Social media metrics and KPIs: which to watch and how to read them
Social media metrics and KPIs explained simply: reach, views, impressions, saves, sends, clicks, with formulas, where to find them and a report template.
In 30 seconds
- Each goal has its metric: reach for getting known, saves for usefulness, clicks for selling.
- Impressions (or views) are always equal to or higher than reach.
- Between 2024 and 2025 Meta made views the main metric on Instagram and Facebook, replacing impressions and plays.
- A metric is a number; a KPI is the metric chosen to judge whether a goal has been reached.
Social media metrics are the numbers that measure how content and accounts perform: how many people see them (reach, views), how much they interact (likes, comments, saves, shares) and how many take an action (clicks, profile visits, purchases). You don’t need to watch them all: you need to know which number answers the question you’re asking.
Metrics vs KPIs
A metric is any measurable number (a post’s saves). A KPI (key performance indicator) is the metric chosen in advance to decide whether a goal has been reached (“increase saves on educational carousels by 20% in three months”). Each goal has a few KPIs; everything else helps you understand why.
The main social media metrics
| Metric | What it measures |
|---|---|
| Reach | How many different people saw the content |
| Impressions / views | How many times it was seen in total (including repeat views by the same person) |
| Likes and comments | How much it was liked and got people talking |
| Saves | How useful it is: “I want to find this again” |
| Shares / sends | How worth showing to others it is |
| Non-followers | What share of the audience didn’t follow the account |
| Link clicks | How many people went to the website |
| Profile visits | How many people checked out the profile after a piece of content |
| Average watch time | How long a video is watched on average |
| Follower growth | How many followers were gained (or lost) in a period |
Views, impressions and reach
Between 2024 and 2025 Meta made views the main metric on Instagram and then on Facebook, replacing impressions and plays, to have a single comparable number across reels, stories, photos and carousels. Views count how many times content was seen, including repeat views by the same person; reach counts different people. When comparing periods, check that the metric has the same name and definition.
The most used formulas
| Metric | Formula |
|---|---|
| Engagement rate | interactions ÷ reach × 100 |
| Save rate | saves ÷ reach × 100 |
| Send rate | sends ÷ reach × 100 |
| Link CTR | link clicks ÷ reach (or views) × 100 |
| Follower growth rate | (followers at end − followers at start) ÷ followers at start × 100 |
| Non-follower share | reach among non-followers ÷ total reach × 100 |
Engagement rate is explained in detail in engagement rate: what it is and how to calculate it, with 2025 brand benchmarks.
One metric for each goal
| Goal | What to watch |
|---|---|
| Getting known | Reach and non-follower share |
| Being useful | Saves and shares |
| Building relationships | Comments and replies |
| Selling | Link clicks and sales (with UTM links) |
Where to find them
- Instagram: the Insights section of a professional account, or Meta Business Suite.
- Facebook: Meta Business Suite, Insights section.
- TikTok: Analytics in a business or creator account, also from TikTok Studio.
- LinkedIn: the Analytics tab of a company page.
- YouTube: YouTube Studio, Analytics section.
You need professional accounts: personal profiles show much less data.
Reading the numbers well
- Compare with yourself. Another account’s numbers depend on audience, sector and size.
- Look for what your best and worst posts have in common: format, topic, time.
- Watch out for different causes. At the fictional shop Five Leaf posts had dropped because of the wrong time (3 am), but a product photo at 7 pm did badly for another reason: it was an ad with no reason to stop scrolling.
Measuring sales
Social platforms count clicks, the website counts sales. To connect them you use UTM links: they add information to the link about where the visit comes from. How to build them is explained in UTM links.
A one-page monthly report
- The month’s goal and the chosen KPI.
- Key numbers compared with the previous month: reach, views, interactions, clicks, followers.
- The 3 best and 3 worst pieces of content, with the reason (format, topic, time).
- What we learned in three sentences.
- What we’ll change next month in the content calendar.
Vanity metrics
Some numbers feel good but say little: total followers, likes, views without watch time. They’re called vanity metrics. Don’t ignore them, but they shouldn’t be your main KPI if the goal is to sell or drive visits.
Sources
A Black Friday post is meant to sell. What do you look at?
Correct! For a sales post, what matters is who clicks and buys: measured with a UTM link.
Not quite. A post can be well liked and sell nothing; new followers aren't the goal of a sale.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between reach and impressions?
Reach counts different people; impressions (or views) count how many times the content was seen in total, including repeat views by the same person.
How often should I check social media metrics?
A quick look every week to spot problems, a proper analysis every month to decide what to change.
Which social media metrics matter most?
The ones linked to your goal. To get known: reach and non-follower share. To be useful: saves and sends. To sell: link clicks and sales measured with UTM links.
Topics:Social mediaMetrics