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Setting goals and utilizing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are an important part of a social media strategy because they provide direction, focus, and a way to measure success. A common problem in social media marketing is that brands post content without a sense of direction, real strategy, or measurable outcomes. Posting every day across platforms is great, but it’s not a solid social media strategy in itself. This is where SMART goals and KPIs come into play.

Former NISM Social Media Strategist Intern, Joseph Scalzo, wrote that “No matter what industry you are a part of, to be successful, you must be setting goals and achieving them.” In his blog titled “Why You Are Not Reaching Your Goals”, Joseph hit the nail on the head. SMART goal-making is essential to accomplishing anything, from graduating from college, to landing that dream job, or building a stellar social media strategy. According to Team Asana, some examples of goals can include “Managing brand reputation”, “Raising brand awareness”, and “Expanding community engagement.

 

WHAT ARE SMART GOALS

SMART goals are characterized by being Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. Here is an example of a vague goal compared to a SMART goal. A vague goal would be to “Grow an Instagram Following.” A SMART goal would be “Increase Instagram followers by 15% in 3 months by posting 5x per week.” This is specific enough, it’s measurable by the number of followers, they are relevant to the goal, and they are time-bound by giving strategists 3 months to accomplish the main objective.

 

WHY KPIs ARE SO IMPORTANT

KPIs are essential in accomplishing SMART goals because they bring clarity, establish a foundation for performance evaluations, and encourage effective strategic social media planning. Setting SMART goals and choosing the right KPIs helps to create purpose-driven content and measurable outcomes and reveal when and where adjustments are needed in the social media strategic plan. KPIs are very important because, without them, a SMART goal would be grounded in wishful thinking.

Nobody can implement an effective social media strategy on wishful thinking. SMART goals aren’t just abstract ideas. They are solidified in deliberate steps backed by KPIs that will prove which strategies work and which don’t. An American Marketing Association Blog, “How to Build a Winning Social Media Strategy in 8 Simple Steps,” poses the idea of deciding which metrics to focus on. Focusing on these questions/statements is helpful:

• What is the organization trying to achieve?
• Choose KPIs directly tied to your SMART goals.
• How will we know we’re on the right path to achieving the goals?

According to an article titled “The Secret Formula? KPIs” by Digital Marketer and former NISM Social Media Strategist Intern Sam Cuellar, here are 10 More Reasons Why KPIs Matter.

1. It helps businesses measure progress and success.
2. Provides insight into business performance.
3. Enables businesses to make data-driven decisions.
4. It helps identify strengths and weaknesses.
5. Allows businesses to set and track goals.
6. Improves communication and collaboration.
7. Provides a basis for performance evaluations.
8. Facilitates continuous improvement.
9. It helps companies to stay competitive.
10. Provides a clear understanding of customer needs.

 

WHAT ARE SOME EXAMPLES OF SOCIAL MEDIA KPIs

Key KPIs include engagement rate, which tracks likes, comments, shares, and reach. Engagement is essential in establishing and strengthening relationships with audiences and building trust. These KPIs indicate how many users have seen the content. Click-through rate (CTR) evaluates how effectively posts drive traffic to a website. Impressions count how often content is displayed. The conversion rate assesses how many users take a desired action, like subscribing to a newsletter or purchasing. Monitoring these KPIs helps businesses help social media strategists make data-driven decisions, understand audience behavior, and achieve goals more effectively across platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, and X.

This example shows how setting a clear SMART goal and tracking relevant KPIs can help organizations reach their objective and see tangible results in social media performance.

 

Final Thoughts

SMART goals give clarity and represent the final destination. KPIs provide proof (metrics) and direction by representing goalposts to the final destination. Effective social media strategies require continuously adjusting and refining goals and metrics. SMART goals that align with the right KPIs can help any organization or brand optimize its social media strategies to maximize impact.

 

Author Bio:

Jennifer Ready is a Social Media Strategist Intern at the National Institute for Social Media. She is a Senior studying Communication at Southern New Hampshire University. She is also a certified mental health Medi-Cal Peer Support Specialist and enjoys volunteering, writing, and taking any opportunity to hone her communication skills. You can connect with Jennifer at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer2ready/.