Measure is a powerful, versatile analytics tool that allows you to collect performance data across multiple networks, organize data with customizable dashboards, and share dashboards with internal and external stakeholders.
In this article, learn the basics of the Measure module and how it can help you build your own professional reports.
Tip:
New to Social Media Management? Don't forget to check out our course on Developing and measuring your social listening strategy to get up to speed with Listen and Measure.
In this article:
What is Measure?
Measure is Social Media Management's analytics tool. With Measure, you can collect performance data from your connected social media channels and organize it into customizable, cross-network reports called dashboards.
Measure offers a wide range of features, including:
- 100+ metrics across Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X (Twitter), TikTok, YouTube, and Pinterest, including paid metrics for Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X (Twitter)
- 11 widget types
- 16 dashboards templates
- Cross-network reporting
- Customization and filtering
- Collaboration and sharing
- Unlimited dashboards per user
- Unlimited widgets per dashboard
- Dashboard exports (PDF, CSV)
- Scheduled email reports
All users, regardless of user role, can use all features in Measure. However, please note that non-Admin users will only have access to data from their own Teams' channels. Your channels must also maintain an active connection in order for us to collect their data.
What are dashboards, widgets, and metrics?
Dashboards, widgets, and metrics are the building blocks of the Measure module. A dashboard is made up of one or more widgets, and a widget displays data from one or more metrics. We'll review each of these components below, starting from the bottom and working our way up.
What is a metric?
A metric is any unit of measurement that can be used to assess performance. Social media networks use metrics like "reach" (how many people viewed your posts) and "fans" (how many people like or follow your channel) to measure the impact of your content.
Tip:
Metrics are also sometimes referred to as key performance indicators (KPIs) or insights. For our purposes, these terms are all interchangeable.
Note:
Data refers to the actual numerical value of a metric. For example, in the Instagram Story below, "reach," "impressions," "comments," "taps forward," and "exits rate" are metrics, while their results (8, 8, 0, 6, 50%) are data.
There may be multiple versions of each metric based on the characteristics below. For example, depending on the context, the metric "engagements" can be expressed as "total paid channel engagements," "organic content engagements (avg.)," etc.
- Channel or content
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- Channel metrics measure your entire account's performance during a specific time period.
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Content metrics measure the lifetime performance of posts published during a specific time period.
- Total or average
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- Metrics that are totals display the total value of all data in the set.
- Metrics that are averages display the average value of all data in the set.
- Paid, organic, or combined
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- Paid metrics show data from promoted posts only.
- Organic metrics show data from non-promoted posts only.
- Combined metrics show a combined total of paid data + organic data that cannot be broken down.
To learn which metrics are available for each network, along with their definitions, please visit our dedicated networks guides. Please note that some networks may offer more metrics than others: Guides to Measure Metrics.
What is a widget?
In Measure, a widget is a visual representation of the data from one or more metrics. For example, the Time series widget turns your data into a line graph, while the Geographics widget highlights hotspots on a map. There is no limit to the number of widgets you can add to a dashboard.
Like metrics, widgets are divided into channel widgets and content widgets. Channel widgets only display channel metrics, and content widgets display only content metrics. The Text/Images widget also allows you to add custom copy and design elements.
All widgets can be:
- Customized (metrics, chart type, filters, etc.)
- Resized or reordered within the dashboard
- Edited, duplicated, or deleted
To learn more about how to create and customize widgets, as well as each widget type's features, please visit our widget hubs:
What is a dashboard?
In Measure, a dashboard is a report built from one or more widgets. A dashboard's data is refreshed automatically. You can share dashboards with your teammates, build dashboards collaboratively, and send dashboards to external stakeholders as regularly scheduled emails.
When creating a new dashboard, you will be asked to select one of over a dozen templates. These templates determine which widgets and metrics are included in the dashboard by default, and they are designed to help you organize your data more intuitively. However, you can still add, remove, and edit components freely. You can also select the blank Build your own template to create a dashboard from scratch.
To learn more about how to create, customize, and share dashboards, please see our other guides in the Help Center: