Followers

Output

number of followers or subscribers of the selected social media account at the specified reporting date

The indicator measures the number of followers or subscribers of a selected social media account at a specified point in time. It provides a simple indication of the size of the account’s potential audience but does not show how many followers saw, engaged with, understood or acted on its content. The follower count may also include people who followed the account before the campaign. Therefore, use this indicator mainly to monitor audience size and interpret it together with follower growth, reach, engagement and, where relevant, measures of the intended communication outcome.

Determine the indicator's value by using the following methodology:

1) Define the measurement scope before collecting the data. Specify the social media platform, account and reporting date. Use the same scope and timing when comparing results over time.

2) Use the platform’s own analytics or account information and check its current definition of followers, subscribers or the equivalent metric. Platform terminology, counting methods and available analytics differ and can change over time.

3) Record the follower or subscriber count for each selected social media account at the specified reporting date. Report figures separately for each platform. Do not add them together and interpret the result as the number of people following the campaign, because the same person can follow several accounts or platforms and some people may use more than one account.

This data can be disaggregated by social media platform, and, if relevant and feasible, also by account, audience characteristics available through the platform or other factors relevant to the communication objective.

1) Follower count is not the same as audience exposure. Followers may not see a particular post, while non-followers may see it through recommendations, searches, shares or other forms of distribution. Use Reach where you need to understand how many accounts were shown the content.

2) Interpret follower numbers as social media accounts, not necessarily unique people. One person can have several accounts or follow the organisation on several platforms. For this reason, avoid reporting a sum of followers across platforms as the number of people reached or engaged.

3) Follower counts can rise or fall for reasons other than campaign performance, including unfollows, account deletion or suspension, platform removal of inactive or inauthentic accounts, and changes in platform measurement. Record major changes in the platform or measurement procedure when they could affect comparisons over time.

4) Avoid practices intended mainly to inflate follower counts, such as purchasing followers or artificial follow-for-follow activity. Such followers reduce the usefulness of the metric and some platforms explicitly prohibit artificial follower manipulation.

5) If increasing the account’s audience is an objective, consider monitoring follower growth in addition to the total follower count. Calculate net follower growth as: follower count at the end of the period − follower count at the start of the period. If useful, percentage growth can be calculated as: (net follower growth ÷ follower count at the start of the period) × 100. Use the same account and consistent reporting dates.

6) Interpret changes in follower numbers together with relevant campaign activity and other social media metrics. An increase in followers does not by itself show that the campaign caused the increase or that the new followers saw, engaged with or acted on its content. Where the objective is awareness, engagement or action, prioritise metrics that measure those objectives more directly.

Also consider using the following indicators:

• Reach (shows how many users were exposed to the content, which is more informative than the potential audience represented by followers)

• Engagement Rate (shows the level of interaction relative to content exposure and helps assess whether the audience is engaging with the content)

• Reactions (provides a simple measure of audience response to the content)

• Shares / Reposts (captures a stronger form of interaction that can also extend content beyond the existing follower base)