2022 Digital Report Card: Organic Social Media Performance

2022 was a big year in a lot of ways here at Mud Mile. One of our most notable changes is the aggressive expansion of our Digital Marketing division. We worked with our partners to craft and execute digital advertising strategies that had a real impact. We’re proud to present their successes and learns in our inaugural Digital Ads Performance Report Card.

Success on social media goes beyond making sure you post about your business from time to time. As with any other type of marketing, you need a clear picture of what you want to get out of your efforts. Once you have those goals set, you can put together a strategy and start figuring out what works with your fans.

Our digital team uses each of our partner’s goals as well as our experiences with each platform’s algorithm to craft unique strategies. For some, that’ll mean posting a couple times a week on one or two platforms; for others, we may be posting multiple times a day, if the engagement with the targeted audience warrants that kind of frequency.

Our Results

In 2022, we published an average of 8 posts each day across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, etc. and earned back engagement for our partners in a big way:

• An average nearly 157 Comments
• An average of 69 Shares/Retweets
• An average of 474 Likes

We use industry standard measurements for each of these engagement activities so we can benchmark our performance for the individual partner, plus we can compare our partner’s engagement performance to their competitors and peers:

• Conversation Rate (how many Comments did our posts get in a set timeframe?)
• Amplification Rate (how many Shares did our posts get in a set timeframe?)
• Applause Rate (how many Likes did our posts get in a set timeframe?

We then use those measurements to build on our initial strategy, adjusting frequency, media type, tone, etc. based on the feedback we get in the data.

What Did We Learn?

Generally, what did we learn in 2022?

• Sometimes less is more. Contrary to many how-to opinion pieces from other agencies, posting more often did NOT always improve performance. It really does come down to who the audience is and what our partner wants to get out of the platform.
• Invite action. Like so many other marketing tactics, if you want a social media user to do something with the information you’re sharing, ask them to do it!
• People love people. If you have a great staff, it’s okay to brag about them. If you have great customers, tell the world about them. It’s okay to let your brand be human.
• Video is not everything. Okay, video is a lot, and all of the platforms do give some preference to video, but video isn’t always possible. Mix up your content with real pictures that represent your brand or graphics or other interactive media.

We’re excited as a team to see what we can do for our partners (and you!) in 2023. Our continued growth in this division means we’re able to test new ideas and strategies to help you (and your content) reach more of the right people and see a real impact to your mission and business sooner.

Thinking about adding or expanding your efforts with digital advertising this year? We’d love the opportunity to partner with you to get real results. Connect with us at discover@mudmile.com.