What do you measure when the metrics don't matter?
Learning to grow beyond the dashboard
As someone sharing work or ideas on the internet, you learn to optimise for metrics that win in the attention economy. A CTR of 10%! 5x ROAS! 500k followers! Pick your player and feel the endorphins flow.
But these metrics and dashboards are not neutral. They’re built by tech companies who depend on their assumed value. Data points that demands scale are prioritised because that’s what grows the bottom line for those businesses. More impressions, more clicks, more followers, more seconds watched = more ad revenue.
This doesn’t mean that optimising for these metrics will grow your brand or business in the any meaningful way.
We’re deep in the summer of digital malaise with a palpable desire to log the fuck off seeping way beyond the usual musings on Substack.
According to Deloitte’s Digital Consumer Trends Report released in June, one in five people have deleted a social media app in the past year.
The top two reasons given were “I stopped using the app” and “It consumed too much of my time”.
Kyle Chayka wrote earlier this month in the New Yorker:
“We might also be heading toward something like Posting Zero, a point at which normal people—the unprofessionalized, uncommodified, unrefined masses—stop sharing things on social media as they tire of the noise, the friction, and the exposure.
This ennui among the normies is intrinsically tied to the functionality decisions made by social media companies like Meta. As they prioritise ad revenue, we get an increasingly shitty experience.
Combine this with the deluge of AI slop and the bots click click clicking on your content and it feels like a great time to reassess how exactly you’re measuring success for your own business.
So what do we measure instead?
Less quantifiable goals are often incorrectly characterised as soft. The reality is they are also tied to friction, doubt, and uncertainty but without the veneer of comfort that comes from measuring within the framework of metrics we’ve grown to know and love/hate. This is how I’m thinking about measuring progress at the moment:
1. Decide what matters to you 💘
This is the unlock that leads to measuring meaningful metrics. For example, measuring number of videos published for volume’s sake will lead to publishing poorer quality work.
But if the real goal is getting into a routine of filming and sharing in order to gain confidence and improve over time, then a high number of posts published is a success. See the difference?
2. Measure beyond the dashboards 🌍
The most meaningful signs of growth can’t always be quantified. You could make time to reflect on, for example; the quality of conversations sparked, the kind of clients or customers you’re signing, how enjoyable your days are, the sense of community you have in different spaces. One of mine for this year is to be published in print four times because it always leads to connecting with interesting people I wouldn’t otherwise. You decide!
3. Prioritise quality over quantity of reach ⚽
It’s absurd how we’ve come to think that reaching thousands of random people will be more impactful to our lives more than meeting a handful of people with whom we share interests and goals. But hey that’s the internet.
Yancey Strickler put this perfectly in a LinkedIn post this week:
4. Take weird signals seriously 🐚
Note down things you think are moving the dial in your brand growth but that you don’t know how to categorise. Like a big publication published a think piece on the topic you’re betting on or someone you admire DMs you to say they love your work. These are signals that you’re on to something. Take note.
I’m not saying to bin off traditional digital metrics altogether. I am saying free yourself from optimising for metrics that don’t move the needle for your brand or project and definitely don’t tie your self worth to them.
Do the things that won’t scale, test out an idea with an audience of one, and keep creating because it brings you joy to do so. This is how to nurture growth in your desired direction of travel.
What are you measuring success against at the moment? Do feel like you want to shake them up? Let me know :)
Thanks for reading and catch you soon.
Matilda
This needs like 1000 more comments, good lord. So good.
nailed down. 'love' can only be measured qualitatively.