How social media can help your business

How social media can help your business

Like all forms of marketing, social media campaigns rely on data for improvement. Unlike other traditional forms of marketing, social media provides you with real time data, which can help your business to grow if you learn to interpret campaign insights. Without these insights, you may as well be blindfolded.

There are many forms of reports that can be pulled from different social media platforms. For example, fans’ count and number of likes are unique to Facebook, just as followers’ count, retweets and favourites are unique to Twitter.

Number of clicks is unique to both platforms and is useful in determining how well your website is optimised. Hashtags are also very popular across almost all social media platforms. In fact, the hashtag is a powerful tool on its own.

For a smart business owner or social media manager, these tools can help you to analyse how well your brand is performing in the online space, recommend where you fall short so you can divert resources to where it is most needed, thereby saving you time and increasing your ‘social likeability’ online.

However, with a thousand and one things on your desk, poring over social media data may seem like a useless chore, but, in fact, it is actually one great activity that can help you save money in the future and get you more results.

Here are ways social media reporting can help your business grow:

Fans’ and followers’ count

While this may not really reveal how profitable your business is or predict probability of profitability, it is a sure indicator that your business is gaining grounds in terms of awareness and likeability. Most businesses set this as their primary objective for engaging with leads online. It is the clearest way of monitoring how well your business is doing online.

But as much as you can build a huge fan base online (the bigger the budget or engagement, the better your followership), sadly, only a small percentage truly engages with your brand. The best way to convert this small percentage to potential customers is to direct traffic where it should be – back to your business! Many times, we forget the real reason for engaging online; instead, we focus on the conversation. Encourage your customers to call in, visit your website, partake in a free trial or invite them for a demo. This way you are channelling all your social media energy where it really matters – your pocket.

Clicks

My favourite data is the number of clicks on a link. This shows how relevant our message is and points to a high or low engagement activity. It also suggests the type of content your target audience may be looking out for. You may notice that certain links get higher click rates than others, your reports are whispering to you. You only have to listen.

Another interesting insight clicks provide is the source of traffic to your landing page or website. This may reveal where traffic is flowing in from so you channel your energy into maximising the high performing sources. It also points to popular spots where potential customers hang out.

To act upon click reports, analyse the type of content that attracts the highest clicks and produce more content relating to identified areas. 

There is the popular saying that people share great content because it makes them feel good about themselves and makes them look cool among their peers. When people share, retweet or like a post, it is a subtle endorsement and recommendation to their friends. So, people are unconsciously careful about what they share.

These statistics show how much your brand’s social currency is worth. In other words, how likeable your brand is. The more likeable your brand is, the more people are willing to share or recommend it to others and the greater the possibility of visitors purchasing your products.

Pay particular attention to your content. Study what other A-list brands are doing in generating engaging content. What can you learn from others?

Favourites

Favourites are also a form of social proof. If your friend favourites a particular content, then the chances are higher that you will think the info is desired and relevant enough to add to your favourites. This suggests categories of content that rank high on engagement among leads.

There are, of course, other data presented in social media reports, which point to interesting trends or behaviour of your (potential) customers. Taking the time to analyse each and then creating a way forward for getting better results will pay off in the end. 

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