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Marketers Are Looking Beyond Top-of-Funnel When Gauging Social Media Effectiveness

Engagement continues to be the most common metric for determining success on social media, according to Sprout Social’s 2025 Impact of Social Media Marketing report. But more and more marketers “want to see metrics that go beyond top-of-funnel indicators and demonstrate the direct business impact of social,” according to Layla Revis, Sprout’s Vice President of Marketing, Brand and Social.

Of the 1,200 marketing leaders worldwide surveyed for the report, 68% said their social media teams measured engagement to define effectiveness. Conversion was the second most popular metric, used by 65%, followed by revenue (57%), efficiency (55%) and discoverability (51%).

“Engagement remains a relevant, foundational metric for understanding brand affinity and audience interest,” Revis notes. “It helps you assess the qualitative story of your brand and how you compare to the competition. It also directly impacts your brand’s reach, which is critical for brand awareness.”

But like other areas of business, social media faces pressure to contribute tangibly to the top and bottom lines. That’s why social teams considered “expert” by marketing leaders are “significantly” more likely to use revenue as a metric and to track their efficiency than are less-expert teams, according to the report.

And to extract the most value from their social teams, marketing leaders want other departments to use their findings: 71% want digital marketing to incorporate social insights to boost performance; 58% want CX and 49% customer care and/or business development to do the same, among other departments. HR could use social data to better understand sentiment among current and prospective employees, for instance, while social findings could help biz dev identify potential partnerships and benchmark against competitors.

From SEO to SOSEO

Nearly three-quarters (71%) of the marketing directors and 69% of the CMOs surveyed believe their social media teams need to publish more content to boost impact. Yet there’s not necessarily a correlation between quantity and effectiveness; in its 2025 Content Benchmarks Report, Sprout revealed that engagement increased nearly 20% last year despite a slight decrease in volume.

“Posting for the sake of posting only creates noise,” Revis emphasizes. “To achieve higher engagement, brands should focus on original, engaging content that sparks genuine connection. Consumers want content that’s relatable, authentic and entertaining. Social success isn’t about how often you post; it’s about how well you connect.”

The rapidly changing search and discoverability landscape could be one reason marketing leaders want their social teams to post more content. “Twenty-five percent of people now turn to social platforms and AI for answers, while nearly half of Gen Z begins product discovery on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube,” Revis explains. “Brands must optimize content for discoverability on the platforms where consumers seek authentic reviews by using keyword-rich titles, searchable captions and alt text. Winning strategies also include leaning in to short-form video, building genuine creator partnerships and harnessing social listening and AI to uncover where audiences are and what they’re discussing.”

To facilitate social discoverability, 32% of survey respondents plan to shift at least part of their traditional SEO budgets to organic social, 28% to paid social and 21% to influencers. What’s more, social SEO (SOSEO) specialist is the top social media role marketing leaders are hiring for, followed by social customer service and support staff, paid social specialists, influencer marketers and social listening and analytics staff. Three-quarters of respondents expect to increase the size of social teams in the coming year.

Other findings from the report include:

  • Traditional SEO budgets aren’t the only area marketers are shifting funds away from. Eighty-seven percent of respondents will be reallocating at least some of their TV ad budgets to organic social, paid social or influencers; 85% will be moving money from display ads to social or influencer marketing, 84% expect to shift funds from email or out-of-home ads to social or influencer marketing.
  • More than half (55%) of respondents say their teams use social media management software. Half use Google Analytics, 44% Microsoft Dynamics 365 and 38% Microsoft Power BI.
  • Only 53% already have a social SEO content strategy in place.