What are the best social media metrics to measure audience demographics?

From my own experience of social media marketing at my startup, I would suggest: 1. Demographics: Most social media platforms provide insights into the demographics of your followers, such as their age range, gender, location, and interests. This information can be used to create more targeted and effective social media campaigns. 2. Audience growth rate: This metric shows you how quickly your following is growing. It can help you to identify which platforms and types of content are resonating most with your audience. 3. Followers: This metric shows you how many people are following your social media accounts. It is a good indicator of your overall reach and popularity on a particular platform.

The best social media metrics to measure audience are the audience insights in which you can know: 1- The age. 2- The gender. 3- The location. 4- The interests. 5- The behavior. of your audience. In addition., you can know the potential audience and the engagement rate too.

To measure audience demographics on social media, focus on metrics like age, gender, location, and interests. Platforms often provide insights such as Facebook's Page Insights or Twitter Analytics.

One thing i find helpful is that our company only has a LinkedIn Account and we only connect with our targeted audience.Our followers are very significant because they help confirm how many of them are following us on our social media accounts and it is a good indicator of our overall reach and popularity on that particular platform.

Yes, followers is a helpful metric, but consider leveraging your followers as co-creators of your content. Encourage user-generated content, contests, or interactive challenges that not only boost engagement but also foster a sense of community. By involving your audience in the creative process, you can strengthen their loyalty and make them feel like an integral part of your content journey. This can lead to organic growth as they share their contributions with their own networks, expanding your reach and authenticity. Remember, it's not just about numbers; it's about nurturing a collaborative and loyal community.

Instead of just measuring the quantity of engagement, focus on the quality. Look beyond the likes and shares to understand the depth of the interactions. Are your followers leaving meaningful comments or asking questions? Are they sharing personal experiences related to your content? These deeper engagements often indicate a more invested and loyal audience. Additionally, consider A/B testing to refine your content strategy based on what generates the most valuable interactions. By prioritizing meaningful engagements and continuous improvement, you'll build a community that's not just active but genuinely connected to your brand.

Focusing too much on demographics may lead you astray. There's a famous insight from Netflix, that one of the greatest fans of the show Breaking Bad (measured by binge watching amongst other metrics) was actually a 70+ lady from Florida. Not a demographic that you may have expected. The world is full of similar stereotypes - that gamers are young males. Ignoring a large and growing proportion of female, and older players. Personally, I would rank demographics quite low in priority. If it's a branding and awareness campaign I would look at reach and impressions. For performance campaigns, further down the funnel, I would look at quality engagement and conversions. With AI we can now A/B test more than ever. Perhaps even A/Z test! Test!

Always scrutinize and question the data. Twitter/X has my wrong Birthday and location, because I moved and didn't change it. The Birthday is wrong because I don't want to give away that data point as it is often used in online banking as a form of verification. But if you have large aggregated amounts of data then there are some great insights that can be derived from audience reports. Did a specific age group, location or other marker engage more with your content? Or click through to your website more? Is there a pattern of a noticeable demographic profile that order more from you? I remember for a client we had we found that apple phone users tended to have a higher order value than android users.

Remember that demographics aren't the only things to measure. Psychographics - things like interests, lifestyle and values - might have more relevance to what draws your audience to you and give you deeper insights into how to connect with them. Looking at other accounts that your audience members follow, tracking online conversations for the discussions they're participating in, and following and engaging with them so that you can get to know what they really care about will give you an understanding of their lives and your role within those lives.

It’s important to remember that while vanity metrics like follower counts or video views can seem impressive, they often don’t tell the whole story when used in isolation. They might give us a feel-good factor, but they rarely provide actionable insights for strategic decision-making. It’s best to consider these metrics in the context of more substantive data such as Interaction Index (the proportion of the audience that actively engages with the content through actions such as liking, sharing, or commenting) or Peak Activity Window (the timeframes when the audience is most active on social media to provide guidance on the best times to post).

One thing that's continuously helped me create insightful content is audience segmentation. Dividing your audience into different segments based on demographics helps you reach your ideal audience. You can factor this on things like interests, gender, location, and age groups. When you understand the preference and behavior of each segment, you can create your content more effectively.