Welcome, goal-hunters! If you’re here, you understand that social media marketing is a powerful tool that you should be utilizing for your brand, but you may be missing important opportunities to maximize your efforts.

Maybe you are brand new to the wild world of social, or have been using platforms for years, but aren’t seeing results. In either case, determining your key performance indicators (KPIs) and setting SMART goals are invaluable ways to make the most out of your social strategy.

Today, we will break down the basics of setting measurable goals, discuss a few fun acronyms and empower you to achieve your goals on social media! Let’s dive in.

Get SMART

Setting nonspecific goals is easy to do, but if results are what you’re after, it’s time to start taking marketing seriously. When starting any marketing journey, it’s essential to understand where you are, where you are going and how long it will take to get there.

The best way to hone in on your goals and monitor your performance is with KPIs! Used to measure if a business’s strategy is working, KPIs are central to creating meaningful social strategies across demographics.

In order to create KPIs that work for your business goals, it’s time to get SMART! Setting goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Bound will set you up for social success.

We will break down exactly what each letter means, and what setting smart KPIs can do for your social media strategy.

SMART goals are…

Specific

A specific KPI is the first step to achieving specific results. Think about exactly what you would like to see happen for your business in the near future.
Do you want to sell 500 shoes? Which ones? Would you like to get 50 new clients in your salon this month? Do you want 2,000 new views on your YouTube channel?

Narrow in on what really matters to your business. “I want to sell 200 pairs of my pink shoes in the next 6 months.” is a great example. “Sales” would then be your KPI!

Pro tip: The first mistake new users fall into is focusing on what we in the biz like to call “vanity metrics.” These are clickable feedback, such as likes, comments and follows. As satisfying as it can be to see hundreds of little hearts popping up on your notifications, are these actually translating to more business? This goal should be one that specifically relates to the growth, such as conversion rates and direct sales.

Measurable

How will you measure success? The greatest power of KPIs is their ability to be measured and evaluated. In order to be understood, your goal needs to be trackable. Choose a goal that produces quantifiable data along the way.

If you have investors, this is absolutely vital. Website clicks, number of direct messages, reservations online and number of products sold are all examples of specific goals that can be measured. Utilize native app software alongside your usual sales data to keep track!

Pro tip: Make sure that you understand where you are so you can accurately quantify where you are going! Record your starting point metrics before you begin.

Attainable

We love that you are a big dreamer, but it’s also important to be realistic. You are not going to run a marathon tomorrow if you don’t even own sneakers today.

When setting a goal, it is important to consider if it is possible to accomplish in a given time frame. Take into account your resources: time, money and manpower.

Pro tip: Avoid setting a goal that entirely relies on someone else if you have not gone over your goal in detail with them beforehand. Take some time to consider what may prevent you from accomplishing this goal.

Relevant

Make sure this goal makes sense for your growth goals! Ask yourself, how will this goal benefit my company? How does it align with my greater brand and values? How will this goal change my life or that of my company?

Pro tip:
If you have multiple investors or partners, be sure to consider their vision for the future alongside your own.

Time-bound

Set a realistic amount of time to achieve this goal. Not only does it maximize incentive, but time-bound goals also create the best outcomes for measuring data.

Pro tip: Make sure that your timeline is also attainable. Setting an outrageously long timeline will cause motivation loss, but setting a timeline too short will rush results. If you aren’t sure, talk to others in your industry.

Understanding your business’s social media marketing KPIs is paramount to developing a social media strategy that makes sense.

If you have further questions, our incredible social media managers are experts at helping companies like yours find the perfect fit! Learn more.

About the author

Hannah Call began her career at Madwire as a Project Manager and has now found her passion in the Social Media department. She is passionate about helping small businesses reach their communities through great content. On her off time, she enjoys riding her horses on the ranch where she lives with her husband and two dogs.