Beyond vanity metrics: the social selling KPI's that actually predict revenue.

Let's be honest—most of us are tracking the wrong things on social media. Connections, followers, likes, shares...they're all lovely numbers that make for pretty graphs in monthly reports, but they're rubbish at predicting actual revenue.

After three years of meticulously tracking every aspect of my social selling activities (yes, I'm that person with the frighteningly detailed spreadsheet), I've identified the metrics that genuinely correlate with money in the bank. And they're probably not what you think.

Metrics that actually make money

1. Conversation rate per profile views: Forget connection counts. I've found that what really matters is how many meaningful conversations I'm generating from people who view my profile. A high number of profile views with few conversations means I'm attracting curiosity but not the right audience.

2. Topic-specific engagement: Not all engagement is equal. I've discovered that when someone engages with content about implementation challenges, they're far more likely to become a client than someone who engages with general thought leadership pieces. I now categorise all my content and pay attention to who's engaging with what.

3. Message-to-meeting conversion: The holy grail metric. After someone responds to my initial message, what percentage actually convert to a meeting? This measures the quality of my conversation skills, not just my opener. I was shocked to find I was well above industry average simply by changing my approach.

4. Velocity trends: How quickly are prospects moving through my social pipeline? When I track average days from first meaningful interaction to meeting, I spot problems in my approach much earlier.

5. Conversion triggers: Which specific interaction finally pushed someone to say "let's talk properly"? Sometimes it's not my fancy new post—it's something from months ago that suddenly becomes relevant to them.

The metrics I've abandoned

I've completely stopped obsessing over:

• Total connections (meaningless if they're the wrong people)

• Content reach (vanity metric unless it's reaching decision-makers)

• General engagement rates (too many "great post!" comments from people who'll never buy)

• Social selling index scores (they measure activity, not effectiveness)

Building your revenue-focused approach

Here's how I focus on what matters:

1. I track which content topics drive actual website visits rather than just likes

2. I note which topics each prospect engages with before converting

3. I record key social touchpoints and watch for patterns in what moves conversations forward

4. I regularly review which conversation starters are leading to revenue

The most surprising insight? The relationship between response speed and close rates. When I respond to comments quickly, the likelihood of eventually converting that person to a client increases dramatically compared to responding the next day.

Stop wasting time on vanity metrics that look good in screenshots but don't pay the bills. Start tracking the numbers that actually predict revenue, and watch your social selling effectiveness soar.