Social media analytics can tell you a lot more than how many people looked at your most recent Instagram post. This information plays a role in other elements of your marketing strategy and your business operations. Learn how social media analytics can help your business develop products, improve your sales strategy, and stand out from your competitors.
Get deeper customer insights
Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok generate an enormous amount of data about their users. Your social media analytics can tell you detailed information about your audience's age, location, interests, and online behavior. Learn about your followers’ hobbies, values, and spending habits to inform your product development and marketing strategies.
You can also see what type of content resonates the most, including trending topics, content type, and popular hashtags. These insights help you allocate marketing resources to the most impactful channels. You can also plan product or service upgrades to suit your audience's needs.
Social media analytics also offer data points that help you optimize your time and effort. Native analytics and third-party tools can tell you when members of your audience are the most active, how they interact with your brand (in comments, direct messages, reposts, or something else), and their format preferences (video, images, contests, polls, etc.). This information helps you design a posting calendar to maximize the impact of your content.
Improve lead generation
Social media provides a rich source of information for identifying and fostering potential leads. Look beyond your company profiles to tap into conversations and communities where new customers can be recruited. Social listening is one strategy that enables small businesses to improve lead generation.
“Social listening is a part of social media analytics that allows you to listen to every comment or conversation happening online across the globe on any topic. Just feed in your topic of interest and listen to who is saying what,” wrote the team at Auris, an artificial intelligence-powered media monitoring platform.
Not only can you find potential leads who may be interested in your business, but you can also find experts and influencers who could advocate for your brand. Look for analytics tools that monitor metrics such as share of voice, hashtag use, brand and keyword mentions, and trending topics across different social media channels.
[Read more: 3 Ways to Determine Your Most Relevant Social Media Metrics]
Social media analytics help you understand where there may be obstacles in the customer journey that impede conversions and sales.
Craft more impactful messaging
Social media analytics show you which posts are performing the best. With this information, you can identify patterns that allow you to hone your messaging for better conversion rates. Go further with A/B testing to compare different post formats, visuals, and calls to action to see what drives engagement and conversions.
Likewise, comments, direct messages, and mentions can be used to improve the customer experience. “Customer feedback is essential to the process. Direct replies from users give you a first-hand look at the impact of your social campaigns and content strategies,” wrote TrustRadius.
Pay attention to frequently asked questions or concerns to adjust your operations as needed. For instance, if customers often ask about your returns policy, consider updating your website to make sure this policy is clear and easy to find. Social media analytics help you understand where there may be obstacles in the customer journey that impede conversions and sales.
Differentiate your brand
Don’t just dive into the analytics related to your brand; keep an eye on what others in your industry are doing too. Analyze your competitor’s data to see what’s working well for them and where there may be opportunities for your brand to gain attention.
Learn from others’ successes to fuel your business growth strategy. Pay attention to their positioning to see how you can differentiate your brand. Monitor their comments sections to see if there are opportunities that you can capitalize on to gain market share. And observe the platforms your competitors are using the most to adjust your marketing strategy accordingly.
[Read more: What Social Media Metrics Really Matter to Your Business?]
Top social analytics tools for small businesses
There are several social media analytics tools on the market, many of which do much more than simply collate your data. Pricing varies; some are priced by user, while others consider the number of your social media profiles. Look for tools with free trials to find the best fit.
Here are a few popular social media analytics tools to explore:
- Statusbrew: Users on G2 rate this platform highly for its ease of use. Track metrics such as the best time to post, reputation breakdown, paid performance, industry trends, and more.
- Social Status: This affordable option is geared toward small businesses that are running ads and managing influencer partnerships as part of their strategy.
- Hootsuite: This platform does far more than social media analytics. Hootsuite also delivers streamlined graphs and reports to give you a full picture of your social media performance.
- Zoho Social: G2 reviewers say this tool is easy to use. Analytics are divided into audience, engagement, performance, and reach and impressions, so you can clearly see what’s working.
Many platforms integrate social analytics with other features for managing your accounts and automatically posting.
How to set KPIs and benchmarks for social performance
The social media metrics you track should align with your overall marketing goals. Determine what you hope to achieve with your overall marketing strategy and then figure out how social media contributes to that higher level strategy. Common social media marketing goals include:
- Increasing brand awareness. Key performance indicators (KPIs) to track include follower count, impressions, traffic, and reach.
- Generate leads and sales. KPIs include sales revenue, conversion rate, nonrevenue conversions, etc.
- Increasing engagement. Track KPIs such as clicks, likes, shares, comments, and mentions.
- Increasing web traffic. KPIs include traffic, link clicks, conversions, and product trials.
You may also want to set platform-specific goals, depending on your industry. A B2B company, for instance, might want different outcomes from LinkedIn compared to Facebook. Tailor your KPIs based on the platforms you use and their demographics.
Interpreting analytics to adjust your content strategy
Social media analytics help you spot trends, track brand sentiment, and measure “value perception”— the overall customer opinion of whether your product or service can meet their needs. As you collect intel over time, social analytics tools highlight patterns and trends that tell you more about your customers. This information can inform improvements to your content strategy.
“Your social media analytics hold the key to proving impact and setting realistic, data-backed goals that align with business priorities,” wrote Sprout Social. “For example, if your Instagram analytics show you’re growing by 10 followers per week, aiming to double your audience in one quarter doesn’t tally with the data. A more effective goal might be to increase your growth rate to 20 followers per week, then build from there.”
Depending on how sophisticated your analytics tools are, you can view brand sentiment charts, top keywords, and conversation topics that help you visualize how people are perceiving your brand. This information can help improve customer service, develop new products, and allocate your marketing budget.
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