Social Metrics: How to Make Sense of It All
Activity, engagement, reach, bounce rate, click-throughs…measuring the impact of your social media strategy takes time and effort. A lot of people I’ve talked to think they can just look at how many likes or comments or retweets they’re getting on a post to know how well it’s doing, but that’s only part of the process. Measuring social media metrics and deciding if a campaign is a success is complex.
What to Measure
This is the first social media detail I decide with my Clients. Social media can do many different things. It can drive overall interest in a company, create excitement in a particular product, or get customers interacting with a brand so they’re more likely to tell their friends about their experiences. Remember how the generation before ours talked about their favorite companies and contractors over the back fence, at daycare, or over the water cooler? Now we use social media to accomplish the same purpose.
So once I know what my Clients are trying to do, we can work together to decide what we want to get done – and how to measure our success.
Use the Right Tools
When I look to see what kind of reach my Clients are getting with their social media, I want to know more than just how many people liked a post or left a comment. I need to know how many people looked at the post, how many clicked through to a website, and what followers were doing right before they saw the post. This means using specialized tools; the basic analytics provided by Facebook or Twitter aren’t enough to really see what’s happening.
Know What to Change
This may be the hardest part of building a social media presence, and the part that makes experts so necessary. If I see that a post isn’t getting any kind of momentum, I have to ask myself why. Was it targeted incorrectly? Was it too short or too long? Was it offensive in some way I didn’t anticipate? Just guessing is like playing darts in the dark. Maybe I’ll get lucky and the right thing will be changed – but even then, I won’t know how to replicate my success.
Understanding statistics and metrics helps Clients know what to change. If a bounce rate is high – meaning that Customers are clicking away from content quickly – for example, the next step is to figure out why. It’s still an involved process but it helps us narrow down the problem. If a customer watches an entire ad, meanwhile, but doesn’t move forward, there’s a different set of problems.
Pay Attention to Results
When I go to the gym, there are a bunch of ways I track whether or not I’m improving. Can I lift more weight, or do more repetitions, or run farther? If you want to understand how your overall social media performance is going, you need to watch your results. You can take all the measurements you want but if you don’t pay attention to what’s happening over time, you won’t know if you’re moving the needle overall.
How We Can Help
At StartUp TakeOff, we understand the value of a strong team. We also know that finding the right people can be nerve-wracking and time-consuming, so we make it easy for our Clients. Choosing the wrong partners can be a costly misstep for any entrepreneur, which is why StartUp TakeOff’s founder, Stefani Thionnet, has assembled a diverse group of marketing experts from across the industry who will provide you with solutions that save you time and money. Our team of marketing industry veterans will get to know you and your brand so we can provide solutions perfectly tailored to your needs. It’s difficult to find the best people, so we’ve brought them together to get results you will love. Call today: (855) 209-0226 (New Inquiries, press 1; Current Clients, press 2).
