Data Doesn’t Lie: Decoding Your Social Media Analytics for Growth

It’s been a while since you have started working on your social media strategy but you don’t know if you’re going on the right path. You are not sure which social media tactics are working or which customers you are reaching. 

If these issues sound familiar, it’s time to learn about social media analytics. Growth lies in data, and social media analytics is where you’ll get it. 

Let’s spill the beans on everything related to social media analytics. From what exactly it is to how to extract data from social analytics tools, we have covered it all. 

What is Social Media Analytics?

Social media analytics involves gathering and analyzing data from your social media accounts. You calculate several metrics to measure how your brand or company is performing on different platforms. 

Some of the most common metrics are likes, comments, impressions, and so on. This data, in turn, tells you what your audience likes the most and which strategy of yours is hitting the right spots on social media. Once you know what’s working, you can replicate the strategy to boost your growth. 

How Does It Affect Your Growth?

Social media analytics is not about counting numbers. When used well, the data you get can be used to curate winning strategies and content for the future.

Here is a quick peek into how the right social media report can boost your business: 

• Setting Better Goals:
  Numbers are the best way to set goals. They are realistic and actionable. When you have access to social media analytics, you can set better objectives and then create a strategy to reach them. Clear goals result in clear strategies.
• Gets You on Trends:
  If you want to be mainstream, trendspotting must be in your social media strategy. Social media analytics can report these trends with data. You can learn things like:
  -Which platforms are getting more traction
  -Which type of content is going viral
  -Which influencers and products are popular
  Once you have the data, you can identify the trend that suits your brand and modify your strategy accordingly.
• Detects Brand Sentiments:
  This simply means how people feel about your brand. It could be positive, negative, or neutral. To detect brand sentiments, you can use social media analytics tools and sentiment analysis software.
• Leads to Better Strategies:
  Social media insights reveal where your audience’s interests lie. This means you can craft strategies that resonate with them and in turn, grow your ROI.
• Proof of Marketing Impact:
  Social media numbers prove that your marketing works. So, anytime you create a new campaign, all you need to do is through UTM tracking or URL shortening. This way you can learn how many people clicked on your website and bought the product via a specific campaign.

How To Track Social Media Analytics?

Knowing about social media analytics is one thing, and tracking is another. The former can be a bit daunting for a beginner. 

To help you take the first steps, we have discussed the fundamentals of how to track social media analytics. Read them and get started!

1.Set S.M.A.R.T. Goals

Start with clear and specific goals for your social media efforts. 

Try the S.M.A.R.T strategy for this: 

• Specific (S): Be precise about what you want to achieve. Instead of just improving our LinkedIn account, try increasing followers by 10,000.
• Measurable (M): Set quantifiable indicators to define success. For example, get 1,000 new Instagram followers in one month.
• Attainable (A): Set realistic goals that are within reach. Avoid aiming too high too soon, like trying to reach a million website views in a week after just launching.
• Relevant (R): Make sure your goal aligns with your overall brand strategy. Only pursue goals that contribute to your larger objectives, such as investing in influencer marketing, if it supports your brand strategy.
• Time-bound (T): Establish deadlines for achieving your goals. This provides clarity and accountability. 

2.Choose Relevant Metrics

Once you have your goals, determine which metrics will best indicate progress toward those goals.

Typically, these metrics fall into four categories: 

• Awareness: This measures current and potential audience through impressions and follower count.  
• Engagement: This measures metrics such as likes, comments, and shares to see how audiences are interacting with your content.
• Conversion: This measures click-through rates and leads generated to check the effectiveness of your social engagement.
• Consumer: This measures sentiment analysis on how active customers feel about your brand.

3.Pick the Right Social Media Analytics Tools
Most social media platforms offer built-in analytics tools. For example, Facebook Insights, Instagram Insights, Twitter Analytics, LinkedIn Analytics, etc. You can use these free social media analytics tools to track metrics specific to each platform.

But if you want detailed social media reports, invest in third-party analytics tools like Hootsuite, Buffer, Sprout Social, or Google Analytics. These tools offer advanced analytics, scheduling capabilities, and more.

4.Set Up Tracking Parameters:
If you are planning to launch social media campaigns in Google Analytics, remember to use UTM parameters or custom URLs to track their effectiveness. This allows you to see which social media channels or specific posts are driving traffic and conversions to your website.

5.Monitor Regularly
Once you have the social analytics tools, start monitoring your chosen metrics. Keep an eye on engagement metrics like likes, comments, shares, and mentions to gauge audience interaction with your content. 

Also, track follower growth over time to assess the effectiveness of your content and engagement strategies. 

6.Review and Adjust:
Just getting data from social media analytics tools isn’t enough. The real task begins after you get the data. You have to regularly review your social media analytics to identify trends, successes, and areas for improvement. Then, use this data to make informed decisions and adjustments to your social media strategy. 

The Next Step

Social media growth doesn’t come with hunches. You need to create strategies backed by data. That’s why social media analytics have been so popular. They give you numbers that reveal what needs to be done. And if you don’t like to do the math, let experts take care of that. 

Here at AdLift, we have a strong team of social media experts who have years of experience with social media analytics tools – free and paid. Partner with them, and you won’t have to worry about anything, be it strategy or analytics. To learn more, contact us today.