Social media analytics can be a pivotal part of your company’s ongoing marketing plan – especially if you’re on social or you’re about to be. But don’t just take my word for it. In this month’s Industry Insights, I had the chance to sit down with social media manager, Megyn Dirks to dive into this topic deeper.
Ashley: Could you share a brief overview of your marketing experience and what motivates your passion for the field?
Megyn: I’m Megyn Dirks and I’m a social media manager. A lot of my social media experiences have varied between industries but I’ve primarily focused on agriculture and pet food. I'm really passionate about social media for business because I think it's a unique way to connect with your audience in ways that other advertising cannot. I especially enjoy using analytics to paint a picture of how posts are performing and what people are resonating with.
When there are struggles to paint a picture to your leadership team how their social media strategy really ladders up to their overall marketing and advertising goals, analytics can help. The data supports these discussions and helps your team narrow in where the value is and how social media is helping you meet your goals.
Ashley: What does social media analytics typically include? And how frequently might a client want to review their analytics?
Megyn: As far as what social media analytics can include, it really ranges depending on the client and what they're looking for. The options are truly endless. It’s best to sit down with the client and go over their vision as well as their KPIs (key performance indicators).
Some clients might request monthly reports, but I really encourage more of a quarterly report approach for ongoing calendars. Monthly reports tend to cut off the performance of the posts, not giving enough credit for some of that later-in-the-month content. Monthly reporting can also skew the results based on seasonality. For example, if you had a big event that took up two weeks of posting that month, it may perform higher compared to the following month – when there is no mention of that event – ultimately making the next month's performance look like it decreased.
While quarterly reports are a more accurate picture of performance in ongoing calendars, there is definitely a nuance based on campaigns or projects. Depending on the importance and duration of the campaign, I would recommend pulling mid-campaign and end-of-campaign analytics, really relying on those mid-campaign results to make any adjustments to hit your KPIs by the end of your campaign’s duration. Then you’ll want to pull your end-of-campaign data to show and evaluate the final results.
Ashley: When pulling the data, is this done primarily in the social media platform’s business manager section? (Facebook business manager = Meta Business Suite for example)
Megyn: On those quarterly reports, I'd recommend using a mix of your third-party tool data that you would use for publishing or pulling straight from business managers. Some (social media) business managers don't really offer as in-depth analytics as third-party tools such as Sprout Social can.
Ashley: Outside of gauging the effectiveness of content and engagement, what other insights can social media analytics provide clients with? Demographics? Best posting times?
Megyn: Demographics are getting tougher and tougher to gauge due to privacy policies. So any data that you do find on demographics, it's tough to know if it's truly representative of your audience. As far as things like posting times, I wouldn't focus on them too much or stress about them. It can be helpful if the business manager of whatever platform you're looking at provides that information, but again, I wouldn't dwell on it too much.
The biggest thing analytics could provide insight on is what truly resonates with your audience. I recommend pulling your top 10 to 15 posts from the quarter and looking for any themes such as:
Is there a certain type of content that resonates with your audience better? Do they prefer a 10-second video over a 60-second video?
Is UGC (user-generated content) performing better than your own video content that's a little more polished?
Is influencer content really the high performer?
If your company does several events, is there one that really stands out in your top 10 to 15 posts?
Is there an initiative or a specific product even that people tend to be most interested in?
Ashley: Great! I think you’ve touched on this previously, but should all businesses, organizations, nonprofits, etc. pull and review their social media analytics?
Megyn: It’s probably no surprise that my answer is absolutely. In this climate, it's really easy to just throw content up and feel confident in the content that you're creating. But it's kind of a whole other ballgame for it to actually perform well and be able to explain that what you're creating is working or what adjustments you need to make if it's not.
Ashley: Last question to bring it home. Is there anything else you’d like to make sure folks know about the importance of social media analytics?
Megyn: There are a couple of points that maybe aren't focused on the importance, but are just good things to know. And there are a few things I’d like to reassure them about.
Each platform has unique measurements that they report on. The definition of those KPIs or measurements can vary from platform to platform. We've also seen those platforms change their KPI definitions with no notice to creators or businesses. So it's understandable to feel overwhelmed or not truly understand what the data is saying when you first pull it.
It's also understandable if something's working really well on one platform and just totally flopping on another. It's a lot to digest and it's a lot to dig through. But don't be afraid to dig in. Those insights are very interesting and helpful. It doesn't hurt to have someone dedicated to social media analytics to properly evaluate the information because they can be more in the weeds and understand the data and any potential nuances.
Next, don’t be afraid to advocate for a dedicated social media expert and a social media strategy. What could be perceived as a small change in data to one team member outside of the social world could actually be a big deal. Or that nuance you’re seeing in a report could mean something different than what it looks like on the surface. Someone who is familiar with the social media platforms, trends and measurements could be a huge asset to your team.
Lastly, I’d say always have your industry benchmarks handy. But after about a year of performance, start using your own year-over-year business benchmarks to gauge your performance.
Ashley: I’ve had the privilege to work alongside Megyn throughout our careers, and this blog post barely scratches the surface on her depth of social media knowledge. To learn more about Megyn and gather additional social media insights, make sure to follow her on LinkedIn.
Then explore her portfolio website to discover how she can help you create, manage and analyze social media content to achieve your KPIs in 2024. Really, though. You’re one email away from getting the social media strategy your business needs!
*The Industry Insights series was created to provide additional expertise for those seeking marketing services to understand what they need or who they can reach out to get started. Featured experts are well-versed in the communications field.
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