What is “Success” in Social Media?

Success. It can be defined in a lot of different ways, especially when it comes to your small business. Perhaps success for you means making one sale this week, or perhaps it means processing hundreds of sales. Your goals can be focused on lots of areas, like more exposure, increased foot traffic, or opening a physical location, and you can sometimes be working on multiple goals at once.

When it comes to social media marketing, there is still a lot that goes into the idea of “success.” There are still personal goals you should keep in mind, but there are also some points that almost any small business owner should be aware of. Read on below to find out more.

Figure out your personal milestones.

Depending on what your business offers for services or products and what stage your business is at in the growth process, you will probably have different goals for your social media usage. For example, if your business just started out, a successful social media presence might mean that your business has a complete and attractive Facebook page, and that you’ve started an Instagram account to showcase your products. An established business might define a successful social media presence differently, maybe by consistently growing their followers and posting content regularly.

It’s a good idea to have personal goals for your business’ social media, even if they seem small or self-explanatory, and to break goals down into manageable steps. By setting goals, you can measure your progress. Once certain goals are achieved, you can evaluate if they brought you closer to your idea of success, and you can plan your next steps for future goals. These personal milestones and the smaller steps taken to reach them can help you stay organized and on the right path for your business.

Check out the numbers.

When you think about social media, you may automatically think about colorful Instagram posts, well-written Facebook ads, or snappy Tweets linking to a great article. While this kind of creativity and artistry plays a huge role, statistics are the other half of social media. A post may look great in theory, but its true success lies in how well it performs. An eye-catching post or page doesn’t mean anything if no one is viewing or interacting with it.

Most platforms offer some kind of metrics for users to view regarding their posts and pages. Facebook pages offer particularly comprehensive data on viewers and followers, as well as on ads run by a person or page. If you don’t know a lot about how numbers and social media mix, check out the statistics for your business’ Facebook page first. (Found under ‘Insights’ at the top of your Facebook page.) Typically, you can view your number of Page Likes, Followers, and other data, including the number of Likes and Views that different posts have received. Try to pinpoint what might have made certain posts more popular than others, and then try to replicate that in future posts. Maybe your viewers appreciated a video or link that you posted, or perhaps polls really engage your followers. Try different things for your posts, and keep an eye on these numbers from week to week.

Do your research.

If your goals include higher engagement and views for your pages and posts, there are numerous articles online about social media algorithms and making attractive posts. Learning more about the inner workings of social media can be very illuminating, both on a personal level and for your business, and this research might help you in creating a successful social media account.

You might also want to look at different accounts for businesses that are similar to yours. You certainly don’t want to copy a post or idea from another business, but if you’re just starting out, use other accounts as a jumping-off point for developing creative ideas.

In the end, there can be a huge learning curve to using social media. However, it can pay off immensely to learn what truly makes your posts and pages successful. You don’t have to spend all day on Instagram to have a strong account. Instead, it just takes a little research, creativity, and time to start developing great posts.