Social Media Followers Are Not Vanity Metrics When Backed by Strategy and Analysis
When approached strategically and supported by insightful analysis, social media follower counts transcend vanity metrics. Here’s how three experiments demonstrate this:
Experiment 1: Follower Growth Drives Website Engagement
Key Results:
Follower Growth: 355 new followers>> in one month (Oct 31 – Dec 3, 2024), aligned with the target Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). According to Forbes ‘New followers means your brand is growing and your social media campaigns are effective - This metric isn’t just a number of new followers but is instead a percentage of your total audience - when you only have 1,000 followers, growing by 100 is a big deal. That’s 10%. But when you have 100,000 followers, adding 100 new followers doesn’t have the same impact’. The LinkedIn account used for this experiment had about 1.6K followers, so this account grew by 355 new followers in 1 month which is a great result.
Low Social Media Engagement: While post engagement remained low, target Ideal Customer Profiles ( ICPs) engaged through other key channels:
Website Traffic: Increased by approximately 216%.
Content Interaction: Average time spent on promoted blog posts was 4.2 minutes per visit, reflecting high content engagement.
Brand Recognition: Organic traffic using brand-related keywords doubled.
Direct Outreach: Direct messages via LinkedIn and email led to 2–3 weekly meetings, including one in-person meet up with an industry expert.
Business Outcome: Closed-won project with a startup.
Analysis:
This experiment highlights that the increase of 355 followers aligned with ICPs, paired with strategic content promotion, led to meaningful engagement beyond surface-level metrics. The average time spent on blog posts suggests that ICPs found the content valuable, even if they did not engage directly on social media posts.
Expanding the strategy used in Experiment 1 will ensure the brand remains top of mind, strengthens its authority, and positions it as a trusted supplier. By consistently applying this approach, target ICPs are more likely to view the brand as a preferred partner, laying the groundwork for future business opportunities when they are in-market. This aligns with the principles of the 95:5 rule and is further validated in Experiment 2.
By tracking metrics beyond likes and comments, this experiment proves that follower growth, when paired with strategic content and analysis, can significantly contribute to achieving long-term business goals.
The 95:5 rule explained
The 95:5 rule states that at any given time, only 5% of your target market is actively in-market to buy, while the remaining 95% are not. The key to long-term success is building brand awareness and trust among the 95%, so when they are ready to purchase, your brand is top of mind. This approach emphasises the importance of consistent engagement and value-driven content to nurture future opportunities.
Experiment 2: The Power of Long-Term Social Media Content
Key Results:
A client (a startup) published strategic social media content consistently over four years.
ICPs engaged silently, without public interaction on posts.
Outcome after four years:
Two £1M opportunities added to the CRM.
An influx of high-value inbound leads.
Deals are moving faster through the sales funnel.
Analysis:
This proves that even with low visible engagement on social media posts, consistent posting with a good content strategy attracts and qualifies ICPs over time. When ICPs are ready to buy, they initiate contact, leading to significant opportunities. Engagement isn’t always a visible metric—it often takes place in the background.
Experiment 3: High Social Media Engagement vs. Business Outcomes
Key Results:
Follower Growth: 10K new followers gained over two years.
Post Engagement: High engagement, including a viral post with over 31K likes.
Traffic Surge: Increased website traffic and organic search traffic.
Conversion Challenge: Despite spikes in engagement and traffic, sign-up rates remained low.
Resource Constraints: Limited resources hindered follow-ups with ICPs who engaged with the posts and scaling the strategy to drive business outcomes
Analysis:
While high follower counts and post engagement are valuable, they don’t automatically translate into business results. Without a clear strategy, infrastructure, and resources to convert engaged ICPs into leads or sign-ups, the potential impact is diminished. This experiment underscores the need to align follower growth with business goals, leverage data-driven insights, and invest in the tools and resources necessary to boost conversion rates and drive measurable outcomes.
Conclusion
Follower counts matter—but only when paired with in-depth metric analysis and a clear, well-defined strategy. Focusing solely on metrics like followers, likes, and comments, without understanding the broader context, can lead to flawed conclusions. The true value of a social media strategy emerges when followers are engaged through targeted content, and their behaviour is tracked across multiple touchpoints, making them valuable contributors to business growth.
Experiments 1 and 2 demonstrated that some Ideal Customer Profiles (ICPs) attracted by social media posts consume content passively without actively engaging but drove an effective business outcome. This underscores the importance of a comprehensive content strategy that not only attracts but also nurtures and qualifies ICPs over time and the importance of marketers to understand the 95:5 principle when crafting their social media and content strategy.
Experiment 3 highlighted a critical challenge: even with a high follower count and strong engagement, a lack of resources to support a follow-up strategy can impede effective business outcomes.
To optimise your social media strategy, regularly monitor follower counts and ensure alignment with your target ICPs. Utilise CRM, social media metrics tracking tool and website data to uncover hidden insights, which can reveal whether your strategy is engaging the right audience—either actively on social media or passively in the background.
If your followers aren’t aligned with your target ICPs, refine your campaign or consider discontinuing it. By focusing on strategic goals and actionable data, you can cultivate a social media following that drives meaningful and measurable business results.