Marketing: “Vanity” Metrics You Ought To Ignore
“Vanity metrics” is a term you may or may not have heard of. It refers to the standards by which we assess our traffic and online viability. What we are beginning to learn is that several of these used to measure “results” can very often be misleading and need to be politely ignored.
Those you can safely ignore:
- Facebook Likes, Twitter Followers and LinkedIn Connections – Whoever has the bigger numbers wins, correct? If only. The reality is, more virtual bodies following you translates to better conversions only when you are actively engaging with them, and developing a relationship. Having loads of likes or followers who never make the conversion to customers is essentially pointless.
- Comments – Since we are seeking to increase conversion, our goal with content needs to be more than just creating posts (video, tweet, share) that generate a multitude of comments, but no leads. Give them a reason to comment that leads them down the path to conversion, for instance a leading question on the topic.
- Impressions – Mainly an advertising metric, the number of ad impressions is also pointless for our purposes, as it does not indicate any measurable action. It tells you the number of times your ad displayed on a computer screen, not how it performs. Instead, check out click-thru rates and conversion rates.
More on this can be found at HubSpot.
Those you should keep an eye on:
- Shares of your content – While this is not a concrete statistic, having your content shared in whatever form is a step in the right direction. This means that that your content making an impression (the right kind!) and is being shared around.
- Social mentions, citations – Especially now that Google is integrating social signals (mentions) into the search algorithm, these can be most helpful. Not only will it help with search, but in addition authority as your content continually gets shared.
- Conversions – The holy grail, so to speak. If all your social media and content isn’t ultimately resulting in conversions, you must take a look at it.