Chasing Vanity Metrics And Seeing No Results For Your Business?

Everyone always says not to focus on vanity metrics when it comes to social media, but what are you supposed to focus on instead?

It’s even worse when you’re just starting out, or if your channels aren’t performing well, since often vanity metrics might be the only metrics available.

The problem is, if we’re concentrated on the wrong outcomes, we won’t achieve the results we’re looking for in business. Likes don’t equal revenue.

A few years ago, a social media manager was working for me and at the time, they were focused 100% on Instagram. Specifically, they were focused on growing the follower count of that Instagram profile because back then, the only way to earn the right to use the Link Sticker on Stories and potentially drive traffic from the network was if you got to 10,000+ followers.

While it made some sense as a goal, there was a problem. They started doing everything they could just to get to 10,000 followers. They ran contests and giveaways. Invited friends and family. And tried a myriad of other techniques to recruit more fans. Ultimately, it worked, and the account hit the target, but to what end?

Instead of thousands of people who might be truly interested in the brand, they’d recruited anyone who might have been interested in simply winning a prize. The result was being able to share links in stories with a bunch of followers who could care less.

What if, instead, the focus had been on creating valuable content on the platform for the target audience and using that content to help and build relationships?

Would they have gotten to 10,000 followers more slowly, or perhaps not at all? Maybe. Would the people that engaged with that content and chose for themselves to follow the profile been more targeted, more interested, and ultimately more likely to convert into customers?

Absolutely.

RELATED: Why You Should Ignore the Algorithms and Focus on Marketing Strategy Instead

While I understand the desire and sometimes need to try and move fast at all costs, when it comes to social media, these tactics rarely pan out.

Instead of followers and likes, measure conversations.
Instead of views and impressions, measure impact.

The numbers will be smaller, particularly at first, but they’ll be so much more important. You’ll soon be able to tie a direct correlation between the conversations you’re having on social media and the impact that’s having on your business.