Beyond the Likes- Reputation Metrics That Actually Matter

It’s essential to evaluate ROI these days to make sure that your marketing and communications efforts add value, but are you tracking the metrics that actually drive business? While you’re celebrating engagement rates and follower milestones, the signals that predict new business leads and project wins might be going completely unnoticed.

People like numbers because that offer certainty. That’s why most firms track impressions, click-through rates, and follower growth. All of these metrics are readily available. They’re concrete, measurable, and leave no room for interpretation, which makes them incredibly appealing. 

But certainty can be a distraction from what you’re actually trying to achieve, especially when there’s only so much engagement that you have time to seek – and potential clients have time to give. The metrics that actually predict client relationships and project wins require something different entirely: more nuanced tracking, longer timeframes, and a closer look at the cause-and-effect relationships between your brand’s reputation and new business–the kinds of connections that are often buried beneath surface-level data.

The question becomes: how do you balance the easy-to-track metrics with the harder-to-find signals that predict real growth? Here are three measures of engagement that can help you start uncovering those deeper patterns.

1. Decision-Maker Engagement

You might be reaching thousands of people, but if those people aren’t in a position to hire you, that reach is not moving your business forward. The reality is, when you try to reach everyone, you risk not connecting with the people who really matter.

If your content is mostly reaching your peers rather than potential clients and decision makers, then the numbers don’t tell the whole story. Peer-to-peer engagement is great, and can lead to referrals, but there’s a more direct way to reach your key audiences. Instead of just tracking who engages, focus on actively connecting with the people who hold the power to hire you.

Try this: Start asking new prospects how they first heard about your firm. Track those responses for three months. This will show you which of your efforts are actually connecting with people who become real business opportunities.

2. Relationship Progression

Ever hear someone say, “I’ve been following your firm for years before I finally had a new project and a reason to reach out”? That kind of slow-burn relationship is usually invisible in traditional metrics.

A lot of firms treat all website traffic the same, but not all visitors are created equal. Someone who takes the time to download your detailed case study or technical resource is demonstrating genuine engagement with your work, while someone who clicks through social media and mindlessly scrolls past your posts is not making a meaningful connection.

Try this: Map out the typical journey from a prospect’s first awareness of your firm to the first contact. It might start with someone seeing a LinkedIn post, then downloading a resource, attending a webinar, and finally emailing your firm to connect. Identify the actions that signal genuine progression and track those touchpoints. You’ll start to see how meaningful business relationships actually develop, not just how many people are in your audience.

3. Recognition ROI

Consider that award submission that took 40 hours, or the speaking engagement you spent weeks preparing. These efforts create real value – but are you measuring the right outcomes to understand their full impact?

Recognition comes from multiple directions, and each type serves a purpose. High-profile business features build broad brand awareness, while targeted industry coverage often drives more direct project inquiries. The key is being intentional about why you’re pursuing each opportunity and measuring success against that specific purpose, rather than using one-size-fits-all measures for every recognition effort.

Try this: Before investing in any visibility effort, get specific about why you’re doing it. Is this award submission building credibility with a particular client type? Is this speaking engagement establishing your thought leadership in sustainable design? Is this publication feature increasing visibility in the healthcare sector? Define the specific purpose, then track whether you’re achieving that particular goal rather than measuring everything by the same generic business development yardstick.

A Shift in Mindset

Instead of asking, “How visible are we?” try asking, “How influential are we with the people who matter most?”

That one shift changes everything. You’ll start making decisions based on alignment, not just reach. You’ll begin to value depth of connection over general visibility, quality over quantity. Because at the end of the day, what good are big numbers if they don’t add up to big wins?

Skyline Summary

• Focus on decision-maker engagement, not just general reach
• Track how relationships move forward, not just how many people show up
• Tie recognition efforts back to ROI
• Prioritize what’s working — not what’s flashy
• Build custom metrics based on your firm’s goals and audience

Keep building smart. Keep building influence.