Margie Barkley: Should We Say Goodbye To Vanity Metrics

Likes, comments, and shares are all cotton candy in social media marketing. It’s fluffy, sweet and nostalgic. Are they really good for your business if you keep using them? Would it benefit your bottom line revenue to spend less time and money on vanity metrics, and more time driving real ROI revenue instead?

We’ll talk about putting an end to vanity metrics, and instead focusing on meaningful analysis.

Webinar: Goodbye Social Media Metrics

Would you like to dive deeper into the transformation of your social media to better serve your stakeholders and revenue team? This free webinar features Agorapulse CMO Darryl Praill along with Jack Kosakowski and James Gilbert. You’ll learn how to:

How to create a social media workflow that is data-driven. The anatomy of a ROI-driven report. The History of Vanity Measures

Vanity metrics are statistics that may look impressive but do not necessarily reflect a meaningful return on investment. Say, for example, that your Facebook post received 1,000 likes and forty comments after you spent $20 to boost it. You didn’t gain any business. You may be happy with the numbers, but they are empty.

Most social media managers (including myself) use vanity metrics. We’ll take a trip down memory lane to see why we use vanity measures.

Circa 2013/2014. Facebook changed its algorithm and page managers cried foul at the declining engagement. In 2012, the organic rate was around 16 percent. In 2023, the organic engagement rate for Facebook pages will be just 0.08%. It’s not just Facebook. Instagram’s average engagement rate is 0.96%, while Twitter has a 0.037%. As platforms changed their algorithms and more businesses joined them, social media users became weary of engaging everything. The term “scroll-stopping” was coined to describe what users needed to do to engage.

Advertising platforms can be complex, and they often require more time and budget to run. What did social media managers actually do?

Enter boosted posts. Boosted Posts are ads that you create using existing posts from your social media profiles. Facebook, Instagram and Twitter have boost features. Platforms claim that boosting your post will help you receive more messages, calls or leads. LinkedIn’s sweetener is “up to 17,000 impressions more by this post.”

Marketers are aware that posts without likes or comments do not look good for visitors or investors. We are in a race against brands that use vanity likes and comments to appear popular. Have you ever seen posts that have a lot of comments asking for information about the product, or giving good reviews? These metrics are vanity metrics and paid.

Marketers have relied for years on vanity metrics to drive their social media marketing, but do they deliver real-world results? By “real world,” I refer to money. We are in a recession and under pressure. Remember the social media giants like Buzzfeed or Vice? Many of these companies have filed for bankruptcy or announced layoffs. Take a closer at the budget spent on vanity metrics. We need to be focused on social media metrics, particularly those that are important for ROI.

Related: Measuring your social media ROI is not just about vanity metrics

Why Vanity Metrics Need to Change

Do we mean that engagement is not important? Not at all. Organic engagement is a sign that you are connecting with your audience and improving your brand awareness. It also increases traffic to your blog or shopping site.

Jack’s remarks at the 26 minute mark of the vanity metrics webinar are also my opinion. Jack says that social media managers who have only a handful of post likes will not be able to engage in a discussion with stakeholders. You’re done. They will only see a few likes. You will not be able to engage in a larger conversation. This article focuses on extending beyond vanity metrics, and directing budgets and attention to meaningful social media ROI.

Do you know those annoying health experts who tell you to swap your favorite bar of chocolate for a handful lettuce? We’re not going to do that.

Let’s replace vanity metrics with meaningful metrics.

1. Feeling undervalued in your role as a manager of social media

Social media marketers face increasing pressure to demonstrate results. Social media managers are under increasing pressure to show results, and stakeholders often do not take them seriously or question their impact. It’s not surprising that social media managers use vanity metrics to demonstrate their success and prove themselves. Stakeholders are only interested in the dollar ROI of your social media activity and how much money it generates. This can result in some headbutting, where no one really wins.

feeling undervalued as a social media manager

Swap to add real ROI and prove it

Connect your Google Analytics within Agorapulse to your social media channels instead of arguing with stakeholders. You can then track your leads and prove ROI, gaining the respect of stakeholders as a social media specialist.

