Stop, Think, Act: The 5 social media metrics that actually matter
You’re a small business owner and you’ find yourself staring at your phone, wondering why on earth you spend so much time posting on social media…
You’re creating content, boosting posts, maybe even paying for ads, but still asking yourself:
“Is any of this actually working?”
If that’s you, you are not alone. And here’s the good news: it doesn’t have to be that way. You don’t have to stay stuck in the hamster wheel.
One of the most powerful campaigns I use with my manufacturing clients is called Stop. Think. Act.
It’s all about encouraging teams to pause before diving into doing anything, and I think it applies beautifully to social media.
Before you press “post” again, take a breath and ask yourself:
Why am I doing this?
What am I actually trying to achieve?
Who do I really want to reach?
When you have clear answers to those questions, you give yourself permission to focus on the things that really matter and stop wasting time on everything that doesn’t.
Get clear on your why
Many small business owners tell me, “Lucy, I just want to get more sales from social media.”
Of course you do, ultimately that is the ultimate goal, but in reality, social media is rarely a quick-win sales channel. It’s more of a trust-building machine. It’s where people can discover you, get to know you and eventually engage with you, buying your products or services when the timing is right.
This is getting super clear on “why” you’re there is so important.
Are you showing up to:
Grow brand awareness so more people know you exist?
Share your values and personality so people trust you?
Drive traffic to your website?
Generate leads or enquiries?
Stay front-of-mind and add value for your existing customers?
Once you know this, it changes everything. It stops you posting blindly, wasting your precious time and energy, and helps you to make better and more informed decisions about your business.
The Five metrics that matter most
There are so many numbers, statistics, charts and graphs that you have at your fingertips that it feels like information overload and just becomes noise and overwhelm.
That’s why I encourage my clients to start small, focus on ‘less is more’ and strip it all right back. I’m inviting you to get the basics in place before doing or tracking anything else. In other words, ignore the noise and focus on these five key metrics. They’re your social media foundations.
1. Audience Demographics: Are you talking to the right people?
It sounds logical doesn’t it, but when was the last time you actually checked who it is you’re talking to? There’s no point spending time improving your content if you’re not focusing on your key customers and target audience.
Go into your platform’s native analytics (Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok, etc.) and check:
Who are your followers?
Where do they live?
How old are they?
Do they match your ideal customer?
If they don’t, no wonder your posts aren’t converting! You might just be talking to the wrong crowd.
Activity: Take 5 minutes this week to check your audience demographics. If they don’t match your ideal client, start to get more intentional about your content or targeting and adapt to make it more appealing. Check too whether you are in the right place or are your ideal people hanging out on a different platform?
2. Reach and Impressions: How many people are seeing your content and brand?
Reach = the number of unique people who saw your post.
Impressions = the number of times your post was seen (including repeat views).
If your goal is visibility and increasing awareness for your brand, products and services, these are the numbers to watch. But don’t just aim for “more.” Aim for more of the right people.
Activity: Set a 90-day goal e.g., “I want to grow my reach by 10%.” Then review weekly and see what’s moving the needle.
3. Engagement Rate: Are they listening?
Likes, comments, shares and saves all matter, but shares and saves are where the magic happens.
When someone saves your post, they’re saying, “This is valuable, I want to come back to it.”
When someone shares it, they’re introducing you and sharing you with their own audience, which is the most powerful kind of endorsement. When this happens, you get to widen your reach and usually with similar people who are more than likely going to be potential new customers for you. And it also lets the platform (and algorithm) know that your content is good and worth sharing to a broader audience. Remember the platforms want people to stay on there, so it’s in their best interest to share good content with a wider audience.
Activity: Look at your top three posts from the last month. Why did they work? What made people want to engage with it? And then repeat, repeat, repeat.
4. Clicks and Actions: Are people taking the right action?
It’s lovely to have people liking your posts, but are they taking the action you want them to take? Are you clear on what you actually want them to do? And are you tracking to see how well it is working?
Click a link?
Join in the conversation?
DM you?
Visit your profile or website?
Sign up for your email list?
Book a discovery call?
Answer a question?
Share with friends?
Every post should have a purpose and/or a Call to Action (CTA), even if that purpose is simply to start a conversation and let your audience in behind the scenes of your business.
Activity: Review your last 5 posts. How clear is the next step you want people to take?
5. Conversions: Is it paying off?
Finally, the big question: are people buying, booking or enquiring thanks to your content? Is all that hard work and effort actually paying off?
This is where making sure you can track properly is important:
Use unique links, coupon codes or landing pages
Add “How did you hear about us?” fields
Track enquiries and match them back to your posts or campaigns
This is how you stop guessing and start knowing what works (or what doesn’t).
Activity: Take 5 minutes this week to check your audience demographics. If they don’t match your ideal client, start to get more intentional about your content or targeting and adapt to make it more appealing. Check too whether you are in the right place or are your ideal people hanging out on a different platform?
Less noise, more focus
Honestly, I genuinely believe you don’t need to track everything. In fact, you’ll get better results by focusing on just these 5 simple metrics, aligning them with your current goals and tracking them consistently for the next 90 days.
Think of it like going to the gym, you get better by focusing on a few exercises and doing them well, not by running from machine to machine hoping for results.
Use your data to make smarter choices
Data without action is just numbers on a screen.
Celebrate your wins, and do more of what’s working
Be brave enough to stop what’s not working
Be creative, experiment with new formats such as video, stories, carousels and see what gets traction, what gets the most engagement and what your audience enjoy.
And it’s frustrating, but it’s often the posts you spend the least time on that are the ones that work really well and the ones where you’ve poured hours into them just flop. Use your new insights and data as a creative nudge, and don’t beat yourself up when things don’t work as well as you hoped.
Your next step
This week, take 10 minutes to:
Look at your best and worst performing post in the last month
Ask yourself why they performed that way
Make one small tweak to your next piece of content based on what you’ve learned
Small, consistent improvements lead to big results over time. Social media doesn’t have to be hard work or so overwhelming. With clarity, focus and the right metrics, you can turn it into a brilliant place to connect with your audience, customers and more of the right people. You might even start to have fun too!
I’d love you to come and connect with me on social media. You can find me on Instagram, Facebook and LinkediN, the links are below in the footer.