If you want to make the most out of your social media efforts, it’s always important to track results. Social media tools are a great way to take advantage of all the data that is provided. This also allows you to track follower behavior so that you can improve your social media strategies. In turn, the performance of your content will also improve.
How to assess social media analytics
Each social media platform has its own analytics tool. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn offer free insights that allow you to view specific customer data points and demographics. With these tools, you can track how much interaction your posts are generating. You can even create social media performance reports with this information.
There are also plenty of paid social media analytic tools available. Cross-platform tools like Hootsuite and Sprout Special are great options for viewing data from all of your accounts in one place.
How to take advantage of social media analytics tools
To make sure that you gain the greatest insight into your audience and see the best results from your digital marketing efforts, we’ve listed five ways to take advantage of social media analytics tools today.
1. Understand the algorithm
In social media, algorithms are everything. They help maintain order and they work to rank search results and advertisements. Unfortunately, they can also bury your content. There are more than four billion social media users across the globe. That’s a massive amount of data for any social media platform to undertake. With so many videos, posts, messages, and advertisements available to the public, it’s impossible for users to see everything. Therefore, social media platforms mathematically determine who sees certain content by tracking what individual users like, share, and comment on. Fortunately, there are ways to break through.
2. Calculate engagement rate
Engagement rate measures the amount of interaction that your social media content earns per follower. This factors out the number of followers that you have, and gives you an honest look into the quality of your content.
If a business has 20k followers but only receives an average of 200 interactions per post, the quality of the content is probably not very high. To respond to this issue, the business should take a closer look at who their audience is and the type of content they want to see.
While some platforms such as Instagram don’t provide engagement rates, there is a simple way for you to configure the numbers yourself. Simply divide the number of followers that you have by the number of likes, comments, and shares you receive on your posts. Then, multiply that number by 100. If you see a huge gap between the number of followers and your engagement rate, you’ll know that you need to step up your content game.
3. Personalize your content
Social media analytics allow you to see which demographics respond to certain types of content. With this information, you can target different messages to different audience groups. Location targeting is a popular form of content personalization and involves targeting ad campaigns to certain locations.
For example, if a snowboarding company wants to see significant ROI, they should target their advertisements to social media users who live in colder climates. It wouldn’t make sense for this company to target consumers who live in regions with primarily dry weather. Knowing how to personalize your content after reviewing your social media analytics will help you increase overall brand awareness and profit.
4. Post at the right time of day
Making sure that your content is seen can be one of the biggest challenges faced by brands. Sometimes, it’s all in the timing. A study by Mavrck found that on average, brands tend to see higher engagement from 6 a.m. to 12 p.m. However, further research shows that the best time of day to post depends on the platform that you’re using and the type of content that you’re posting.
5. Use competitor data
Identifying your competitors is always important in the marketing world. When it comes to social media, searching for keywords relevant to your brand can help you find your competition. Once you’ve identified key competitors, third-party tools will allow you to compare your business’s engagement rate, audience growth, and top posts to theirs.
Social media analytics are essential for any business. They allow you to accurately determine where your digital content strategies are working and where they could use some improvement. Follow these five easy steps today to increase the performance of your content and to improve brand awareness. For more information about social media analytics, contact us today.