2. High bounce rates on your website

It is well known that a high bounce-rate on your website correlates with social media marketing. The act of boosting a post on social media to get vanity likes could be harmful to your website statistics. Post boosts don’t have a very targeted audience and can lead to users leaving your site without buying, signing up or reading your article. These users will leave quickly, causing high bounce rates. We have seen this at Contentworks Agency, with bounce rates of up to 90% on boosted posts.

vanity metrics can cause a higher bounce rate

When calculated correctly, high bounce rates are often indicative of deeper issues like poor user experience, slow loading websites or ineffective social media targeting.

Switch it to better targeted website traffic

It takes longer to create targeted ads than a quick boost. I understand that. As social media managers we are often focused on vanity metrics like comments and likes, and don’t care about the rest of the funnel. It’s a problem that stakeholders are becoming more focused on ROI. Set up your Ads account before you cause high bounce rates by using casual boosts. Agorapulse allows you to view targeted, tracked paid campaigns. You can also add your Facebook Ads account!

ad accounts on agorapulse

Clicking on each metric will allow you to dive deeper into your goals and ROI. All of this information can be compiled into beautiful social media reports.

social media reports

Learn how to create goals and conversions using Agorapulse.

3. Misguided strategy

Here’s the main problem with vanity metrics. Your brand can make bad decisions about content, creatives and channels if you only focus on vanity metrics. This is particularly true if your only focus is on vanity metrics, as these can distort your metrics and lead you to make misguided decisions. The post below, for example, has two likes. Unimpressive right? We won’t bother with such content again.

vanity metrics show lack of engagement

Wait! The post generated 248 clicks, which led to 2 leads.

social media metrics

It’s time to swap it out for solid insights that will power your strategy

Agorapulse reports are great because you can include your social media metrics and get a complete picture. You can generate accurate reports within minutes, and compare timeframes and campaigns.

You can strategize better if you look at the big picture.

4. Panic boosts low-value content

I remember many CMOs who would throw me low-quality infographics, or even Power Point Presentations and tell me to post them on social media. What happened after I had done it? The content didn’t gain any traction so I promoted it to everyone and anyone to get vanity metrics. This terrible content received a lot of likes, but no ROI. We also got likes from people who were not in our target demographic or region. Low-quality content can also kill your brand by turning off potential customers. You’ll be left in a vacuum, where you have to boost everything you do just to get noticed.

Enjoy amazing content by swapping it out

Producing amazing content requires time and strategic expertise. Each channel is different and there’s no one-size-fits-all solution. Smart brands use content marketing agencies that can strategize, manage and create content for each channel. Content that is high-quality will generate organic ROI, and feed your paid funnels as well.

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Questionnaire for Vanity Metrics

Realistic social media analytics is important. It’s important to be realistic about what our social media analytics really mean.

Are these metrics correlated to changes in revenue or not? Do they have an impact on your bottom line? Why are metrics acting the way they do? What are the causes of spikes and dips? Agorapulse helps you understand user behavior, the most popular posting times, and organic vs. paid results. This is a critical question for an agency that delivers monthly social media reports. In the webinar, we discuss channels and distribution. It’s also important to know how everything is connected. You can track your content, spend and analytics to follow the funnel. It helps you make decisions about budget, strategy, and resource allocation. It looks good, gets you lots of social media praise and engagement. Influencer marketing is a great way to get more bang for the buck. Can I prove ROI on my social media? Agorapulse allows you to prove non-dollar ROI, such as brand awareness, reach and impressions. I would argue that no. We use our TikTok Channel for non-promotional silliness, like this video. It is on brand, reflects the personalities of our agency and generates great engagement. Were there any direct leads? No, not directly. We like to show off what we are capable of. Have a little bit of fun while you’re at it.

I think vanity metrics are important, but they should be paired with a solid strategy, targeted spending, and an understanding of ROI and analytics. Will I still boost posts? Yes, I will still boost posts. However, I am now more strategic.