What are the best ways to evaluate your content strategy on social media?

1 Define your objectives

The first step to evaluate your content strategy on social media is to define your objectives. What are you trying to achieve with your content? Who are you targeting? How will you measure your success? Your objectives should be SMART: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. For example, you might want to increase your brand awareness, generate more leads, or boost your customer loyalty. Once you have your objectives, you can align them with your content types, topics, formats, and platforms.

2 Track your metrics

The next step to evaluate your content strategy on social media is to track your metrics. Metrics are the quantitative indicators that show how well your content is performing in relation to your objectives. Depending on your goals, you might want to track metrics such as reach, impressions, engagement, clicks, conversions, or retention. You can use various tools to track your metrics, such as native analytics platforms (e.g., Facebook Insights, Twitter Analytics, etc.), third-party tools (e.g., Google Analytics, Hootsuite, etc.), or custom dashboards (e.g., Google Data Studio, Tableau, etc.).

3 Analyze your data

The third step to evaluate your content strategy on social media is to analyze your data. Data analysis is the process of interpreting your metrics and finding patterns, trends, insights, and opportunities. You can use different methods to analyze your data, such as descriptive analysis (e.g., summarizing your results), comparative analysis (e.g., benchmarking your performance against your competitors or industry standards), or predictive analysis (e.g., forecasting your future outcomes). You can also use visualizations, such as charts, graphs, or tables, to make your data easier to understand and communicate.

4 Test your hypotheses

The fourth step to evaluate your content strategy on social media is to test your hypotheses. Hypotheses are the assumptions or questions that you have about your content and its impact on your audience. For example, you might wonder if a certain type of content generates more engagement, if a certain time of day is better for posting, or if a certain platform is more effective for reaching your target segment. To test your hypotheses, you can use experiments, such as A/B testing, split testing, or multivariate testing, where you compare different versions of your content and measure their results.

5 Gather feedback

The fifth step to evaluate your content strategy on social media is to gather feedback. Feedback is the qualitative information that you get from your audience or stakeholders about your content. Feedback can help you understand how your content is perceived, appreciated, and valued by your audience. It can also help you identify gaps, challenges, or areas for improvement. You can gather feedback through various methods, such as surveys, polls, reviews, ratings, comments, or direct messages.

6 Implement changes

The final step to evaluate your content strategy on social media is to implement changes. Changes are the actions that you take to improve your content and optimize your performance based on your evaluation. Changes can be minor, such as tweaking your headlines, images, or captions, or major, such as redesigning your content strategy, launching a new campaign, or switching to a new platform. You should implement changes gradually and systematically, and monitor their effects on your metrics and feedback.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?