How to Make Social Media Analytics Work For You

Social media marketing is universal in today's business environment. Companies, big and small, use it on a daily basis. The most significant difference, however, is those big companies have large teams and budgets to match, while small companies do not. It is for this reason why small business owners need to make use of every tool at their disposal and do so wisely.

Social media analytics will help you take out much of the guesswork that revolves around marketing. For a company to be successful, it needs to draw in a steady supply of customers. Knowing those customers' gender, age, geographical, purchasing habits, likes, dislikes, and pain points gives you a far better chance of doing that.

There are many analytics tools capable of achieving this goal. Each will provide you with the necessary metrics to understand your audience and make informed decisions. Here is how you need to use them.

Determine Your Goal

What do you expect to achieve with your social media strategy? Don't say that you want more sales because that's what everyone wants. Try instead to be more specific and measurable with analytics software. You could want more reach, better engagement, more traffic, or conversions.

Whatever goal you end up choosing, break it down into manageable pieces and set specific timelines for each. Say, you want to increase traffic to your website by 20% within six months. Break that down even further, if you can. Micromanagement is advantageous in this regard.

Assign the KPIs

Social media analytics are measuring tools able to determine the success or failure of your marketing campaign. You will need to assign one or more key performance indicators (KPIs) to have something to measure. Choose the KPIs that align with your goals.

Among these KPIs, you can include engagement, reach, shares, leads, click-through rates, or conversions, among others. You can look at engagement by observing the number of shares, likes, clicks, visits, and other such indicators. Reach can be determined by the number of followers and impressions.

Determining the Best Social Media Platform

Not all social media platforms will benefit you in the same way. Instagram and Pinterest, for instance, are highly visual channels, better suited for industries such as lifestyle, travel, fashion, food, pets, etc. Twitter, on the other hand, is excellent for engagement while LinkedIn works best for B2Bs. Your analytics software can help you determine which ones will work for you best.

It is no use to invest your time, energy, and resources in social platforms that do not favour you. It's better to determine which platforms are worth it and spend your resources there for an even higher ROI.

Optimal Posting Times

Timing your posts when your audience is the most active on social media will immensely increase their effectiveness. Each platform has its optimal times to post based on the time of day, the days of the week, as well as the industry of the business. As a general rule of thumb,

●     Facebook users are the most active between 1 and 2 pm during the workweek and from 10 am to 3 pm during the weekends. 

●     The best times to post on Instagram is Tuesday through Friday from 9 am to 6 pm. Sunday is the least active.

●     The safest times to post on Twitter are every day from 10 am until noon.

●     As far as LinkedIn is concerned, Tuesday through Thursday rank best.

Despite these timetables, they can also vary depending on the industry, Do not just take these examples and follow them. Instead, use your analytics tools to determine when your target audience is the most active. 

Social media analytics will help you get the most out of your social media marketing activities. It sheds light to the inner workings of your campaign, allowing you to monitor and change things in real time. This way, you highly increase the chances of their success.

Until the next time,