Top Metrics Every Creator Should Measure in 2025

When it comes to social media, creators can tend to get caught up in seeing how many likes they’ve gotten. Yes, likes can help signal that your content caught someone’s eye, but they don’t always tell the full story on how effective your messaging and visuals really are. In fact, as I wrote in my last blog post Why Can’t Brands Get Their Story Straight, consistency and clarity in storytelling are what build connection. A double tap doesn’t necessarily mean your post resonated deeply, inspired action or left an impression. If you’re only measuring your success by likes, you might miss the bigger picture of how your content is actually performing. If you’re serious about building your brand online, here are the metrics that deserve your attention:

Engagement Rate

You can think of engagement rates as quality over quantity. Your engagement rate tells you how your audience actually interacts with your content. It measures your comments, shares, saves and DMs. A small audience that engages more will be of more value to a brand looking for creators rather than one with a big audience who barely engages. Sprout Social backs this up, noting that a post with tons of impressions but low engagement might look successful at first glance, but it doesn’t actually mean the content is resonating in a meaningful way (Sprout Social).

Save & Share Counts

Likes may give you instant gratification, but saves and shares truly depict your content performance. When someone shares your post, it means your message or visual was powerful enough for them to want to share it with someone else. This is the new age of word of mouth marketing. When someone saves your post, it shows that your content had enough value for someone to want to revisit it later. Together these metrics reveal which of your posts have a lasting impact rather than just providing quick forgettable entertainment. They also tell you what’s “evergreen” content that people will keep returning to long after an initial scroll. Per Semrush, evergreen content is material that “remains relevant over a long period and requires few updates to continue providing value for readers”. 

Click Through Rate

If you are doing a collaboration or partnership, CTR shows if your messaging and visuals are strong enough to make a conversion and move off the app. High engagement without clicks is like window shopping. You’ve got their attention to stop and look but not actually walking in the store. Strong visuals with a clear call to action such as “read more” and “shop now” can help lift your CTR and show you which posts are converting casual strollers into active participants. Tracking this can help you understand if your captions and graphics are persuasive enough to move people. 

Audience Growth & Retention

It’s one thing to gain new followers, but it’s another thing to keep them around and engaged. Audience growth shows how effective your content is in attracting new eyes while retention reveals whether those people want to stick around and continue to follow along. If you see spikes in growth after certain posts like after a trending post, that’s a sign your messaging is reaching beyond your current audience. However, if you’re noticing just as many unfollows, it could mean the content these people followed for is not what you usually post about. Tracking both your growth and retention gives you a clearer picture of whether you’re building a loyal fan base or just riding off virality.  

Story Views & Drop Off Points

Story posts are a more quick and casual way of engaging your audience, but there’s a catch if you’re not properly engaging your audience, your dropoff rate. If people are clicking through your stories too fast or swiping out halfway, it means your content isn’t holding viewers attention. It could mean maybe your visuals aren’t engaging enough or your storytelling feels scattered. On the other side, if you see your viewers are sticking around till the end, it’s a sign you’re doing your job by hooking people and keeping them curious. 

At the end of the day, tracking metrics is less about obsessing over numbers and more about understanding the story your content is telling. By looking beyond vanity metrics like likes, you can get a clearer sense of what resonates and what inspires more action. Taking into account these insights will make you a better communicator, marketer and storyteller. Because real growth isn’t about who saw your post, it’s about who remembered, acted on it and shared it with someone else. And that’s the true influence.

Stop guessing what’s working. Learn the exact metrics brands actually care about and how to use them to grow. Download your free guide and start tracking like a pro!