Welcome! Let's start with the big question
Hi, and welcome to your first level. I'm really glad you're here.
Before we talk about posts, videos or hashtags, I want to ask you something simple. What should social media actually do for your business?
If you're like most small business owners, your answer sounds something like "get more customers" or "get my name out there". That's a fine wish. The trouble is that a wish isn't a plan. You can't tell if you're getting closer to it, and you can't tell which posts are helping.
So in this level we'll turn that wish into one or two clear goals. Then we'll pick a simple way to measure each one.
Meet our example: Rosie's bakery
We'll follow one business throughout. Rosie runs a small local bakery. She sells bread and pastries over the counter, and she takes pre-orders for celebration cakes.
Rosie posts photos of her cakes most days. She gets plenty of hearts and lovely comments like "Gorgeous!" But here's what she says: "I don't know if any of it is selling cakes."
Sound familiar? Let's fix that.
From a wish to a SMART goal
A handy tool here is the SMART checklist. The idea goes back to a 1981 management article by George T. Doran, and the letters have shifted a little over the years. The version most people use today says a good goal is:
- Specific: it names exactly what you want.
- Measurable: you can count it.
- Achievable: it's a stretch, but a realistic one with the time and money you have.
- Relevant: it actually matters to your business.
- Time-bound: it has a deadline.
Let's try it on Rosie's wish. She starts with "get more customers from social media".
Is that specific? Not really. Which customers? Buying what? So we narrow it down to cake pre-orders, because that's where her profit is.
Is it measurable? We'll make it a number. Rosie checks her order book and sees that about 4 cake pre-orders a month currently come from people who found her on social media.
Achievable? Going from 4 to 40 in a month isn't realistic for one baker with one oven. Going from 4 to 10 feels like a fair stretch.
Relevant? Yes, because cake orders pay the bills. Time-bound? Let's say three months.
So here's Rosie's goal: "Grow cake pre-orders that come from social media from 4 to 10 a month by the end of March."
See the difference? Now Rosie knows exactly what she's aiming for, and she'll know whether she gets there.
What if you sell a service?
Let's take a second quick example. Sam is a freelance bookkeeper. Sam doesn't sell cakes. Sam needs conversations with potential clients.
Sam's vague wish is "get my name out there". A SMART version might be: "Get 6 enquiries a month through my website contact form from social media visitors within the next 12 weeks."
Notice that Sam's goal isn't about sales directly. It's about enquiries, because that's the step a service business can actually count before a client signs up.
One more tip. Stick to one or two goals. If you set five, your attention splits five ways, and nothing moves.
Vanity metrics versus business measures
Now for the part that changes how you look at your phone.
Some numbers feel great but don't tell you much about your business. People call these vanity metrics. The phrase was made popular by Eric Ries in The Lean Startup. He described them as numbers that make you feel good but don't give clear guidance on what to do next.
On social media, the usual vanity metrics are likes, follower counts and views. Are they useless? No. A post nobody sees can't sell anything. But a thousand likes from people who live 200 miles away won't sell Rosie a single cake.
Business measures are the numbers closer to the till. Think of clicks to your website or order page, enquiries, bookings and sales.
Here's an analogy. Likes are like people smiling as they walk past your shop window. Lovely! But a click is someone opening the door. An enquiry is someone asking a question at the counter. A sale is someone paying. You want to count the people coming through the door, not just the smiles.
Pick one main measure, and write down where you're starting
For each goal, choose one main measure. That's the number you'll check first, every time.
For Rosie, it's cake pre-orders from social media. She'll simply ask every customer, "How did you hear about us?" and tally the answers. For Sam, it's contact form enquiries from social visitors.
It's fine to keep an eye on a supporting number too. If your Instagram account is set up as a business or creator account, its built-in insights show things like profile visits and taps on the link in your profile. We'll explore those tools properly later in the course.
Now the step almost everyone skips: record your starting point. This is your baseline. Without it, you can't tell real progress from a lucky week. Rosie writes down "4 pre-orders a month from social, as of today". That one line is what lets her prove, three months from now, that her effort paid off.
Your task
Grab a notebook or open a note on your phone. Write one or two SMART goals for your business. Next to each, write its one main measure and today's starting number. If you don't know the number yet, write down how you'll find it this week.
Key takeaways
- A wish like "get more customers" becomes useful once it's a SMART goal: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound.
- Keep to one or two goals so your effort stays focused.
- Likes, followers and views are vanity metrics. Clicks, enquiries, bookings and sales are business measures.
- Choose one main measure for each goal.
- Write down your starting point so you can see real progress.