The First Steps to Building Social Media KPIs for Communication Campaigns

In this article, Buzzmetrics will highlight key considerations for each of these steps. This will also be the first in a series of articles discussing the future of measurement in Social Listening.

1. Defining Campaign Objectives

Building a set of measurement metrics for a campaign must always start with clearly defined objectives. Each campaign serves a different purpose, and there are various ways to categorize these objectives.

In the context of social media measurement, one effective way to classify objectives is by aligning them with the customer journey, corresponding to the three stages of the marketing funnel:

1. Awareness Stage (Top of Funnel): At this stage, the goal is to maximize brand visibility and reach. The more widely a brand’s content is shared and discussed, the better. Simply put, brands aim to capture attention and generate conversations.
2. Consideration Stage (Middle of Funnel): Instead of broad reach like in the Top of Funnel stage, this phase focuses on depth. The emphasis is on meaningful content that highlights the brand’s role and message, fostering stronger connections between the brand and its audience.
3. Conversion Stage (Bottom of Funnel): The goal here is to turn consumer interest in the brand’s products or services into concrete actions that generate tangible benefits for the brand.

2. Understanding the Significance of Metrics

As mentioned earlier, a campaign is evaluated based on both breadth (awareness) and depth (discussion quality). Social media metrics generally fall into one of these two categories.

Metrics for Awareness

• Buzz Volume (Total Discussion Volume): Measures the overall noise generated by a campaign, with the unit of measurement being "buzz." Any comment, post, or share related to the campaign counts as one buzz.
• Audience Scale (Number of Discussing Users): Indicates how many people are talking about the campaign.
• Share of Voice (Discussion Market Share): Compares the brand’s discussion volume to that of its competitors.

Metrics for Discussion Quality

• Sentiment Score: Analyzes user sentiment toward the campaign, categorized into three groups: Positive, Negative, and Neutral.
• Object Mention: Tracks discussions mentioning the campaign’s message (Message Recall), product features (Attribute Mention), or brand presence (Brand Mention).
• Organic Voice: Measures the proportion of discussions organically generated by users versus those initiated by the brand—essentially evaluating the brand’s word-of-mouth potential.

For a detailed breakdown of these metrics, you can refer [here].

However, as communication campaigns evolve, so do Social Listening measurement methods. Beyond the traditional metrics above, new indicators have emerged to provide a more precise assessment of campaign performance. In the near future, Buzzmetrics is launching new measurement frameworks focusing on the authenticity of campaign discussions.

3. Understanding the Connection Between the Customer Journey & Measurement Metrics

Once campaign objectives and key metrics are clearly defined, the next step is aligning them to create a complete KPI framework. Below is a basic framework for mapping metrics to each stage of the marketing funnel:

• Awareness Stage: Buzz Volume, Audience Scale
• Consideration Stage: Object Mention, Sentiment Score
• Conversion Stage: Purchase Intention, Virality Score

4. Common Misconceptions When Building Social Media KPIs

(1) Is virality the only goal?

A successful campaign is not necessarily one that generates the highest number of discussions—it’s one that achieves the brand’s intended objectives. Over-focusing on the scale of discussions (Buzz Volume) may lead brands to overlook their original goals.

(2) Should brands track as many metrics as possible?

In reality, tracking an extensive set of KPIs is nearly impossible and highly inefficient. Instead, brands must carefully select the most relevant metrics—those that directly reflect the relationship between campaign objectives and execution. Measuring too many KPIs can drain resources without delivering actionable insights.

(3) Are all interactions beneficial?

While increased engagement can boost a campaign’s reach, brands must also assess the nature of interactions—whether they are positive or negative, and whether they come from real users or bot accounts. In other words, a well-structured Social Media KPI framework must incorporate qualitative aspects to ensure an accurate and objective evaluation.

This principle is also applied in Buzzmetrics’ BSI Top10 Rankings, which assess the most influential campaigns, KOLs, events, and shows on social media based on a holistic measurement approach.

Conclusion

(1) Establishing clear Social Media KPIs not only helps brands measure performance but also enables them to optimize strategies and achieve desired outcomes. Brands should ensure that selected KPIs align with business objectives and provide actionable insights, rather than just chasing vanity metrics.

(2) As Social Media Marketing evolves, KPI frameworks will no longer be purely objective-driven but will also be deeply tied to campaign insights. This shift presents a major challenge that brands must address to refine their measurement strategies in the future.