How to Measure Social Media ROI

Social media is a high-stakes investment. Social Media ROI isn’t just about likes or reach; it mostly makes a real impact. But how do you measure it? At Spark Social, this question drives everything we do. It’s the foundation for stronger strategies, smarter spending, and sustainable growth. If you're serious about knowing how to measure social media ROI, read on.

Why Measuring Social Media ROI Matters

In 2025, brands that can connect their social efforts to business results are the ones securing bigger budgets, stronger teams, and more internal buy-in. According to the 2025 Sprout Social Index, 65% of marketing leaders say tying social efforts to business goals is the top driver of increased investment. Put simply: if you can prove performance, you can scale.

The Basic Formula: How to Track Social Media ROI

Let’s start with the classic ROI equation:

Social Media ROI = [(Earnings – Costs) ÷ Costs] x 100

Getting to that final number means understanding what counts as “earnings” and “costs”.

Common Earnings from Social Media:

• Sales are directly driven by social
• Leads or email subscribers acquired
• Event signups or app downloads
• Traffic to key landing pages
• Customer retention or reduced churn

Common Costs of Social Media:

• Staff hours spent on planning, posting, and community management
• Ad spend for promoted content or influencer partnerships
• Tools (scheduling software, CRM integrations, analytics platforms)
• Content production (photography, video shoots, editing)
• Agency fees or contractor work

If you're managing a content calendar with daily posts, Stories, influencer partnerships, and paid promotions, all of that effort needs to be accounted for.

Start With Strategy

Before you start crunching numbers, zoom out. Not all ROI is financial, and not every campaign is tied to revenue. Some goals are about brand equity, about awareness, reach, and sentiment. Others are conversion-focused: driving leads, sales, or app downloads.

Here’s how to align:

For awareness campaigns, the goal is brand exposure, and the ROI metrics to track include impressions, reach, and video views.

For engagement campaigns, the goal is to build connection, measured by comments, shares, and saves.

For conversion campaigns, the goal is to drive action, with ROI metrics such as clicks, leads, and purchases.

For retention campaigns, the goal is to keep customers coming back, measured through repeat DMs and community growth.

At Spark Social, we map every campaign to specific goals during the Harmonized Strategy phase of our process. Because a strategy without measurement is bound to fail.

Tools That Make ROI Tracking Easier

You don’t need to cobble together screenshots or switch between 10 tabs. The right tech stack streamlines ROI tracking. Here are the tools that we recommend:

• Google Analytics for tracking traffic from social to the site
• Meta Business Manager and LinkedIn Campaign Manager for ad performance
• UTM links to attribute traffic and conversions
• CRM integrations (like Salesforce) to link leads back to their source
• Social media management tools like Sprout, Later, or Hootsuite for reporting and post-level analytics

Our tip is to set up UTM tracking for every link in your campaign. This means you accurately attribute performance across platforms and show how social integrates with the broader marketing funnel.

How to Tell a Better ROI Story

Once you’ve measured impact, you need to communicate it well. Here’s how to tell your ROI story to stakeholders:

1. Lead with business outcomes. Start with revenue, leads, or conversions.
2. Tie efforts to goals. Connect each result to a strategic initiative (product launch, PR push, campaign theme).
3. Show before and after snapshots. Highlight month-over-month growth or campaign-specific spikes.
4. Use visuals. Bar graphs, line charts, and storyboards bring data to life.
5. Recommend next steps. Suggest what to double down on or what to drop.

Our monthly reports at Spark Social go beyond surface-level insights. We use performance data to build strategic roadmaps.

When ROI Is Hard to Measure (But Still Matters)

Not all wins are quantifiable in the traditional sense. And that’s okay. Some of the most impactful social moments aren’t easily tied to sales, like viral UGC, influencer shoutouts, or emotional storytelling. But they’re shaping brand affinity and fueling long-term loyalty. If you can’t assign a dollar amount, focus on qualitative signals like:

• Customer feedback or sentiment in comments
• Direct messages from high-intent leads
• Organic media mentions or earned press
• Community growth and recurring engagement

Remember that social media is a long game. Not everything converts immediately, but that doesn’t mean it’s not working.

5 Ways to Improve Your Social Media ROI

Ready to level up your results? Here’s what moves the needle:

1. Tighten your targeting. Know exactly who you’re speaking to and why they should care.
2. Invest in strong creatives. Scroll-stopping visuals and smart storytelling lead to higher engagement and lower ad costs.
3. Double down on top performers. Analyze past content to see what’s working and do more of that.
4. Test paid + organic together. Paid ads amplify your best organic posts and accelerate growth.
5. Streamline production. Efficient workflows = more output, less stress, better results.

That’s why brands trust Spark Social to manage both Social Media Management and Content Production, so every asset is optimized for impact from day one.

ROI Isn’t Optional

Understanding how to measure social media ROI identifies what’s working, what’s not, and where to go next. At Spark Social, our campaigns are built around this kind of clarity. We believe in powerful stories, platform-native strategy, and metrics that speak the language of the boardroom.

Spark Social, an award-winning boutique social media agency, continues to be recognized as an industry leader by several prestigious awards, including the Hermes Creative, Shorty Awards, MarCom, dotComm, NYX, and TITAN Health.