The General Importance of Data for Your Social Strategy
Each marketing strategy a team executes
needs to be data driven. The truth is data is everywhere, marketers just tend
to shy away from it or even ignore it completely. Sometimes, marketers are more
likely to make strategic decisions based on a gut feeling or subjective
opinion. Both reasoning are easier than analyzing the data available (but not
at all a better strategy than using data).
We can all agree that analyzing data
is sometimes difficult but is always important. And when developing an
organization’s social strategy, the data is a little dynamic. Our
recommendation? Embrace data. Don’t over-complicate it. Try this approach.
First, break down the data you plan
to collect into two groups:
Data evaluating social performance
exclusively
These analytics are exclusive to
social impact and only measure the success of the messages/campaign on the
social channel. Metrics include:
- Reach/Impressions
- Engagement rate
- Ideal time of day to post
- Ideal day of week to post
- Likes, comments, and shares
- Messages
- Link clicks
- Retweets and
- Video views
Data evaluating the success of your
social strategy based on the goals of each campaign
In some cases, these metrics can
overlap with the first set of data. But let’s assume your primary goals are
outside of social media channels. This data includes:
- Website metrics
- Average time on page, average number
of pages per session, number of page views, etc.
- Conversions
- Form submissions
If you’re running a paid campaign,
this information might be available through the social channel. But we
recommend confirming the quality of the lead and making sure it enters your
database properly.
- Asset downloads
- CTA interaction/click
- App downloads
- Purchases
Assume you know nothing. Test
everything.
The only assumption you can make is
that you know nothing without the data to support your hypothesis. That said,
you should test everything about your campaign: images, copy, CTA buttons, what
social networks you run ads on, the types of ads you run, the audience criteria
you target, etc. Adjusting audience characteristics is one of the most
important things your team can do.
Improving Your Data Quality to
Improve Your Social Strategy
If you’ve taken the time to really
strategize, not just execute, it will show in the success of your campaign.
Collecting and analyzing data at every step of your social strategy gives your
team the arsenal to put its findings into action and continually strengthen
your strategy. Ultimately, that will only improve your track record for social
campaigns and convince your organization of their value.
Source: demandzen
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