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Almost every single internet marketing related magazine and conference touts social media. Thus, I wonder about measuring success on social media. Most of the information I read on this topic is very qualitative. At least this article tires to quantify it in some way...

So how to explain social media metrics with your clients?

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Short answer: yes — social media can be measured, but only when you measure what matters to the business. asked how to explain metrics to clients; use a simple, goal-first approach that translates social activity into concrete outcomes instead of raw "likes."

  1. Define the business objective. Pick one clear outcome (awareness, leads, sales, support, retention).
  2. Map 2–4 KPIs to that outcome. Examples: awareness = reach/impressions; consideration = clicks/CTR, time on page; conversion = leads, purchases, conversion rate; retention/support = repeat visits, response time. Keep the set small.
  3. Instrument and baseline. Use UTM tags, a dedicated landing page or coupon code, and CRM/source fields so social-sourced actions can be tracked. Record a baseline period (30 days) so you can measure lift.
  4. Run short experiments and report a story. Compare KPI lift versus baseline, and translate that lift into a simple business metric (new customers, revenue, or cost per lead). Use experiments to prove causation rather than assuming correlation.

For small businesses, follow ’s point about quality over quantity: pick one campaign, measure direct outcomes (coupon redemptions, bookings, form fills) and add one qualitative measure (customer comment samples or sentiment). Example: promote a weekend offer with a unique code, track redemptions and average order value, then report incremental revenue and new-customer count.

Client-facing tips and quick troubleshooting: present 3 KPIs, a baseline, a time window, and what success looks like. Warn about vanity metrics (followers, raw impressions). If conversions are missing, check UTM tagging, landing-page load and CTA clarity, analytics/pixel firing, and form errors. Combine numbers with 2–3 customer quotes or screenshots to show real impact.

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Member Avatar for MktgRob

Almost every single internet marketing related magazine and conference touts social media. Thus, I wonder about measuring success on social media. Most of the information I read on this topic is very qualitative. At least this article tires to quantify it in some way...

So how to explain social media metrics with your clients?

With my clients I explain that social media is not something that is easily measured but it is not really necessary to measure it. As most of my clients are small businesses they are not really devoting alot of dollars to social media so quantifying the investment in time is a little more subjective. For the SMBs engaging in social media, it is more about the quality of the engagement rather than measuring the overall success of all engagements. The key is building a relationship online that can be translated into real business down the line.

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