Analytics: Don’t Be Blind in the World of Social Media
You don’t have to be blind in the world of social media! It’s no secret that social media has become one of the major marketing platforms for small and large businesses alike. Along with this growth comes many terms that may be foreign to the everyday business owner. If you are feeling lost in the world of content analytics, take a deep breath and let’s dive in…
The 5W’s of Analytics
Personally, before I learn new concepts, I like to know the 5 W’s of the topic. You might have learned these back in grade school: Who, What, When, Where, Why. What are the 5 W’s of analytics?
Who? You! These analytics are here for you to understand your audience and the performance of your content.
What? Analytics are provided after a computer sifts through collected data and identifies meaningful patterns. Simply put, analytics provide the user (you) with insights into how your social media content is performing among your audience.
When? Everytime you post, whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, or another platform, that website will track the actions of your viewers.
Where? Analytics can be shown through social media (Meta Business), websites, Google business, etc.
Why? Viewing and understanding your analytics can help determine trends, track the content that performs best, and allow the business to make changes that’ll boost their digital marketing.
Analytic Terms to Understand
When you view your analytics, you’ll see a handful of terms that are important to understand…
Reach: I like to think of reach as the foundation of analytics because it answers the question, “How many people saw this post?” If no one sees your post, then you have no analytics.
Impressions: Impressions tells you how many times your content was viewed. Now, you’re probably thinking that impressions sound very similar to reach. You’re not wrong for thinking that, but the major difference is that an impression accounts for people who may be viewing your content more than once. For example, if you are scrolling through Instagram or Facebook, for every post you see, you are counted as one reach and one impression. If the post catches your attention and you go back to look at the post a second time, you have made two impressions, but still only count as one reach.
Interactions (also known as Engagements): If you have ever liked, commented, or shared a post, you are already a pro at interactions! Everytime an action is taken toward a post, it counts as an interaction. Getting interactions is the primary goal of posting content because it shows people are interested in what you have to offer!
Engagement Ratio: The engagement ratio will let you know the success of your post. It takes the number of interactions and divides it by the number of people who have seen your post. The higher number of interactions to the number of views, the better the ratio! If your engagement ratio is low, it might be time to create a new strategy. What will get people to click the like button? How can you encourage people to share your post? What will grab the attention of your audience and what is most appealing to them? There are many ways to improve your ratio, but one common way is through creative captions that will encourage the viewers to interact. For example, you could say, “Like this post if you are ready for the weekend!” or “What is your favorite…?”. Prompts like that will encourage people to respond and interact.
The content posting world is your oyster! In other words, with a solid knowledge in analytics, you can make social media a route to success. Check your analytics today, understand your audience, find what they love, and post some content! As always, Happy Go Social, your local middle Tennessee marketing agency, is here to help through our ongoing classes and workshops!