To find which platform makes you money, give each one its own tagged link, then divide what you earned by what you spent on that platform. The result is a cost per sale for each platform, and the lowest number is your best channel.
TLDR: Four steps: tag every link by platform, record each platform's cost including hours, count sales and leads per tag, then compare cost per result over 60 to 90 days. Treat platforms that start the journey differently from platforms that close it.
Step 1: Give every platform its own tagged link
Without tags, all social traffic shows up as one bucket and you cannot tell Instagram from LinkedIn. Add a UTM source and campaign to every link you publish, and keep the naming the same each time, for example utm_source=instagram&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=october-offer.
If you send people to a link-in-bio page, make one link per platform so each profile has its own counted entry point. A link-in-bio page with click counts per link is the simplest setup for this.
Step 2: Write down what each platform costs
Costs are more than ad spend. For each platform, record:
- Hours per month spent creating, posting and replying, multiplied by your hourly cost.
- Ad spend, if any.
- Tool and freelancer costs that serve only that platform.
Be honest here. A platform that eats ten hours a week is expensive even when it shows no invoice.
Step 3: Count the results that matter
Pull visits, leads and sales for each tag from your analytics and your sales records. Choose one result per business, such as purchases or booked calls, and use it everywhere. Mixing results is how teams end up comparing a like to a lead.
Step 4: Compare cost per result in one table
| Platform | Monthly cost | Tagged visits | Leads | Sales | Cost per sale |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Platform A | your total | count | count | count | cost / sales |
| Platform B | your total | count | count | count | cost / sales |
| Platform C | your total | count | count | count | cost / sales |
Rank by cost per sale. When sales are too few to compare, rank by cost per lead and say so.
Read the table with these three cautions
- Starters versus closers. A buyer may discover you on TikTok, follow on Instagram and buy after an email. The last click credits Instagram, but TikTok started it. Add one question at checkout, "How did you hear about us?", and compare it to the tags.
- Small numbers. Ten sales on one platform and four on another is not proof. Wait for more data before cutting.
- Different jobs. LinkedIn may bring five big clients while Pinterest brings many small orders. Compare revenue, not only count.
What to do when the table shows a platform losing money
Do not cut it on the first quarter. First ask whether it is a starter: does it feed the platforms that close? Then change one thing for 30 days, such as the offer, the call to action or the posting time, and measure again. Cut only after two quarters of weak cost per result and no sign it starts journeys that finish elsewhere.
Collect the numbers without ten tabs
Each platform reports in its own format, which is why people skip this analysis. Mydrop's analytics pull native metrics for each connected platform into one place, with daily time series and multi-profile benchmarks, and white-label reports can be scheduled so the same table lands in your inbox every month. Your tagged-link results sit next to those platform metrics, and you only add the sales column. For a deeper view of how a post turns into revenue, see how to build a social media sales funnel.
Run the check for one quarter, then act
Tag your links this week. In 90 days, fill in the table. Put more time into the platform with the lowest cost per sale, and test a smaller change on the others before cutting any of them. Start free and connect your platforms in Mydrop.
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