Whether you are a small business owner or a big marketing agency, you need to invest lots of time and effort into social media marketing. After all, it is among the most effective ways to reach a wider audience and grow your customer base.

But first, you should figure out how you will measure the growth and effectiveness of your social media marketing efforts. Social media analytics can help you with that by providing the insights you have to understand your target audience and keep it engaged.

The article below will provide a short guide to tracking and understanding social media analytics. We will touch upon a few important things, including how to access the data and use it to your advantage.

Step 1: Access social media analytics

Every big social media platform has its own built-in analytics tool. As stated by The Munro Agency, these are usually simple and easy to understand, which makes them appealing to beginners and seasoned marketing specialists. 

To give an example, Facebook has a built-in analytics tool that you can access from the white menu at the top of your page. You just have to click on the Insights tab. Then, you will see several different tabs, including actions on your page, page views, and page likes, as well as its reach, post engagements, and page followers. 

If you click the followers tab, you will see interactive graphs related to your followers. For instance, you can check when people liked or unliked your page. This data could help you determine what posts your target audience likes to see and which are not to their taste.

In case you do not know how to access your social media platform’s analytics tool, head to the platform’s help section. It should feature a short tutorial and a number of valuable tips. If you find it lacking, using third-party tools is always a viable option.

Step 2: Set goals, choose the key metrics

Analytics tools can provide you with information on a vast range of topics, ranging from consumer research to trends related to specific products and services. To avoid feeling overwhelmed and confused, you should have a clear goal in mind. What are you using an analytics tool for? What do you want to get out of it?

When setting goals, it is crucial to make them smart. In other words, they have to be specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound. An example of a smart goal would be wanting to gain 5 hundred followers in 3 months. 

Having set a smart goal, determine which metrics could help you track your progress. Otherwise, you will waste your time and energy on data you have no actual use for. To illustrate, if your goal were to gain those five hundred followers, you would probably focus on your likes, shares, number of net followers, and engagement rate.

Step 3: Analyze your data

With the help of social media analytics, you can keep an eye on your engagement rate and see whether there’s an improvement or quite the contrary. If you notice that it is steadily declining, you might have to change your strategy. For example, if people are not engaging with your posts, you might have to change the posting frequency or adjust your content.

If your engagement rate is on a steady decline, look through your analytics for patterns that could explain the drop. Perhaps your target audience is not big on the form of your content, or it is not resonating with it for other reasons. If you notice patterns, you might have to adjust your strategy or even change your overall business focus.

Step 4: Set benchmarks

Your company does not exist in a vacuum. To properly interpret the data that your analytics tool gives you, you have to start comparing yourself to your competitors. By doing so, you will be able to see whether your business growth is comparable to theirs and identify emerging trends in your niche.

If your competitors are doing much better than you are, do not get discouraged. Instead, use your situation as an opportunity to learn and take action. Track their metrics, see what they are doing right, and then incorporate what you have learned into your business strategy. For example, Sociality.io is a social media management tool that allows you to visualize competitors’ metrics in one report. 

Step 5: Keep learning

There is always room for improvement when it comes to your knowledge and skills. So, if you are confused by a certain metric or unsatisfied with your social media marketing efforts, do not be afraid to seek help. 

To begin with, you could look for courses on the topic. For instance, Coursera offers quite a few courses on digital marketing. Alternatively, you could join social media marketing groups on LinkedIn and Facebook or look for online forums where experts are always ready to give a helping hand.

If that is not enough, you could get the marketing analytics certificate from Meta. Doing so will allow you to learn how data can inform marketing decisions and how to use essential tools to collect, analyze, and visualize data.

In conclusion

To sum up, social media analytics play a crucial role in the success of your social media marketing strategy. They can give you the insights to understand your target audience and grow your following. However, before using them, you should take some time to figure out how they work and what you want to get out of them. 

Luckily, you can do that in just a few steps. First, figure out how to access your social media analytics tool and set smart goals. Next, choose a few key metrics to focus on, analyze your data, and keep an eye on your competitors. And last but not least, keep learning and expanding your knowledge. By doing all the things listed here, you should be well on your way to becoming a social media analytics expert!