Proving social media’s value starts with executive buy-in

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Achieving the ideal state outlined above starts with securing executive sponsorship. Depending on your starting point, revamping your reporting infrastructure may involve anything from procuring social media software to prioritizing the effort amid other marketing initiatives. Having a leader in your corner ensures the work pushes through bottlenecks and doesn’t stall.

For us, using Sprout meant we already had the tools to capture data for multi-touch attribution. However, gaining support from our CMO and VP of Brand and Social was essential to elevating this initiative alongside other marketing analytics efforts.

An Instagram Reel featuring Sprout Social's Vice President of Brand and turkey mobile database Social explaining the value of Sprout's My Reports feature.

“Social teams are driving revenue,” says Sprout’s Senior Social Media Strategist, Olivia Jepson. “But last-touch attribution only tells part of the story. Strategic discussions about how social impacts the entire funnel—spanning top-of-funnel engagement and reach metrics to down-funnel demand—are essential for building a more effective reporting infrastructure.”

With guidance from our executive sponsors, we reimagined our social reporting approach, replacing our five-year-old content tagging structure with a new framework aligned to Sprout’s messaging priorities. Their support also fostered a closer partnership with our marketing analytics team, ensuring the effort was prioritized within their workload.