Are vanity metrics really worthless? Or do they serve a purpose?

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Vanity metrics: likes, views/impressions, shares, and comments - the readily available engagement details given by the platform on a piece of content.

You've been building your business online for a while now, but because of conflicting advice and information you still don't know...

Are vanity metrics worthless or useful?

I used to believe the hype from the experts that they are, so I'm 100% guilty of being one of those people telling others to ignore them. BUT after using digital marketing strategically for over 10 years, I've come to realize vanity metrics DO have value in helping you adjust your marketing strategy.

One extremely important reminder though:

Vanity metrics do NOT determine the worth of your content or YOU.

However, they are useful for finetuning your marketing strategy to work better so that you're getting the most bang for your buck out of your marketing efforts.

Of course, many people lump comments in with the vanity metrics, but I disagree. Let me tell you why.

Are Comments a Vanity Metric?

I say a 100% NO, comments are NOT a vanity metric because you cannot implement a successful organic digital marketing strategy without them.

Comments are GOLD.

They are also the #1 thing I'm talking about when I'm talking engagement. It's not hitting the like button.

The people claiming comments aren't important - tend to be those who focus entirely on content and push engagement to the backburner. Or those who don't understand the importance of comments in organic marketing.

Conversations help you build relationships, community, and engaged networks.

Comments are conversations that allow you to:

• Hear from your ideal clients, people connected to your ideal clients, and peers
• Allow you to continue the conversation - talking, listening, and hearing.
• Provide you with information and market research on what your clients want and need.
• Engage the algorithms.

BTW, that last one is one of the most missed and important components for increasing your online organic visibility and reach.

But Isn't Organic Reach and Marketing Dead?

Yeah, um, NO. It's NOT.

The reason you hear so many people claiming organic reach and marketing are a thing of the past is because they don't use regular commenting as part of their marketing strategy.

Here's why:

1. Organic marketing helps establish the know, like, trust factor so that people will follow you and buy.
2. It builds relationships, community, and engaged audiences.
3. 'Social media is meant to be social.'

#3 has been said so many times it's become cliche. BUT it's because it's freaking TRUE because IF you are NOT commenting, the algorithms are NOT showing your content as much.

Yep, the algorithms are programmed to reward people who are not only posting content, but who are also engaging - especially with comments, which are given the most weight.

Organic marketing works BUT only if you are willing to apply ALL the parts of the strategy, which includes engaging - quality commenting - on other people's content, plus the comments made on your own content.

Stuff like 'I agree' or 'thanks for posting' adds nothing to the conversation and won't get you far when it comes to getting to know someone. Heck, you can't even win over the algorithms with comments like that because they are set to only give weight to comments over five words. Yes, quality matters.

All this said, the number of comments does not determine the value of your content or if it is working properly. And sales posts tend to have the lowest numbers of engagements - but they are still working.

But you can adjust the quality of your content by paying attention to who is commenting on your content. Yes, all comments will help boost your posts, but if you aren't receiving comments from your ideal clients, then your content needs some work. Because those same comments - theirs and yours - train the algorithms to show your content to the right people.

Now that I've waxed poetically on the value of comments and conversation, what about likes, views, and shares?

Are likes, interactions, views, and shares really worthless? Or do they serve a purpose?

Nope, vanity metrics are NOT worthless. And YES, they do serve a purpose in your marketing strategy.

They can be quite useful for cluing you in to how your online actions work with the algorithms. And regardless of how many times you hear people telling you not to worry about the algorithms, they are IMPORTANT for helping you get seen online. Without them, you are invisible.

Yep, it's the algorithms that make you visible.

Which is why deliberate action based on your goals is so freaking important for training the algorithms to show your content to the 'right' people.

Of course, the ultimate clue that your digital marketing strategy is working is if people - the right people - are doing what you want them to do - buying, contacting you, following your CTAs.

But how do you know your efforts are working before all that starts happening? Or so you can improve the results you're already getting?

You can tell by looking at your vanity metrics.

Are the people liking, interacting, and commenting on your posts, mostly the 'right' people or are they people you don't want to attract? You can take a quick look at who's engaging with you and tell if you need to make some slight adjustments so that you're hitting your target audience.

The vanity metrics are useful for helping dial in your online strategy, getting you seen faster by the right people, with less effort and time. Plus, the vanity metrics can give you a confidence boost since you can SEE things happening in response to your efforts. And since seeable results drive up confidence...

It means you're more likely to try to show up consistently, which is so freaking important for building a successful business, plus keeping those pesky algorithms working for you.

Just make sure you aren't using them to value the worth of either your content or YOU.

And there you have it, how and why vanity metrics ARE helpful for helping you finetune your digital marketing strategy, so that you can get MORE out of your online actions, with less work.

If you need help and you're an established service-based entrepreneur or coach, give me a shout in DM about my 1:1 or group services. Or join my marketing group -?The Client Connection.

My magic is helping peeps, like YOU, create a personality-driven digital marketing strategy that consistently turns your connections into clients so that you build an engaged audience that keeps you fully booked at least 90 days in advance.

Ciao until next time,

Heidi