I’m also facing this same dilemma! Started in July, and I really only have the historical data for this year. I think what I’m going to do is just focus on the previous quarter, and use that for the initial benchmarks. And then next year we would have a whole year to base it off of. Happy to hear of any other suggestions!

@mollyriihi @rrodriguezua  this might be an interesting resource to look at: https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-kpis/

Hi @mollyriihi and @rrodriguezua,

In addition to the resource @Jonathan Zuluaga shared, you could also look at some of these benchmarking recommendations, or leverage the Content Benchmarks Report to take a deeper look by each clients industry. 

If you’re Sprout customers, our Social Listening tool might be able to help you fill some gaps too. Our support team can assist with bringing in retroactive data. There is a small cost associated with the additional data, so if budget allows it would be worth it. 

I like to set benchmarks based on an average of the past 6 months with a 5% incremental lift, if there are changes to the strategy. That incremental lift can change based on any new implementations like influencer or paid social initiatives, but I like to aim for 5% each Quarter, staying mindful of the volatility on social, wanting to make sure we have a target. To set general KPIs, I start with Goals. If the goal is awareness > I would use Impressions/Reach as a key KPI, as an example. To set impressions benchmarks, I would once again take an average of the past 6 months or the last Quarter, as another user mentioned, and tack on an incremental lift. 

Hope that helps! :) 

Morgan