Your 2025 Social Media Year in Review: The Questions You Should Be Asking
It's the end of 2025, and if you're like most business owners, you've been posting consistently on social media all year. You've shown up. You've created content. You've engaged with your audience. But here's the question that matters: Did your social media actually make you money?
If you hesitated for even a second before answering, we need to talk.
Most businesses can tell you exactly how many followers they gained this year, what their best-performing post was, or which day of the week gets the most engagement. But ask them how many qualified leads came from social media? How much revenue can be attributed to their social efforts? Crickets.
The problem isn't that you're not working hard enough. The problem is you're measuring the wrong things.
The Metrics That Actually Matter
Let's be clear: your social media ROI doesn't live in your engagement rate. It lives in your bank account. Here are the only metrics that actually matter for any businesses trying to grow:
Qualified Leads Generated
This is number one. Not "likes." Not "shares." Not "brand awareness." How many people reached out to you with genuine interest in your services? How many filled out your contact form? How many DMs turned into discovery calls?
If you can't answer this question with a specific number, you're not running a social media strategy. You're running a social media activity.
Website Traffic from Social
Are people actually clicking through to learn more? Use UTM parameters (those tracking codes in your URLs) to see which platforms and which posts are driving traffic. Platform analytics will tell you clicks, but Google Analytics will tell you what happened after they clicked.
Revenue Attribution
This is the holy grail, and yes, it's harder to track. But at minimum, you should be asking every new client: "How did you hear about us?" Track those answers. If "Facebook" or "LinkedIn" or "Instagram" keeps showing up, you're onto something. If it doesn't, your strategy needs work.
Conversion Rate from Followers to Customers
If you have 5,000 followers but only 2 became customers this year, that's a 0.04% conversion rate. That's not a social media problem. That's a strategy problem. Your content isn't moving people from awareness to action.
Notice what's NOT on this list? Follower count. Engagement rate. Post reach. Those are growth and they make you feel productive, but they don't pay the bills.
Red Flags You Ignored This Year
Let's get uncomfortable for a moment. Here are the warning signs you probably saw in 2025 but didn't act on:
You couldn't name a single customer who found you through social media.
If social media is part of your marketing strategy but zero customers came from it, it's not working. Period.
Your engagement came mostly from other businesses, not potential customers.
Getting likes from fellow entrepreneurs and marketers feels good, but they're not your target market. If your ideal customer isn't engaging, you're creating content for the wrong audience.
You posted "tips" and "how-tos" but never told people how to hire you.
Education is valuable, but if you're giving away free consulting without any calls-to-action, you're just a helpful stranger on the internet. You're not running a business.
You were on 4+ platforms and thriving on none.
Spreading yourself thin across every platform means you're doing everything poorly. Better to own two platforms than fail at five.
You had no idea if your social media was profitable.
If you spent money on ads, spent hours creating content, maybe even hired someone to help, but you don't know if it generated more revenue than it cost - you're flying blind.
You chased trends instead of addressing customer problems.
Remember that trending audio you jumped on that got decent views but zero inquiries? Yeah, that's because your ideal customer didn't care about it. Trends are tempting, but strategy wins.
Sound familiar? You're not alone. Most businesses made these same mistakes in 2025.
What to Do Differently in 2026
Here's the good news: 2026 can be different. But it requires a fundamental shift in how you think about social media.
Start with Business Goals, Not Content Ideas
Before you plan a single post, answer this: What do you want your business to achieve in 2026? How many new customers do you need? What's your revenue goal? Then work backwards to figure out how many leads your social media needs to generate.
If you need $120K in new revenue, with an average customer value of $5K and a 25% close rate, you need 96 qualified leads next year. That's 8 leads per month. Now you know what your social media needs to deliver.
Track Lead Sources Religiously
Starting January 1st, track where every single inquiry comes from. Add a field to your contact form. Ask during discovery calls. Use UTM codes on every link you share. Within 90 days, you'll know exactly which platforms and content types drive actual business.
Choose 2 Platforms and Dominate Them
If you're currently posting sporadically across LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, pick the two where your ideal customers actually are. Go all-in. Post 3-4 times per week consistently. Engage daily. Master those before expanding.
Balance Education with Promotion
The magic ratio: 60% educational content, 20% behind-the-scenes/relational content, 20% promotional content with clear CTAs. You need to give value, but you also need to make it crystal clear how people can work with you.
Review Your Metrics Monthly
Set a recurring calendar reminder. First Monday of every month: review your social media performance. Not just likes and comments: leads generated, traffic driven, revenue attributed. What worked? What didn't? Adjust accordingly.
Give It Time, But Be Willing to Pivot
Social media results don't show up in 30 days. Give your strategy 90-120 days before making major changes. But if something's clearly not working after that period, don't be stubborn. Pivot.
Your 2026 Social Media Strategy Starts Now
Most businesses will enter 2026 the same way they entered 2025: posting without purpose, measuring without meaning, working without wins.
But you? You're going to be different.
You're going to set real goals. Track real metrics. Generate real leads.
And to help you do exactly that, we've created a comprehensive resource to guide your planning: Download our free 2026 Social Media Planning Worksheet.
This worksheet will walk you through:
Setting revenue-based goals for your social media
Calculating exactly how many leads you need to generate
Choosing the right platforms for your business
Building a content strategy that drives action
Setting up proper tracking and measurement
It's the same framework we use with our clients. And it works.
Because here's the truth: social media either makes you money, or it wastes your time. There's no in-between.
So as you close out 2025, ask yourself one final question: Did my social media generate revenue or just activity?
If the answer makes you uncomfortable, good. That discomfort is what will drive you to do things differently in 2026.
Download the 2026 Social Media Planning Worksheet now and start the new year with a real strategy, not just good intentions.
At TBD Media, we help small businesses build social media strategies that generate qualified leads and real revenue, not just likes. Our monthly management packages include custom strategy, content creation, community management, and ROI tracking. Ready to make 2026 your best year yet? Schedule a free 30-minute strategy call.