Measuring Success

Hey, how much does a hipster weigh?
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An Instagram!

Hello, and happy Friday to you! I'm back to spread a little business knowledge and hopefully a smile. I know I've made a couple posts about how social media platforms can be a very best friend to small businesses, especially regarding customer engagement and advertising. But today, I wanted to share an article with you I found from uschamber.com that discusses how to understand social media statistics, and ultimately make them work to your advantage. If we take a specific look at Instagram stats, there are a few metrics to consider...

Reach
A pretty straightforward stat to measure. When you view your reach, this is detailing the unique number of views on each post. "Tracking your reach will show you if your business is reaching new accounts and expanding your audience on Instagram." If you notice a lower than expected number for the reach, think about:

— Whether or not you used hashtags.
— Type(s) of hashtags you used.
— Time of day you posted.
— CTA (call-to-action) you used.
— Type of content you posted.

Total engagement
Somewhat similar to reach, total engagement measures the number of people who are liking, commenting, bookmarking and sharing your posts. Making sure that the content your sharing is relatable and matches your followers interests is a sure way to maximize engagement.

Stories
If you haven't used the Stories feature for your business' Instagram platform, you really should consider it! Stories are pictures or videos that only stay on the feed for 24 hours. These images and clips are usually a bit more informal than a regular post on your page and offer a fun way to connect with your followers. However, if you do want the story you shared to last longer than 24 hours, you can create what's known as a highlight, where you add certain stories to be saved in that group. For example, on my personal Insta, I have a highlight section for my little boy and recipes, which are two very common themes you may see on my story.

Hashtag performance
As you may have heard, a lot of Instagram success revolves around the algorithm. To get the algorithm to work in your favor, you need to use the right hashtags. "Hashtags help new people find your content and ensure that you’re reaching the right audience. You can use up to 30 hashtags on each post, but you need to make sure you’re choosing wisely. That’s why it can help to track the performance of your hashtags and see which ones do well over time. This is the best way to keep your momentum going on Instagram."

Follower growth
Your total number of followers is really there for your viewing pleasure. However, tracking your follower growth can be an important stat to keep up with. "That’s because follower growth will show you whether your business is expanding its reach. You’ll calculate your growth by dividing the total number of new followers in a month by your base followers." For example, if you started with 1,000 followers and then added 100 new followers that month, you’d have a follower growth rate of 10%.

There you go! I had always heard of these measurements, but I hope this article helps you understand them a little better as it helped me. How do you measure success specifically regarding social media? We'd love to hear your tips on how to increase engagement and followers! Stay safe and have a great weekend, folks!