Tree service companies should track these social media KPIs: lead generation rate, cost per lead, engagement rate, reach and impressions, website clicks, phone calls or messages from social media, and follower growth rate. Most tree companies track the wrong metrics like total followers or total likes. Those vanity metrics don’t tell you if social media is actually bringing in jobs.
The KPIs that matter are the ones that connect to actual business results. How many people contacted you? How much did it cost to get those contacts? How many turned into jobs? That’s what determines if your social media effort is worth the time and money you’re putting into it.
We’ve tracked social media performance for tree service companies for over a decade. We know which metrics actually matter versus which ones just look good in a report but don’t help you make decisions. Most tree companies either track nothing or track the wrong things. Both approaches waste time and money.
Lead generation rate is how many actual leads you get from social media divided by how much effort or money you put in. A lead is someone who contacts you about tree work – phone call, message, form submission, email.
Track this monthly. How many leads came from Facebook? Instagram? Your social media ads? Compare that to how much you spent on ads or how much time you invested in content creation.
Good numbers vary by market but here’s what we see across clients. Organic social media for tree companies typically generates 2-5 leads per month if you’re posting consistently. Paid social media with $300-500 monthly budget typically generates 8-15 leads per month.
If you’re getting zero leads per month from social media, something’s broken. Either your content isn’t compelling, your call-to-action is weak, or you’re not posting consistently enough for the algorithm to show your content.
We had a client in Texas getting maybe 1 lead every two months from Facebook despite posting regularly. We audited his content. He was posting photos with no captions, no calls to action, no contact information visible. Beautiful work photos but nothing telling people how to hire him. We added clear calls to action and contact info to every post. Leads jumped to 4-6 per month within two months.
Cost per lead is total money spent on social media divided by number of leads generated. This only applies if you’re running paid ads. Organic social media has a cost per lead too but it’s measured in time investment instead of dollars.
For paid social media, tree companies should aim for $15-35 cost per lead depending on market. Big competitive cities might be $40-50. Small towns might be $10-20.
If your cost per lead is over $60, you’re either in an extremely competitive market or your ads aren’t optimized. Your targeting might be off. Your ad content might not be compelling. Your offer might not be attractive enough.
We track this weekly for clients running paid ads. If cost per lead creeps up, we know something changed. Maybe the audience is fatigued from seeing the same ad. Maybe a competitor started aggressive advertising. Maybe seasonal demand dropped. We adjust quickly based on the data.
One client was spending $800 per month on Facebook ads getting 8 leads. Cost per lead was $100. Way too high. We redid his targeting to focus on homeowners 40-65 within 12 miles, tested new ad content with before/afters instead of generic tree photos, and added a seasonal hook. Cost per lead dropped to $32 within three weeks. Same budget, 25 leads instead of 8.
Engagement rate is total engagements (likes, comments, shares, saves) divided by total reach or followers. This tells you if your content resonates with people or if they’re scrolling past it.
For tree companies, aim for 2-5% engagement rate on Facebook. 3-7% on Instagram. Those numbers sound low but they’re realistic for local service businesses. If you’re getting under 1%, your content isn’t connecting with your audience.
Track this monthly by platform. Look at your insights. Facebook and Instagram both show engagement rate in their analytics. If one type of content consistently gets higher engagement than others, do more of that.
We had a client whose team photos got 1-2% engagement but his before/after job photos got 6-8% engagement. Clear message. People wanted to see the work results, not team building photos. We adjusted his content mix. More before/afters, fewer team shots. Overall engagement improved and more importantly, leads increased.
High engagement also helps the algorithm. Posts with good engagement get shown to more people. So tracking engagement rate tells you both if content resonates AND if it’s likely to reach a wider audience.
Reach is unique people who saw your content. Impressions is total times your content was viewed including multiple views by the same person. Both matter but reach matters more.
For tree companies posting organically 3-4 times per week, expect reach of 200-600 per post on Facebook depending on follower count and engagement. Instagram reach can be higher if you’re using Reels. YouTube reach builds over time as videos get search traffic.
If your reach is under 100 per post and you have 500+ followers, the algorithm isn’t promoting your content. Could be low engagement. Could be inconsistent posting. Could be content type that the platform doesn’t prioritize.
Track reach weekly. Look for patterns. Which posts got the best reach? Why? Was it video versus photos? Was it the topic? Was it the day or time posted? Use that data to inform future content.
We increased a client’s average reach from 180 per post to 420 per post by switching from static images to short video clips and posting on a consistent schedule. Same follower count. Same market. Just algorithm-friendly content posted consistently.
Website clicks from social media tell you if your content is motivating people to learn more. Every platform tracks this in their analytics. Facebook calls it “link clicks.” Instagram shows it as profile link taps.
For tree companies, 20-50 website clicks per month from organic social media is reasonable. Paid ads should drive way more – 100-300 clicks per month depending on budget.
