What Does Social Media Success Look Like for Your Business?

Your Guide to Social Media Success!

April 14, 2025

Social Media Success Starts with the Right Metrics—Here’s How to Set Them.

In my last newsletter, we discussed how your brand is your Digital Front—or, another way to look at it: your social media profiles are the windows into your business and the question presented was - are you open for business?

Today, we’re going to focus on organic social media content and how to set meaningful metrics for success (also known as KPIs, or Key Performance Indicators).
I like to call them simply metrics for success - because success in small business is all about change and sometimes quick change.

Quick Reminder: What Is Organic Social Media Content? It’s any content you share that isn’t backed by paid ads—think posts, images, videos, stories, behind-the-scenes moments, and community content (user-generated content or UGC). These reach your audience naturally through likes, shares, and comments.

Defining Your Metrics for Success

Your metrics for success are personal to your brand. If you don’t define them, it’s easy to chase vanity metrics that don’t actually serve your business.

Ask yourself:

  • How many people do I need to reach each month to feel successful?

  • How many people do I need to reach each month to be successful?

  • What types of engagement matter most to my brand? (Comments, shares, saves, DMs)

  • How many leads, sales, or conversions do I need each month to meet my goals overall?

  • How many of those do I hope will come specifically from social media?

Choose What to Measure Based on What Matters Most

Once you define your version of success, it’s time to figure out what to measure. Remember, even if your don’t meet your actual metric - you can find trends and see highs and lows. Here are some examples to guide you (note: the terms used and availability vary by platform):

✅ If you're focused on brand visibility:

  • Reach (Instagram & Facebook)

  • Engagements (likes, comments, shares, saves)

  • Story views - always a great opportunity for visibility and growth

✅ If you're focused on brand growth

  • Profile visits

  • Link clicks

  • Follower growth

  • + Engagements

🛍️ If you're focused on conversions or sales:

  • Website clicks from social

  • Leads or purchases from social media campaigns

  • Direct sales or bookings linked to your posts or promotions

🌟 If you're focused on long-term relationships:

  • Repeat engagement from followers

  • Positive brand interactions and audience loyalty over time

  • Community building at the local level

You don’t need to track everything at once. Start small—choose 3 to 5 metrics that actually align with what you care about. (And ignore the rest for now.).

Your plan could be simple - like mine. SociallyUP is not social media dependent for success, so I simply want to be present online. For SociallyUP, social media success is about brand visibility broken down into:

  • Reach and Views for Instagram (Facebook is low priority for SU success)

  • Keep an active social media presence (the goal is 4 posts/mo.)

  • That said—I'm human! During busy times, I often post less

  • During slower times, I brainstorm and show up more consistently

  • It’s all about staying intentional, even when business gets full

My goals also change (remember when I said quick change ha!) - this year I’m prioritizing being an educational brand (hence these newsletters). So I’m showing up way more than normal. While this goals doesn’t impact SociallyUP success, is does meet my personal metric for success.

📬 In my next newsletter, we’ll talk about selecting the best social media platform for your brand. Stay tuned!

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