Social media analytics are the key to growing your reach and engagement across social channels. But why? They’re powerful because they give you a full understanding of what people prefer, when it’s best for them (and at which times) engage most deeply with us as an organization or business owner/executive who posts on various platforms like Facebook and Twitter. Hence, social analytics can be a powerful tool for your small business. If implemented correctly, the tips below will help measure what works and what does not.

1. Set clear goals with metrics and KPIs

There is no one-size fits all strategy for achieving success on social media platforms – every business needs its own metrics and goals set to have a successful presence online. When it comes to social media, do you want more followers or engagement? More ads being shown on your profile picture? Even an influencer needs to set KPIs that will help define what success looks like. You should make sure these metrics are measurable and achievable because without any concrete goals in mind it’s tough as a parent-blogger who wants both personal time and business growth. Example: Increase average post engagement by 3% by the end of 2022. A 3% increase in the average post engagement will make a world of difference, so by the end of 2022 you’ll be ahead of your competition. This KPI gives us specific and achievable goals to work towards. The best thing about these numbers? They’re fluid – we can adjust them based on performance or even come up with new ones as needed without too much trouble (which means no more stale benchmarks). Plus tracking this number over time has been really helpful for learning how our efforts are actually being measured against something concrete other than “good enough.” Hint: Social analytics software makes this process much easier by extracting the data and automatically creating reports for you.

2. Start with the easy wins

You might be asking what is an easy win and how do we find them? An “easy” or low-hanging fruit would be something like increasing your post frequency on Facebook from once every two weeks to once per day for three months straight. The key here is that these are small tweaks which can yield big results – especially when starting out as a new business owner who needs positive feedback more than anything else at this point (when you’re inexperienced). Better yet, start with those initial wins by setting up routines so everything flows smoothly then slowly move onto bigger goals later down the line after things have become routine again. Using a software like Metigy helps with AI automation and leaves you with more bandwidth to focus on operating your business. Especially when starting out as a small business, getting regular AI recommended tips can help you stay on track.

3. Monitor user engagement to optimize post time

What’s the best time to post your content? You may be surprised. In general, you should post at times when most of your target audience is online and engaged. This will maximize reach for both engagement rates as well as advertising potential by maximising ad spend (more on that below). Social analytics software can help find out what’s doing well at popular times of the day for your audience on social channels, so use these tools wisely – they have tons data behind them just waiting patiently in their databases ready for analysis. When using Metigy, our AI-powered analytics will analyse data and make recommendations on how you can improve your distribution strategies.

4. Track hashtags and content performance across your channels

The typical small business has a lot to keep on top of; YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn analytics – that’s a lot of data. But you need to know what content works on each channel, so understanding this data is important. Social media analytics software is highly valuable because you can see all your data in one place rather than constantly switching between accounts. Most good analytics software solutions allow you to create custom dashboards and reports, so you can see the important insights at a glance.

5. Use insights to improve content over time

Ever wondered if your posts would have performed better with a different image or caption? If you have a social analytics solution in place you can measure content performance. How? Data takes the guesswork out of improving content: Tweak your content and see if these changes improve engagement rates. For example, you may see that your users love inspirational quotes – find what your users love and try to include this in your content calendar of future posts.

6. Gain an edge by tracking your competitors

One of the best ways to succeed on social media is to emulate other successful channels. This means understanding what your competitors are doing. Tracking this manually is time consuming and resource draining. Some social media analytics software can automate competitor monitoring and often offer a gold mine of information. These insights can help you to boost your own social channels. Metigy is an example of a marketing software that offers competitor tracking, simply by adding your competitor channels and reviewing the insights.

7. Optimize ad spend by knowing what works

Social analytics can tell you what content is working and what is not. But how is this information useful? When it comes to paid ads, you want to ensure you are only boosting content that resonates with your audience. Try sharing the content organically and use social analytics to identify high-performing pieces. Over time you will be able to see what content is resonating well and can be confident of putting ad spend behind it. A data-driven strategy will increase your ad engagements and ad spend return on investment (ROI).

8. Save time by automating your reports

When part of a small team, it’s important to optimize your time. However, it’s also important that your team has access to clear accurate reports. You don’t want to waste time scrolling through files or collating data across your different social channels. With a social media software solution in place, you can report on all your social channels in one place, at the push of a button. You can have that report ready in seconds not hours. Try for free the award-winning Metigy social media platform. Pricing

Harness the power of social media analytics today

These tips should help you kick start your social efforts. Social analytics can unlock insights and help you expand your reach and boost engagement. Find out how Metigy can help track your social media analytics today.