Why you have to learn to read your social media analytics

Social media analytics is the magic behind why your social media content campaigns mean something. Unfortunately, not everyone bothers to track how these are performing. As such, they’re missing out on some valuable insights which could help to make their campaigns better.

Today’s consumers expect more from companies. They increasingly look for brands which engage with them online. Businesses which do so reap real benefits. However, to do this it is essential to know what works as well as what doesn’t. This means that it’s far more complicated than just the vanity metrics of likes, shares as well comments.

Why social media analytics matter?

Social media analytics is vital as these play a big part in convincing others of the actual value of social media to brands. In an agency environment, these analytics allow staff members to evaluate social media ROI for clients and show them actual figures to demonstrate the effectiveness of social media campaigns.

Also, social media analytics demonstrate which tactics are working and which aren’t. This allows the experts to focus more of their efforts and resources on tactics that deliver actual value and work on improving those that aren’t. For instance, if – after a thorough analysis – it’s been noticed that content containing images attracts higher levels of engagement, or more clicks to the website, refine the material to ensure that every piece of content has an image.

Almost everyone these days has a digital footprint and marketers can take advantage of this. Social media analytics can be as a brilliant way to engage with your audience in real-time. Social media analysis helps you to gain a better understanding of your audience’s needs. This is because by using analytics it’s relatively simple to see which type of content:

• Best engages your audience, as well as
• Promotes the most link clicks, app downloads in addition to likes.

Having a social media marketing team who knows exactly what makes your customers tick is incredibly important. Social media analytics has made this information a lot easier to access.

A lot can be gleaned from competitor analysis. Social media analytics tools allow brands to identify their competitors, what they do well as well as where the holes are in their social media strategy. Having a side-by-side analysis with your competitors can assist marketing teams in determining ways to gain a competitive advantage as well as increase their competitive intelligence.

What social media analytics matter?

Analyse followers

This is an especially useful task to perform on Twitter. Ascertaining, for example, who your followers are following helps you get to know them better. It also offers you lists of more possible contacts. Having these additional lists can improve your presence on other social networks, including Facebook, Pinterest and LinkedIn as you can utilise the information you glean about your followers to ensure that your business is customer friendly.

Analyse the reach as well as results of your posts

Be aware of the effect that all of your posts are creating:

• Which posts are visitors sharing or liking most regularly?
• Which posts are leading readers to your landing page or website?

On Twitter, you need to know which posts are being favourited and retweeted. This is also true with photos on Instagram, Facebook posts, videos as well as other content.

Identify influencers

Influencers don’t inevitably have to be famous. They can be individuals who are hidden in your list of contacts and create an unequal amount of activity around your content. Know who is most involved in sharing, liking or commenting on your posts. Through the process of identifying influencers and their characteristics, it is possible to engage with them more productively and bringing more into your circles.

Compare platforms

There are increasing numbers of social media platforms every year. It is not possible to have a strong presence on every single platform. Analytics can assist you in identifying which platforms work best for you. In this way, you can maximise your efforts on these sites and drop the others or scale back your efforts with these.

Save time

If you are diligent about tracking your results, as well as making use of the most efficient analytics tools, you save time. As you see what type of content works best for you, you can stop wasting time on less-effective content.

Improve your ROI

While you might have to spend a little money on analytics tools and services, in the long run, these can assist you with saving money and making your business more profitable. Track how many leads your social media activities are bringing in as well as how many of the leads turn into customers.

Get in touch with the Digital School of Marketing

If you’re still not comfortable with reading your social media analytics, then you should consider signing up for a social media course such as this one here.