What is click-through rate?
Click-through rate in social media marketing is a metric that measures the percentage of people who clicked on any link or CTA against the number of users who viewed it.
Generally, marketers look at CTA when evaluating their social media paid ads campaigns and results but it can equally be useful for organic posts.
How to calculate click-through rate?
To calculate the social media click-through rate, divide the ‘number of clicks’ on your link or CTA received by the total ‘number of people who viewed’ your post or ad (impressions).
You can avoid the math by using social media marketing platforms that do the calculation for you.
Formula for calculating social media click-through rate
Real-life example of click-through rate
Understand the click-through rate with this example:
Your brand is running a ‘Black Friday Sale’ ad on Instagram with a link to your website. Let’s assume the ad was viewed by 500 users and 125 of them clicked on the link to your website.
Using the above figures, your CTR will be: 125/500 x 100 = 25%
What’s considered a good social media click-through rate? (benchmark)
Any social media ad or organic post that generates over 2% CTR is performing well. In the third quarter of 2022, social media advertising metrics showed a click-through rate (CTR) of 1.21% for social platforms.
Facebook had the highest CTR - 3.86% on average, followed by LinkedIn, in the second quarter of 2022.
CTR is commonly mentioned concerning paid ad campaigns. But in reality, it is an important metric in all your marketing efforts, including email, PPC marketing, social media, etc. Anything that includes a link – paid or organic – should be measured to know if your efforts are truly paying off.
Ways to increase your social media click-through rate
- Polish your copy and CTAs: More than 90% of visitors who read your headline also read your CTA copy. While crafting your social media post copy and CTA, focus on highlighting the benefits a customer will get by clicking on your link such as: “Get your free download” or “Avail 30% off”.
- Lead with compelling titles: Any text-based post is led by titles and clearly, it’s the first thing a reader notices. 8 out of 10 people will read a headline whereas only 2 of them will click through. Whether you’re posting on Linkedin, Twitter, or an Instagram story, write a convincing title.
- Use show-stopping visuals: If your social media content isn’t eye-catching, the user will not bother to stop and read. If a relevant image is paired with content, people will retain 65% of the information three days later. Use bright colors, clear and engaging design, and high-quality visuals.