Social media has become an essential marketing and communication tool for businesses across the world. According to Statista, 91% of businesses use social media for marketing purposes as of 2019. Social media spending has reached $17 billion dollars as brands look to attract customers online.
While the near-universal adoption of social media highlights its value, many brands are only reaching the tip of the iceberg with its use. By tapping into social media analytics, companies can grow their reach, send effective messages to their audiences, and increase conversions. Here’s why analytical data is so important.
Many analytics tools are free.
There is no reason for companies to avoid using at least a basic amount of analytic insight for their decision making. Google Analytics is free to use and most social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Snapchat, and Twitter) readily share performance metrics for companies that use their platforms.
Most people don’t realize that social media data is readily available and they aren’t sure how to take these metrics and turn them into actionable improvements. If you don’t currently use the analytics available — even to check your user demographics or site traffic — then you are blindly guessing who your customers are and what they want.
You can identify potential threats to your company.
No one wants to think about disgruntled former employees or angry customers potentially targeting your business, but this is a reality that every company needs to contend with. Companies ranging from small newspaper headquarters to YouTube’s offices have been targeted by active shooters in recent years — frequently enough that employees need to practice hiding in the event that something happens.
Yoursocial media analytics tools can help you prevent a tragedy in your business. A tool like Life Raft Inc. combs the web — from Reddit to the dark web — to identify threats related to your business. This analytics investment can help you save lives.
Big data provides more key insights than ever.
There’s a reason why “data is the new oil” in the age of social media management. Companies are easily able to collect demographic information of users while also better understanding their behavior. With advanced analytics for social media, teams can tap into artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to serve up ads based on customer trends and behaviors. Some tools even use predictive analytics to guess what customers want before they want them.
There are multiple software tools on the market that offer social media analytics. These options are easy to install and are meant to be hands-off for social media marketers. Consider looking into a few options for your brand.
Analytics tools can better help brands reach their goals.
As you develop your social media strategy, you will likely have a big picture plan (grow your sales and online presence) along with micro-goals to help you get there. Social media analytics can help you reach these goals in real-time. They can identify key hashtags that are most effective for your brand and identify influencers who you might want to partner with.
If you set small goals for growth each week or month, then you can scale out your social media efforts over time. Take steps to increase your followers, grow your engagement, and drive more traffic to your pages. Each small step brings you closer to success.
Your company can use social media analytics in different ways depending on your brand and bandwidth. Some teams just need basic analytics tools for the social media platforms they use. Other departments can get into data mining and advanced analytics to scale quickly. Either way, data is your friend and can guide you to social media success.