Good news, actors!

You don't need to put all your energy into just trying to get more followers on social media. Why? Because it's actually not the most important number on social media. Follower count is not even in the top 3 most important pieces of data to track on social media.

The 3 main numbers actors should track on social media

Too many actors find themselves worrying solely about “getting a ton of social media followers”, whether due to bad advice or assumptions made. It breaks my heart to see this, because it can really reduce the concept of social media into a very frivolous and shallow experience, when I know that it has the potential to be and do so much more for an actor’s career. While seeing a big number of followers can definitely provide a certain sense of “credibility” in the eyes of new people who discover you online, a big number there doesn’t necessarily result in the acting opportunities, supportive community of fans, partnerships, or potential money to be made that many actors are actually seeking.

The following three numbers are actually better indicators of the health of your social media accounts, whether you are on track to met your real acting career goals, and when done properly…can actually lead to an increase in your followers (but not just any followers, ones that will be SUPER FANS of your content, which is what we want, right?). Let’s dive in!

1. Your Engagement Rate

• What it is: Your total number of followers divided by the average number of engagements (likes+comments+saves+shares) you tend to get on your posts (calculate the average number across your past 20-30 posts - not your 1 highest rated post).

• Why it matters: Your engagement rate shows how involved and connected your followers are to YOU and your content. A high engagement rate means that your followers are invested in what you have to share, and are likely to follow your journey and take action on your behalf. A low engagement rate shows the opposite of that, meaning you lack connection and influence in your community (and potentially have fake followers/bots). A strong, engaged community of 1,000 is WAY more valuable than a completely disinterested set of 10,000 followers.

Focusing your attention on engagement rates over followers also can be helpful for your mental health on social media too! Why? Because you’ll be focused on the positive interactions with others online, and will be thinking about ways that you can continue to serve others through your social media and connect in an authentic way - all healthy ways to think about the social media game.

2. Your Networking Output

• What it is: How many intentional, strategic networking efforts (comments, messages, etc.) do you take part in per week/month?

• Why it matters: When you track your networking efforts, you hold yourself accountable for actually putting yourself out there, and can track the RESULTS of those efforts to continually refine your strategy.

Networking is one of the two core purposes of social media (we dive deep on networking strategies in The Social Media Script). When you proactively work on your online networking skills, it can also help you grow in your confidence and experience for in-person networking as well. Networking on social media has helped actors find agents and managers, connect with casting directors, get audition opportunities, and so much more.

While most social media apps don’t have a feature that helps you track your networking efforts, this is a very easy thing you can track yourself, whether on a Google Doc or Sheet, or with good ol’ fashioned pen and paper.

3. Your Content Creation Output

• What it is: How many strategic, brand-specific social media posts are you creating per week/month? How are they performing?

• Why it matters: Again, holding yourself accountable for putting yourself out there is important! As well as being intentional about monitoring what works well and what might need to be adjusted for improvement. If you don't track your data, you'll never know for sure.

Content creation is the second piece of the puzzle when it comes to social media. If you don’t create and post regularly, it’s difficult to nearly impossible to actually cultivate and grow an online community. Remember, though, that just posting willy nilly is very different than posting with brand-specific strategy that’s aligned with your acting career goals. Those are the elements you should keep in mind as you track your content output and feedback from your followers. There are always new ways to experiment and get creative to keep things fresh!

The nice part about social media apps these days is that they offer Analytics and Insight dashboards (for Creator and Business accounts) that are super easy to access and understand. You should check yours each week or month to keep track of this data.

Want to learn more about this topic? Click here to watch the full video on YouTube!

If you're ready to level up from just posting randomly on social media, to actually using it as a TOOL for your acting career, then you gotta sign up for The Social Media Script online course!  As both a professional marketing manager and working actor myself, I designed each detail of this program specifically for working actors who want to use social media to create more opportunities for their careers without it taking over their entire lives (because, as ya know, we are busy people!).