Even the most social-savvy business owners can get caught up in the numbers game: counting and recounting likes, followers, fans, retweets, shares. Not to say those numbers don't correlate to how well your business connects with customers online, but 100 shares doesn't necessarily mean 100 sales -- and it certainly doesn't measure the potential value of those 100 shares.
For example, were any of the 100 fans sharing that post actually influencers? Did the fans in question sign up for your list, or share and forget? Are your likes and follows actually impacting your sales? Many business owners wouldn't know how to start answering those questions.
To find out which social metrics are really worth monitoring, we asked a panel of successful young entrepreneurs to share which numbers they're tracking right now on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. Here's what they had to say.
1. Facebook Engagement
- Kit Hickey, Ministry of Supply
2. Not Just Vanity Metrics
3. Metrics vs. Influencers
- Laura Roeder, LKR Social Media
4. Virality vs. Likes
- Nicolas Gremion, Free-eBooks.net
5. Repeat Engagment
For us, the real social media win is when someone becomes a fan and then stays one over time -- someone who consistently shares, likes and tweets our content. What we measure is basically our number of super fans.
6. The Stories That Metrics Don't Show
7. Conversions Are All That Matter
8. Content Distribution
- Patrick Curtis, WallStreetOasis.com
9. Unique Relationships With Followers
