Both Twitter and Pinterest have recently launched analytics platforms to help businesses get the most out of their social marketing efforts.
Meanwhile, Facebook Insights have been available for three years (they’ve come on a long way in that time). And social media apps such as Hootsuite, Buffer and Klout all allow users to measure different aspects of their social media engagement.
As copywriters and marketers have known for over a century, stats are the best way of finding out what works, and what doesn’t.
But how can you make sure you’re making the most of your social metrics?
1. Know Where You’re Headed
For any journey, you need a map, a destination and a route.
Metrics are not the map. They don’t show you where to go. And they’re not the destination or the end goal. Rather, they help you see whether you’re taking the right path.
Before you set any goals for your social media engagement, you need to know where your business is headed. The goals you set for social media should then serve your business goals.
For example, let’s say you have a business goal of increasing revenue by 10%. To do this, you need to make more sales. And to make more sales, you need to increase traffic to your website. Boosting traffic is a goal social media can help with.
2. Get Familiar With What You Can Track on Social Media
What you can measure is usually dictated by the analytics tools you use. Some of the things you can track include:
