If you\u2019re asking yourself: Does your latest viral TikTok contribute to your company\u2019s bottom line? Are all of your efforts working toward something tangible? Is your social media doing <\/em>something? Then you may need to set social media goals.<\/p>\n By now, most businesses see the value in social media marketing. But, companies and, sometimes, social media managers themselves, have a hard time articulating what exactly <\/em>that value is. That\u2019s where social media goals come in.<\/p>\n With this guide, you\u2019ll be able to set clear goals for social media marketing. We\u2019ll help you figure out what your company needs and how social can help you get there.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Bonus: <\/strong>Get a free social media analytics report template<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<\/strong>that shows you the most important metrics to track for each network.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n A social media goal is an objective you want to achieve with your social media strategy.<\/strong> Effective social media goals align with broader business objectives.<\/p>\n Examples of common social marketing goals include:<\/p>\n Social media goals can apply to anything from a single ad or organic post to a full-scale campaign. Social media goals should always be components of your larger social media strategy<\/a>.<\/p>\n Social media marketing goals matter because they give your strategy focus. They matter in the same way your destination matters when you drive somewhere. The route you choose to get there (that\u2019s your strategy) is important, but ultimately, it\u2019s your end destination that motivates the entire journey.<\/p>\n Having specific, stated social media marketing goals is also helpful to get buy-in from your managers, clients, or stakeholders.<\/p>\n Well-constructed social media objectives will also help you:<\/p>\n They can have added benefits like growing your social following<\/a>, but that shouldn\u2019t be your main motivator.<\/p>\n Setting effective social media goals doesn\u2019t have to be a mystery. And it\u2019s a skill you\u2019ll use in many other facets of your career, like when you create a social media proposal<\/a>.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s the step-by-step on how to nail smart social media objectives.<\/p>\n Before you start throwing ideas out there, ask yourself: What problems does our business need to solve? Or, what would most benefit the business in the next year?<\/p>\n Maybe the answer is, \u201cOur business isn\u2019t as recognizable as we would like.\u201d Or \u201cOur business could really use some more web conversions.\u201d<\/p>\n Your social media goals should be aligned with your business objectives. So, if your business is often confused with your competitors, you can use your social media pages to show people how you\u2019re different and build up your brand\u2019s reputation.<\/p>\n Let your business objectives inform your social media goals.<\/p>\n Once you\u2019ve finished step one, make sure the goals you\u2019ve set are attainable. You can do so using the SMART framework<\/a>.<\/p>\n The SMART framework is a great litmus test for whether or not your goals can be reasonably achieved.<\/p>\n Make sure all of your social media goals are:<\/p>\n Social media SMART goals examples include things like:<\/p>\n Your key metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) will depend on the goals you\u2019ve set. For example, if your goal is to sell more products by funneling people from your social accounts to your website, then traffic and conversions will be important KPIs.<\/p>\n Common metrics include:<\/p>\n If none of the above feels quite right, or you just want more options, try these social media metrics<\/a>.<\/p>\n Now that you know where you\u2019re headed and how to tell if you\u2019re on the right track, you need to map out what will get you there.<\/p>\n Brainstorm the kinds of things you can do to achieve your goals. This will likely take many forms, such as:<\/p>\n Once you\u2019ve set things in motion, keep checking your progress by using the metrics and KPIs you decided on in step 3. This way, you can see if you\u2019re on track to meeting your goals, and if not, you can adjust the tactics you\u2019re taking.<\/p>\n Regular evaluation and optimization<\/a> help to make sure your efforts are working toward your goals.<\/p>\n The goals of social media marketing should always reflect your specific business needs. But many goals can apply to almost any social media campaign. Some campaigns can even contribute to several goals at once.<\/p>\n It all gets a bit confusing, but specific social media goal examples can help contextualize it for you.<\/p>\n The social media objectives examples below contain common goals and the metrics you can use to measure their success. These can help you frame your work in concrete, actionable terms.<\/p>\n Building brand awareness<\/a> means increasing the number of people who know your brand. This goal might be necessary if your brand or products are often confused with your competitors. Achieving this goal keeps your brand top of mind for consumers when they make purchasing decisions.<\/p>\n You can measure brand awareness on social media with specific metrics like:<\/p>\n Need help tracking your brand awareness? Specialized social media management tools like Hootsuite can help.<\/p>\n Hootsuite Analytics<\/a> makes measuring brand awareness metrics easier by allowing you to track metrics from multiple social networks, all in one place. You can even export the information or create custom reports to share with colleagues and stakeholders.\u00a0The tool collects data from Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, and Twitter.<\/p>\n If you want to go even further, Hootsuite can also help to show you your social share of voice through social listening capabilities.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n Social media marketing is one of the top ways you can build trust in your brand.<\/p>\n The metrics for measuring reputation are like those for brand awareness. Of course, you\u2019ll track brand mentions and relevant hashtags<\/a>. But you\u2019ll also want to watch what people say about you even when they don\u2019t tag you. That\u2019s where, once again, social listening comes into play.<\/p>\n You can set up Hootsuite Streams<\/a> to listen 24\/7 for brand mentions. Then, you can use tools that measure social media sentiment<\/a> (a metric for this goal), like Talkwalker<\/a>, to see how people are feeling about your brand.<\/p>\n Source:\u00a0<\/em>Talkwalker<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n Talkwalker<\/a> offers more than 50 filters to monitor conversations across 150 million data sources, including blogs, forums, videos, news sites, review sites, and social networks.<\/p>\n You\u2019ll be able to monitor conversations around your brand and measure engagement, potential reach, comments, and sentiment.<\/p>\n Talkwalker is especially useful for spotting activity peaks in conversations about your brand. This can help you determine the best times for your brand to post on social media<\/a>.<\/p>\n Psst: Hootsuite is set to acquire Talkwalker VERY SOON<\/em>. <\/strong>This means you\u2019ll have access to Talkwalker social listening and analytics directly in your Hootsuite dashboard!<\/p>\n Yes, increasing traffic to your website can be a social media goal! Social media marketing goals aren\u2019t limited to actions that happen on social (though creating zero-click content<\/a> is still a valid strategy).<\/p>\n Your digital strategies should all be working toward the same business objectives, so don\u2019t let your social platforms become siloed from your website or any other online touch points. They can all work together to boost sales or move people down your social media marketing funnel<\/a>.<\/p>\n Measuring website traffic in analytics is relatively simple. However, here are some of the top metrics you should keep an eye on:<\/p>\n Pro tip:<\/strong> For more on tracking social media ROI using Google Analytics<\/a>, check out our guide!<\/p>\n Engagement is any type of visible interaction with your brand on social media. For example, likes, comments and shares on your posts are all forms of engagement.<\/p>\n Engagement is sometimes considered a vanity metric<\/a>, but that\u2019s not always true.<\/p>\n These softer signals can help you track how well your content meets your target audience\u2019s needs. Improving engagement<\/a> often means better quantity or quality interactions with your audience.<\/p>\n There are several ways to calculate social media engagement rates<\/a>. Here are a few examples:<\/p>\n You\u2019ll also want to keep an out for things like user-generated content and interactions in brand-hosted forums, like a live feed.<\/p>\n If calculations make your head spin, we\u2019ve got you. Hootsuite\u2019s free engagement calculator<\/a> can do the work for you!<\/p>\n Do you want your social presence to translate into sales? Then try focusing on your conversions.<\/p>\n Depending on your specific business goals, you can measure conversion in several ways:<\/p>\n Social platforms or campaigns with integrated shopping tools are great for conversion goals. These include Pinterest Product Pins, Facebook Shops, Instagram Shops, TikTok, and Shopify.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Create. Schedule. Publish. Engage. Measure. Win.<\/strong><\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFree 30-Day Trial<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n If you want to fill your funnel with potential customers, you might want to set a goal to generate more social leads<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lead-generating campaigns yield any information that helps you follow up with a social media user. That includes names, email addresses, occupations, employers, or other information they share.<\/p>\n Common metrics to watch for are:<\/p>\n To learn more about generating high-quality leads, we\u2019ve put together a guide dedicated to social media leads<\/a>.<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve got a new product ready to launch or are hosting an event, social media is the perfect place to toot your horn.<\/p>\n Running a social media campaign dedicated to your pending product or event can help you find success.<\/p>\n Here are the metrics to measure:<\/p>\n Your social presence isn\u2019t just about attracting new customers. It\u2019s also a place to keep the customers you already have. Goals to improve\u00a0<\/span>customer service on social media<\/span><\/a>\u00a0can take on a variety of forms, including:<\/span><\/p>\n Measuring the success of your social customer service will depend on your goal. Usually, you\u2019ll use data from\u00a0<\/span>customer testimonials<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span>customer satisfaction surveys<\/span><\/strong>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Internal measurements like\u00a0<\/span>the number of service requests handled per customer service representative<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0can also be useful.<\/span><\/p>\n Conversational social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook are a good place to focus on your customer service goals.<\/span><\/p>\n Using social media to fill open positions in your company is another kind of conversion. In this case, you\u2019re targeting a particular type of user interaction: submitting a resume.<\/span><\/p>\n When recruiting for an open position, quality conversions are\u00a0<\/span>way<\/span><\/em>\u00a0more important than quantity.\u00a0<\/span>LinkedIn<\/span><\/a>\u00a0is usually (but not always!) your best bet for finding an engaged audience.<\/span><\/p>\n When tracking social recruitment, keep an eye on metrics like these:<\/span><\/p>\nWhat are social media goals?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n
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Why do social media marketing goals matter?<\/span><\/h3>\n
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How to set social media goals in 5 steps<\/span><\/h2>\n
Step 1: Consider your business objectives<\/h3>\n
Step 2: Set your goals using the S.M.A.R.T. framework<\/h3>\n
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Step 3: Identify key metrics and KPIs<\/h3>\n
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Step 4: Plan your tactics<\/h3>\n
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Step 5: Execute and optimize<\/h3>\n
9 social media goals [examples]<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n
1. Increase brand awareness<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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![\"Hootsuite](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.hootsuite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Artboard-1-copy%402x-1.png?resize=530%2C454&ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/h4>\n2. Manage brand reputation<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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<\/figure>\n3. Increase traffic to your website<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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4. Improve community engagement<\/strong><\/h3>\n
![\"hootsuite](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.hootsuite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/hootsuite-analytics-dashboard-showing-engagement-620x339.png?resize=620%2C339&ssl=1\")
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5. Boost conversions or sales<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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![](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blog.hootsuite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Inpost-CTA-Planner.png?ssl=1\"\/)
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t#1 Social Media Tool\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span><\/p>\n6. Generate leads<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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7. Promote events or product launches<\/h3>\n
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8. Deliver customer service<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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9. Attract candidates for open positions<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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