If you want to take your social media efforts to the next level, you'll need to get data savvy when it comes to social media analytics.
Let's say it louder for the people in the back: social media analysis should form an essential part of your online strategy!
Your hard work will reap rewards – if you're analyzing data from all the major social media networks, you'll soon gain some impressive insights into your audience's preferences and behaviors.
You'll also get a feel for the type of content that makes your audience tick – and then hopefully compels them to click like, save or share.
Once you have this knowledge in the bag, you'll be able to create brilliant content that perfectly suits your audience demographics.
Even better, becoming a pro in social media analytics will allow you to measure the success of your marketing campaigns, and give you concrete information about how you might grow your online following.
But, we're getting ahead of ourselves.
Before you can harness the power of social media analytics, you need to understand the main components of the process.
Getting started in social media analytics
In this guide, we'll unpack the process of social media analysis – taking you from data collection, to data analysis and interpretation, all the way through to how you can transform your strategies based on your findings.
To anyone new to the world of social media analysis, there are a lot of social media analytics tools that can make life easier.
We'll give you an overview of some of the best social media analytics tools on the market, in case you've yet to hit download on one of these software saviors.
We'll also dive deep into various aspects of social media analytics, such as the types of data that can be collected, key metrics to track, and how to use these insights to polish your content and campaigns.
In this article:
Understanding social media analytics
So, what does the term social media analytics really mean? Let's break it down.
In this section, we'll give a straightforward definition of the key concepts involved, then look at why they can have such a transformative effect on social marketing efforts.
If you're coming at social media analytics having not done it before then this section is for you!
What is social media analytics?
Social media analytics is about gathering, analyzing, and interpreting social media data to gain valuable insights for various purposes. This could be to track the success of an existing strategy, or help you rewrite a future social media plan.
It involves tracking various data points, such as engagement, reach, and sentiment, to evaluate the effectiveness of a given marketing strategy or campaign.
As you sift through social media metrics you'll come across some terms that pop up regularly.
First, there's engagement. This metric tracks how often your followers (and others that discover your content) are clicking like, share and comment.
Then there's reach. This metric tracks the number of unique users who have seen your content. It will tell you how visible your brand is on social media platforms.
The last term to understand is sentiment analysis. This is the process of determining the emotional tone behind a comment or other written text, helping you understand the feelings and opinions of your audience when considered at scale.
Importance of analytics in social media
Social media analytics should play a crucial role in shaping your social media strategies.
By monitoring and measuring your performance, you can identify areas of improvement and make informed decisions to boost your overall social media performance.
Analytics are essential in social media for a number of reasons. They allow you to make data-driven decisions, measure your success, improve your content and track your competitors' social media data.
There are also more specific subsets of analytics such as audience analytics, which will help you refine your targeting and messaging as required.
Tools and software for analytics
Gathering all the data required for effective social media analytics would be tough and painfully time-consuming without the help of some social media analytics tools that can automate a big chunk of the process.
To make the process less overwhelming, simply download one of these software saviors.
Overview of social media analytics tools
For most marketing teams, social media analytics tools shape social media strategies and ease day-to-day workflow.
There are lots of social media analytics tools on the market, and the one you choose will depend on your needs and budget.
Most businesses use Google Analytics as a basic yet powerful starting point.
Google Analytics is universally loved for its ability to track web traffic and provide audience insights. It's also great from a budget point of view, as it's free.
Most major social media platforms offer built-in analytics tools and can provide insights into audience demographics and content performance.
Finally, there are a whole host of paid-for social media analytics tools on the market that can take things like social listening or sentiment analysis to the next level.
These tools (eg Brandwatch, Sprout Social, and Hootsuite Analytics) are specifically designed for analyzing and monitoring your social media activities while offering actionable insights.
Comparison of social media analytics tools
When it comes to social media analytics tools, there are several big names in the market.
Here's a few you might have heard about:
Brandwatch is a subscription-based social media management tool that offers advanced social listening capabilities to track brand mentions. This means it can monitor conversations and analyze them at scale, and deliver in-depth sentiment analysis. It's known for providing a wide variety of actionable insights, including the ability to track the performance of certain keywords and hashtags.
Google Analytics is a free analytics tool that provides web traffic analysis, audience insights and conversion tracking.
Sprout Social is another subscription-based social media analytics tool that delivers comprehensive social analytics, competitive analysis, and automated reports.
