Social Media Analytics — Making Sense Of All That Data
With all the advances in social media analytics and the amount of data we can produce, how do you start to analyse it and draw out the important stuff? Between Facebook Insights, Twitter Analytics, Google+ Platform Insights and Buffer, it can get a little overwhelming — but we’re here to help!
What’s your goal?
For your data to be useful, you need to consider what you’re looking for, what do you want to see? This goal may be to drive more traffic or engage with a specific audience. Either way, your analytics will mean so much more when you can measure your success with a particular goal. If you need help identifying your goal and refining your strategy, check out this article from Social Media Examiner on the “8 Essential Elements of a Social Media Marketing Strategy”.
Get to know your data
Each platform works differently and can generate different data, you need to know what you can get from each platform and how this will support in working towards your goal.
You can see insights for a Facebook page once it has hit 30 likes. This can be accessed on a desktop through the insights tab or using the pages app for your phone/tablet.
Twitter Analytics is available for both personal and company profiles. You can use analytics.twitter.com or if you are already signed into twitter, navigate to the analytics page by clicking your profile picture at the top right of the screen and then select analytics. There isn’t an app for twitter analytics but you can access some data within the normal app: select any of your tweets and click View Tweet Activity.
Google+
When you’re signed in to your business page, click on the apps icon to see
Business Insights. You can access some information in My Business, but Business Insights is where the real valuable data lies. Currently you can’t access analytics for Google+ for personal profiles yet, but there are a few tips and tricks, such as adding a photo to each of your posts, which will allow you to see how many views it has had.
LinkedIn is a very underrated platform at the moment. If you don’t use a company page on LinkedIn, why not look at incorporating it into your social media strategy? You may be able to target people on LinkedIn you might not reach with other platforms. To access LinkedIn analytics, navigate to your company page and click on the Analytics tab. Simple!
There are a variety of apps that will look after your social media analytics. They range in price but if you’d like some support, why not check out (in no particular order!): Buffer, Sprout Social, Hootsuite or Social Report.
So, now what?
Okay, so we know how to get a hold of the data, but how do you make sense of it!? We like to focus on 3 main areas we call TED. TED is a basic plan that can help you to refine and improve your Digital Marketing strategy.
Time
We like to look at sections of time in chronological order. It can be days, weeks, months — whatever you like! You’re looking for patterns, anomalies, anything that stands out. Are you doing better on a Sunday? Do your numbers drop during January? We need to find out why this happens; is it something you are doing differently? Or is your audience more engaged at certain times? These are the questions we need to be asking when we review our data.
Engagement
You need to consider the level of engagement with your audience. It’s worth testing new ads and content to see what people respond well to. Look at whats getting the most shares or likes — do people like pictures, questions, longer posts? Whatever it is, keep experimenting until your engagement is at an all time high!
Demographic
It’s great to know who you’re reaching, who’s engaging with you and who enjoys what you post. Channels which show demographics such as gender, age or location really let you refine your target audience and make sure you’re reaching the right people, you’ll sometimes find you had it wrong — and that’s okay. These features are here to help you get it right. Go find more of the people who love what you do, they’re out there!
So, you’ve got the basics down — what’s next?
*Big thanks to our friends at Mosphaiti for the screenshots! Check out their website for incredible clothing and accessories!
Originally published at www.beesonmedia.com on August 6, 2016.
