Metrics that Matter

If you’ve ever opened your insights and thought “I have no idea what I’m looking at”, you’re not alone.

Most small businesses are collecting data, but not always sure how to use it or what it’s telling them. That’s exactly what this blog is here to help with.

Each Friday, we’ll update this space with a new metric to help you understand what it means, why it matters and how you can use it to improve your marketing. You can also follow along via our socials.

Engagement rate

What is it: Engagement rate measures how many people interact with your social content, not just see it. It includes actions like likes, comments, shares, and saves, but not views. - Hootsuite

Why it matters: A strong engagement rate shows that your content is connecting with your audience. It also helps your posts reach more people by signalling to the platform that your content is worth sharing.

How its calculated: engagements ÷ reach or impressions or views

How to set a benchmark: Start simple. You don’t need perfect numbers. Look at your last 5–10 posts and ask:

• Which posts got the most saves or shares

• Which ones had comments

• Which ones felt like they connected

Use those as your starting point. Your goal is to improve over time, not chase a specific number.

How to make changes: Start with what’s already working. Look at your posts with the most saves, shares or comments and ask why.

• Was it the topic

• Was it how you explained it

• Was it the format

Then do more of that. You don’t need to change everything at once. Small, consistent changes will make the biggest difference.

Website sessions

What is it: Website sessions are the number of visits to your website within a set period of time. Each session represents a user coming to your site and interacting with it, whether they view one page or multiple pages before leaving.

Why it matters: High website sessions show that your marketing is successfully driving people to your site. It shows how many people are visiting your site and whether your marketing is actually bringing people in.

How its calculated: Website sessions are calculated by counting each visit to your website

How to set a benchmark: Set your benchmark by looking at your recent data.

Review your website sessions over the past month and identify your average. That becomes your starting point.

From there, aim to improve gradually over time rather than chasing a specific number.

How to make changes: If your website sessions are low, start by looking at how you’re driving people there:

• Are you regularly linking your website in your content?

•  Are you giving people a reason to click?

Focus on making that next step clear and easy.

You can also look at what has worked before. If certain posts or content brought in more traffic, do more of that.

Small, consistent changes in how you guide people to your website can make a big difference over time.

Impressions/ views

What is it: Impressions are the number of times content is displayed or shown to users, regardless of whether it is clicked or interacted with.

*note on Meta impressions are measured as views

Why it matters: Strong impressions show how often your social post is seen, giving a clear picture of visibility and awareness. They also help put engagement into context, showing how well your content performs relative to how widely it appears.

How its calculated: impressions = total number of times a post is displayed on screen

How to set a benchmark: To set impressions as a benchmark, calculate your average impressions per post over a recent period, such as the last 30 or 90 days. Use this average as your baseline to compare future posts and track changes in visibility over time.

How to make changes: Start with investigating current trends, platform algorithms and best‑practice guidance for each channel, as these are constantly changing. Use what you find to update your content approach by testing formats, hooks and visuals that platforms are currently prioritising.