Learning Social Media Analytics for Audience Growth
Knowing how to read the statistics on your social media posts is the key to posting content that pulls in your audience
The key to growing your audience means posting content that your audience wants to see.
The audience you slowly gather is going to be looking for certain information. In my experience, unlocking the secret to delivering the content your audience craves involves a keen awareness of what resonates and what falls flat. By discerning the pulse of your audience, you can tailor your content to captivate and cultivate a loyal following on social media. Which means paying attention to the statistics.
So, what statistics should we be looking for and tracking?
Content
After posting your content, it’s time to pay attention to what happens.
How many people commented on your posts?
What did people have to say if they commented?
Did anyone share your post?
Seeing how your existing audience reacts to your content will influence your future content.
When your content thrives, it’s a clear signal to delve deeper into that topic, exploring its facets and expanding your influence. However, if a piece doesn’t resonate as expected, yet you believe in its relevance, the key is to brainstorm creative approaches to make it click with your audience. Yet, acknowledging that not all content strikes a chord is crucial; learn, adapt, and gracefully pivot when needed.
After seeing what content did well, it’s time to take notes on:
Branch off topics
In-depth exploration of the successful content
Ideas for starting conversations on social media
And after you plan some content and put it out into the world, it’s time to continue this process.
Time
The timing of when your posts land in front of your audience is everything.
Why? Because if your content isn’t hitting your audience’s newsfeed when they are online, the chances of them seeing it later are slim at best.
This is where the tracking portion comes in.
What times of the day are your posts getting the most interaction?
For example, my audience seems to be the most active between 5 am- 12 pm. And I know this because this is when they comment on, share, and interact with them the most.
You can get this type of information by looking at:
The stats of your post, which you can see on all social platforms
The time that you posted the content via the timestamp on your profile timeline
And the timestamps of when people commented on your posts
This will all come together and help you when planning out the content you want to post. And will give you a better idea of when to post the content you deem most valuable.
Interaction
The key to social media is to be social.
This means not only interacting with the people who comment on your posts but commenting on other platform users’ posts.
Because when you do this, you show:
other people you care about what they have to say
that you have experience or knowledge that can help someone else
you can build relationships with others
you want to share what they have to say
In addition to this, every time that you comment or share someone’s content, your profile is brought back into people’s news feeds (whether this be yours or the person you interact with).
Building an audience on social media feels like a tough hill to climb, but at first, it will.
This is why it’s important to:
Take the time to test out your audience with content
See what times your audience is most active
Interact with other people on social media