Hootsuite Analytics is a subscription-based analytics tool known for its post-performance stats, team tracking, and insights into your target audience.
Of course, that's just for starters – there are plenty of other options out there, too.
Keep in mind that each tool has its strengths, so the best option would depend on your specific needs and budget.
Integrations with social media management tools
Many social media analytics tools offer seamless integrations with traditional social media marketing tools to reduce your day-to-day workload.
For example, Meta Business Suite (formerly Facebook Business Suite) combines Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp management in one place, so you can see all of your analytics data in one place.
Similarly, social media management tools like Brandwatch, Hootsuite, and Sprout Social support integrations with various social media platforms.
Developing a social media strategy with analytics
Your social analytics can only provide useful insights if you're posting to various social media channels with some regularity.
That's why nailing down your social media marketing strategy is all part of the process when it comes to analytics.
There are two main ways in which analytics can help. Here's how to get started.
1. Aligning strategy with business goals
Before hitting send on any social media posts, you need to make sure that your social media strategy is aligned with your overall business goals.
Use analytics data to identify your marketing campaign goals. You can see what's realistic for a campaign by assessing what's succeeded in the past, and go from there.
You're probably thinking about things like increasing brand awareness, driving sales, or fostering customer engagement.
Whatever your goals, analytics can help form the basis of your decision making and ensure your strategy created to achieve those goals is correctly aligned.
2. Identifying the right social media channels
Analytics can then help you choose which social media channels to focus on. Start by running analysis on your target audiences to discover where they interact most online.
For example, Facebook, with its versatile features and vast user base, is ideal for businesses targeting diverse demographics. Try Facebook Pages, Groups, and Ads to reach and engage with various segments of your audience.
Instagram is the platform of choice for showcasing a brand's aesthetics, while TikTok is great for targeting younger audiences. Both platforms are known for pioneering and leading trends when it comes to short-form video content.
While X (formerly Twitter) is less of a social media darling these days, it's still used for sharing quick updates and engaging with customers.
Finally, LinkedIn is perfect for sharing business-to-business content and other company news.
Your analysis of each platform and the demographics hidden within will help you choose the best channels and align with your overall strategy.
Executing and managing social media campaigns
If you plan to use analytics to boost the power of your marketing campaigns, you'll first need to have some have some campaigns to analyze.
Below, we'll run through the basics of campaign planning and execution.
Once your campaign is out in the wild, you can keep track of its success by monitoring a few key performance metrics.
Planning and scheduling content
To effectively execute and manage your campaigns, start with planning and scheduling content.
In most cases, you should start with listing your campaign's objectives, identifying your audience, and creating a content calendar for delivering the campaign.
You could also use a social media management tool to schedule your posts in advance, as this is probably the best way to maintain consistent output and optimal posting times.
Monitoring and responding to engagement
When you finally get to the analysis stage, you'll want to see a good engagement rate for your campaigns.
Engagement is essential for creating a connection with your audience and improving your social media efforts. If you don't have any engagement then all that effort will have been for nothing.
You can track key performance metrics, such as likes, shares, comments, and conversions, to gauge your campaign's success.
Influencer campaigns and collaborations
In addition to scheduling and monitoring your posts, influencer campaigns and collaborations can boost your marketing efforts.
Granted, hiring influencers can sometimes feel disingenuous but high-profile social media figures wield a lot of power these days. Find the right match using analytics as a basis for your choices and your brand could take off in days.
To do this, try identifying some social media influencers who align with your brand's image, values, and target audience.
If you're a controversial brand then look for accounts that regularly hit the headlines (just be wary that influencers can damage your reputation as well as enhance it!).
If you can establish an influencer marketing partnership and create engaging content together, this is likely to boost your results when it comes to analyzing the data.
Reporting and insights
And just like that, you are creating carefully strategized content and hitting send on major social media campaigns.
Now it's time to gather the data, and transform it into easy-to-understand reports and dashboards that can be shared with your team and beyond.
Creating custom reports and dashboards
Here's a top tip: creating custom reports and dashboards will allow you to focus on the specific metrics and data that are relevant to your goals.
Most social media analytics reports will help you gather data from multiple social media platforms in one centralized location.
To create custom reports, simply select the metrics that matter most to your strategy and choose the social media platforms to include in the report.
You should then be able to customize your dashboard to display the desired information.
Once your report has been generated, you can then share it with your team members or export it to your client.
Leveraging historical data for future planning
Historical data is a valuable asset when it comes to shaping your future marketing strategies.
