Social Media Industry Benchmarks

Collected your social data but not sure what the next step is? Your data can be a powerful tool if you know how to use it. If you’re looking to improve your social media game, one way to utilize your data is through comparing your performance to others.

So how do you begin comparing your brand to competitors? The answer is simple: social media benchmarks. Social media benchmarks are standards that can be used across different social channels that find the average of key performance indicators in a certain industry. These benchmarks can be used as industry standards for businesses to see where they are performing well and where they are lacking against their competitors. We’ll break down the importance of benchmarks and how you can use them to take your social media to the next level.

Why Benchmarks are Important

1. Not all industries are built equally. For example, on average, accounts in the marketing and automotive industries post the same amount of posts daily, but accounts in marketing receive almost 3x as many inbound engagements. Knowing an average of performance indicators across all social media platforms is helpful, but narrowing those statistics down to the industry is crucial for your business’ success.

1. Using benchmarks allows your business to set reasonable goals. Looking at specific accounts to compare your business’s social media to is not only difficult, but inefficient. Since you cannot monitor every competitor’s accounts, your own efforts can only give you a snapshot of what you should be achieving in your industry. Using social media benchmarks will give you a holistic view of your industry and help you set the right goals.
2. Comparing your data to industry standards will highlight the areas where your social is performing and underperforming. From there, you can focus on the areas you’d like to see improvement on.

Building a Social Strategy

Once you’ve figured out where your social media is underperforming, you can work on building an improved social strategy. One place to start is at the content you are creating. With social media becoming more and more saturated, it’s important to create content that cuts through the noise so that your business can thrive. Creating content that stands out can be difficult, but an understanding of what people want to see on their social accounts will help your account move in the right direction.

If you want to build an understanding of what people want to see on social media, it is helpful to first understand why they’re there. Over half of consumers on social media like or follow brand pages on social media to learn about products and services. Customers want to discover what businesses offer and make informed decisions. Thriving businesses create content that educates their audience on why they should buy your product or service and highlights the features that give them an edge over competitors. Rather than simply telling people to buy into their product, they show people why they need that product in their lives.

For example, the account of the hit TV show The Golden Girls features a photo of its limited edition collectible in a space where future customers might display it. This helps the audience get an idea of how the product can be used in their lives. Additionally, the post’s caption emphasizing uniqueness, special pricing, and official licencing as a Golden Girls collectible makes it a special, not-to-be-missed product that caters to its dedicated fan base.

Helping Your Business Thrive

Social data is a powerful tool that can be overlooked by those who are beginning to build out their social strategy. Comparing social data to industry benchmarks is a smart way for businesses to figure out how to improve their social media. From there, understanding what your audience wants to see, posting consistently, and building authentic relationships with your followers will help your business drive engagement and reach your goals.