How to tell if social media is working for your business

Most owners who ask whether social media is working are really asking whether it's worth the hours. You can answer that without an analytics degree. Look back over the last three months and answer three questions honestly.

The questions follow the path a customer takes: they see you, they take a step, they buy. If you can answer yes to all three, social media is working, even if the numbers are small. If the answer to one is no, that's the step to fix, and the rest of this guide shows how.

1. Are the right people seeing it? Look at reach or views, and whether some of it comes from people who don't follow you yet, ideally in your area or your target market.
2. Are some of them acting? Look at link clicks, profile visits, messages, calls and direction requests.
3. Are customers arriving from it? Count enquiries, bookings or sales you can trace to social, and ask new customers how they found you.

No single number settles it. Look for several signals pointing the same way. Three or four signals in the left-hand column over a few months is a good sign; a mix of both columns usually means one step in the chain needs work, which the section below helps you find.

Analytics will miss many customers who found you on social media. Someone sees a reel, remembers your name and walks in a week later; no tag catches that. So add your own counting alongside the platform numbers.

Don't worry about catching every customer. You're looking for a trend you trust, not a perfect total. If the tally of people who mention social media rises over a few months while you post consistently, that's good evidence it's helping, even if the true number is higher.

• Add 'How did you hear about us?' to your booking form, enquiry form or checkout, with social platforms as options
• Ask at the till or on the phone, and tally the answers on a sheet by the till
• Use a social-only offer code or a keyword to message, so you can count who used it
• Tag every link you share with UTM parameters so your website analytics can see social visits
• Keep a monthly count next to your social numbers so you can see if they move together

Working isn't only about results; it's results for the effort. Add up the hours you spend each month on social media, including replies, and any money on tools, photos or ads. Then compare that with the customers it brings.

A hypothetical example: a dog walker spends about 8 hours a month on Instagram and Facebook and pays nothing for tools. In a typical month, 3 new regular clients mention finding them through social. If one regular client is worth far more over a year than 8 hours of the owner's time, social media is clearly earning its place. If the same hours brought one enquiry a quarter, it might be better spent elsewhere, or spent differently.

Do this sum honestly, but don't do it after a fortnight. Social media tends to build: early posts help later ones by growing an audience that's already familiar with you.

Plenty of businesses decide social media doesn't work after posting sporadically for a few weeks. That's not a fair test. Before you judge, make sure you've given it a real chance.

• Post consistently for at least a few months, on a schedule you can keep
• Focus on one or two platforms where your customers actually are
• Include a clear next step in many posts: book, message, visit, call
• Make posts about the customer's problem, not just your news
• Reply to every comment and message promptly
• Track the same numbers monthly so you can see a trend

When results are poor, work out which step is failing. Each needs a different fix.

If you've posted consistently on the right platform for a few months, fixed the weak link and still see no customers, it's reasonable to change something bigger: a different platform, a different kind of content, a small paid test, or less time on social and more on something that's working, such as your Google Business Profile or referrals. Our guide to organic versus paid social media explains when a small ad budget makes sense.

Before switching platforms, check where your customers actually spend time. Ask a handful of good customers which apps they use and whose accounts they follow for businesses like yours. Their answers are more reliable than general advice about which platform is growing. Stopping completely is rarely the best answer for a local business, because customers often check your profiles before they visit, even when they found you some other way. A smaller, steady presence that keeps your profiles current is usually better than a dead account.

If the problem is time rather than results, Zolyp, which we make, plans, writes and designs your posts against your Brand Brain and publishes them after you approve the week. Its Analyze report sets out reach, engagement and clicks across your connected accounts in plain language. Counting customers who found you on social is still something only you can do. Zolyp publishes to Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Google Business, X, TikTok, YouTube, Pinterest, and Threads. Plans that create the posts start at $29 a month, Lite is $9 a month per brand for scheduling posts you make yourself, and there's a 3-day free trial.