Confidently measuring B2B social media marketing
How can we be more confident about proving the success of our social media efforts day in and day out? We spend so much time putting together thoughtful content, managing a calendar, and creating stories that resonate. But when it comes to reporting on our performance, many of us are unsure what to report, what we’re seeing, and what to do afterward.
In addition to this, our management often asks us to prove that our social media activity is working. While reporting on our hard work might sound challenging, at the end of the day, by monitoring your performance, these metrics can give you something to work towards and help you stay on track to achieving your goals and KPIs.
Continue reading to learn how other leading social media managers measure and report on their social media marketing efforts.
The biggest challenges in measuring social media activities
Measuring social media success is complex for many companies. The main challenge is identifying which metrics genuinely impact the business. While many metrics are available, not all directly tie to business outcomes, making it difficult to choose the right ones.
It’s important to distinguish between metrics you can control, like engagement rates, and those you can’t, such as impressions and reach. Educating stakeholders on the value of these metrics is key to showing their relevance to business success.
Proving ROI from social media remains challenging, especially as platforms and algorithms constantly evolve. Straightforward storytelling—explaining what the numbers mean for the business—is crucial when presenting results. Do followers matter? Do engagements lead to demos or sales? Does social media increase brand awareness? These are the questions that need answering.
Key social media metrics to track your organic strategy
Start by tracking the engagement rate, which measures how many people interact with your content compared to total impressions. Engagement includes actions like form submissions or content clicks. While impressions and reach are less controllable, they help gauge overall performance.
A tagging system that categorizes posts by content type (e.g., carousels, images) and industry (e.g., banking, energy) allows you to see which content resonates most with your audience, leading to better strategy insights.
Breaking down metrics by program and campaign helps identify which channels drive the most engagement and clicks, enabling more focused content strategies.
Using social media analytics to shape future content strategies
A content tagging system helps track performance—whether content gets noticed, drives engagement, or spurs action.
For example, if Employer Branding and AI topics perform well, a social media manager can use these insights to shape the next quarter’s strategy. Successful content formats like carousels and polls can also be applied to underperforming categories, like events, to boost engagement. Mentioning events in posts about popular topics may increase participation.
Analyzing quarterly performance reveals trends, guiding adjustments across content channels and programs to ensure the right content drives engagement and clicks for maximum impact.
Dashboards and reports for social media insights
Comprehensive dashboards are essential for tracking social media performance. One useful dashboard compares engagements and link clicks from company-owned channels versus employee advocacy channels, revealing the success of corporate posts versus employee-driven content for the same campaign. This helps determine where different departments should focus content creation efforts.
Additional dashboards should track engagement and conversions, recognizing that many conversions may come from employee advocates. This underscores the importance of employee advocacy programs in driving business results.
Key metrics for reporting social media success to your CEO
When reporting to your CEO, focus on metrics highlighting the big picture and business impact. CEOs are interested in brand growth, demand generation, and employee advocacy.
Example metrics include:
- Follower growth across all company channels
- Total number of engagements
- Active employee advocates
- Advocate activity levels
These metrics can be shared weekly, with more detailed campaign insights provided quarterly. By highlighting both output (posts and engagements) and impact (business outcomes), you can effectively show the value of social media to leadership.
It’s also crucial to align with global communications and marketing to demonstrate how social media supports brand awareness and sales. This alignment shows that social media isn’t just about leads but also influences the sales pipeline, making you feel integrated and part of a larger strategy.
Handling underperforming metrics
There’s no such thing as ‘bad data’—underperforming metrics provide valuable insights. When metrics fall short, use tools like social listening to analyze what others in your industry are doing. This reassures you that if something isn’t working, there are always new tactics or inspirations to explore.
Underperformance may indicate that a content type or platform needs to be corrected for the moment. Instead of fixating on numbers, use the data to refine your strategy and experiment with different approaches until you find what works.
Communicating numeric results
When sharing performance data, provide quarterly updates to business stakeholders, using trends to help them adjust their content strategy. For example, if you hypothesize that event-related content could boost engagement, test this idea in the next quarter.
It’s important to emphasize that not all data indicates success or failure.
A decrease in specific metrics can offer valuable insights, guide future strategies, and help the business avoid focusing on low-performing areas.
Adopting a ‘fail forward ‘ mentality means viewing underperformance as a learning opportunity to refine your strategy. You can also experiment with new tactics, drawing inspiration from outside industries to improve your content. This approach empowers you to learn from your mistakes and encourages continuous improvement.
Linking social media performance to business outcomes
Integrate social media activity with your CRM system to connect social media performance with business outcomes. This allows you to track when interactions on social media, including employee advocacy, lead to business meetings or sales, demonstrating social media’s tangible value.
Key distinctions to track include:
- Engagement clicks (e.g., downloading content or reading a case study)
- Qualified clicks (e.g., requesting a demo or a price quote)
Your demand generation team can then analyze website traffic by source to distinguish between engagement clicks and qualified clicks that convert into business opportunities.
Lessons Learned from Social Media Analytics
Social media analytics highlight the importance of quality over quantity. Data shows that posting too often can reduce content effectiveness, while fewer, high-quality posts drive better engagement. Analytics also demonstrate that employee advocacy outperforms corporate channels in generating leads, supporting investment of time in personal branding and social selling.
Social media algorithms favor high-value content and deprioritize repetitive posts. Focusing on impactful posts can improve reach and engagement. Additionally, sharing credible third-party content, such as articles from trusted sources, helps build audience trust and credibility.
How to know if you’re doing a good job on social media
Positive feedback from stakeholders is one of the most apparent indicators that you’re doing well. They follow the company channels and see your work in action.
Whether leadership entrusts you with the freedom to run your strategy or asks you for help with their social media presence, this engagement signals that your efforts are valued.
Moreover, the success of an employee advocacy program—with more employees wanting to get involved and understanding how social media can drive business outcomes—is another clear indicator that your social media strategies are having a real impact.
Start measuring B2B social with confidence today
Effective social media management combines analytics with strategy. By tracking key metrics like engagement rates, link clicks, and impressions and linking them to business outcomes, you can confidently demonstrate the impact of your social media efforts. Continuously refine your strategy based on the data and keep testing new approaches to stay ahead.
Special thanks to Anna Pickard, Social Media Team Lead at Boomi, and Genevieve Davis, Digital Marketing Senior Analyst at Capco, for participating in our webinar and confidently explaining to us how to measure the impact of B2B social media.
