a multi-channel journey, data integration issues from disparate platforms, and the difficulty in quantifying the long-term impact of social media on brand equity and customer loyalty remain significant hurdles³’¹¹. The dynamic nature of social media platforms and evolving privacy regulations also necessitate continuous adaptation of measurement strategies¹³.

However, research from 2021 and prior years points towards a path forward. The focus is on:

  • Improved Analytics and Data Integration: Investing in advanced analytics platforms and Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) to integrate data from various social media channels, websites, CRM systems, and other sources is crucial for gaining a holistic view of the customer journey and enabling more accurate attribution³’¹¹.
  • Outcome-Oriented Goal Setting: Clearly defining social media goals in terms of business outcomes (e.g., leads, sales, customer retention) from the outset is essential for aligning SMM activities with strategic objectives and selecting the right metrics for measurement⁴.
  • Focus on Customer Intent: Utilizing social listening and analytics to understand customer intent signals on social media allows marketers to deliver more relevant messaging and guide users towards desired actions⁵.
  • Connecting Social Media to Customer Relationships: Research continues to explore how social media engagement influences customer satisfaction, loyalty, and ultimately, customer lifetime value (CLV)⁶. While direct causation is hard to prove, demonstrating correlations and analyzing the behavior of socially engaged customers provides valuable insights into SMM’s long-term impact.

Conclusion: Towards a More Strategic Social Media Measurement in 2022

As we enter 2022, the conversation around social media marketing measurement has moved definitively beyond the surface-level appeal of SLRVVs. Research up to the end of 2021 underscores the limitations of these vanity metrics and highlights the persistent challenges in accurately attributing social media’s impact in a complex digital ecosystem. However, it also reveals a growing sophistication in measuring engagement quality, tracking conversions, leveraging social listening for strategic insights, and attempting to connect social media activities to tangible business outcomes like lead generation, customer acquisition cost, and customer lifetime value.

The key for marketers in 2022 is to embrace a more strategic and outcome-oriented approach to social media measurement. This involves investing in the right analytics tools and data integration capabilities, setting clear business goals for SMM, focusing on metrics that reflect customer intent and valuable behaviors, and continuously analyzing data to understand how social media truly contributes to driving business forward. The journey from simply counting Shares and Likes to demonstrating measurable ROI is challenging but essential for unlocking the full potential of social media in the modern marketing mix.

Endnotes

  1. Hoffman, D. L., & Fodor, M. (2010). Can you measure the ROI of your social media marketing?. MIT Sloan Management Review, 52(1), 41-49.
  2. Michaelidou, N., Siamagka, N. T., & Christodoulides, G. (2011). Usage, barriers and measurement of social media marketing: An exploratory investigation of small and medium B2B brands. Industrial Marketing Management, 40(5), 765-778.
  3. Trainor, K. J., Andzulis, J. M., Rapp, A., & Agnihotri, R. (2014). Social media technology usage and customer relationship performance: A capabilities-based examination. Journal of Marketing Channels, 21(3), 314-330.
  4. Felix, R., Rauschnabel, P. A., & Hinsch, C. (2017). Elements of strategic social media marketing: A holistic framework. Journal of Business Research, 70, 118-126.
  5. Court, D., Elzinga, D., Mulder, S., & Vetvik, O. J. (2009). The consumer decision journey. McKinsey Quarterly, 3(3), 1-11.
  6. Hollebeek, L. D., Glynn, M. S., & Brodie, R. J. (2014). Consumer brand engagement in social media: Conceptualization, scale development and validation. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 28(2), 149-165.
  7. Saravanakumar, K., & SuganthaLakshmi, T. (2012). Social media marketing. Life Science Journal, 9(4), 4444-4451.
  8. Zahay, D., & Griffin, A. (2004). Data-driven marketing in the age of the internet. Business Horizons, 47(4), 33-40.
  9. Dessart, L., Veloutsou, C., & Morgan‐Thomas, A. (2015). Consumer engagement in social media: Conceptualization, drivers, and managerial implications. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 34, 9-23.
  10. Jaakkola, E., & Alexander, M. (2014). The role of customer engagement behavior in value creation: a service perspective. Journal of Service Research, 17(3), 247-261.
  11. Marketing Attribution. (n.d.). Marketing attribution explained. Google. (Accessed prior to Jan 2022).
  12. Social Media Metrics. (n.d.). 13 Metrics to Track for Social Media Success. (Accessed prior to Jan 2022).
  13. Engagement Rate. (n.d.). Engagement Rate. Socialinsider. (Accessed prior to Jan 2022).
  14. Social Listening. (n.d.). Social Listening. EBSCOhost Research Starters. (Accessed prior to Jan 2022).