How to create an insightful social media report that your boss can digest — Part I
Generating a social media report is a helpful tool to explain the progress of your online presence and justify your digital strategy. In a world where a myriad of options is given, choosing the stats that matter to your business is critical to get your boss’ buy in and for the longevity of your campaigns.
Social media reports are not one-size fits all. In fact, social media management tools like HubSpot and SproutSocial, insist that its tailored to your needs by figuring out which stats is critical to generate an insightful outcome.
So let’s establish the ground rules by identifying key metrics and opportunities before we dig into the 8 useful metrics on Part II.
1. Selecting the right criteria.
‘Big data’ has become an indispensable term in the circle of digital marketing for a reason: it can be a lead conversion machine when done right. But a bunch of numbers on a Excel spreadsheet are simply that when not effectively analysed. So how to decide which ones matter?
Followers, Impression Rate, Engagement, Influencers, Referral Traffic, and Lead Conversion are useful metrics, but the answer should derive from your business’ social media strategy and be adapted when an opportunity rises.
2. Establishing a Timeframe
The timeline for running social media reports is a regular topic of discussion among marketers — when is the optimum time to do so? Whether it be weekly or quarterly, consistency in running the report and effectively analysing the collected data are crucial to polish existing digital strategy and create sophisticated campaigns.
a) Weekly
b) Monthly: 28-day period to keep it consistent throughout the year.
c) Quarterly: 90-day period 4X a year.
d) From campaign start to end
3. Tracking Progress & Growth
Progress and growth are subjective and can be tailored to your business’ needs in order to bring valuable insights.
a) Comparative: How have we grown from a previous point in time.
· A comparison of collected data from a chosen time range with another.
b) Actuality: What is our presence like on ____?
· Define a time range disregarding previous history.
c) Campaign Based: How is this campaign performing?
Analyse the impact yielded from the campaign to create future projections.
Although defining a basic framework of what the report should look like is fundamental in the long run, do not let it paralyse you from taking the first step. Running and analysing the report can be intimidating at first as you navigate an ocean of data combinations, but if need be, try different formats to get you comfortable to sail away.
—
Think we can report the data in a different or even better way? Share it below!
Image Source: Unsplash
