The Most Important Social Media Algorithm Metrics

The social media algorithm can be your best friend or your worst nightmare. It determines whether your video will receive 1 million views or just a few hundred. Because of this, people often obsess over the algorithm.

However, the algorithm is designed to reward content that people are genuinely interested in. Therefore, many experts suggest replacing the term “algorithm” with “audience.”

Instead of asking, “What’s the algorithm going to like?” ask yourself, “What’s the audience going to like?”

To mimic how views are distributed based on audience preferences, the algorithm typically looks at how a few key metrics perform in your video. In this blog post, we will explain these key metrics so you know exactly what to focus on when creating short-form video content.

How Social Media Algorithms Work:

When you upload a video to a social media platform like TikTok, it initially reaches a small audience. If the video performs well within that group, the audience expands, and the content is shown to more people. Conversely, if the video does not perform well, it will not reach a larger audience, resulting in low views.

While factors affecting video performance can vary by platform, a few key factors consistently impact performance across all platforms.

Factor 1: Audience Retention

Audience retention is crucial and can be broken down into two parts: how many people choose to view your video and what percentage of the video they complete.

How Many Chose to View

With short-form social media content, people decide whether to watch your video within the first 2-3 seconds.

If many viewers swipe away quickly, it negatively impacts your video’s chances of gaining organic views, as it signals disinterest to the algorithm.

Conversely, if viewers stay engaged in the first few seconds, this is a positive signal for the algorithm. However, the algorithm also considers whether the video lives up to its initial promise and isn’t just “clickbait.”

Amount Watched

The percentage of the video watched correlates with how engaging your content is. If viewers swipe away early, it suggests the content is less engaging. If they watch most or all of the video, it indicates higher engagement.

Although longer videos might seem less likely to hold attention, the algorithm accounts for this by recognizing that engaging long-form content can be just as effective as shorter content.

Audience retention is a key metric for the algorithm to determine if your content is interesting. The goal is to push out the most engaging and binge-worthy content to maximize user sessions, leading to more promoted and paid ads, which in turn generates revenue for the platform.

However, audience retention metrics are not the only consideration; engagement metrics are also important.

Engagement

Engagement metrics include actions like follows, shares, saves, comments, and likes. These metrics help the social media platform gauge how engaging your content is.

Follows

When a user follows you after watching your video, it indicates that the video was compelling enough for them to want to keep up with your future content. This usually results in more views for that specific video.

Shares

Shares are highly valued by algorithms because they often bring new users to the platform, who then watch ads, generating revenue.

Saves

Saves are another positive engagement metric. They suggest that viewers find your content valuable enough to revisit later.

Comments

Comments are beneficial because they often indicate that the video is still playing in the background, increasing its average watch time, and ultimately leading to more views.

Likes

Likes have minimal impact on their own but can signal that your video is performing well in other areas, as a high number of likes often correlates with longer viewer engagement.

In summary, key metrics such as audience retention—comprising initial viewership and the proportion of the video watched—along with engagement metrics like follows, shares, saves, comments, and likes, are crucial in shaping the visibility of your content.

Ultimately, focusing on creating content that resonates with your audience will naturally align with the algorithm’s preferences, rather than trying to game the system.