Earned/Social Media KPIs.
Industry average benchmarks for social media
Earned media (as opposed to paid media) are brand exposures that accrue for reasons other than paid advertising. Public relations, word of mouth, customer reviews, and social media engagement are the most prominent forms of earned media. Earned media happens organically as customers respond to a brand and its efforts.
When ads are purchased on a social platform (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc.), this is considered paid media. But when consumers engage with a brand in some way—sharing a link, talking about the brand, reading a tweet—this falls into earned media. As such, some of our benchmarking data on Facebook and Instagram falls under our definition of paid advertising, while other key benchmarking metrics on these platforms fall in earned media.
Why These KPIs Matter
Earned media is generally more difficult to precisely track than paid media, because it often happens in unmeasurable ways, such as word of mouth. But it has exploded in importance as the internet and social media have given fans and detractors a megaphone to share their passions and frustrations.
List of Available Earned/Social Media KPIs
| Metric | KPI Source | Data slices | Cadence | Geography |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Median monthly CPC | Emplifi | By industry | Quarterly | Worldwide, by country/region |
| Monthly median CTR | Emplifi | By industry | Quarterly | Worldwide, by country/egion |
| Median monthly ad spend | Emplifi | By industry | Quarterly | Worldwide, by country/region |
| Twitter engagement rate | Rival IQ | By industry | Annual | Worldwide |
| Twitter tweets per week | Rival IQ | By industry | Annual | Worldwide |
| Facebook engagement rates | Rival IQ | By industry | Annual | Worldwide |
| Facebook posts per day | Rival IQ | By industry | Annual | Worldwide |
| Instagram engagement rates | Rival IQ | By industry | Annual | Worldwide |
| Instagram posts per day | Rival IQ | By industry | Annual | Worldwide |
| Social ad spend growth | Skai | No breakouts | Quarterly | Worldwide |
| Social ad impression growth | Skai | No breakouts | Quarterly | Worldwide |
| Social ad click growth | Skai | No breakouts | Quarterly | Worldwide |
| Social ad CPM | Skai | No breakouts | Quarterly | Worldwide |
| Social media share of referrals | StatCounter | By social media site, by device | Monthly | Worldwide, by country/region |
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