Lesson 5: Create the best user experience by understanding metrics
It can seem difficult to see a clear return on investment, or ROI, when it comes to all of the time, energy, and money spent on social media. But, the reality is, meeting customers where they’re at is crucial for your small business to thrive in today’s social media-driven market.
Understanding key social media metrics can help you know how to create better experiences for your audience and also encourage you as you see your audience grow!
Take advantage of native analytics tools
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter all have native analytics tools that provide you with insights on how your posts are performing, and Apple Maps and Google Maps provide analytics on how people interact with your business listing. Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook insights can help you understand your audience, your interactions, and your impact.
Use these metrics to determine what is or isn’t working in either your posts or their timing. Experiment and see what content gets the most engagement from your audience!
Learn more about using social media metrics
- Social media metrics and ROI
What your business needs to know about social media metrics and ROI. - How to understand your Facebook Page Insights
Facebook Insights can be confusing, learn read the data here. - How to use Twitter for business
Twitter can be a valuable tool, learn how to utilize it to grow your business.
The metrics that matter most are your reach (how many people see your posts) and new followers, your mentions and reviews, your driving directions requests and click-to-call rates (like on Google Maps), and your engagement rates. Let’s talk about some of these in more detail.
Mentions and reviews
Monitor how many times people mention your account on social media and how many reviews you are receiving on platforms like Yelp. Go beyond “how many” and also look at “what” people are writing. Seeing what people are saying about your business on social media will help you gauge customer satisfaction and make changes to improve. Remember, respond to as many reviews and mentions as you can to build trust and keep your audience engaged.
Maps metrics
Both Apple Maps and Google Maps offer the ability for business owners to see how people are using their map listing for driving directions, phone calls, and more. Use these features to see how many people are clicking to ask you a question, book an appointment, make a reservation, or navigate to come see you. If people are looking for certain information about your business, make sure that information is prominent on your website and social media.
Engagement rate
Take a look at engagement metrics like your likes, comments, clicks, and then compare these to your follower count to measure your engagement rate. One way you can measure your engagement rate is to divide the number of likes for a post by your follower count to measure what percentage of your followers actively engage with you. The higher your engagement rate, the more loyal your customer base is. It’s better to have less followers, but a high engagement rate, than to have a large number of “ghost” followers.
Ok, now that you know how to track and measure how your social media are performing, let’s recap and apply what we’ve learned in the next lesson!