If you’re getting zero website clicks, you’re not including calls to action or links. Every post should have a reason for people to visit your site. “See our full service list at [website].” “Read more about spring pruning on our blog.” “Check out customer reviews at [website].”
Track this monthly. Compare website traffic from social media to other sources like Google. If Google brings 500 visitors per month and social media brings 12, you know where to focus your effort.
We had a client confused why social media wasn’t bringing business. We checked his analytics. Zero website visits from social media in three months. He wasn’t including his website link anywhere. Added links to posts and profile. Website visits from social jumped to 40-60 per month. Some of those visitors became customers.
Track how many people call or message you directly from social media. This is harder to measure than website clicks but more valuable because it’s higher intent.
Facebook and Instagram both allow direct messaging. Track these weekly. How many inquiries came through? How many turned into estimates? How many turned into jobs?
Phone calls are trickier. You can use call tracking numbers specific to social media. Or just ask callers “How did you hear about us?” Most will tell you if they found you on Facebook or Instagram.
For organic social media, 2-5 direct contacts per month is typical. For paid ads, 10-20 per month depending on budget and market.
We set up tracking systems for clients. Dedicated phone numbers for social media ads. Monitoring Facebook/Instagram messages daily. Logging where every lead came from. This data tells you exactly what social media is producing in terms of actual business opportunities.
Follower growth rate is new followers gained per month divided by total followers. This shows if your audience is growing and how fast.
For tree companies, 5-10% monthly follower growth is solid if you’re posting consistently and engaging with your community. If you’re at 500 followers, gaining 25-50 per month means you’re doing something right.
If follower growth is flat or negative, your content isn’t compelling enough for people to follow you. Or you’re not engaging in your community enough to get discovered.
Track this monthly. But remember, followers alone don’t matter. A thousand followers who never become customers is worthless. But follower growth combined with engagement and leads tells you you’re building an audience that cares about your content.
Total follower count as the main metric. Doesn’t matter. You can have 3,000 followers and get zero jobs. Or 400 followers and get 5 jobs per month. Quality over quantity.
Total likes on posts. Another vanity metric. Likes don’t equal business. Someone can like every post you make for a year and never hire you. Track engagement rate instead which shows relative interest.
Impressions without reach. Impressions count multiple views by the same person. If one person saw your post five times, that’s five impressions but one reach. Reach tells you unique people reached which matters more.
Comparing yourself to competitors’ public numbers. You don’t know if their followers are real, if they’re getting leads, if their engagement is legitimate. Focus on your own metrics and improvement over time.
We’ve had clients come to us proud they have 2,000 followers. Great. How many leads did that generate last month? “Uh, maybe one?” That’s the problem. Focusing on follower count instead of business results.
Check your metrics monthly at minimum. Compare to previous month. What improved? What declined? Why?
If engagement is up but leads are flat, your content is interesting but not prompting action. Add stronger calls to action.
If reach is declining, the algorithm is deprioritizing your content. Change your content format or posting consistency.
If cost per lead is rising, your ad creative is fatigued or competition increased. Test new ad content or adjust targeting.
Use the data to make decisions, not just to report numbers. The point of tracking KPIs is to understand what’s working and do more of it, and what’s not working so you can fix it or stop doing it.
We review client metrics monthly. Show them what’s performing. Explain what the numbers mean for their business. Adjust strategy based on the data. That’s how tracking KPIs actually helps instead of just being more numbers to look at.
You’re flying blind. You don’t know if social media is helping your business or wasting your time. You can’t make informed decisions about where to invest effort or money.
You keep doing what doesn’t work. If your current content generates zero leads but you don’t track it, you’ll keep posting the same ineffective content forever.
You can’t justify ad spend. If someone asks “Is social media advertising worth it?” you have no answer because you’re not tracking results.
You miss opportunities to optimize. Maybe your Instagram is crushing it but your Facebook is dead. Are you on the right social media platform? Without tracking, you don’t know to shift effort to Instagram.
We track everything for clients as part of our social media marketing program. Lead generation, cost per lead, engagement rates, reach, website clicks, direct contacts, follower growth. Monthly reports showing all KPIs with analysis.
We use the data to adjust strategy constantly. If video content outperforms photos, we do more video. If certain ad targeting works better, we optimize toward that. Data-driven decisions, not guesses.
We connect social media metrics to actual business results. Not just “you got 400 followers this month.” But “social media generated 12 leads last month, 4 became jobs worth $9,800 total.”
Most clients start tracking KPIs seriously for the first time when they work with us. They realize they were spending time and money on social media with no idea if it was working. Once we implement tracking, they can make smart decisions about social media investment.
Track the KPIs that connect to business results. Ignore vanity metrics. Use the data to optimize your strategy. That’s how social media becomes a measurable, predictable lead source instead of a time-wasting mystery.
