Data is a powerful tool, especially in the world of social media marketing. Data can tell you if people are connecting with your content or not, but tracking your data is only part of the equation.
The next steps matter more. What are you doing with this information? Are you analyzing your data? Are you adjusting your strategy?
Our advice? Follow these steps, and you’ll never underestimate or underutilize the power of data again.
STEP 1: CHOOSE HOW TO TRACK
If you’re old school, break out a legal pad. If you prefer spreadsheets, open up Excel. Next, decide what you’re recording and why. At the beginning of a new campaign, we always identify exactly what we are tracking and why. Everything is not an acceptable answer. Before you start tracking, take time to understand your social media insights.
For us, what we track changes based on the client’s goals. If the client has 10k followers on Instagram, but get less than 100 likes per post and 0 comments, we’ll focus on tracking engagement metrics.
STEP 2: RECORD CONSISTENTLY
Consistency is key. We record data on the same day each month. This helps us stay accountable and gives us a more accurate measure of growth over a set period of time. And yes, recording regularly may seem tedious at first, but trust us, it’s effective.
STEP 3: ANALYZE THE RESULTS
Do you know what’s working and what’s not working? More importantly, do you know why? Tracking is only the first step. You need to continue to monitor your progress and analyze the results.
As you analyze, consider all the elements, including when you posted, caption length and formatting, hashtags, filters, and photo composition. Look for patterns. Try switching up one element at a time. And yes, trial and error is involved. When you start spotting trends, you can start maximizing the impact of each post.
STEP 4: ADJUST YOUR STRATEGY
Once you identify similarities between your top-performing posts and your lowest-performing posts, you can switch up your content creation strategy.
Monthly check-ins make a difference. Taking the time to reflect on what’s working and what’s not is key to making real progress. If you repeat the same mistakes month after month, you won’t see the growth you’re looking for. Personally, we find using visual tools, like Later, to be extra helpful!
WHY IT MATTERS
Data can work to your advantage, but only if you track and analyze it, and remember to take it one step further. Use your social media stats to adjust your strategy because when you give people what they want to see, you’ll grow your audience. If you’re ready to tap into the power of your digital data, let’s chat.
This wraps up #2 of our series on the biggest mistakes that craft beverage companies are making online and how to fix them. ICYMI – the last one talked about posting at the last minute – or not at all.