How to Build Custom Social Media Metrics in Measure Studio [With Examples]
- Measure Studio
- 4 days ago
- 9 min read
We can’t kick off a blog on custom metrics without dropping some numbers first. So here’s one to chew on.
Most major social platforms let you track anywhere between 20 to 50 native metrics. More than you thought? Maybe less?
But what’s also true is that most teams, in enterprise especially, sometimes need even more than that, including some that can only be calculated through custom formulas and careful nitpicking.
Sure, native analytics are helpful. They're neat, simple, and perfect when you're just starting out or running a small, scrappy social operation.
But we can’t say the same when your followers grow into the thousands. As you grow, the reports get more complicated and the needs more intricate. And for times like these, custom social media analytics are what sort things out for you.
That's why today we're diving into why custom metrics are important for social media managers, and how they can be used to maximize your strategy when paired with native analytics.
Do you even need custom social metrics?
If you're part of a fast-growing brand or enterprise, you've probably hit a wall with native analytics more times than you’d like to admit.
At first, things feel manageable. One brand page, one platform, and a couple of KPIs. Native dashboards do the job. It might be overwhelming, but you can keep it under control.
However, once you scale and expand into new regions, more products, bigger budgets, and multiple platforms, reporting goes from sleek to “where did I put that spreadsheet again?” in a hurry.
This is when custom metrics go from a luxury to necessity. Tell us if any of this sounds familiar...
You're asked for a “total follower count” across all platforms, and you realize you have to calculate it manually.
It’s a basic question, and yet you find yourself toggling between dashboards, copy-pasting numbers into a sheet, and hoping no one catches the rounding errors. With a custom metric, it’s one formula, always up-to-date.
The paid team wants a weekly update on total ad spend across Meta, TikTok, and LinkedIn.
And instead of a single number, you're giving them three exports and a note that says, “I’ll get back to you once I reconcile these.” Custom metrics let you pull spend from all sources and present one trusted number instantly.
Your lead wants to know how Reels are performing across your five Instagram pages.
You open each one, click into Insights, take screenshots, and then try to average engagement rates manually. This is where a custom metric that tracks Reels-only engagement across accounts comes in handy.
You want to compare performance across content types like video vs. carousel vs. static and the native platform groups them all under “posts.”
Your gut tells you videos are your winning stack. However, the data is inconclusive without serious sorting. Custom metrics let you break things down exactly the way you need them and answer questions before they're even asked.
You're being asked to prove efficiency with metrics like engagement per dollar spent or impressions per post.
These metrics are gold for understanding ROI. But native dashboards don’t do the math. Custom metrics do.
You're overseeing multiple regional pages and need a fair comparison across markets.
The UK team’s engagement rate looks great, but is it apples-to-apples with LATAM?With a consistent custom metric applied across accounts, you’ll get a real sense of what’s working and where.
You want to combine organic and paid numbers to show true campaign performance.
Native tools treat them like separate worlds. But leadership wants one story, one number. Custom metrics let you bring both together, side by side, in one unified view.
And these are just a handful. They're the everyday reality of social marketers who are scaling fast and reporting to leadership, brand, paid, and strategy teams, all at once.
If any of this sounds familiar, you are already overdue for custom metrics.
Should you replace native analytics with custom metrics?
Before we go further, it’s important to clarify that custom metrics don’t replace native analytics, they build on them. Native metrics are your foundation and primary source of reliable data.
Native analytics provide the base-level details like reach, impressions, and engagement. Custom metrics take this further by combining, filtering, and calculating it to deliver insights tailored specifically to your business goals and objectives.
In other words, custom metrics enhance native analytics by helping you answer deeper, more complex questions that standard dashboards aren’t designed to handle.
They don’t compete with native metrics, they complement and extend them to give you a more lucid view of your social performance.
How do I build custom metrics on Measure Studio?
Building your own custom metric on Measure Studio is quite easy. Let’s create one using this step-by-step process.
Step 1: Access the custom metrics page
Start by clicking on the dropdown menu next to your name in the upper right corner of Measure Studio, then select ‘Manage Custom Metrics’. This opens up a dashboard where all your existing custom metrics are organized in a list.
Step 2: Create a new metric
To add a new custom metric, hit the ‘Add Metric’ button. A side panel opens up, ready for you to customize.
Step 3: Name and describe your metric
Give your metric a clear name that makes it easy to identify later. Add a brief description so your team understands exactly what this metric measures.
Step 4: Choose your numeric format and data type
Decide how you want the metric to be displayed: as a percentage, a monetary value, or a simple number. You can also pull data from either the post-level or account-level, depending on what you want to analyze.
Step 5: Pick your platforms and build your formula
Choose the platform you want this metric to apply to, including Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, or any combination. You can even build cross-platform metrics by adding data from multiple sources for a broader view.
Now, select the individual metrics you want to include, then define how they would be calculated, whatever you need to get your perfect formula.
Step 6: Save and start using your metric
Once you're happy with your custom formula, click ‘Save Metric’, and voilà! Your metric is ready to be used in your reports and dashboards.
Also, note that the availability of custom metrics in Measure Studio depends on the underlying metrics they're built from.
You can check where a custom metric applies, across views and groups, by selecting it in the Custom Metrics tab for full details.
Top custom metrics that your team can use
If you're wondering where to begin or which custom metrics to prioritize, don’t worry, we've got your back.
We have curated a starter pack of enterprise-ready custom metrics that you can plug directly into your Measure Studio setup.
These are useful for teams managing large volumes of content across multiple platforms, whether you're reporting on holistic performance or zooming into granular audience behavior.
