Our ongoing exploration into the world of social media marketing metrics continues with this sixth installment (following articles in January 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022)¹. We’ve consistently highlighted the limitations of relying on surface-level metrics like Shares, Likes, Reach, Views, and Visits (SLRVVs) and advocated for a more strategic approach focused on demonstrating tangible business value². As we move into 2023, the imperative for marketers to prove the effectiveness of their social media investments is more critical than ever, fueled by evolving platform dynamics, changing consumer behaviors, and a heightened focus on efficiency in uncertain economic times³.

Research published throughout 2022 continued to underscore that while SLRVVs provide a basic reporting layer on social media activity, they offer limited insight into whether these activities translate into meaningful customer actions or contribute to core business objectives⁴. The challenge remains in connecting the dots between social media engagement and metrics that truly reflect customer intent, conversion, and long-term value⁵.

SLRVVs in 2022: Still Not Enough (Research 2022)

The critique of SLRVVs remained prominent in research during 2022. These metrics, while easily accessible, are often disconnected from the deeper engagement and behavioral outcomes that drive business results⁶.

  • Likes and Shares: Studies in 2022 reiterated that these metrics, while indicating initial content resonance, do not necessarily translate into purchase intent or brand loyalty⁷. Users may engage with content for social reasons, entertainment, or fleeting interest that doesn’t reflect a commitment to the brand or its products⁷.
  • Reach and Impressions: While reach indicates potential audience size, research in 2022 continued to show that it doesn’t guarantee attention or impact⁸. Content overload on social feeds means users may scroll past content quickly, leading to an impression without meaningful processing or recall⁸.
  • Views: For video content, view counts alone still provide limited insight into actual consumption or message retention⁹. Research emphasized the need for metrics like view duration and completion rate to understand if video content is holding attention, but even these are steps removed from business outcomes⁹.
  • Visits: Driving traffic from social media to a website (Visits) is a positive step, but the quality of this traffic remains paramount¹⁰. High visit numbers with low on-site engagement metrics (e.g., high bounce rates, low time on site, low conversion rates) indicate that social media is attracting clicks but not necessarily sending qualified or interested prospects¹⁰.

The consensus from research through 2022 is clear: while SLRVVs offer a baseline for understanding content visibility and initial audience reaction, they provide limited insight into the later stages of the marketing funnel and should not be the sole basis for evaluating SMM effectiveness⁵.

Bridging the Gap: Metrics Reflecting Intent and Business Impact (Research 2022)

As marketers sought more accountability in 2022, research focused on metrics that provide a more robust link between social media activity and business outcomes.

  • Engagement Quality: Moving beyond simple counts, research in 2022 continued to emphasize the importance of analyzing the quality of engagement¹¹. Metrics like the depth, sentiment, and relevance of comments, participation in polls or Q&A sessions, and interactions within dedicated brand communities offer better insights into genuine interest and connection¹¹. Analyzing the content of user interactions provides richer insights into audience perceptions and motivations than just quantifying the interaction itself¹¹.
  • Conversion Metrics: Tracking conversions directly attributed to social media remained a critical focus¹². This includes measuring click-through rates (CTR) to landing pages designed for conversion, lead form submissions originating from social campaigns, and direct sales conversions influenced by social media touchpoints¹². While multi-touch attribution models were becoming more common, accurately assigning credit across a complex customer journey remained a challenge in 2022¹².
  • Social Media as a Driver of Intent: Research explored 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, gained importance in 2022⁵.
  • Lead Generation and Nurturing: Social media’s role in generating and nurturing leads continued 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, provided 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 allowed for a direct comparison of SMM efficiency against other channels⁵. This required careful tracking of social media spend and attributing new customers accurately to social media touchpoints⁵. Research highlighted the importance of understanding channel-specific CAC for optimizing marketing budgets⁵.
  • Social Listening for Strategic Insights: Social listening continued to be recognized not just for monitoring brand mentions, but as a vital source of strategic insights that could inform product development, identify market trends, understand competitive positioning, and improve the overall customer experience¹⁴. Analyzing online conversations provided a real-time window into consumer needs, preferences, and sentiment, offering value that extended far beyond marketing metrics¹⁴.

Persistent Challenges in Measurement (Research 2022)

Despite the growing emphasis on outcome-oriented metrics, challenges in social media measurement persisted in 2022³.

  • Attribution Complexity: Accurately attributing conversions across a complex, multi-channel customer journey remained a major hurdle³. Customers interacted with numerous touchpoints, both online and offline, making it difficult to isolate social media’s precise influence³. Integrating data from various platforms and developing sophisticated attribution models were ongoing challenges³’¹².
  • Data Integration: Siloed data systems within organizations hindered the ability to get a holistic view of the customer journey and connect social media data with CRM, sales, and other marketing data³. Integrating data from disparate social media platforms was also a challenge due to varying metrics and data formats¹².
  • Quantifying Intangible Benefits: Measuring the financial impact of intangible benefits like increased brand awareness, improved brand sentiment, and enhanced customer loyalty remained difficult². While these are crucial outcomes of SMM, translating them directly into monetary value was complex².
  • Dynamic Platforms and Privacy: The constant changes in social media platform algorithms, features, and evolving privacy regulations (like the ongoing impact of GDPR and similar laws) necessitated continuous adaptation of measurement strategies and tools¹³. Research in 2022 highlighted the impact of privacy changes on tracking capabilities¹³.

Conclusion: Towards Data-Driven Social Media Strategy in 2023

As we enter 2023, the conversation around social media marketing measurement is firmly centered on demonstrating tangible business outcomes. The limitations of SLRVVs are widely acknowledged in research through 2022, which instead highlights the importance of focusing on metrics related to engagement quality, conversions, lead generation, CAC, and the strategic insights gained from social listening.

While significant challenges in attribution, data integration, and quantifying intangible benefits persist, the imperative for marketers is clear: move beyond simply reporting surface-level activity. The focus in 2023 must be on implementing measurement frameworks that connect social media efforts to the marketing funnel, utilizing analytics to understand what drives valuable customer behaviors, and advocating for the resources and data integration necessary to prove SMM’s contribution to the business’s bottom line. 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 2023).
  12. Social Media Metrics. (n.d.). 13 Metrics to Track for Social Media Success. (Accessed prior to Jan 2023).
  13. Engagement Rate. (n.d.). Engagement Rate. Socialinsider. (Accessed prior to Jan 2023).
  14. Social Listening. (n.d.). Social Listening. EBSCOhost Research Starters. (Accessed prior to Jan 2023).