X Analytics is a really useful tool that helps you to understand how your content is performing on X (formerly Twitter). Through it, you can see useful stats on likes, reposts (retweets), and the engagement for individual tweets and posts. The full analytics dashboard provides comprehensive insights beyond individual post metrics, allowing you to look back at different date ranges to see how content has performed in a certain time period.
If you want to get started using the native Twitter analytics dashboard then this guide is here to help.
New to X? Discover these X Analytics tools that can transform the way you use X
Understanding X Analytics
X Analytics gives you valuable insights into the performance of content through its full analytics dashboard. You can track engagement, reach, and audience growth to improve your content strategy. Do this over time and you’ll understand your audience better and can begin running competitive analysis on rival brands, armed with your data.
What is X Analytics?
X Analytics is built into the social media platform and is usually the first thing brands use when seeking to improve their strategy on X.
Whereas standard users get basic data on their tweets, X Analytics is far more comprehensive. X’s built-in tools show you various metrics such as impressions and engagement, but the full analytics dashboard delves a lot deeper into these metrics.
X Analytics is no longer free to use and can only be accessed through a Premium Account. However, it is a very useful tool that will help you measure how well you are doing on the platform. You’re able to understand how your content is performing, and what is resonating with your followers.
It’s effectively a dashboard that houses metrics on things like impressions, engagement rates, and follower growth. That’s useful data. It also offers analysis options, which enables you to understand the demographics and interests of your followers, and tailor the best content for them.
It’s good to make a habit of using X Analytics to help you spot trends in your content, which ultimately refines your social media strategy.
Setting up and accessing X Analytics
X Analytics is there to help brands stay on track of their strategic planning and achieve specific outcomes. It's easy to use, with an intuitive interface that helps you instantly see what's happening with your content.
You instantly get X Analytics when you subscribe to a Premium account. After that, there's not much more you need to set up.
It’s really simple to find the X Analytics page. To view analytics, just tap your profile in the top left hand side of the app, then head to the "Premium" tab and select "Analytics". On a desktop computer you need to click the three dots on the left hand side and head to the "Premium" tab there.
Key metrics and insights into your tweet activity
X Analytics provides you with a clear picture of which posts are performing well through its full analytics dashboard. This data can be used to improve your social media strategy and grow your following. But what metrics are we talking about here? Let’s take a closer look.
Essential X Analytics metrics
There are six big metrics to keep an eye on when using X Analytics.
The big one for many brands is your follower count, which is essentially the people who will see your posts on their "following" feed as a result of following you. It’s a good indicator of your account’s reach.
The next thing to understand is the difference between impressions and engagement rate. Impressions are how many times your posts have been seen, which ultimately determines the visibility of your content. Engagement rate is how many interactions your posts have got, such as likes, reposts, quotes, or replies.
If you have a target of driving people to your website, then you also need to be paying attention to link clicks.
For video content, you can see the view count of a video to determine its popularity. What’s more, you will see how many profile visits you have got as a result of your content, which determines interest in your account.
Unlocking audience insights
It's also possible to go beyond these six metrics and unveil key demographics about your audience through other tools within X Analytics. These include location tracking and when your audience is most active.
By looking at the data, you will see which posts are performing best. For those ones, you will realize which posts your followers are enjoying the most and can tailor your strategy accordingly.
A key metric for your followers is looking at when they are most active and on what days. For instance, on a Wednesday you might see that your audience is most active between 8am and 1pm and therefore you know that posts on that day should fall between those times.
This will boost engagement and help grow your follower count further. Watch out for trends here, because spikes in engagement can reveal what content attracted that growth.
Informing social media strategy with data
Now you know the data available in X Analytics, including the full analytics dashboard, it’s time to focus on turning those valuable insights into actionable decisions that improve your strategy.
Using performance data to optimize content
The engagement metrics such as quotes, reposts, likes, and replies show what resonates with your audience. The higher the engagement rate, the more your content has been interacted with and viewed.
This helps shape and redefine your strategy where necessary. You can start to create content that you know your audience has previously enjoyed. But remember, don’t be afraid to experiment. You should still look to use different topics, formats, and text because you can adjust accordingly if something doesn’t work.
Whilst you will usually want to look at the positives, the negatives are still crucial to understanding what’s not working. If you have seen a spike in unfollows, then look at what content has caused that.
Measuring paid campaigns performance and ROI
The key to success on X is setting clear goals that are measurable. For ads, the relevant metrics to track are click-through rates, conversions, and cost-per-result. Look at the performance of ads across different campaigns and audience targets to understand what’s working. Through this you can also help shape your target audience.
You can calculate return on investment (ROI) by measuring the value generated versus your ad spend. You can also optimize your ads by using A/B testing to improve ROI over time.
Advanced X Analytics features
X has begun to roll out new analytics features, including a full analytics dashboard, to give users deeper insights into post performance. As a result, you get a better understanding of your audience and can measure campaign success far easier.
A lot of these upgrades that provide more comprehensive data have come since X Analytics moved to a Premium feature.
You can now see more detailed graphs that show engagement over certain time scales. There are detailed breakdowns of post interactions, and also real-time updates of your content.
There is also a far better graph feature that details when your audience is active, with dates and times that clearly show the optimal times to post. These graphs can be customized with different date ranges to look for long-term trends. Its new interface makes these trends very easy to spot.
Best practices and troubleshooting
X Analytics is always evolving, so users may encounter issues on the platform. Below are some common hurdles and advice on how to troubleshoot them.
Tips for getting the most out of X AnalyticsIf your analytics tab doesn’t load, then do the obvious thing and check your internet connection and cache. Clear the cache on your browser and it should work.
You also need to make sure that you are logged into the correct account, and of course one that is subscribed to Premium. Make sure, too, that you are still an active Premium subscriber and that it hasn’t expired. This trips up a lot of brands, especially when the person who uses X Analytics is different to the one who receives the email updates about their subscription.
You may run into an error that says, “rate limit exceeded”. If that happens, simply wait 15 minutes and try again. X can limit how often data is pulled to prevent overloads.
If you look at data that doesn’t seem right, just check you are looking at the right date range in case you’ve accidentally selected the wrong date.
Any persistent issues that arise, you should contact X support and provide evidence of the errors you are receiving.
Frequently asked questions
X Analytics is a really useful first step to improving your social media strategy using data-driven decisions, especially with the full analytics dashboard providing comprehensive insights. If you want to dig even deeper, then why not use a tool like Brandwatch to help?
As we wrap up this guide, below are some common questions about accessing and using X Analytics.
How do I access Analytics for my X account?
To view the full analytics dashboard on the mobile app, simply tap your profile in the top left, and on the menu that appears, select “Premium” and then “Analytics”. This is basically the same on a desktop computer, except here you click on the three dots on the left of the page, then click “Premium” and then “Analytics”.
Has there been an update or change to the X Analytics platform recently?
X has upgraded its analytics features since moving it to a Premium feature, offering a more comprehensive level of data.
Is it possible to get analytics for social media without any cost?
Yes. Many platforms offer basic analytics for free such as insights via the Meta Business Suite. X Analytics, though, is now a Premium feature on the platform. For more advanced features, you can upgrade to a paid plan or use third-party tools like Brandwatch.
How can businesses leverage analytics to improve their social media strategy?
Use the full analytics dashboard to understand your audience better. A tool like X Analytics will help but additional software like Brandwatch can take your content to the next level. Look at which posts perform best and when your followers are most active. Track your growth over time and set realistic goals, while tracking all the data in one place.
