It’s a given that your business needs to have a robust social media presence. It helps to understand a few buzzwords when quantifying your social media marketing efforts. Here are a few tips and terms to get you started.
Analytics have their own language and we’re not going to go knee deep here. At the very least, it’s a good idea to understand:
An impression is what a user sees. If a user scrolls past your post on Facebook or Instagram, that counts as an impression. On Twitter, it’s how many times your tweet was seen. Instagram, etc.
Reach relates to interaction and engagement. How many folks liked your post? How many commented? On Twitter, did you get retweets and favorites?
Organic reach is the number of peeps who see your comment without paid distribution. Contrast that with paid reach, which is what it sounds like. You can pay a modest amount to have your content reach a certain demographic – wine lovers in a certain zip code in Williamsburg ages 45-55, for example.
Followers are gold.
You need followers to build your brand identify on any social platform. Nobody likes to start out and watch the follower inch toward triple digits. Tap into your friends and families first; make sure they like and better yet share your content. Follow pages like yours. This builds camaraderie in your industry plus lets you keep tabs on what your competitors do well. Make sure your social buttons are on any printed materials and are part of your website. Most importantly, don’t start a page unless you’re going to tend to it. A dormant social media page might as well be a going-out-of-business sign. Post regularly – daily is best, but at minimum, three times a week.
Be strategic by using stories.
Stories on Instagram and Facebook don’t linger; they vanish after 24 hours (you can make them part of your profile, however). Attention spans might be short today, but Instagram estimates its users spend between 24 and 32 minutes watching stories every day. Stories should be able to be consumed on the go, and while you want them to be crafted well, you don’t need any high end production tools to accomplish that. A smartphone is fine. Take your users behind the scenes. Day-in-the-life content works well. Be experimental. See what works (and what doesn’t!). Dogs and sunsets almost never fail!
Schedule and manage.
While you might want to pay for a social media management company like Sprout Social, if your needs are simple, it might not be worth the investment. If you’re managing multiple social accounts, a company helps keep you organized and on schedule. If you’re a DIYer and wonder what you should be measuring, focus on impressions, reach, engagement and followers. Each platform has its own way of doing that.
Don’t get too bogged down!
If business is going well, don’t get too bogged down in metrics. If the numbers aren’t where you want them to be, keep an eye on them. Unless your company is hurting or your social feed has been hijacked by negativity, there’s probably no need to be overly concerned. Be prepared to be flexible and nimble. Use metrics to inform your social media strategy; don’t let them dictate it.