Social Media Analytics: What to Measure

The internet allows businesses to have an unprecedented opportunity to engage with customers and prospects through social media platforms. However social media is crowded and competitive, so it’s a challenge to get your brand heard and to reach your clients effectively.

Any brand that wants to use their social media for effective PR, outreach and engagement with customers needs to evaluate how their social media strategy is working. Keeping a close eye on this information can help improve a company’s social marketing plan.

However, as Neil Patel, the foremost expert on digital marketing, has expressed in past posts it’s not just about tracking the metrics, but actually doing something proactive with them. Many marketers often collect the analytical data but don’t take any actions based on their findings.

Here, we will dive into the most imperative aspects of social media analytics, but remember: the real significance is in how you apply your findings to your marketing strategy.

What is social media analytics?

Social media analytics refers to the process of gathering information from different social media websites and blogs and then using this data to analyze the effect it has on a specific business.

By monitoring social media you can get a better understanding of how people are responding and interacting with your brand, if they are accessing your website and with what frequency and finally what they are saying or sharing online in relation to your business.

These are the most paramount aspects to measure and evaluate:

Audience

One of the most important measurements when tracking social media performance is the quantity of people that are following you. You should constantly try to increase your relevant audience numbers in order to extend your reach. At the same time, it may be helpful to keep track of those unfollowing in order to get a better understanding of why it’s occurring.

Engagement

Engagement refers to the total number of interactions on your posts which include comments, shares, likes, etc. Although not all people interact in a direct manner, some tend to read the content without contributing to the post. Others who interact may have access to a bigger or different audience which might help extend your reach. Levels of engagement can help you evaluate which posts receive the best response, that interests your readers, and receive valuable feedback concerning your brand.

Profiles

On different social media sites, you may measure the type of audience that is gravitating towards your brand. Then you can determine if you have the target audience you are looking for or if any changes should be made on your site to draw them in. This information can also be better used for targeting users through paid ads.

Content

Analyzing the content will lead to you saving time and effort in the future. Once you have concluded what type of content attracts and gets the response you want from your target audience, you will know what type of content to share. It should be monitored on an ongoing basis so as to keep up with any changing results.

Traffic

One of your main objectives is likely to generate traffic to your website by sharing content. Evaluate how much traffic your posts and shares are bringing using Google Analytics. You may also want to compare the rate at which your audience has grown weekly, monthly and yearly.