Here’s a quick rundown:
Name | Description | Format | Type | Formula |
Total Spend | Total dollar spent on paid content | Monetary | Post level | Ad Spend Boosted (IG) + Ad Spend Boosted (FB) + Ad Spend Boosted (TikTok) |
Total Engagements (Organic + Paid) | Combined engagement for paid and organic content | Numeric | Post level | Total Engagements (IG) + FB + TikTok + YT + LN + X |
Organic Impressions - Total (w/o IG) | Organic impressions across all platforms except IG | Numeric | Account level | Impressions - Organic (FB) + Views - Organic (TikTok, YT) + Impressions (LN, X) |
Engagement Rate Total | Total engagement rate percentage | Percentage | Post level | (Engagements IG + FB + TikTok + YT + LN + X) / (Total Impressions IG + FB + TikTok + YT + LN + X) |
Total Impressions (Organic + Paid) | Total impressions across all platforms | Numeric | Account level | Impressions (IG, FB) + Views (TikTok, YT) + Impressions (LN, X) |
Paid Impressions (Total) | Total impressions from paid campaigns | Numeric | Account level | Paid Impressions (IG, FB, TikTok, YT, X) |
Engagement Rate | IG engagement rate | Numeric | Post level | (Comments + Likes + Saves + Shares - Organic IG) / Impressions - Organic (IG) |
Watch Time - Hours (Organic) | Organic watch time in hours | Numeric | Post level | Watch Time (minutes) - Organic (YT) / 60 |
Cross Platform Followers | Total follower growth across all platforms | Numeric | Post level | Net Subscribers (YT) + Follower Growth (IG, FB, TikTok, X, LN) |
Views Long Form | Total long-form video views | Numeric | Post level | Views - Organic (YT) + Views - Shorts (YT) |
Total Engagements (Organic + Paid) | Engagements from both paid and organic IG content | Numeric | Post level | Organic Engagements (IG) + Paid Likes, Comments, Shares |
Instagram Paid Engagements (Account Level) | Total IG paid engagement at the account level | Numeric | Account level | Likes + Comments + Shares + Saves - Paid (IG) |
IG Organic + Paid Engagements Combined | Combines IG engagement from paid + organic | Numeric | Post level | Likes + Comments + Shares - Paid + Organic (IG) |
IG Plays Organic + Paid | Combined organic + paid plays on Instagram | Numeric | Post level | Initial Plays - Organic + Paid Views (IG) |
Engagement Rate (Impressions) | Engagement rate using impressions | Percentage | Post level | Total Engagements (IG) / Total Impressions (IG) |
Feed Engagement Rate (Impressions) | IG feed engagement rate excluding stories | Percentage | Account level | (All IG Feed Engagements) / (Feed + Paid Impressions) |
Impressions - Total (Reel+Story+Feed) | Combines impressions from all IG surfaces | Numeric | Account level | Paid + Organic Feed + Story + Reels Impressions (IG) |
Tip: Save time by adding these custom metrics directly to your Measure Studio dashboard.
If you're managing both organic and paid performance or reporting cross-platform totals to stakeholders, these metrics will make your reports actionable.
How can organic and paid social teams use this feature?
Organic social teams are often asked to show how “always-on” content performs over time, across formats and platforms. Custom metrics make this easier by giving you a unified view without hopping between dashboards. For example, you can:
Combine engagement and impressions from Reels, Stories, and Feeds to get a true picture of Instagram performance.
Break down post types (carousel vs. static vs. video) to see what’s really resonating without digging into each platform separately.
Track follower growth across all platforms in one place, instead of stitching together five different exports.
Calculate engagement rates using impressions or reach, whichever better reflects your goals.
For paid social teams, pulling together spend, reach, and engagement data from Meta, TikTok, YouTube, and LinkedIn usually means walking around with a handful of spreadsheets.
Custom metrics help simplify this process so you get:
Sum of total ad spend across all platforms with a single formula, perfect for quick campaign recaps.
Combine paid impressions and engagements to monitor cost efficiency clearly.
Build blended metrics like engagements per dollar spent or impressions per campaign post to prove ROI.
Keep your reporting laser-focused and aligned whether you're comparing geographies, product lines, or audience segments.
For teams managing both organic and paid efforts, custom metrics are the bridge that connects both worlds on the same dashboard.
Custom social media metrics allow you to...
Show the full impact of campaigns by combining organic and paid reach, engagement, and video plays in one place.
Report on ROI with clarity, especially when leadership wants one trusted number instead of sifting multiple reports.
Custom metrics give your teams the flexibility to measure exactly what matters without getting lost in endless exports or being limited by native platform analytics.
Wrapping up
Custom metrics can feel a bit confusing at first if you're used to native dashboards and reports. But once you get comfortable building and using them, it becomes much easier to see the real impact of your social strategy.
To get started, focus on a couple of key metrics that answer your biggest questions, like total follower growth or engagement rates by content type. Make sure to give your metrics clear names and descriptions so your whole team understands what they're looking at.
And remember, custom metrics are flexible so you can tweak them as your goals change. The best part is once your custom metrics are set up, they update automatically. You get consistent data with just one click, every time.
Now, take the next step. Go ahead and add custom metrics in Measure Studio! Feed in some formulas, fiddle around, and see how dramatically your reporting will change.
Frequently Asked Questions
What exactly are custom social media metrics and how are they different from native analytics?
Custom social metrics are formulas you define yourself to measure what actually matters to your team. They go beyond the standard metrics provided by platforms. Instead of working with one-size-fits-all data, custom metrics let you calculate blended engagement, cross-platform totals, or campaign-specific KPIs so your reports match your goals, not the other way around.
When should I start using custom social media metrics?
Do I need to be a data expert to build custom social metrics?
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