Which Social Media Metrics Matter?

Effective legal marketing in today’s digital world goes far beyond having accurate contact information on your website, an engaging blog, or a Facebook profile. Law firms have shifted their focus from merely being present on social media to actively generating business from it. 

According to the latest ABA Legal Technology Survey Report, 80% of lawyers report that their firm maintains a social media presence. If your firm is active on social media but doesn’t know which metrics to track and analyze for success, you may be missing opportunities. 

Which Social Media Metrics Matter?

There seems to be a misconception that social media marketing is nothing more than a numbers game. However, the number of followers you have on a particular network doesn’t indicate much. These may not be people who engage with you or want to use your services. 

If you want to know if your efforts on social media are bearing fruit, there are more useful metrics to track.

1. Reach

Reach measures how many people your content is getting in front of over a specified period. In simple terms, it’s the number of eyes on your posts.

A strong reach is a good indicator that you are building brand awareness. Your goal should be for this figure to steadily increase with your social media marketing efforts. 

While more eyes are better, a high reach doesn’t show the full picture. Reach needs to be measured alongside other metrics to ensure that the people seeing your content are taking the desired actions.

2. Engagement

Engagement refers to how much interaction your content is getting on a social platform. Engagement can come in various forms, such as likes, comments, clicks, shares, and saves. 

Engagement tells you how interested people are in what you’re posting. It can give you clues as to what content resonates with your audience and what is missing the mark. 

3. Bounce Rate

Bounce rate is one of the few social media metrics you want to be as low as possible. It represents the number of people who land on your website content from social media, then decide it’s not for them. 

A low bounce rate means your social media posts are delivering engaging content that is more likely to convert visitors into clients. 

You can compare this metric across different channels to see which one is working best. For example, if your bounce rate is higher with your referral traffic from Twitter as opposed to Facebook, you know your Facebook strategy is more effective. 

4. Conversion Rate

If you want to determine the ROI of your marketing dollars, you should be tracking conversion rates. Conversions are the number of social media referrals that become leads or clients. 

You will need to define what a conversion is to your firm and then set up social media tracking. You can do this with shortened URLs, specific calls to action (CTAs), and platform-specific tools like Facebook’s Pixels. 

The Best Social Media Metrics Tools for Tracking Results

If you’re going to unearth the insights you need to take your law firm’s social media marketing to the next level, you’ll need the right tools.  

Platform Analytics Tools

All major social media networks provide the ability to analyze your marketing efforts from within the platform for free using their internal tools.

For example, Facebook Insights allows you to view detailed metrics about your posts and analyze your audience. Twitter Analytics gives you monthly stats on the performance of your Tweets and visits to your profile. 

Cross-Platform Analytics

When you want to dig deeper and see how you’re performing across more than one social media platform, you need a more robust solution. There are many free and paid options for social media management that include analytics. 

Some of the most popular social media analytics tools for marketers include Hootsuite, Sprout Social, and Buffer Analyze. Any of these options will give your firm a social media dashboard with the valuable insights it needs to analyze and improve results.

Make Social Media Work for Your Firm

Social media marketing presents significant opportunities for lawyers to generate additional business. By paying close attention to these social media metrics, you’ll better understand how effective your marketing efforts are. You’ll even be able to identify additional opportunities to capture leads.