Is social media a big mystery to you? How are people making decisions that are helping them grow? So many questions and so few answers.
Well not really…
A lot of online business owners want to make smart effective decisions about how they spend their time online. But I keep hearing from people that they
- Don’t know what is working
- Don’t know where to spend their time
- Or they don’t have a clue about how to know where their people hanging out online
The answer? Your Social Media Analytics.
Your social media accounts are constantly collecting data. Data about your potential clients, the audience you are reaching, and what they are interested in. Just to name a few.
What makes social media analytics so valuable to your social media strategy?
Literally everything!
They help you know
- what is working so you can do more
- what isn’t working so you can make adjustments
- they tell you where to spend your valuable time
- they tell you which content got the most engagement so you can create more
- help you set better goals for your growth
So what are you waiting for? Tracking analytics for your business are going to be a game changer for your business. It’s time to stop ignoring your analytics and learn these 5 things about YOUR business’ social media.
What is working
Doing more of what is working on your social media has only positive benefits. When you use your analytics to build on content that is getting engagement, driving traffic or increasing your presence it’s like having a crystal ball that tells you what people want to see from you.
Now that you can see what people are reacting to you no longer have to come up with completely new content all the time. You can create content that supports the original topic.
There are a lot of details hidden in your data about what is working…like are you reaching the audience you want and what content they are responding to. By avoiding your analytics and not using the rich amount of data that your social media analytics you are making decisions blind.
What isn’t working
Just like having the crystal ball to see what is working you can see what isn’t so hot. And then not do any more of that if you want.
Or you can take the what isn’t working stuff and make changes or tweak it in a way that may resonate with your people better. You are constantly reviewing and adjusting and doing the whole process over again.
No more wondering why your posts didn’t get engagement because you are constantly learning about your people and creating with them in mind.
It may not be that the entire topic isn’t working it could be that you aren’t making it clear enough to your dream clients that you are talking to them. And the only way to find out is to look into that crystal ball and make your content work for you.
Your time is limited and your analytics will tell you where you make the most impact
When we are running our own businesses we often don’t have the time, energy or resources to sit on social media all day posting.
We want to make sure that what time we are posting is used effectively. And your analytics will tell you that too.
Recently I started pulling back from Instagram. I LOVE Instagram but my analytics were telling me it wasn’t as effective as Pinterest is at supporting my goals. So I am able to save myself some time each week by putting my limited amount of time into the platform that is giving me the BEST results.
If I hadn’t reviewed my social media analytics I would still be hammering away at Instagram wondering why I’m not seeing an ROI on my time and energy.
Better Goal Setting
I don’t know about you but sometimes I get stuck with goal setting because I either don’t know what is possible for me and I don’t want to limit myself and on the flipside, I don’t want to be unrealistic and disappointed.
So in the past, I sometimes skimped on the goal setting stage for my online presence. I’d say I want to grow my following by X number of people. And leave it at that…
That goal, while measurable, wasn’t specific enough for the overall business goals I had. But I was too afraid to say X number of people on my email list. Or converting X number of sales on my tripwire pages.
It was just too much unknown.
I got stuck.
And while we all start somewhere (pst…meaning 0) we have to get started. I could go review my analytics I could start developing more specific goals to my business and my audience. I could set numbers that would provide a challenge but not overwhelm or discourage me.
Set your own benchmarks
Comparisonitis is a problem that we all face when we are on social media. We are constantly being bombarded by other’s social media successes. The only way to combat this is by setting your own benchmarks and comparing your data to your own historical data. Not someone else’s especially when you are unable to dissect their data…because you are an outsider.
The only person you are supposed to compare yourself to is your past. By looking at your data you can see a clear picture of how you are performing and how you can improve.
This is the best measure of your success and if you aren’t using your analytics you will never be able to see these details.
Now it’s your turn!
Let me know in the comments if you are currently using analytics for your social media strategy or if you are not yet! I’d love to hear where you are at currently for your business!
Ready to get started learning about your social media analytics? Get my free Evernote Social Media Tracker in the free resource library. Get access below!
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Great post, I think that many companies or personal brands struggle with tracking/analytics and yet it’s so important to track your results. Like you said, you have to know what is working and what isn’t. Why would you spend your time and money on a platform that doesn’t generate positive end results. I think the problem is often that people don’t understand a, what to track and b, what are the number that they look at. I guess many focus on follower numbers, rather than engagement, which is more subtle to figure out. I like that you remind us to measure/compare ourselves to just ourselves. Thank you!
Yes it is, even though it feels like extra work it can really help you be more effective and actually save you time when you look at your analytics.