“Hey Christina – What does success look like on social media?’ I get questions like these all the time! There isn’t a straightforward answer, however, as it’s different for everyone. There are a whole host of factors that affect success when it comes to your online presence. Ultimately – your success is what you make it! However, professionally, I’d take the following things into consideration before deciding what success means for your business.

What business are you in?

We define success via direct sales – that’s great for a B2C business, especially if your product is priced under £50. However for a B2B business where the average client spend is in its £1000s, it’s likely that the buying decision follows a longer process, where trust is built. It’s then unlikely that someone is going to make orders over social media!

Should you measure social media success by how many leads you get?

B2B – Yes. Absolutely. (A little tip for you, though, make sure you define what a lead looks like for social media. For most people telling me social media doesn’t bring sales to their B2B business, this is often the first thing we need to fix. Defining the lead and planning the follow-up!)

B2C… I’d suggest not! To be fair, again products under £50 are more of an impulse purchase. You’ll look to see sales, and look to see your email database grow, but if you’re getting a bunch of messages from people asking questions but not buying and not signing up. That might be a lead, but it isn’t a sale!

Measuring on conversion is always a much better option than actually measuring leads when it comes to defining success.

Social Media isn’t just about sales!

I’ve written about setting your social media goals and objectives before. Your overall marketing plan should have clear objectives, but I always suggest breaking these down and knowing exactly why you’re active on each individual channel or platform you choose to use. I always use the Green Umbrella Instagram account as an example of this. The one objective I have is to create reassurance when people are doing their due diligence! Would you hire a social media agency that isn’t using Instagram? Success on this platform for us means that we’ve had at least one post a week and that the account remains on brand.

If you’re launching a coach trying to drive your personal brand, you’ll want to really drive Instagram – success would look like a growing audience and receiving DMs on a daily basis, being tagged into posts and storied of others that signify the growth of a community.

So, that’s why when you ask me any question related to success, the first thing I do is start asking more about your business. I’ve given you three common factors that affect social media success, but there are many, many more.

So Christina, how do I get the answer for my business?

One of the things I love about what I do is finding out more about other businesses – your business! If you have a question related to your online success, I’d love to spend some time with you and answer that question. I the meantime, go back to your strategy. If you don’t have one, create one! (I have two options here, add a shameful plug for our strategy planning service or offer to re-run a webinar on the topic. If you fancy the latter, let me know!)

Ultimately – social media success is driven by a solid strategy with clear goals and measurable outcomes. What it looks like is down to you!