Analyzing previous results and trends will mean that you are more likely to set realistic goals.
It's also a great way to flag potential performance issues.
To fully take advantage of historical data, consider comparing performance across multiple periods (eg year over year, quarter over quarter).
You could also identify key milestones in past campaigns, such as product launches or collaborations.
Finally, benchmarking your performance against industry standards is a great way to see how you measure up.
Using reports for competitive analysis
Social media reports offer valuable insights about your own brand, but they can also serve as a helpful source of information about your competitors.
Conducting a bit of competitive analysis helps you identify areas where your brand outperforms or lags behind its rivals.
Get started by listing some relevant competitors to evaluate alongside your brand.
Next, select some key performance indicators (KPIs) to include in your analysis.
Examine content themes and posting patterns to see how your brand measures up.
Finally, use the findings of your competitor analysis to inform or adjust your own social media tactics.
This process should shine a light on your own strengths and areas of improvement.
Optimizing social media presence
Finally, it's time to put all that you've learned about social analytics into action.
It's time to take your data and reports and transform them into a goldmine of future action.
Without further ado, here's a step-by-step guide to making the most of your social media analytics, and using it to overhaul your strategic approach to social media.
Data-driven content adjustments
Ultimately, there's no point in analyzing your social media performance unless you are making some content adjustments based on the resulting data.
Only the metrics will truly tell you what resonates with your audience and drives engagement.
Pay attention to factors like post timing, content type, and engagement rates.
Use this data to inform your marketing teams and social media managers about which strategies work best on various social platforms.
For example, you'll hopefully come away from this task knowing the best posting times and the types of content that are more likely to catch the attention of your audience. Your social media analytics tool should point you in the right direction here.
By incorporating these insights, you can create content that is finely-tuned for your audience, hopefully boosting your engagement rate.
Follower growth strategies
Another way you can enhance your social media marketing efforts is to focus on growing your follower numbers.
More followers should lead to more engagement, increased visibility, and all that good stuff.
Analytics can help with this task, too.
One tried-and-tested method to reach this goal is to use data from your analytics to make sure you're posting at the best times for your intended audience.
This means that posts are more likely to be picked up by an algorithm and shared beyond your existing followers.
Another analytics-backed strategy is to focus on the types of content that is data-proven to bring more engagement to your channels.
Remember that each social media platform has some unique appeal, so tailor your strategies accordingly.
By implementing the right strategies for each platform, you make it more likely that your social media marketers will be able to meet those follower growth goals.
Challenges and considerations in social media analytics
Let's be realistic. As you're getting to grips with the world of social analytics, there will probably be some hiccups and hurdles along the way.
Here are some typical challenges you might stumble across, and how navigate them.
1. Dealing with data privacy and compliance
Your chosen social media analytics software will have data privacy and regulations built in, but you still need to be aware of the laws around compliance.
Platforms like Instagram and Facebook have their own privacy policies, so you need to make sure your marketing tactics adhere to those guidelines and keep on top of any policy changes.
Likewise, different countries and regions have different laws. Privacy regulations to be aware of include GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation), CCPA (California Consumer Privacy Act) and PIPEDA (Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act).
2. Overcoming data silos and integration hurdles
Another challenge with analytics is overcoming data silos and problems with integration.
So, what are data silos and why are they a problem?
Your organization may use multiple platforms, such as Instagram analytics, Facebook analytics, and various marketing tools, to track performance.
If your chosen social media analytics tools do not allow for integration, there will be data that the tools can't reach, and this means there will be some data that is not included in your reports.
Integration is the key to managing data from these multiple channels, and that's why it is so important to choose a social media analytics tool that allows for integration.
Occasionally, you might come across a data silo which can't be accessed even with integration.
In that case, you could use data extraction tools to gather the data and use a central data repository to store and manage data from all social media platforms and marketing tools.
Standardized metrics can also help with easier integration and analysis. To allow for this, make sure you have consistent metrics and data points across all channels.
Final thoughts on social media analytics
If you've reached the final stretch of this guide, you're already well on your way towards unlocking the full potential of your social channels through analytics.
Remember: there are social media analytics tools that will make your life easier. Embrace them! These can deliver useful reports that will act as a bit of a blueprint for crafting specific social media posts that could smash your engagement rate targets.
At the very least, with a solid grasp of the key concepts of social analytics, you'll be better equipped to navigate the ever-evolving world of social media and grow your brand's online presence.
