Looking to establish attainable social media objectives for your brand? And, of equal importance, seeking effective methods to monitor your progress? Look no further. In this guide, we’ll present a detailed walkthrough on how to define SMART social media goals, assess outcomes, and provide comprehensive performance reports for 2023.
Set Social Media Goals is Important
The significance of social media goals lies in recognizing that social media is a marathon, not a race.
Similar to marathon runners, achieving success requires training, time, and patience
Setting social media goals involves comprehending your current position and envisioning your desired future. Without clear objectives, it becomes challenging to evaluate the effectiveness of your strategy. As you prepare for the year ahead, keep in mind that your social goals should align with and support your overall business objectives.
Step-by-step Guide: How to Set Social Media Goals in 2023
Step #1: Consider Your Marketing Objectives
Your social media content should seamlessly align with your marketing and business endeavors. Whether your focus is on lead generation, sales, or brand awareness, understanding your overall marketing goals is crucial. This knowledge enables you to make informed decisions about your social media strategy and determine the metrics to track and measure your performance. Reflect on the significance of each social media platform for your brand. Ask yourself why Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, or Pinterest are essential, and how they contribute to your business objectives. This clarity will guide your approach and ensure purposeful utilization of each channel.
Step #2: Review Your Existing Performance
As some famous person probably once said, “The only way forward is back.”
This is precisely where a social media audit proves its worth. We understand it may not be the most thrilling task, but it’s an essential step in establishing goals.
Think of it as a form of spring cleaning — instead of dusting ceiling fans, you’re refining your social media content.
Once the audit is complete, examine the findings closely. What strategies should you continue? What needs to change or be adapted?
This evaluation will serve as a valuable compass for crafting your new SMART goals (we’ll delve into that soon).
Step #3: Identify Key Metrics
Key metrics, also known as key performance indicators (KPIs), are the specific measurements you’ll prioritize and analyze.
Aligned with your goals, these key metrics offer insights into the performance of your content and indicate if you’re on the right path.
For instance, if brand awareness is a primary goal, you’ll want to focus on metrics such as reach or views.
Various social media metrics are available to choose from, but here’s a high-level list of what I have tracked across different channels:
- Sessions
- Audience Growth
- Sign Ups
- YouTube Views
- Engagement Rate
Step #4: Set Realistic and SMART Goals
With your business objectives, social media audit, and key metrics in hand, it’s time to embark on goal-setting.
We advocate for setting SMART social media goals:
- Specific: Include precise details to facilitate content success tracking.
- Measurable: Goals must be quantifiable. This is where your key metrics come into play.
- Achievable: Ensure your goals are challenging yet attainable within scope.
- Relevant: Align the goal with your broader business objectives.
- Time-sensitive: Establish a timeline for goal completion.
For example, let’s apply the SMART framework to enhance a goal: Suppose your goal is to grow on YouTube.
- Specific: “Reach 100K total YouTube channel views by the end of the year.”
- Measurable: The key metric to measure is views.
- Achievable: Evaluate your current numbers and resources to determine feasibility.
- Relevant: If one of your overall business objectives is to create more video content, the chosen goal is relevant.
- Time-sensitive: The set deadline of “by the end of the year” makes it time-sensitive.
Step #5: Measure Your Results
While measuring results varies based on goals, you can streamline the process. Most social media platforms offer in-app analytics, which are helpful.
Step #6: Report on Performance
Assessing your performance is vital to gauge goal achievement. Weekly reports offer a high-level overview, while monthly reports delve into details. Monthly reporting entails a comprehensive analysis, enabling adjustments to ineffective strategies and reinforcement of successful ones. Include key metric numbers, month-over-month or year-over-year comparisons, and progress toward your ultimate goal in your report. Consider the monthly social media report a highlight reel, summarizing wins, losses, and opportunities. Setting social media goals becomes less daunting when you follow these six steps.
And remember, goal setting is a marathon, not a race