Oooh that post got 1234 likes! and 567 shares! Put it in the reporting, make sure the bosses know!
It’s an easy ‘win’ on paper to count likes, shares and comments – they’re a positive affirmation you’re doing something right after all – so yes, it’s a metric.

But this is marketing and nothing is that straightforward, so by all means give yourself a pat on the back, but don’t be too distracted from pursuing the end goal (the sale, if I need to remind you). One big fat red herring on social metrics is the ‘who’ – Linkedin is a professional network by definition, and alot of your network will be your peers – not your customers. If your company has a ‘like and share’ practice for its employees, it’s easy enough to ramp up the reactions, just don’t get too carried away seeing them as proof of a successful message.

Taking a reality check on the ‘echo chamber’ effect is worthwhile – a customer or prospect reaction is harder won and has alot more worth than that of the rest of the marketing team. Whether you can spot those and track their engagement in a scored journey is probably out of your hands, with the martech team – just don’t let the echo (echo, echo) distract you from mapping out the next nurture step on the way to the all-important sale.